IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Analysis

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 18th April 2018

(PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS)

Law Commission recommends holding of simultaneous elections

Part of: Mains GS Paper II- Indian polity

Key pointers:

Pic credits: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/article23579189.ece/alternates/FREE_660/TH17-SC-SIMULTAGBP3QQSTR1jpgjpg

A draft white paper released by the Law Commission of India recommends holding of simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies, possibly in 2019.
It suggests amending the Constitution, Representation of the People Act of 1951 and the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Assemblies, to realise this objective.
The commission was headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice B.S. Chauhan.
The commission says simultaneous elections were held in the country during the first two decades after Independence up to 1967.
Dissolution of certain Assemblies in 1968 and 1969 followed by the dissolution of the Lok Sabha led to the “disruption of the conduct of simultaneous elections.”

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India-Sweden: PM’s visit to Sweden

Part of: Mains GS Paper II- International relations

Key pointers:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Swedish counterpart has agreed upon a joint action plan (JAP) for both countries to take forward a wide range of initiatives in defence, trade and investment, counterterrorism, renewable energy, smart cities, women’s skill development, space and science and healthcare.
Characterising the JAP as a “win-win partnership” for New Delhi and Stockholm, Mr. Modi underscored the critical role of the defence sector and security initiatives as a pillar of the bilateral relationship.
On counterterrorism, Mr. Modi and Mr. Löfven emphasised that the global counterterrorism legal framework should be regularly updated to address the changing threat of terrorism with strength.
Under the Sweden-India Innovation Partnership for a Sustainable Future, the Swedish government will kick start Innovation Partnership by providing up to 50 million Swedish kronor (over $59 million) for innovation cooperation in the field of smart cities and sustainability.

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Kaladan Multimodal Project: Ongoing work

Part of: Mains GS Paper II, III- International relations, Infrastructure

Key pointers:

After years of delay, India has finally kicked off the construction of the 109-km road project that connects Paletwa river terminal to Zorinpui on the Mizoram border in Myanmar, as part of the $484-million Kaladan Multimodal project.
The Rs. 1,600-crore road project passes through dense forests and hilly areas.
On completion, the project will help connect Mizoram with the Sittwe Port in Rakhine State of Myanmar.
India has already completed the rest of the Kaladan project work in Myanmar.
This includes the construction of the Sittwe Port on Lakadan river mouth in Rakhine, construction of a river terminal 158 upstream at Paletwa and dredging of the Kaladan river.
On the Indian side, work is on to extend the Aizawl-Saiha National Highway to the international border at Zorinpui.
Also, a Rs. 6,000-crore project is under way for four-laning the 300-km highway from Myanmar border to Aizawl to ensure the faster movement of goods.
Completion of the Paletwa-Zorinpui road holds the key to operationalise the Kaladan multi-modal project.

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Task force on natural gas: India and US

Part of: Mains GS Paper II, III- International relations, Energy security

Key pointers:

India and the US has announced the formation of a task force on natural gas aimed at increasing the share of gas in India’s primary energy mix.
Under the US-India Energy Partnership, the US and India will pursue four primary pillars of cooperation. These are oil and gas, power and energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable growth, and coal.
The newly set up task force will have a team of US and Indian industry experts with a mandate to propose, develop, and convey, innovative policy recommendations to Government of India in support of its vision for natural gas in the economy of India.
The work of the task force is expected to advance the strategic and economic interests of both the nations.

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(MAINS FOCUS)

INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC: General Studies 2:

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Reset of India’s neighborhood policy

Introduction:

The government’s foreign policy moves over the past few months represent a profound shift in its thinking about the neighborhood.

On the mend:

The “reset” with China:

The trigger for the rapprochement between the two neighbours was the peaceful resolution of the Doklam standoff and Mr. Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Xiamen last year.

To begin with, the government has taken care not to respond with any heat to reports of the Chinese build-up at Doklam.
Keeping its responses cool, New Delhi has been repeating that the Doklam standoff point is untouched and Chinese construction on their side of the boundary is “not a threat” to India.
The government has also gone to some lengths to tone down planned celebrations marking the anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s arrival from Tibet.
New Delhi and Beijing have now embarked on a flurry of high-level visits that are meant to lead up to a summit meeting between the two leaders; they may even meet more than once.

The shift has given rise to speculation that the two sides are intent on making significant progress in smoothening ties on outstanding issues such as boundary negotiations and also narrowing the trade deficit.

In South Asian region:

This flexibility is also mirrored in the government’s dealings in the South Asian region.

With Maldives:

Despite several appeals by the Maldivian opposition, and nudges from the U.S., the Modi government decided not to exert hard power in bringing Maldives President Abdulla Yameen around after he declared a state of emergency in the country.
Nor did it engage China in a confrontation when Mr. Yameen sought Beijing’s support in this regard.
The government remained silent as Male went a step further and held discussions with Pakistan’s Army Chief, Gen. on joint patrolling of its Exclusive Economic Zone, an area of operation in the Indian Ocean considered to be India’s domain.

With Nepal:

Instead of seeing red when Prime Minister K.P. Oli made it clear that he would step up engagement with China in infrastructure development, India rolled out the red carpet for him earlier this month.
Nor did India raise concern over Nepal’s Constitution which had sparked the confrontation between India and Nepal in 2015-16.

Bhutan and Bangladesh:

There has also been outreach to Bhutan and Bangladesh in recent weeks.
Both Bhutan and Bangladesh are to hold elections this year, and with incumbent governments more favourably disposed to New Delhi than their challengers in the opposition, the results will have an impact on India’s influence in these countries as well.

Quiet progress with Pakistan:

This year, the government admitted in Parliament for the first time that National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval had met his Pakistani counterpart, as a part of “established channels of communications at various levels” between the two sides in the past few years, post-Pathankot.
Meanwhile, the resolution of the standoff over the treatment of diplomats in Delhi and Islamabad indicates that neither government has the appetite for escalation at this point.

The next steps:

Overall it seems that India’s hard power strategy in the region is being replaced with a more conciliatory one.
However, the next steps will be defined not by a quiet or defensive approach to redefining India’s foreign policy in the region, but with a more bold and proactive one.

The reset with China will work only if there are transactional dividends for both New Delhi and Beijing. Two issues on which both governments can show flexibility are China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and India’s bid for Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership.
On the NSG, China could remove its block to India’s membership by adopting a more inclusive approach within the nuclear export control organisation.
The goodwill from such a move would propel India-China relations forward.

On the BRI, if there is political will on both sides, they needn’t look too far for creative solutions around India’s three concerns: on territorial integrity, transparency of projects and their sustainability.

Territorial integrity-
The solution is contained in a proposal under consideration — to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan.
The shift from the CPEC to what could be called PACE or the Pakistan-Afghanistan-China Economic corridor would necessitate a shift away from projects in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Those projects may still be built and funded by China, but then would not constitute a part of the BRI route; as a result, India’s concerns on sovereignty could be dispensed with.
Several countries, from Europe to Central and East Asia, are now echoing India’s concerns about the environmental and debt trap risks that BRI projects pose.
India could take the lead in creating an international template for infrastructure and connectivity proposals, one that would seek to engage China and other donor countries in a structured approach towards debt financing.
This would win India goodwill in the neighbourhood too, where every other country (apart from Bhutan) has signed on to the BRI but has felt alienated by India’s rigid opposition to the initiative.

SAARC re-engagement:

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit is to take place this year, with Pakistan as the host.
India’s decision on attending the meeting should be rational.

Afghanistan, which supported India’s move to pull out of the SAARC summit in Islamabad in 2016 following the Uri attacks, is engaging with Pakistan again.
Sri Lanka and Nepal, both sympathetic to India’s outrage over Uri, are pushing for a summit this year.

Connecting the dots:

The government’s foreign policy moves in recent times represent a profound shift in its thinking about the neighborhood. Discuss.

INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC:General Studies 2:

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

India’s interest in re-energised Commonwealth

Introduction:

The Commonwealth Summit is to be held this week in London.
The Indian debate on the future of the forum has certainly changed. After decades of ignoring it, Delhi now believes that a rejuvenated Commonwealth could lend greater depth to India’s global outreach.

Background:

When Jawaharlal Nehru decided to join the Commonwealth after Independence, many expressed deep discomfort with what they saw as a needless affiliation with the former colonial power.
Nehru, however, stood steadfast in his commitment to the Commonwealth. For him, it was a valuable political and economic link to a major Western power during the Cold War.
While both Indira and Rajiv saw some utility in India’s membership of the Commonwealth, India’s growing divergence with Britain and the West during the Cold War and an inward economic orientation severely limited Delhi’s possibilities with the forum.
As Britain itself turned to Europe, the Commonwealth began to lose much of its lustre in London.
When India opened up to the world, politically and economically, after the Cold War, with its focus on the US and China on the one hand and South Asia on the other, the Commonwealth simply fell off India’s mental map.

Delhi’s renewed interest in the Commonwealth:

It has been long overdue. It is based on common sense.
At a moment when India’s global interests are expanding, the pragmatists in Delhi argue, India must make the best use of all available multilateral forums, including the Commonwealth.

Way ahead:

The Commonwealth needs to give up its “prescriptive approach” on rights.
The focus should be on bringing greater economic prosperity for the peoples of the forum through an enhanced trade and investment relationship.
The Commonwealth could devote considerable energies towards the promotion of sustainable development and maritime security, which pose existential challenges to the many small and island states in the forum.
The Commonwealth can become more valuable to its member states if it directs its aid and assistance to a few major priority areas rather than spreading its resources on a range of issues.
India can and must do a lot of things in re-energising the Commonwealth. The government’s emphasis must be on strengthening India’s contribution to the Commonwealth.
As the soon-to-be largest economy in the forum, India can significantly increase its levels of economic assistance, give more to the maintenance of the Secretariat, boost the current efforts on capacity building, and above all, open its economy to facilitate trade liberalisation across the Commonwealth.
Reviving the Commonwealth is not about India taking over from Britain. It is about reordering the relationship between Delhi and London.
Although the relations between India and Britain have significantly improved, Britain is yet to do what most other Western powers have done.
It is to recognise that India’s rise is in their own national interests. Britain has remained somewhat hesitant to align with India on the regional issues in the Subcontinent and beyond.
A significant change in that direction could help transform the bilateral relationship as well as the Commonwealth.

Conclusion:

Many British intellectuals are warning against the illusion that the Commonwealth can be a substitute for the European Union. There is no reason for India to be drawn into that internal argument in Britain.
What matters for India is the terms of engagement that are on offer for a new British relationship with India and the Commonwealth in the changed domestic and international context. Negotiating favourable terms is what that should matter for Delhi.

Connecting the dots: