21 Dec 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The new normal in the Indo-Pacific contestation

Syllabus: India and its neighborhood relations.

Mains: Contestation in Indo-Pacific.

Details:

• The world is embracing a ‘new normal’ with the reconfiguration of fault lines in the Indo-Pacific.
• Considering their geo-political and geo-economic significance along with India’s rise as a prominent power, the Indian Ocean and South Asian regions are at the heart of the contestation.
• India’s Quad partners are also making inroads and ushering significant changes in the region in the backdrop of increasing tensions between an aggressive China and an emerging India.

For more information on the Quad, read here: Quadrilateral Security Dialogue |QUAD Group| India, Japan, USA, Australia.

China’s Expanding Outreach:

• China has long tried to register its influence in these regions and enhance its strategic ambition by limiting India’s influence, military power, and status and sustaining its energy supply and economic growth.
• China’s outreach in South Asia increased considerably in the early 2000s. It began to extend its strategic ends in the region through loans, incentives, and mega-infrastructure projects. These efforts became more institutionalized with the introduction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013.
• As a result, China’s accessibility to the Indian Ocean increased. Beijing could promote its political and security ties in the region, harbour military vessels and submarines, and take certain islands and ports on the lease ( like the Hambantota port of Sri Lanka).
• The Indian strategic thinking is deeming Beijing as a bigger threat than Islamabad, post the Galwan clash of 2020.
  • It should be noted that though the possibility of a two-front war persists, Pakistan’s strategic isolation, economic and political fallout, and border and terror challenges from Afghanistan have reduced the likelihood of its aggression.
  • Whereas, China’s larger strategic and diplomatic presence, and great ambitions have continued to trigger angst for India.

For more information on Hambantota, read here: Hambantota Port: Overview, Facts and India’s Concerns

Measures by India and Quad:

• India has re-energized its diplomatic efforts in its neighborhood. For instance:
  • India is reciprocating Maldive’s ‘India First’ policy through massive economic assistance, grants, and infrastructure projects. Both countries are also cooperating on maritime security.
  • Nepal has attempted to improve its overall bilateral relations with India.
  • In a span of one year, India provided economic and humanitarian assistance and investments worth $4 billion to crisis-hit Sri Lanka.
• India’s efforts in the region have also attracted other Quad members. Some of the examples are:
  • All the members of Quad (Australia, Japan, and the United States) are closely cooperating to push China by offering alternatives to BRI. They also assisted Sri Lanka throughout the crisis.
  • Japan is in the final talks with Sri Lanka on account of debt restructuring.
  • Australia and the U.S. have committed to opening their embassies and new areas of cooperation in Maldives. Furthermore, the U.S. signed a defence and security framework with the Maldives in 2020.
  • Earlier in 2022, Nepal also ratified the U.S.’s Millennium Challenge Cooperation (Nepal Compact) which was against China’s interest.

For more information on Sri Lanka economic crisis, read here: Sri Lankan Economic Crisis 2021- Present

Emerging Challenges: 

• It should be noted that India and its partners’ efforts are unlikely to deter China, especially with rising tensions against India, and the Quad making inroads in South Asia.
• The Chinese surveillance vessel Yuan Wang-5 (docked in Sri Lanka in August 2022), re-entered the Indian Ocean in early December.
• A similar incident occurred in November, when another vessel of the Yuan Wang series entered the Indian Ocean, coinciding with the test flight of the Agni-series missile.
• China also hosted its first-ever China-Indian Ocean Region Forum, to institutionalize its presence in the region and challenge initiatives like the Quad and the Colombo Security Conclave.
• Countries in South Asia are facing economic and political turmoil. For example,
  • Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan are struggling with depleting forex reserves.
  • Bangladesh reached a bailout agreement of $4.5 billion with the International Monetary Fund.
  • Sri Lanka also reeling under the economic crisis.
  • These countries are also facing issues like energy shortages, inflation, and negative or slow economic growth.
• As 2023 marks an election year for a large part of South Asia, these economic grievances combined with political opportunism will likely fuel more instability in the region. For example, protests in Bangladesh.

Balancing Act by other Countries:

• South Asian countries would hesitate to completely sideline China as they hope to exercise their agency by balancing with China and India, thereby making this competition a ‘new normal’.
• This trend would further increase with new players entering the region.

Related Link:

Strategic Importance of Indo Pacific: RSTV – Big Picture

Nut Graf:

China will continue to leverage its financial and economic might and political influence in South Asia. India and other Quad countries are also establishing their foothold in the region. The majority of South Asian countries would balance with India and China, making this competition a ‘new normal’.

Category: INDIAN POLITY

1. Fluid boundaries

Syllabus: Functions, issues, and challenges of State legislatures.

Mains: Interstate border disputes.

Prelims: Interstate border disputes.

Context: Interstate dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra.

Details:

• The dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra over areas that are claimed by both States has deepened in the past few weeks, also leading to violence.
• Campaigners favouring the merger of Karnataka’s Marathi-speaking regions with Maharashtra upped the ante by organizing a conference in Belgaum.
• Politicians from Maharashtra willing to attend it were stopped by the police, leading to a flare-up.
• Karnataka’s practice (since 2006) of holding the winter session of the Assembly in Belgaum, is an expression of its authority over the region.
• Moreover, Karnataka’s Chief Minister reiterated the state’s claim over 48 villages of Sangli in Maharashtra which drew a sharp rebuttal.
• With exchanges getting increasingly provocative, Union Home Minister has asked the respective Chief Ministers to wait for the Supreme Court to look into the matter.
• The Court is seized of the issue, but it can only do so much as the underlying factors that originated along with the 1956 linguistic reorganization of Indian States are not easily amenable to technical and legal solutions.
• It should be noted that almost all States in India comprise linguistic minorities that are accorded special rights. The Maharashtra-Karnataka dispute basically arises due to a lack of appreciation of this reality.
• In 1957, the Government of Maharashtra claimed 814 villages and the 3 urban settlements of Belagavi, Karwar, and Nippani in Karnataka. In retaliation, Karnataka not only rebuffed these claims but also began to claim areas in Kolhapur, Sholapur, and Sangli districts in Maharashtra.
• Moreover, Maharashtra and Telangana are engaged in a dispute in Chandrapur and Asifabad districts, respectively.
• In the Northeast, some boundary disputes between States have even cost the lives of some people.

Conclusion:

• Though it is wise to defer to the Court’s decision on any dispute, harmony can be achieved only by embracing and promoting a political culture that is respectful of diversity.
• It should be remembered that if new fires are lit through divisive politics, the judiciary also can do very little. This will result in double engine failure.

Related Link:

Inter State Border Dispute: Sansad TV Perspective Discussion of 15 Dec 2022

Nut Graf:

The interstate dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra has once again flared up. The resolution to such interstate disputes lies in a political culture that is respectful of diversity.

Category: INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND POLITY

1. Upholding the autonomy of the Election Commission

Syllabus: Appointment to various constitutional posts, functions and responsibilities of Constitutional bodies.

Mains: Election Commission appointments.

Prelims: Election Commission of India.

Details:

• A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India heard an important case about the way in which the Election Commission of India (ECI) is constituted, and the appointment of Election Commissioners.
• The judgment is expected early in the new year.
• The issues before the Court are:
  • Constitutionality of complete executive control over appointments to the ECI.
  • If unconstitutional, then the procedure of appointment preserving the independence of the ECI, and the fairness of elections.

‘Fourth Branch Institution’ of Modern Democracy:

• As per the classical understanding of modern democracy, there are 3 “wings” of the state: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary.
• Conventionally bodies that are involved with administrative and implementational issues like elections fell within the executive domain.
• However, in contemporary times, it is a well-accepted fact that healthy constitutional democracies require “fourth branch institutions” (or “integrity institutions”) as various basic rights and guarantees cannot be effective without an infrastructure of implementation.
• For instance, without an infrastructure of implementation, the right to information will remain only a paper guarantee. An adequately staffed and funded Information Commission is required to oversee the enforcement of the right, compel public institutions to release public information, resolve disputes, etc.
• The “fourth branch institutions” should be functionally independent of the political executive because they are the vehicles for implementing rights against the executive. For example, citizens invoke the right to information to extract public information from government departments for transparency.
• Governments have a direct interest in these cases. Thus to be effective, Information Commission must be thoroughly independent of the government. It is also argued that the government control over the Central Information Commission (like appointments) has made it a largely toothless and ineffective body.

Examples from different countries:

• The Constitutions of South Africa and Kenya have dedicated constitutional provisions for “fourth branch institutions” like Human Rights Commissions, Election Commissions, etc. calling them “integrity institutions”, and requiring them to be “independent.” The appointment procedure for these bodies usually involves multiple stakeholders from different wings of the state.
• The Indian Constitution also has similar provisions for bodies like ECI, Comptroller and Auditor General, the Public Service Commission(s), and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes.
• Though it grants some degree of independence to these institutions like a high threshold on the removal of officers, the power of appointment lies exclusively with the executive.
• The constitutional court of South Africa observed in one of its landmark judgments that true and functional independence is effectively impossible if the power to appoint rests entirely within a single individual/office/entity.
• Likewise, Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain case held that for the rule of law to prevail, the appointment of the CBI Director should be ratified by a three-member body comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.

Way Ahead:

• It is important to note that nearly no constitutional democracy in the entire world allows the political executive sole power to staff a body as important to sustaining democracy as an Election Commission.
• Appointment processes should involve the government, the Opposition, independent experts, and judicial experts, in a way such that no one has dominance or veto power.
• Moreover, it is also difficult to create an appointment process simply by judicial decree. It requires political consensus, public deliberation, and, a carefully crafted law.
• The Court should carefully avoid band-aid or stop-gap solutions. One possible alternative is to suggest certain interim guidelines and leave a more permanent, structural solution to the legislature.
• Functional and effective independence from the executive, from the moment of appointment to retirement, and then beyond should be the guiding principle.

Related Link:

Electoral Reforms In India – Indian Polity

Nut Graf:

In contemporary democracy, there is a need to have a ‘fourth branch institution’ that is adequately independent of the political executive. These institutions are crucial for the effective and fair functioning of democracy.