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Subject: International Stories of Key Importance

  • Explained: China-Taiwan tussle

    Recently China flew over 100 fighter jets into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone setting off alarm around the world that it was preparing to take over the island by force.

    Taiwan: the Republic of China (RoC)

    • Taiwan, earlier known as Formosa, a tiny island off the east coast of China, is where Chinese republicans of the Kuomintang government retreated after the 1949 victory of the communists.
    • It has since continued as the Republic of China (RoC).
    • Although largely unrecognized by other countries as such, self-ruled Taiwan sees itself as no less than an independent nation.
    • Its leaders, have vowed to defend its sovereignty against the Chinese goal of “reunification”.

    Chinese claims over Taiwan

    • Since its establishment in 1949, the PRC has believed that Taiwan must be reunified with the mainland, while the RoC claim to be an independent country.
    • The RoC became the non-communist frontier against China during the Cold War, and was the only ‘China’ recognised at the UN until 1971.
    • That was when the US inaugurated ties with China through the secret diplomacy under President Richard Nixon.

    Independence politics by Taipei

    • In 1975, Taiwan got its first democratic reforms. Trade ties with PRC were established.
    • As the British prepared to exit Hong Kong in 1999, the “One China, Two Systems” solution was offered to Taiwan as well, but it was rejected by the Taiwanese.
    • In 2004, China started drafting an anti-secession law aimed at Taiwan; trade and connectivity, however, continued to improve.

    Hurdles for Taiwanese independence

    • Taiwan now has massive economic interests, including investments in China, and pro-independence sections worry that this might come in the way of their goals.
    • Inversely, the pro-reunification sections of the polity, as well as China, hope that economic dependence and increasing people-to-people contacts will wear out the pro-independence lobbies.

    Global significance of Taiwan

    • The island is located in the East China Sea, to the northeast of Hong Kong, north of the Philippines and south of South Korea, and southwest of Japan.
    • What happens in and around Taiwan is of deep concern to all of East Asia.

    Geopolitics: US ties with Taiwan

    • Officially, the US has subscribed to PRC’s “One China Policy” which means there is only one legitimate Chinese government.
    • The most serious encounter was in 1995-96, when China began testing missiles in the seas around Taiwan, triggering the biggest US mobilization in the region since the Vietnam War.
    • Now, the US backs Taiwan’s independence, maintains ties with Taipei, and sells weapons to it.
    • Taiwan is entirely dependent on the US for its defense against possible Chinese aggression.
    • This is why every spike in military tensions between China and Taiwan injects more hostility into the already strained relationship between Washington and Beijing.

    Challenge for the US

    • The Biden Administration has declared “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan after an incursion by Chinese warplanes.
    • As tensions rise, the world is watching the US, which is face-saving after exiting from Afghanistan.
    • In East and Southeast Asia, several countries including Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines, which are sheltered under the Protective umbrella of the US, are reading the situation.
    • The US has also agreed to abide by the “Taiwan Agreement”, under which US support for the “One China Policy” is premised on Beijing not invading Taiwan.

    Recent initiatives against China

    • The AUKUS pact among the US, UK, and Australia, under which Australia will be supplied with nuclear submarines, has imparted a new dimension to the security dynamics of the Indo-Pacific.
    • Taiwan has welcomed the pact, while China has denounced it as seriously undermining regional peace.

    Implications for India

    • With India facing its own problems with China at the LAC, there have been suggestions that it should review its One China Policy.
    • It has in any case long stopped reiterating this officially — and use not just the Tibet card, but also develop more robust relations with Taiwan to send a message to Beijing.
    • India and Taiwan currently maintain “trade and cultural exchange” offices in each other’s capitals.

    India-Taiwan Ties: A backgrounder

    • India and Taiwan both do not maintain any official diplomatic relations.
    • India recognizes only the People’s Republic of China (in mainland China) and not Taiwan’s claims of being the legitimate government of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
    • However, India’s economic and commercial links, as well as people-to-people contacts with Taiwan, have expanded in recent years.
    • Major Taiwanese exports to India include integrated circuits, machinery, and other electronic products.

    India’s interest

    Ans. Semiconductor economy

    • Taiwan’s position as a semiconductor superpower opens the door for more intensive strategic-economic cooperation between Delhi and Taipei.
    • The talks with Taipei are ongoing to bring a $7.5-billion semiconductor or chip manufacturing plant to India.
    • Chips are used in a range of devices from computers to 5G smartphones, to electric cars and medical equipment.

    Way forward

    • Delhi must begin to deal with Taiwan as a weighty entity in its own right that offers so much to advance India’s prosperity.
    • Delhi does not have to discard its “One-China policy” to recognise that Taiwan is once again becoming the lightning rod in US-China tensions.

    Conclusion

    • As Taiwan becomes the world’s most dangerous flashpoint, the geopolitical consequences for Asia are real.
    • Although Delhi has embraced the Indo-Pacific maritime construct, it is yet to come to terms with Taiwan’s critical role in shaping the strategic future of Asia’s waters.

     

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  • Explained: Global Minimum Tax Deal

    A global deal to ensure big companies pay a minimum tax rate of 15% and make it harder for them to avoid taxation has been agreed by 136 countries.

    What is the news?

    • The OECD said four countries – Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – had not yet joined the agreement.
    • However, the countries behind the accord together accounted for over 90% of the global economy.

    Why a global minimum tax?

    • With budgets strained after the COVID-19 crisis, many governments want more than ever to discourage multinationals from shifting profits – and tax revenues – to low-tax countries.
    • Increasingly, income from intangible sources such as drug patents, software and royalties on intellectual property has migrated to these jurisdictions.
    • This has allowed companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their traditional home countries.
    • The minimum tax and other provisions aim to put an end to decades of tax competition between governments to attract foreign investment.

    How would a deal work?

    • The global minimum tax rate would apply to overseas profits of multinational firms with 750 million euros ($868 million) in sales globally.
    • Govts could still set whatever local corporate tax rate they want.
    • However, buif companies pay lower rates in a particular country, their home governments could “top up” their taxes to the 15% minimum, eliminating the advantage of shifting profits.
    • A second track of the overhaul would allow countries where revenues are earned to tax 25% of the largest multinationals’ so-called excess profit – defined as profit in excess of 10% of revenue.

    What happens next?

    • The next step is for finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers to formally endorse the deal, paving the way for adoption by G20 leaders at an end October summit.
    • Nonetheless, questions remain about the US position which hangs in part on a domestic tax reform the Biden administration wants to push through the US Congress.
    • The agreement calls for countries to bring it into law in 2022 so that it can take effect by 2023, an extremely tight timeframe given that previous international tax deals took years to implement.
    • Countries that have in recent years created national digital services taxes will have to repeal them.

    What will be the economic impact?

    • The OECD, which has steered the negotiations, estimates the minimum tax will generate $150 billion in additional global tax revenues annually.
    • Taxing rights on more than $125 billion of profit will be additionally shifted to the countries were they are earned from the low tax countries where they are currently booked.
    • Economists expect that the deal will encourage multinationals to repatriate capital to their country of headquarters, giving a boost to those economies.
    • However, various deductions and exceptions baked into the deal are at the same time designed to limit the impact on low tax countries like Ireland, where many US groups base their European operations.

    Back2Basics: Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)

    • BEPS refers to corporate tax planning strategies used by multinationals to “shift” profits from higher-tax jurisdictions to lower-tax jurisdictions.
    • It thus “erodes” the “tax base” of the higher-tax jurisdictions.
    • Corporate tax havens offer BEPS tools to “shift” profits to the haven, and additional BEPS tools to avoid paying taxes within the haven.
    • It is alleged that BEPS is associated mostly with American technology and life science multinationals.

    Try this:

     

    Q.3) What are the factors that led to the demand of global minimum corporate tax? What will be its implications for India? (10 Marks)

     

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  • Issues faced by World Bank and IMF

    This article discusses some inherent issues with the international organizations (IOs) i.e., the World Bank (Bank) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) (aka Bretton Woods Twins). This comes in the backyard of the WB decision to scrap its flagship publication, the ‘Doing Business’ report.

    Issue over chair: A monopoly of the West

    • Common individuals to head: The individuals which are common to them: Paul Wolfowitz, Jim-Kim, David Malpass, Rodrigo Rato, Dominique-Strauss Kahn, Christine Lagarde, and Kristalina Georgieva.
    • Monopoly of US/EU: They have all become heads via a dual monopoly selection procedure: Only an American can head the Bank and only a European can head the IMF.
    • Personal integrity: This has been called into question, the most recent being the revelations of malfeasance at the World Bank where data was apparently massaged to make at least two major countries — China and Saudi Arabia— look better than they would otherwise have been.

    Issues with these heads: Hypocrisy

    • Political accountability: Within countries, we expect reasonable standards of integrity from heads of important institutions, and democratic political accountability mechanisms exist to ensure that.
    • Probity: The effectiveness and legitimacy of these individuals and indeed of the international institutions they head require personal qualities of probity.
    • Non-virtuous preachers: These heads often go around the developing world, preaching the virtues of good governance, from arguing against the scourge of corruption to improving data integrity.
    • Undue parameters: There are even World Bank indices to rank countries on those metrics.

    How has this impacted these institutions?

    Ans. The credibility of the institutions is lost.

    • It is not just the charge of hypocrisy, but also the effect on the morale and motivation of the staff of these institutions.
    • Many of them chose to work here because of a commitment to public service.
    • The recent letter by more than 300 former World Bank staff, expressing their anguish at the recent revelations on the Doing Business index, captures this sentiment.

    Why such issues grapple these institutions?

    • Goal definition: International institutions operate in a grey zone of neither clearly being in or outside the realm of formal politics and hence have weaker mechanisms of accountability.
    • Selection of heads: The selection procedure for choosing heads of the Bank and the Fund has been a dismal failure. Compromised heads are potentially more biased.
    • Indoctrination: Contrast this with the growing alarm and anxiety that characterizes the rise of China and its attempts to place its own nationals in existing IOs as well as creating new ones.

    Chinese has intruded even into these

    • Countries place their nationals to head these institutions, both for prestige and to pursue their national interests.
    • China has its own nationals now head four of the 15 UN specialized agencies (it suffered a rare setback to head the World Intellectual Property Organisation last year).

    Conclusion

    • The contest between the West (and especially the US) and China to shape the global order is becoming manifest.
    • China’s efforts, its success, and more broadly its influence in IOs should certainly raise deep concerns, most notably the suppression of the inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus.
    • Looking ahead, if the US and Europe do not hold themselves to the standards they exhort to the rest of the world, their credibility and legitimacy will continue to degrade.
    • This will cede ground and soft power to geopolitical rivals.

    Way forward

    • So, global political leaders convening next week for the annual meetings of the Bank and Fund must act with urgency and conviction to stem the rot.
    • They must open the selection of the heads of these institutions to the best candidate, regardless of nationality.
    • And to pave the way, they should clear up the current mess over the Doing Business saga.

    Back2Basics:

    International Org. | Part 7 | Bretton Woods Institutions – World Bank Group

     

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  • What is H-1B Visa?

    The need for H-1B visas will continue to exist till the ‘talent challenge’ is tackled globally, even though the information technology industry has successfully adopted the work-from-home model amid pandemic-related travel restrictions.

    Various US Visa Programs

    1) H-1B visa

    What is it: The H-1B visa category covers individuals who “work in a speciality occupation, engage in cooperative research and development projects administered by the US Department of Defense or are fashion models that have national or international acclaim and recognition.”

    Who’s covered: The H-1B is most well known as a visa for skilled tech workers, but other industries, like health care and the media, also use these visas.

    2) H-2B visa

    What it is: According to USCIS, the H-2B program allows US employers or agents “to bring foreign nationals to the United States to fill temporary non-agricultural jobs.”

    Who’s covered: They generally apply to seasonal workers in industries like landscaping, forestry, hospitality and construction.

    3) J-1 visa

    What it is: The J-1 visa is an exchange visitor visa for individuals approved to participate in work-and-study-based exchange visitor programs in the United States.

    Who’s covered:     The impacted people include interns, trainees, teachers, camp counsellors, au pairs and participants in summer work travel programs.

    4) L-1 visa

    What it is: The L1 Visa is reserved for managerial or executive professionals transferring to the US from within the same company, or a subsidiary of it. The L1 Visa can also be used for a foreign company opening up US operations.

    Who’s covered: Within the L1 Visa, there are two subsidiary types of visas

    • L1A visa for managers and executives.
    • L1B visa for those with specialized knowledge.

     

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  • Stand-off over North Korea reinforces the hollowness of the doctrine of deterrence

    Context

    The resumption of North Korea’s largest fissile material production reactor, has sparked speculation about its real and symbolic significance.

    Background of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development

    • In 1994, Pyongyang barred IAEA access to the Yongbyon complex amid suspicions that the country was generating plutonium from spent fuel.
    • 1994 Agreed Framework, an executive agreement signed by President Bill Clinton, required Pyongyang to freeze all nuclear activity and allow inspection of its military sites in return for the construction of two light water reactors.
    • The accord broke down in 2002.
    • In June 2008, in order to express its denuclearisation commitment to the U.S. and four other countries, Pyongyang blew up the cooling tower at the Yongbyon complex.
    • A few months in 2008, Pyongyang barred IAEA inspectors access to its reprocessing plant in the Yongbyon complex and eventually expelled them the following April.
    • In November 2010 American scientist Siegfried Hecker confirmed accounts that North Korea had rapidly built a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon.

    Why does resumption nuclear reactor matter?

    • The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has underlined that the restart of activity in Yongbyon constitutes a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
    • Reprocessing of fuel: The reactor at the Yongbyon complex has been central to the North Korean reprocessing of spent fuel rods to generate plutonium.
    • Enrichment of fuel: Besides the production of highly enriched uranium for the development of atomic bombs.

    Way forward

    • Negotiations: The Biden administration has adopted a pragmatic path of declaring its readiness to resume negotiations with Pyongyang.
    • UN treaty on complete abolition of nuclear arms: The UN treaty on complete abolition of atomic arms, whose deliberations were boycotted by all nuclear weapons states, is the morally superior alternative.

    Conclusion

    The protracted stand-off over North Korea reinforces the hollowness of the doctrine of deterrence and begs the question whether proliferation can ever be prevented just because nuclear weapons states want to perpetuate their dominance.

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    Back2Basics: IAEA

    • The International Atomic Energy Agency is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
    • It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, contributing to international peace and security and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
    • The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.
    • The Agency’s genesis was U.S. President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1953.

  • Afghan exit- not the end of the road for the U.S.

    Context

    The debate has abruptly shifted to the future of the United States after its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

    Background of the US presence in Afghanistan

    • The terrorist attacks of 9/11, which was a game-changing global experience, led the U.S. to enter Afghanistan.
    •  The terrorist attacks transformed the geopolitics of the world.
    • The most powerful country in the world, which had the capacity to destroy the world many times over, became powerless before a few terrorists.
    •  Once the responsibility of the attack was traced to Osama bin Laden and the terrorists in Afghanistan, it was imperative for the U.S. to retaliate by overthrowing the Taliban regime.

    How US presence in Afghanistan benefited the region

    • After accomplishing its mission the US was not able to withdraw because the Afghanistan government was unable to withstand the onslaught of the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
    • Even neighbouring countries, including India, were strongly in favour of continuing the American presence.
    • The US presence helped to provide a certain stability for Afghanistan.
    • The result of their presence was the prevalence of relative peace in the region except that Pakistan fattened the Taliban with American largesse.
    • The U.S. presence in Afghanistan had succeeded in containing the dangers of terrorism for two decades.

    Way forward for the US and the rest of the world

    • The US is still the most powerful economic and military power around which the whole constellation of the world rotates.
    • Democratic world leadership: The world has a stake in ensuring that a democratic nation leads the world rather than an expansionist dictatorship which has no public opinion to restrain it.
    • Maintain the US leadership: The free world has a responsibility to maintain the American leadership of the world till a wiser and more benign alternative is found.

    Conclusion

    Much has been written about a post-American world for some years now. But it looks that the demise of America, as Mark Twain said about the reports of his own death, is greatly exaggerated.

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  • China-Myanmar New Passage

    The shipments on a newly-launched railway line under the China-Myanmar New Passage from the Myanmar border to the key commercial hub of Chengdu in western China have started.

    China-Myanmar New Passage

    • The passage provides China a new road-rail transportation channel to the Indian Ocean, were delivered last week, state media reported on Tuesday.
    • The transport corridor involves a sea-road-rail link.
    • It connects the logistics lines of Singapore, Myanmar, and China, and is currently the most convenient land and sea channel linking the Indian Ocean with southwest China.
    • Goods from Singapore reached Yangon Port, arriving by ship through the Andaman Sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean, and were then transported by road to Lincang on the Chinese side of the Myanmar-China border in Yunnan province.
    • The new railway line that runs from the border town of Lincang to Chengdu, a key trade hub in western China, completes the corridor.

    Why does India need to be watchful?

    • From the perspective of security, India’s border with Myanmar has historically presented serious security challenges.
    • Chinese troops had used the Myanmar route to threaten India’s North-eastern States prior to the 1962 war.
    • In the run-up to the India-China war of 1962, Chinese troops had commissioned local muleteers in Northern Myanmar to facilitate the movement of troops and war logistics to challenge India’s Northeast.

    Way forward

    • The work on infrastructure projects in India’s Northeastern States needs to be expedited to ensure speedy mobilization of India’s own troops to face different contingencies.
    • Monitoring of developments including deployment of space assets to ensure that India is not caught unaware would be desirable.
    • Most importantly, India on its part needs to substantially step up its own game in Myanmar and proactively engage Myanmar in the realm of the infrastructure upgrade.

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  • Taliban and new realpolitik

    Context

    As the last American soldiers fly out of Kabul airport and the world adapts to the return of the Taliban, three uncomfortable but enduring features of international politics have come into sharp focus.

    1) The normalisation of the Taliban by the International community

    • That victories on the battlefield have political consequences is one of the fundamental features of international politics.
    • There is no reason for India to be surprised at the rapid normalisation of the Taliban by the international community.
    • Whether it likes the new and victorious sovereign or not, a government has the obligation to secure its national interests — ranging from the protection of its citizens and property to maintaining the regional balance of power.
    • India is not immune to this essential principle of international relations and will find ways to protect its stakes in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

    2) Future U.S. relations with the Taliban

    • The second enduring feature of world politics — that there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests.
    • Convergence of interests: The US would want to explore if the Taliban can help secure long-term American interests in preventing a regrouping of international terror outfits like the al Qaeda and ISIS in Afghanistan.
    • The Taliban on the other hand would want American and Western support in rebuilding Afghanistan.
    • It is by no means clear if such a deal can be clinched, given the big risks it presents to both sides.
    • The US engagement with the Taliban to counter the ISIS-K has been met with derision across the world.
    • Critics say all these groups are part of the same school of terror, driven by similar religious zeal and nurtured in Pakistan’s sanctuaries.

    3) Exploit the differences between adversaries: Way forward for India

    • The third feature of international politics is that differences even among the closest of friends are natural and always offer openings to adversaries.
    • For India, the main interest is in preventing Afghan soil from being used by anti-India terror groups.
    • At least a section of the Taliban is eager to continue political and commercial engagement with India.
    • This is part of a natural quest for a diversified set of international partnerships.
    • India would be right to wait patiently on the Taliban’s ability to deliver on these promises and stand up against the Pakistan army’s pressures to keep India out.
    • Exploit the contradictions: India should not rule out contradictions between Pakistan and the terror groups it has nurtured as well as among various jihadi organisations.
    • Despite its powerful appeal, religious ideology has failed to build durable political coalitions within and across nations.

    Conclusion

    Given this history, it is unwise for Delhi to paint the external challenges arising from the Afghan tumult as a single coherent force. The Panchatantra has a more sensible strategy to offer — try and divide your potential adversaries and strengthen your internal unity.

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  • Soft power, India’s strength in Afghanistan

    Context

    Over the past few weeks, there has been much talk about India’s diplomatic stakes being threatened by the changing political scenario in Afghanistan.

    India’s role in Afghanistan’s development

    • India is currently the fifth-largest donor in Afghanistan.
    • India’s total development assistance over the years has been worth over $3 billion.
    • Soft and hard measures: India’s development cooperation with Afghanistan has encompassed both soft and hard measures.
    • Soft measures have helped build goodwill and greater people-to-people contact and has involved measures focusing on health, education, capacity development and food security, among others.
    • Many projects have been community-driven, thus helping engage a large section of people in development efforts.
    • Hard infrastructure examples include the parliament building which was inaugurated in 2015, financing the Delaram-Zaranj Highway as well as the 42 MW Salma Dam in Herat province.
    • India had also engaged in triangular cooperation under the US umbrella, cooperating with USAID on various programmes.
    • This includes Afghan Women’s Empowerment Programme, a collaboration between USAID and the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) for providing vocational education for Afghan women.

    How India’s approach differed from other donors?

    • Demand-driven approach: India follows a demand-driven approach, which implies that the sectors for investment are chosen by the recipient government.
    • Not condition based: although its aid is extended as a soft means to gain strategic leverage, it comes without political conditions.
    • In PPP terms, the value of the Indian rupee is often underestimated, meaning that the Indian rupee would be able to buy substantially more goods and services at adjusted exchange rates.
    • For example, a study by the Stimson Centre found out that even though Indian aid in 2015-16 totalled $1.36 billion, in PPP terms it could be pegged at over $5 billion.

    Way forward

    • Adapt programs to new reality: At the Afghanistan Conference in Geneva in 2020, India announced several development projects.
    • New political developments in Afghanistan are unlikely to lead to a complete disconnect with India and its established socio-economic role.
    • However, India may need to adapt its programmes to new realities.
    • Diversify portfolio: There is still an infrastructure deficit in Afghanistan and a need for rebuilding and reconstruction.
    • As far as development cooperation is concerned, however, India needs to further diversify its portfolios.
    • Resilient Afghanistan to climate change: India can do much to build a more resilient Afghanistan with respect to climate change and disaster risk reduction with it spearheading global campaigns like CDRI.

    Conclusion

    India needs to establish itself as a neutral entity that is keen on the development of the region but ready to work with all parties concerned.

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  • India &Arctic ocean

    It is tempting to view the current geopolitics of the Arctic through the lenses of the ‘great power competition’ and inevitable conflict of interests.

    Current geopolitical scenario in the Arctic: US-Russia Spat

    • It is mainly viewed as the growing tensions between North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies and Russia.
    • By the end of the Cold War, the geopolitical tensions and security concerns in the Arctic were almost forgotten.
    • The perceived ‘harmony’ was broken in 2007, when the Russian explorers planted their flag on the seabed 4,200m (13,779ft) below the North Pole to articulate Moscow’s claims in the Arctic.
    • This move was certainly viewed as provocative by other Arctic State.
    • The regional tension increased after the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2014.
    • Consequently, relations between the U.S. and Russia reached their lowest point again.

    Note: Five Arctic littoral states — Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Russia and the USA (Alaska) — and three other Arctic nations — Finland, Sweden and Iceland — form the Arctic Council (estd. 1996).

    Try mapping them.

    Caution: India became an Observer in the Arctic Council for the first time in 2013. And, India isn’t a full-time observer.

    China’s vested interests in Arctic

    • China, for example, with its self-proclaimed status of a ‘near Arctic state’, has been actively engaged in various projects across the region.
    • The importance of the Arctic region for China mostly stems from its energy security issues and the need to diversify shipping lanes.

    Why China focuses on Arctic?

    • Transport routes from China to Europe through the Arctic are not only much shorter but also free from the challenges associated with the Malacca Strait and South China Sea.
    • In the latter case, China will continue facing a backlash from many Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, supported by US forces and Quad.

    Impact of Climate change on Arctic

    • The Arctic is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the planet with consecutive record-breaking warm years since 2014.
    • The Arctic is likely to begin experiencing ice-free summers within the next decade, with summers likely to be completely free of sea ice by mid-century.

    Conclusion

    • Given the significance of the region, the Arctic will continue to draw increased attention.
    • Hence, countries should refrain from mutual provocations, excessive militarisation, and quid pro quo tactics.
    • All Arctic actors should have a long-term vision and strategic goals as compared to immediate short-term gains.
    • Instead of creating a potential battleground that is reminiscent of the Cold War, the parties concerned should utilise their expertise and create the required synergy to achieve shared goals.
    • Climate change and its dramatic consequences must be a catalyst for Arctic cooperation.

    Back2Basics: Arctic Council

    • It is an advisory body that promotes cooperation among member nations and indigenous groups as per the Ottawa Declaration of 1996.
    • Its focus is on sustainable development and environmental protection of the Arctic.
    • The Arctic Council consists of the eight Arctic States: Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States.
    • In 2013, six Observers joined the Arctic Council, including China, Japan, India, Italy, South Korea, and Singapore, bringing their total number to 13.

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