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Subject: International Relations

  • vaccine nationalism

    Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the weaknesses in the multilateralism which is best exemplified by the race among countries for getting access to the vaccine.

    Business out of pandemic

    • It is a crime against humanity to make a profit during any human tragedy.
    • The COVID-19 pandemic is also a human tragedy and needs global solidarity.
    • However, in a liberalised economy, there is a shocking silence in the global market trying to do business out of human suffering
    • This is where organisations of the United Nations and global networks for people should come together in one voice.
    • WHO’s idea of a “voluntary pool to collect patent rights, regulatory test data for developing COVID-19 therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics” was met with criticism.

    How to ensure equitable access to vaccine

    • The advance purchase agreements that some countries have negotiated with pharmaceutical companies exemplify the rich grabbing everything first trends.
    • Such vaccine nationalism undermines equitable access to vaccines. 
    • There has to be prioritisation for high-risk groups in all countries.
    • That framework has to be accepted by the global community without dispute.
    • In this, the COVAX partnership is a mechanism for ensuring that.
    • GAVI, or the Global Alliance for Vaccine Initiative, was in existence during the pre-COVID-19 period to ensure the pooled procurement and equitable supply of life-saving vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.
    • It has been roped in for the COVID-19 vaccine too.

    Role of the governments

    • World Health Organization Director-General exhorted member countries to treat COVID-19 technologies as a “public good”.
    • If it is a public good, governments must step in to regulate its development, innovation, manufacture, sale, and supply ultimately to the public.
    • If such an idealistic outcome does not materialise based on basic human rights then some regulation mandated by the UN General Assembly must be thought of.
    • Through the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Doha Ministerial Conference declaration 2001, the WTO made provisions for compulsory licensing. 

    Consider the question “Vaccine nationalism has consequences for cooperation on the global problem. Examine the issue of vaccine nationalism and suggest ways to ensure equitable distribution”

    Way forward

    • Compulsory licensing is an extreme step available with India if rich countries go for advance purchase and hoarding of a COVID-19 vaccine produced in India by multinational pharma companies and deny India’s supply needs.
    • COVID-19 vaccine candidates are still in Phase 3 trials; the compulsory licence clause cannot be applied.
    • So, coercion to issue “voluntary licensing” to subsidiary companies in many developing countries such as India, Egypt, Thailand and Brazil by the patent holder is another option.
    • India and South Africa jointly sent out a communication, to the IPR Council of the WTO for a waiver of the protection of copyright, design, trademarks and patent on COVID-19 related technologies including vaccines.
    • If this is decided favourably as a special case considering the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, it will set a precedent.
    • Global campaigns through the media and civil society organisations can garner enough momentum to exert pressure on TRIPS.

    Conclusion

    Having nothing less than vaccines and life-saving medicines being treated as a public good must definitely be the long-term goal.

  • South Asian University

    The Delhi-based South Asian University, established by all eight SAARC countries, has not had a president for over a year, while its executive council and governing board have not met for almost two and three years respectively.

    Note the features of SAARC, ASEAN and East Asia Summit.

    South Asian University

    • South Asian University (SAU) is an International University sponsored by the eight Member States of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
    • The eight countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
    • India, as the host and the largest country in the SAARC group, bore the entire capital cost for setting up the university, and also pays 50% of the operational costs.
    • SAU attracts students predominantly from all the eight SAARC countries, although students from other continents also attend.
    • There is a country quota system for admission of students. Every year SAU conducts admission test at multiple centres in all the eight countries.
    • The degrees of the university is recognised by all the member nations of the SAARC according to an inter-governmental agreement signed by the foreign ministers of the eight-member states.

    Institution on failure

    • After a decade of existence, the university has yet to appoint a non-Indian president, despite rules stipulating a rotation among the member countries.
    • At a time when the Union government is trying to encourage international education in India, an existing international institution is facing a crisis of leadership.

    A matter of reluctance

    • According to the agreement signed by all the SAARC countries, the first president should have been from India, and then rotated among the other countries in alphabetical order.
    • So the next president should be from the Maldives.
    • But the MEA has put an advertisement calling only for Indian applicants, but there has been no appointment after one year.

  • Time for an Asian Century

    Asian centrality

    • China’s response is a ‘dual circulation’ strategy for self-reliance and military-technological prowess to surpass the U.S.
    • The global governance role of the U.S. is already reduced.
    • The U.S. now exercises power with others, not over them.
    • Despite its military ‘pivot’ to Asia, the U.S. needs India in the Quad, to counterbalance the spread of China’s influence through land-based trade links.
    • India, like others in the Quad, has not targeted China and also has deeper security ties with Russia.
    • With the ASEAN ‘code of conduct’ in the South China Sea, both the security and prosperity pillars of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific construct will be adversely impacted.
    • Leveraging proven digital prowess to complement the infrastructure of China’s Belt and Road Initiative will win friends as countries value multi-polarity.

    Atmanirbhar Bharat and Challenges

    • ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ will leverage endogenous technological strength, data and population.
    • With the Rafale aircraft purchase, India has recognised that there will be no technology transfer for capital equipment.
    • Military Theatre Commands should be tasked with border defence giving the offensive role to cyber, missile and special forces based on endogenous capacity, effectively linking economic and military strength.
    • The overriding priority should be infrastructure including electricity and fibre optic connectivity; self-reliance in semiconductors, electric batteries and solar panels; and skill development.

    Conclusion

    There are compelling geopolitical and economic reasons for shaping the building blocks of the Asia-led order, which is not yet China-led, to secure an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, and place in the emerging triumvirate.

  • India &Gulf regions

    The Gulf region offers new possibilities of cooperation to India. The article explains these possibilities.

    Context

    • External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recently is a good moment to reflect on the structural changes taking place in the Gulf and the region’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean.

    Issues in approach towards the region

    • For decades, India’s mercantilism saw the Gulf as a source of oil and a destination for labour exports.
    • India’s bureaucratic approach to the Gulf was incapable of a political engagement with the region’s interests.
    • The Indian elite has long viewed the Gulf as a collection of extractive petro-states run by conservative feudatories.
    • Although the Gulf kingdoms were eager to build strong and independent political ties with India without a reference to Islamabad, India viewed them through the prism of Pakistan.

    Influence in the Indian Ocean

    • Delhi’s traditional focus in the Indian Ocean was riveted on Mauritius and the large Indian diaspora there.
    • P.M.s visit to Mauritius and Seychelles in March 2015 saw the articulation of a long-overdue Indian Ocean policy and an acknowledgement of the strategic significance of the island states.
    • Since then, India has brought Madagascar and Comoros along with Mauritius and Seychelles into the Indian Ocean Division.
    • India also unveiled a maritime strategic partnership with France, a resident and influential power in the Western Indian Ocean.
    • Earlier this year, Delhi became an observer at the Indian Ocean Commission — the regional grouping that brings France’s island territory of Reunion together with Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles.
    • India has also become an observer to the Djibouti Code of Conduct — a regional framework for cooperation against piracy between the states of the Gulf, the Horn of Africa and East Africa.

    5 Areas of new possibilities with the Gulf

    1) Protecting India’s interests

    • First is the immediate need to shield India’s interests in the post-pandemic turbulence that is enveloping the region.
    • As the Gulf considers cutting back on foreign labour, Delhi would want to make sure its workers in the region are insulated.
    • Delhi is also eager to improve the working conditions of its large labour force — close to eight million — in the Gulf.

    2) New and long-term economic cooperation

    • As the Gulf looks at a future beyond oil, they have embarked on massive economic diversification and are investing in a variety of new projects including renewable energy, higher education.
    • India must get its businesses to focus on the range of new opportunities in the Gulf.
    • India also needs to tap into the full possibilities of Gulf capital for its own economic development.

    3) Financial power translating into political influence

    • The Gulf’s financial power is increasingly translating into political influence shaping political narrative in the Middle East.
    • The influence has been manifest in their successful transformation of the debate on Arab relations with Israel.

    4) Influence on regional conflicts

    • The Gulf’s ability to influence regional conflicts from Afghanistan to Lebanon and from Libya to Somalia has increased.
    • The Gulf today delivers economic and security assistance to friendly states.
    • The UAE currently chairs the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and has been eager to work with India in developing joint infrastructure projects.
    • India needs to bring scale and depth to its regional initiatives on connectivity and security in the Indian Ocean.

    5) Reforms taking place in the region

    • The Gulf seek to reduce the heavy hand of religion on social life, expand the rights of women, widen religious freedoms, promote tolerance, and develop a national identity that is not tied exclusively to religion.
    • The UAE has been the leader in this regard.

    Consider the question “India’s engagement with the Gulf countries has been limited in several aspects. However, the region offers new possibilities of strategic and cooperation to India. Evaluate these possibilities.” 

    Conclusion

    As India seeks to recalibrate it’s ties with the Gulf, the real challenge for South Block is to get the rest of the Indian establishment to discard outdated perceptions of the Gulf and seize the new strategic possibilities with the region.

  • Elections for the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE)

    Over 1.3 lakh Tibetans living in exile and settled across India and other parts of the globe shall be electing their next Parliament-in-Exile, called Central Tibetan Administration, and it’s head in May 2021.

    Do you think that India’s support for the Tibetan cause is the root cause of all irritants in India-China relations?

    Electing the exiled Government

    • The Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE) has its headquarters in Dharamsala, in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
    • According to the Green Book of the Tibetan government-in-exile, over 1 lakh Tibetans are settled across India.
    • The remaining are settled in United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Mongolia, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and various other countries.

    Here is how the Tibetan elections will be held:

    Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (TPiE)

    • The Speaker and a Deputy Speaker head the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile.
    • The 16th TPiE had 45 members – 10 representatives from each of the traditional provinces of Tibetan – U-Tsang, Dhotoe and Dhomey.
    • It includes two members from each of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the pre-Buddhist Bon religion.
    • Other representatives are from the Tibetan Communities in North America and Europe; and from Australasia and Asia (excluding India, Nepal and Bhutan).
    • Till 2006, it used to be called as Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (ATPDs) with the chairman as its head and a vice-chairman.

    Tibetan Constitution

    • The Central Tibetan Administration exists and functions on the basis of the Constitution of the Tibetan government called the ‘The Charter of the Tibetans in Exile’.
    • In 1991, The Constitution Redrafting Committee instituted by the Dalai Lama prepared the Charter for Tibetans in exile. The Dalai Lama approved it on June 28, 1991.
    • In 2001, fundamental changes happened with the amendment of the Charter that facilitated the direct election of the Kalon Tripa by the Tibetans in exile.
    • The Kalon Tripa is called Sikyong or president of the Central Tibetan Administration.

    The Kashag (Cabinet)

    • The Kashag (Cabinet) is the Central Tibetan Administration’s highest executive office and comprise seven members.
    • It is headed by the Sikyong (political leader) who is directly elected by the exiled Tibetan population.
    • Sikyong subsequently nominates his seven Kalons (ministers) and seeks the parliament’s approval. The Kashag’s term is for five years.

    A backgrounder: Democracy for Tibet

    • The Dalai Lama began democratization soon after he came to India during the 1959 Tibetan National Uprising.
    • He reportedly asked Tibetans in exile to choose their representatives through universal adult suffrage, following which polls were held for electing Tibetan Parliamentarians in 1960.
    • Democracy for the Tibetans, thus, began in exile.
    • The Dalai Lama, however, continued to remain the supreme political leader. On March 14, 2011, he relinquished his political responsibilities, ending a 369-year-old practice.

    Is TPiE officially recognised by any country?

    • Not exactly, it is not recognised officially by any country, including India.
    • But, a number of countries including the USA and European nations deal directly with the Sikyong and other Tibetan leaders through various forums.
    • The TPiE claims its democratically-elected character helps it manage Tibetan affairs and raise the Tibetan issue across the world.
    • The incumbent Sikyong, Lobsang Sangay, was among the guests who attended the oath-taking ceremony of our PM in 2014, probably a first.

  • Divided democracies

    Democracies across the world are facing several challenges. The article examines these challenges.

    Threats to democracy

    • Efforts by Donald Trump, to negate the result of the recently held presidential elections, indicates a new set of tactics, previously seen only in dictatorships.
    • In the case of the U.S., one of the world’s oldest democracies, what we are witnessing is a deep divide.
    • This division is evident in many other democratic nations today.
    • This is true of many other democracies as well and must be viewed as a wake-up call.
    • What is evident is that issues of identity, or threats to identity, are becoming an important issue in elections across democracies.
    • Democracies already confront such problems, but it will become still more evident as time passes.
    • Manipulation of grievances by using psychometric techniques (as done by Cambridge Analytica), and the use of ‘deep fakes’ made possible through Artificial Intelligence, further enhances the threat to current notions of democracy.

    Troubles to democracy in Europe

    • Europe will have to deal with the declining importance of America in global politics.
    • An uncertain Brexit will further damage the prospects of both the United Kingdom and Europe.
    • Russia, under Vladimir Putin, remains an enigma, for despite its military strength and strategic congruence with China, its future appears increasingly uncertain.
    • France displays even greater fragility and French values appear to be undergoing major changes.
    • The recent wave of terrorist attacks has been a major trigger, raising questions about long-held secular beliefs.

    Return of terrorism

    • Terrorism is resurfacing, and with renewed vigour.
    • The al-Qaeda is again becoming prominent. The IS, which many thought had been vanquished has returned in full force.
    • Recently IS has carried out spectacular attacks in France and in Austria which is a reminder of the transnational character of the threat it poses to democratic countries.
    • They combine symbolism with spectacular violence.
    • The intent is to shock the public at large, and produce a reaction across the entire Muslim world, reigniting the fading embers of a religio-cultural conflict.

    Information manipulation

    • Alongside the above issues, there is a growing concern across the globe about increasing efforts to manipulate information in order to perpetuate power.
    • Manipulation of information — and also events — to achieve certain desired ends, is becoming the stock-in-trade of many a democratic regime as well.
    • Many democratic nations today resort to manipulating data to support or prop up the government’s version of events. Informational autocracy is, hence, the latest danger that threatens democracies.

    India’s challenges

    1) Threat to democracy

    • In some regions, especially where mid-term elections are scheduled, as in West Bengal, the atmosphere today is highly polarised.
    • The ghosts of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens have by no means been laid to rest.
    • Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is witnessing a kind of surface calm, but beneath this, there are evident tensions.
    • Aggravating this situation are Pakistan’s efforts to push in terrorists in ever larger numbers.

    Uncertain external environment

    • The downward spiral in its relations with China has not been arrested.
    • 15 Asia-Pacific nations, including China, have signed on to the world’s biggest trade bloc, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) — from which India has been excluded.
    • The RCEP, which covers almost a third of the world’s economy, is perceived as the springboard for future economic recovery across the region.
    • India’s absence from RCEP represents a cardinal failure of India’s bargaining strategy.
    • India’s isolation is evident from the fact that even a weak Pakistan is pursuing a policy of provocation— the latest provocation being the holding of Assembly elections in Gilgit-Baltistan.
    • India is again being steadily marginalised in Afghanistan, where the control of the Taliban is increasing, with all other players accomodating Taliban.

    Consider the question “What are the various challenges faced by the democracies across the world and India is no exception to it. In the context of this, examine the issues facing democracy in India.”

    Conclusion

    Though democracies across the world are facing several issues, resilience inherent in them will help them clear the chaos created by these issues.

  • Places in news: Luxembourg

    Prime Minister has pitched for strengthening ties to further ramp up economic engagement between India and Luxembourg.

    Mark the location of Luxembourg. Since it is a landlocked country, there can be a question asking its bordering states.

    Luxembourg

    • Luxembourg is a small European country, landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany.
    • It’s mostly rural, with dense Ardennes forest and nature parks in the north, rocky gorges of the Mullerthal region in the east and the Moselle river valley in the southeast.
    • Its capital, Luxembourg City, is famed for its fortified medieval old town perched on sheer cliffs

    Why Luxembourg?

    • Luxembourg is one of the most important financial centres globally.
    • Several Indian companies have raised capital by issuing Global Depositary Receipts at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
    • Luxembourg-based investment funds hold substantial banking and asset management market share in portfolio investments in India.
    • It is also the third-largest source of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) in India.

  • Challenges from the RCEP despite staying out of it

    India’s challenges from RCEP didn’t end by staying out of it. Remaining out of the RCEP has several implications for India. This article discusses such challenges.

    What RCEP mean for the region

    • The RCEP was finally signed by its 15 members on the sidelines of the Asean Summit last week without India.
    • This would make it a trade deal that includes the ten Asean economies, and all of Asean’s bilateral FTA partners, except India.
    • It would create new market access for China and Japan-the two largest economies of the group.
    • China, Japan and Korea were negotiating a trilateral trade pact, which now might become inconsequential following RCEP.
    • In this respect, RCEP would actually produce much greater market access outside of the Asean, among non-Asean members China, Japan and Korea.
    • Asean’s specific market access gains would be over and above those that are already available through various Asean+1 FTAs.
    • Additional market access gains would be more with respect to China, in terms of the additional tariff coverage and concessions that RCEP would provide.

    Implications for China

    • Apart from the additional preferential access it obtains, it is also able to pull off strategic dividends.
    • As the RCEP proceeds, it would establish China’s decisive say in writing the rules of trade in the region through the RCEP.
    • And this is precisely what the US would be wary of.

    Implications for the U.S.

    • President Obama had pitched the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as an obvious and essential alternative for counterbalancing Chinese strategic domination of the regional trade game.
    • The US was taken out of the TPP by President Trump.
    • The remaining members managed to salvage the deal, largely due to the spirited leadership provided by Japan and Australia.
    • While the TPP survives as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
    • But CPTPP is incapable of being a strategic counterweight to China, and the RCEP.
    • Nothing other than a CPTPP that includes the US would be able to counterbalance China in economic size and strategic clout.

    Way forward

    • The Quad—a security partnership between the US, Japan, India and Australia—is looking to expand beyond defence and assume broader strategic proportions.
    • Geopolitics is contributing significantly to the construction of economic alliances, including the reorganisation of regional supply chains.
    • Due to these factros, search for an Indo-Pacific trade and economic compact is likely to hasten following the conclusion of RCEP.
    • Following RCEP, and the almost non-existent possibility of returning to its fold, India too, might find itself working actively on moving towards an Indo-Pacific trade deal.
    • The RCEP, which has a sizeable number of key Indo-Pacific economies like Japan, Australia, Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, would need to stick to these countries to stick to the trade agreement after its ratification.

    Conclusion

    RCEP might actually force the U.S to look at returning to CPTPP much more proactively than it might have imagined. It would also, expectedly, look at India to join the bloc. That would be another challenge to navigate. India’s challenges from the RCEP might have increased in spite of staying out of it.

  • India-Canada relations

    Track 1.5 dialogue

    •  The third round of India-Canada Track 1.5 Dialogue, comprising senior diplomats, officials and independent experts, will be held on a virtual platform.
    • This promising interaction represents a major, deliberate endeavour to boost the bilateral relationship.

    Convergence on China issue

    • Common challenges of the COVID-19 era accelerated the momentum of bilateral engagement.
    • Canada’s travails with China, starting with the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Canada in December 2018.
    • Later, the ‘hostage diplomacy’ practised by Beijing which arrested two Canadian nationals, has caused huge stress in Canada-China relations, turning Canadian public opinion against China.
    • This opened the door to a closer relationship with India.
    • In this backdrop, developments concerning the Indo-Pacific —  strengthening of the Quad and the growing interest of France, Netherlands and Germany to be active players in the region — are of immense relevance to Ottawa.
    • The forthcoming dialogue can deepen the India-Canada convergence on this issue.

    Principal area’s of bilateral cooperation

    • Canada-India merchandise trade exceeded C$10 billion in 2019.
    • Canada’s cumulative investment, including foreign direct investment and by Canadian pension funds, is a substantive C$55 billion.
    • Addressing virtually the ‘Invest India’ conference in Canada on  Prime Minister pointed out that mature Canadian investors have been present in India for many years and assured them that no barriers would come in their way.
    • Indian students are increasingly being educated in Canada, and a quarter million of them spent an estimated $5 billion in tuition fees and other expenses last year, a solid contribution to the Canadian economy.
    • Of 330,000 new immigrants accepted by Canada last year, 85,000 i.e. nearly 25%, were from India.
    • The Indian diaspora in Canada is now 1.6 million-strong, representing over 4% of the country’s total population.
    • The principal areas of bilateral cooperation are best defined by five Es: Economy, Energy, Education, Entertainment and Empowerment of women.
    • In particular, the digital domain holds immense potential, given Canada’s proven assets in technology — especially its large investment in Artificial Intelligence, innovation and capital resources, and India’s IT achievements, expanding digital payment architecture and policy modernisation.

    Conclusion

    Divided by geographical distance but united through clear common interests and shared values, India and Canada will begin their steady journey of progress, this time with a laser-like focus on common goals as well.

  • China-led RCEP takes off without India

    The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a mega trade bloc comprising 15 countries led by China has come into existence.

    Try answering this:

    Q.Signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement would have given more substance to India’s Act East policy. Analyse.

    About RCEP

    • Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between –
    1. The 10 members of ASEAN
    2. Additional members of ASEAN +3 = China, Japan, South Korea
    3. Members with which ASEAN countries have FTA = Australia, New Zealand
    • The group is expected to represent at least 30% of the global GDP and will emerge as the largest free trade agreement in the world.
    • It includes more than 3 billion people, has a combined GDP of about $17 trillion, and accounts for about 40 per cent of world trade.

    India’s reluctance

    • India’s ties with China in recent months have been disturbed by the military tension in eastern Ladakh along the LAC.
    • In the meantime, India has also held a maritime exercise with Japan, Australia, and the United States for the “Quad” that was interpreted as an anti-China move.
    • However, these moves did not influence Japanese and Australian plans regarding RCEP.

     Leverage for China

    • Despite the pandemic, the RCEP is certainly leverage for China and shows the idea of decoupling from China is not a substantive issue in a regional sense.
    • The agreement means a lot for China, as it will give it access to Japanese and South Korean markets in a big way, as the three countries have not yet agreed on their FTA.