18 Sep 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Picking up the threads from the Afghan rubble

With the recent developments in Afghanistan, the article highlights that among all the countries involved in Afghanistan, India possibly has the best credentials to enable the country’s neutrality.

Recent Developments in Afghanistan:

• Several thousands of Afghanistan’s population is displaced and many thousands are being forced to flee the country.
• There is a continued presence of many newer terrorist outfits, such as Daesh, ISIS-K, al Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), ETIM-K (a militant group from China’s Xinjiang), the Fidayeen mahas, all of which have legacies of 20 years of foreign occupation.
• The Taliban has announced the setting up of a 33-member interim government, headed by Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund as the acting Prime Minister.
• The government is solely a Taliban construct and overwhelmingly Pashtun in character.
• Pakistan holds certain key cards given the prominent role assigned to its trainees.
• Quite a few members of the interim government are on various terror lists, including that of the United Nations and the United States.

Details:

• It is widely believed that despite two decades of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) occupation, their exit from the Afghan soil has proved to be disastrous.
  • Destruction of the terror network — essentially al Qaeda network – was an objective which was far from achieved.
  • Terror networks were driven underground for a time, but many new variants such as the Islamic State and many offshoots thrive not only in Afghanistan but also in many different parts of the world.
• It is apparent that the mistake was the U.S. Agreement with the Taliban, which conferred on the group a degree of international recognition.

India’s engagement:

• India’s efforts regarding the economic development of Afghanistan have been rendered pointless, and its reputation has suffered lasting damage.
• India’s relations with the new Taliban leadership remain strained due to its association, earlier with the Northern Alliance, and with the Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani administrations.
• While China and Russia’s embassies stay put in Afghanistan, India has landed in a different category.
• The hasty withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan is not merely a setback for the U.S., but for all those who sided with it.

Pakistan’s Role:

• Pakistan clearly falls into a category as the ‘patron saint’ of the new regime in Afghanistan.
• The Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) which, while pretending to be an ally, outsmarted the U.S.
• Safe havens of the Taliban for the past two decades have been in Pakistan and these were not only well known to the ISI, but also nurtured by it.

Implications:

• The outreach of the Taliban regime to Pakistan, China, Russia, and to an extent even Iran, is likely to set in a chain of developments that could alter the geopolitics of the region.
• Russia is currently seeking to enlarge its influence in Eurasia, and Afghanistan gives it an opportunity.
• China sees Afghanistan as an opportunity both from a geo-economic and geopolitical standpoint.
• Many West Asian countries are, meanwhile, assessing the situation in Afghanistan to see how best to take advantage of the fluid situation.
• The U.S., Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan have agreed in principle to establish a new quadrilateral diplomatic platform focused on enhancing regional connectivity.
  • The U.S.’s plans to enhance regional security/connectivity through a new Quadrilateral diplomatic platform might not prove to be effective.

Way Forward for India:

• India’s major concerns with respect to Afghanistan’s situation is its proximity to India.
  • Afghanistan becoming a crucible for pro-terror forces could impact India’s security.
• India must plan to overcome the adverse situation.
• It is critically important for India to ensure the unity and the integrity of Afghanistan, and in turn, achieve an agreement in principle to maintain Afghanistan’s neutrality.
  • India can take up a mediating role among the different nations anxious to involve themselves in Afghanistan, and produce a formula that would help maintain Afghanistan’s neutrality.
  • India should ensure that Afghanistan remains a buffer zone to prevent further Chinese expansionism towards South Asia.
• Of all the countries currently involved in Afghanistan, India possibly has the best credentials to act as an honest broker; India should act to ensure peace in the region and prevent any major turmoil in South Asia, containing both Pakistan and China’s influence.

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Act and friction

The article talks about the need for a national commission to make appointments to tribunals.

Issues:

• Recent developments seem to undermine the autonomy of the various tribunals in the country.
• The Tribunals Reforms Act passed by the parliament contains provisions that had been struck down by the Supreme Court in an ordinance issued earlier.

Tribunal Reforms Bill 2021:

The parliament passed the Tribunal Reforms Bill 2021 in August 2021.

• The bill replaces the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021.
• The bill has sought the abolishment of as many as nine appellate tribunals, including the Film Certificate Appellate Tribunal.
• It dissolves certain existing appellate bodies and transfers their functions to other existing judicial bodies.

Criticisms:

• The bill has been criticised saying that the legislation undermines the independence of the judiciary.
• Besides, the Bill has also revived provisions of tenure and service of members of tribunals which were earlier struck down by the Supreme Court in a judgment.
• Abolishing Tribunals may increase the disposal time for new cases, as High Courts already have a large number of cases awaiting judgement.
• The Supreme Court has also noted that the minimum age limit requirement of 50 years for the appointment of members may discourage young talent. It had earlier directed that advocates with 10 years of experience be made eligible to be appointed as judicial members.

Way Forward:

• The issue of tribunals has been a source of considerable friction between the Government and the Court.
• They have often disagreed on the eligibility criteria and conditions of service and a series of judgments have gone against the Government.
• Clauses introducing changes to the conditions of service of members of the various Tribunals have often been subjected to judicial view.
  • Courts want to ensure that a reasonable tenure was available to the appointees, and do not allow criteria related to age and experience to be used to undermine their independence.

Way Forward:

• There is wide agreement that administrative tribunals are required for quicker and more focused adjudication of cases that require specialisation and domain expertise.
• As several laws now provide for such adjudicative bodies, the executive does have an interest in retaining some leverage over their members.
• The Supreme Court has repeatedly called for the establishment of a national tribunals commission to make suitable appointments and evaluate the functioning of tribunals.

Q1. With reference to joint military exercises with India, which of the following is/are 
correctly matched?

Q2. Which of the following is/are the advantages of millet production?

Q3. Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) which serves to promote cooperation of member 
states against terrorism is an organ of 

Q4. Which of the following countries are part of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation 
(CSTO)?

Q5. With reference to Indian history, which of the following is/are the essential 
element/elements of the feudal system? (UPSC 2015)

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Of all the countries involved in Afghanistan, India possibly has the best credentials to enable Kabul’s neutrality. Substantiate. (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS 2 International Relations)
2. Friction between Judiciary and Government on appointments to the Tribunals calls for establishing a national commission. Analyse. (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS 2 Polity and Governance).

Read the previous CNA here.