THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX 2021

THE CONTEXT: Union Minister of Home Affairs released the Good Governance Index 2021 prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) on 25 December 2021 which is celebrated as Good Governance Day.

THE EXPLANATION:

Why December 25?

• 25th December is celebrated as Good Governance Day marking the auspicious occasion of late former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary. Good Governance is the key component of the economic transformation and with the present government’s focus on ‘minimum government and maximum governance,’ the Index assumes more significance.

 What is the Good Governance Index (GGI)?

• GGI is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across the States and UTs which enables ranking of States/Districts. The objective of GGI is to create a tool that can be used uniformly across the States to assess the impact of various interventions taken up by the Central and State Governments including UTs.
• Based on the GGI Framework, the Index provides a comparative picture among the States while developing a competitive spirit for improvement. The GGI 2019 encompassed 10 Governance Sectors and 50 Governance Indicators.
• For GGI 2020-21, the same 10 Governance Sectors are retained while indicators have been revised to 58, namely,

Further, the GGI 2020-21 categorizes States and UTs into four categories, i.e.,

• Other States – Group A;
• Other States – Group B;
• North-East and Hill States; and
• Union Territories.

With a “Citizen-Centric Administration” approach at the heart of the government’s Governance Model – this year, 20 States have improved their composite GGI scores over the GGI 2019 index scores.

Data Source:

Top ranking States and UT’s

Analysis of the Index:

• As per the GGI 2021 rankings, Uttar Pradesh has shown an incremental growth of 8.9% over GGI 2019 performance. Among the sectors, it has secured top position in Commerce & Industry sector including an increase in Social Welfare & Development and Judiciary & Public Safety. The state has also performed well in citizen-centric governance including public grievance redressal.

• Jharkhand witnessed a growth of 12.6 per cent over GGI 2019 performance in 7 of the 10 sectors. Rajasthan has shown an incremental growth of 1.7 per cent over the past year’s index and topped the Other States (Group B) category in Judiciary and Public Safety, Environment & Citizen Centric Governance.
• In the North-East and Hill States category, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir registered an overall increase of 10.4% and 3.7% respectively over GGI 2019. The latter has performed strongly in Commerce & Industry sector and has improved its scores in Agriculture & Allied Sector, Public Infrastructure and Utilities and Judiciary and Public Safety sectors. Mizoram too has performed strongly in commerce and industry, human resource development, public health and economic governance.

This GGI 2021 indicates that overall governance in the States of India is moving in a positive direction. The end results of these rankings are to improve citizen services and make the government inclusive and accountable.

INDIAN ECONOMY

2. INDIA IMPOSES ANTI-DUMPING DUTY ON CHINESE GOODS

THE CONTEXT: India has imposed anti-dumping duty on five Chinese products, including certain aluminium goods and some chemicals, for five years to guard local manufacturers from cheap imports from the neighbouring country.

THE EXPLANATION:

• According to notifications of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), the duties have been imposed on certain flat rolled products of aluminium; sodium hydrosulphite (used in dye industry); silicone sealant (used in manufacturing of solar photovoltaic modules, and thermal power applications); hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32; and hydrofluorocarbon blends (both have uses in refrigeration industry).
• These duties were imposed following recommendations of the Commerce Ministry’s investigation arm, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).
• The CBIC has also imposed the duty on a vehicle component — Axle for Trailers in CKD/SKD (complete and semi knocked down) to protect domestic makers from cheap Chinese imports.
• Similarly it has also slapped the duty on imports of calcined gypsum powder from Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for five years.

What is anti-dumping duty?

• Anti-dumping duty is imposed to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect.
• According to global trade norms, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, a country is allowed to impose tariffs on such dumped products to provide a level-playing field to domestic manufacturers.

How is it different from Counter Vailing Duty?

• Anti-dumping duty is different from countervailing duty. The latter is imposed in order to counter the negative impact of import subsidies to protect domestic producers.
• Countervailing Duties (CVDs) are tariffs levied on imported goods to offset subsidies made to producers of these goods in the exporting country.
• CVDs are meant to level the playing field between domestic producers of a product and foreign producers of the same product who can afford to sell it at a lower price because of the subsidy they receive from their government.

3. WORLD ECONOMY TO TOP $100 TRILLION IN 2022

THE CONTEXT: According to World Economic League Table report released by british consultancy CEBR predicted that China will become the world’s top economy in dollar terms in 2030, two years later than forecast in 2020.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The world’s economic output will exceed $100 trillion for the first-time next year, and it will take China a little longer than previously thought to overtake the United States as the No.1 economy.
• India looks set to overtake France next year and then Britain in 2023 to regain its place as the world’s sixth biggest economy.
• Also they stated, the important issue for the 2020s is how the world economies cope with inflation, which has now reached 6.8% in the U.S.
• The report showed Germany was on track to overtake Japan in terms of economic output in 2033. Russia could become a Top 10 economy by 2036 and Indonesia looks on track for ninth place in 2034.

What is the current state of Indian economy?

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices stood at Rs. 51.23 lakh crore (US$ 694.93 billion) in the first quarter of FY22, as per the provisional estimates of gross domestic product for the first quarter of 2021-22.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

4. JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE MISSION

THE CONTEXT: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was launched successfully from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) launch base in French Guiana.

THE EXPLANATION:

• NASA’s largest space science telescope ever constructed, will be the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope, that has been in service for more than three decades now.
• The powerful $9 billion infrared telescope, hailed by NASA as the premiere space-science observatory of the next decade, was carried aloft inside the cargo bay of an Ariane 5 rocket.
• According to NASA, the Carrying four main scientific instruments, Near-Infrared Camera, Near-Infrared Spectrograph, Mid-Infrared Instrument, and Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph, Webb will “hunt for the unobserved formation of the first galaxies, as well as to look inside dust clouds where stars and planetary systems are forming today”.
• JWST has the ability to look in the infrared spectrum, which will allow it to peer through much deeper into the universe and see-through obstructions such as gas clouds.

About James Webb Space Telescope (JWST or Webb)

JWST is an engineering marvel comparable to the earth-based Event Horizon Telescope that produced the photograph of the black hole, or the LIGO that detected the gravitational waves. It is widely expected to unveil many secrets of the universe, particularly those related to the formation of stars and galaxies in the early period — the first few hundred million years — after the Big Bang.

• It has been jointly developed by NASA, Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). As NASA’s flagship astrophysics mission, it is planned to succeed the Hubble Space Telescope.
• The primary mirror of JWST that is, Optical Telescope Element, comprises of 18 hexagonal mirror segments. These segments are made up of gold-plated beryllium.

Objectives and functions of the telescope:

• It will look deeper into the cosmos – and thus further back in time – than is possible with Hubble.
• It will do this with a much bigger mirror (6.5m in diameter versus 2.4m) and instruments that are tuned to the infrared.
• Scientists hope this set-up can detect the light from the very first population of stars in the Universe to switch on more than 13.5 billion years ago.

Where it is placed?

The James Webb Space Telescope will not be in orbit around the Earth, like the Hubble Space Telescope is – it will actually orbit the Sun, 1.5 million kilometres (1 million miles) away from the Earth at what is called the second Lagrange point or L2.

5. THE SMELL FACTOR

THE CONTEXT: Researchers at Karolinska Institute in Sweden have found that negative smells associated with unpleasantness or unease are processed earlier than positive smells and trigger a physical avoidance response.

THE EXPLANATION:

The cognitive process is not only unconscious but is also extremely rapid, this goes against the conventional wisdom that unpleasant smells associated with danger is a conscious cognitive process.

• The olfactory organ takes up about 5% of the human brain and enables us to distinguish between many million different smells. A large proportion of these smells are associated with a threat to our health and survival, such as that of chemicals and rotten food. In humans, the olfactory sense seems particularly important for detecting and reacting to potentially harmful stimuli. Until recently, it was not known which neural mechanisms are involved in the conversion of an unpleasant smell into avoidance behaviour in humans.
• The reason: lack of non-invasive methods of measuring signals from the olfactory bulb, the first part of the rhinencephalon with direct connections to the important central parts of the nervous system that helps us detect and remember threatening and dangerous situations and substances
• According to the National Academy of Sciences release, the three experiments were carried out in which participants were asked to rate their experience of six different smells, some positive, some negative, while the electrophysiological activity of the olfactory bulb when responding to each of the smells was measured. And they found that the bulb reacts specifically and rapidly to negative smells and sends a direct signal to the motor cortex within about 300 milliseconds.
• The researchers have for the first time made it possible to measure signals from the human olfactory bulb, which processes smells and in turn can transmits signals to parts of the brain that control movement and avoidance behaviour.

What are Olfactory Bulbs?

A rounded mass of tissue that contains several types of nerve cells that are involved in the sense of smell. The olfactory bulbs receive information about smells from the nose and send it to the brain by way of the olfactory tracts.

THE GOVERNMENT SCHEMES/ INITIATIVES IN NEWS

6. TELANGANA TOPS IN IMPLEMENTATION OF RURBAN MISSION

THE CONTEXT: Telangana stood first in the implementation of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) that was launched in 2016, to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services and create well planned clusters.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Sangareddy and Kamareddy districts stood in the first two positions among the 300 clusters across the country where the programme was being implemented.
• Tamil Nadu and Gujarat took the second and third positions respectively.
• In Telangana, in as many as 17 clusters (12 non-tribal and five tribal), the programme was being implemented at an estimated cost of ₹1,885.12 crore.

“The establishment of a bulk milk chilling unit at Narayanakhed had benefited about 3,500 farmers, income ranging between ₹50,000 and ₹2.5 lakh per annum, depending on the number of milch animals. A plastic waste treatment unit and millet processing unit are also coming up at Ryakal cluster,”

Value Addition:

SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJI RURBAN MISSION (SPMRM)- NATIONAL RURBAN MISSION (NRUM)

Objective

The objective of the National Rurban Mission (NRuM) is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters. It is established in 2016 as a centrally sponsored scheme, and it comes under the Ministry of Rural Development.

Outcomes

• The larger outcomes envisaged under this Mission are:
• Bridging the rural-urban divide-viz: economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.
• Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and unemployment in rural areas.
• Spreading development in the region.
• Attracting investment in rural areas.

Rurban Cluster

A ‘Rurban cluster’, would be a cluster of geographically contiguous villages with a population of about 25000 to 50000 in plain and coastal areas and with a population of 5000 to 15000 in desert, hilly or tribal areas. As far as practicable, clusters of villages would follow administrative convergence units of Gram Panchayats and shall be within a single block/tehsil for administrative convenience.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTION

Q1. ‘Triclosan’, considered harmful when exposed to high levels for a long time, is most likely present in which of the following?

a) Food preservatives                            b) Fruit-ripening substances

c) Reused plastic containers               d) Toiletries

ANSWER FOR 25^TH DECEMBER 2021

Answer: d)

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Indian Constitution provides for the establishment of the Election Commission with the composition of the Chief Election Commissioner and as many Election Commissioners as President may fix from time to time. It is not necessarily a multi-member body.
• Statement 2 is incorrect: CEC and ECs have equal powers and equal salary, allowances which are similar to a judge of a Supreme Court.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Constitution has not debarred CEC and ECs from any further appointment by the government after their retirement

1. Right to be forgotten: govt position, court rulings, and laws elsewhere READ MORE
2. How PMO letter to EC challenged institutional balance READ MORE
3. Democracy and the US-India relationship READ MORE
4. Another migration Bill in the making READ MORE

1. Growth estimates and social tensions READ MORE
2. Prevention is better than cure: There are several compelling reasons for extending outpatient health care coverage READ MORE

1. Receding glaciers: Risk from climate change has to be minimised READ MORE
2. Changes in biodiversity law may weaken regulation READ MORE
3. River Linking is a Prestige Project, will not Solve Water Crisis READ MORE

1. Modernism and our traditional socio ethical values READ MORE
2. Peaceful conflict resolution READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. NITI Aayog to release the fourth edition of “The Healthy States, Progressive India” ranking States performance on 27th of December 2021 READ MORE
2. MISSION SAGAR READ MORE
3. Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission Overdraft facility for women SHG members launched READ MORE
4. Explained | What are the head and tailwinds in the economy? READ MORE
5. Telangana tops in implementation of Rurban Mission READ MORE
6. India imposes anti-dumping duty on 5 Chinese goods for 5 years READ MORE
7. NSE launches ‘Prime’ for companies willing to raise governance bar READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. Growth estimates and social tensions READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Right to be forgotten: govt position, court rulings, and laws elsewhere READ MORE
2. How PMO letter to EC challenged institutional balance READ MORE
3. Democracy and the US-India relationship READ MORE
4. Another migration Bill in the making READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. Prevention is better than cure: There are several compelling reasons for extending outpatient health care coverage READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. A chance to tap India’s high equity in Myanmar: Though there are challenges, the momentum gained from the Indian Foreign Secretary’s recent visit must not be lost READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. India needs a realistic model of education to raise employment READ MORE
2. Macro-economics of a circular economy through aluminium READ MORE
3. Agriculture needs a booster dose READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Receding glaciers: Risk from climate change has to be minimised READ MORE
2. Changes in biodiversity law may weaken regulation READ MORE
3. River Linking is a Prestige Project, will not Solve Water Crisis READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Disaster management: How India is improving its existing capabilities READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Security Jeopardised? READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Modernism and our traditional socio ethical values READ MORE
2. Peaceful conflict resolution READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘The national good requires that the three organs of the state and independent constitutional bodies function harmoniously in accordance with their constitutional and legal mandates’. Comment.
2. ‘India’s geo-climatic conditions make it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. International cooperation in disaster management is critical to India for the effective handling of disasters within its borders as well as the region’. Analyse.
3. ‘Democracy is pointless without debate and discussion and a dysfunctional Parliament leads to dysfunctional democracy’. Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• If we don’t end war, war will end us.
• To deter supply-side malpractices, low-powered modes of provider payment, such as capitation, may be considered for private providers wherever possible.
• The national good requires that the three organs of the state and independent constitutional bodies function harmoniously in accordance with their constitutional and legal mandates.
• The historical experience of the ages shows that all political power is inherently expansive.
• Consultations between independent institutions and the executive should occur, but it would be appropriate and graceful for the political and bureaucratic executive to show respect for independent institutions.
• Skills are indispensable in the changing scenario of the 21st century. Communication is a game-changer and social order to meet the growing demands of the workforce.
• Freedom is the basic fundamental value of human soul freedom is what gives meaning to human life.
• Modern values and traditional social ethical values must promote and enhance human dignity and promote inclusive and equitable development along with social justice.
• Dignity of labour needs advocacy to help our youth bridge gaps between aspirations and abilities.
• India’s geo-climatic conditions make it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. International cooperation in disaster management is, therefore, critical to India for the effective handling of disasters within its borders as well as the region.
• Govt policies need to serve society at large with the aim of protecting biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge against commercial exploitation by a few private entities.
• Democracy is not just about an elected Parliament and periodic elections. Democracy is pointless without debate and discussion and a dysfunctional Parliament leads to dysfunctional democracy.

50-WORD TALK

• RBI move to postpone the tokenisation of credit/debit cards is a relief. RBI’s intentions to make online transactions more secure are commendable. But the central bank has been obstinate about it, ending up disrupting transactions and even hurting businesses. In the process, digitalisation has become a bit of a circus.
• Allahabad judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav’s cautionary note on Omicron urging PM Modi to take strong steps during election campaign cannot be lauded enough. Indians must be reminded about the West Bengal campaign that fueled the disastrous second wave. EC’s Covid norms aren’t heeded, so a judge had to step up.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

THE CONTEXT: In September 2021, a new security group namely AUKUS, has been formed in Indo-Pacific between three NATO members viz. Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. After the formation of this group, it is said that it can impact the efficiency and effectiveness of QUAD (a dialogue between India, Japan, Australia, and the United States for free and open Indo-Pacific). It is also a concern that the group is presenting a dilemma against India about its presence in the indo-pacific area. This article analyses the issue in detail.

WHAT IS AUKUS?

It stands for Australia, the UK, and the US and aims to help modernize the primary beneficiary Australia over the coming decades to take up security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. The plan is to give access to cutting-edge military technology to Australia by its two partners, including futuristic capabilities like artificial intelligence and quantum technologies.

What is the first big step?

• The US and the UK will share technology to construct nuclear-powered submarines with Australia. At least eight nuclear-powered but conventionally armed submarines will be operated by the Australian Navy.
• This could make Australia the first nation that does not have a nuclear weapons program but will operate nuclear-powered boats.
• After that, Australia will enter a select club of nations with such submarines. The others include India, Russia, France, and China, besides the UK and the US.

Where does India stand?

• Besides having a nuclear arms arsenal, India has an indigenous nuclear-powered submarine project, with two boats already functional. Besides, it has a long-term arrangement with Russia for leasing of the nuclear-powered submarine as well.

WHAT DOES THE QUAD DO?

Understanding the QUAD: Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), the Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely the United States of America (USA), India, Australia, and Japan. One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.

Formation of QUAD: Since its establishment in 2007, the representatives for the four-member nations have met periodically. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to pitch the idea for the formation of Quad in 2007. In fact, its origins can be traced back to the evolution of Exercise Malabar and the 2004 Tsunami when India conducted relief and rescue operations for itself and neighboring countries and was later joined by the US, Japan, and Australia. Therefore, China issued formal diplomatic protests to the members of the Quad.

Principles of Quad: The motive behind the Quad is to keep the strategic sea routes in the Indo-Pacific free of any military or political influence. It is basically seen as a strategic grouping to reduce Chinese domination. The core objective of the Quad is to secure a rules-based global order, freedom of navigation and a liberal trading system. The coalition also aims to offer alternative debt financing for nations in the Indo-Pacific region. The Quad leaders exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, climate change, pandemic and education.

WHAT HAS CHANGED AFTER THE FORMATION OF AUKUS?

After the formation of the quad, there are many questions occurred about the future of the quad, some of them are as follows:

• Are these two groups conflicting in nature?
• Why USA formed a new group despite having QUAD?
• Will it hamper the effectiveness of QUAD?
• Will it impact India’s interest in Indo-pacific?
• When a similar alliance was already in existence in the form of QUAD, what is the need for a new alliance?
• Why are India and Japan excluded from this new formation?
• Why does the UK want to return to Indo-Pacific being an Atlantic nation?

The answer to these questions will be clear in the future but these can be made some predictions in present circumstances and these are as follows:

The vision of these two alliances is very clear:

• These two alliances QUAD and AUKUS- function is clearly demarcated fields non-military and military. The QUAD is an alliance of four democratic countries that is more focused on challenging China in fields that are non-military. The recent QUAD meeting of the four heads of state reinforces this idea.
• QUAD will produce one billion vaccine doses to be distributed among Southeast Asian nations, the countries that are so far solely dependent on the Chinese vaccine. QUAD countries will strive to reduce the dependency of some countries on China in infrastructure development.
• This four-nation alliance is going to focus on supply chain and technology up-gradation to compete with China in the international market especially in the 5G networking and manufacturing sector.
• The only thing that comes closest to military cooperation among these QUAD countries is the irregularly held Malabar Naval Exercise.
• Thus QUAD, in the strict sense of the term, is far from a military alliance; it is a partnership of cooperation in various fields among countries against a common economic giant China.
• In contrast, AUKUS is purely a military alliance where three of the militarily advanced countries come together to contain and counter China in the Indo-Pacific. Thus, AUKUS would neither supersede nor undermine QUAD rather it would complement it.

As to the exclusion of India and Japan from the AUKUS one requires to examine the different contexts of these two countries.

For Japan

Japan has a historical aversion to anything remotely associated with nuclear. So it is out of the question that the US would offer or Japan would accept nuclear technology.

For India

• One should not forget that India, from the very inception of QUAD, is a reluctant member of it. India always shows that once the border dispute with China is resolved amicably through diplomatic channels there is no need for it to join any anti-China defense conglomeration. But when the push came to a shove from China after the Doklam confrontation in 2017 and the tension at the LAC in May/June 2020, India has no other alternative but to embrace the QUAD.
• However, India never called QUAD countries a defense partnership and always termed it as a partnership for common good. This reluctance of India to be part of an anti-China security alliance has not escaped America’s notice.
• The non-inclusion of India in the AUKUS makes it clear that the USA does not trust India to be of much help in the eventuality of a China-USA military confrontation over Taiwan.
• The USA now judges India from its initial reluctance to be part of any defense alliance against China.
• The USA does not consider India to stand up to China as Australia would in case of a military conflict. America is very apprehensive of India’s capability to counter China as a major military power in Asia.
• India’s dealing with Russia especially in buying military hardware from that country puts America in a dilemma before considering any offer of transfer of modern technology to India. India’s decision to buy the Russian anti-aircraft missile system S-400 Triumph has made India an unreliable US partner.

AUKUS will not negatively impact India’s interest in Indo-Pacific

The formation of the group will not negatively impact India’s interest and it will protect India’s interest:

• The pros from India’s perspective include the signal AUKUS sends about its members’ perceptions, priorities, power, and presence in the Indo-Pacific. India has deep concerns about Chinese actions and intentions in the region.
• The ongoing border crisis and fatal military clash in 2020 brought Sino-Indian relations to their worst point in decades. Given these circumstances, India watches the U.S. and other countries’ stance on China very closely.

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND COMPLICATIONS OF AUKUS FOR INDIA?

• POSITIVES: It reflects continued and intensifying U.S. and Australian concerns about China. Moreover, it is designed to increase their capabilities in the region (which will also, consequently, increase the cumulative capabilities of the Quad). And this, in turn, will bolster both the Australian and the American ability to deter China or to respond in the event of a crisis. In this way, it supplements Quad’s efforts.
• In recent years, Indian policymakers have, on balance, gone from worrying about too much U.S. presence and interest in the Indian Ocean to worrying about Washington paying too little attention to this region. AUKUS could ease this concern, as will the enhanced American rotational deployments and other activities envisaged by the recent AUSMIN (the Australia–US Ministerial Consultations) discussions. Given increased Chinese forays into the region, the Indian government will likely see this as a positive outcome that matters more than lingering concerns among some officials or analysts about an increased U.S. presence.
• AUKUS conveys the U.K.’s seriousness about its tilt to the Indo-Pacific. Moreover, this involvement will be in ways that broadly complement India’s interests and efforts. It also signals that the British view of the China challenge has evolved. Given that London has had a more accommodating view of China—as have other European partners—than India would prefer, AUKUS could also be a platform that helps socialize the U.K. even further to the acuteness of the China challenge.
• AUKUS rollout gives India in both the diplomatic and defense trade realms, particularly with France. Paris will probably double down on its efforts to secure arms deals with India—for commercial and political-economic reasons and maybe even to get one over on the U.S. This goes beyond platforms like fighter aircraft. Specifically, India has an indigenous program to develop nuclear-powered submarines and is leasing a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia
• NEGATIVES: France’s unhappiness with AUKUS has complicated the situation a bit from India’s perspective. On the one hand, India recognizes that different coalitions will form-based, in part, on different tiers of threat perceptions of China. Its own multitude of trilateral reflects this understanding. Moreover, Delhi, too, has found European partners to be less concerned about China than it would like—and that has set limits to the depth of its own cooperation with them in certain sensitive realms.
• India will be chagrined by the family feud sparked by the lack of AUKUS consultation with France, which seems only to help Beijing. Paris’s discontent feeds China’s narrative about U.S. unreliability and supports China’s efforts to drive wedges between European and Indo-Pacific partners and forestall their collaborative efforts. Delhi will be less concerned about arguments that AUKUS angst will affect Paris’ commitment to the Indo-Pacific believes this is motivated by resident power France’s own interests in the region. Indian policymakers will be more concerned about any adverse impact on U.S.-Europe cooperation on issues like technology or developing resilient supply chains.
• Delhi might be concerned about any fallout related to U.S.-French collaboration in multilateral institutions. Recently, this has often benefited Indian interests, and, at the U.N. Security Council, even directly helped India when China has backed Pakistan. Delhi wants these partners to be proactively involved in helping shape international rules, norms, and standards, as well as the leadership of these organizations—and not have them hold back or have to pull them along.

THE WAY FORWARD FOR INDIA

• Indeed, as mentioned above, AUKUS could help the Quad. It could even take some of the pressure off the grouping, by attracting Chinese ire.
• It might make the four-country grouping relatively more palatable to ASEAN in comparison. And, as another non-Quad venue for security collaboration, AUKUS could also reduce the pressure on India and Japan to undertake commitments or activities on the defense and security front that they are unable or unwilling to sign on to. This potentially increases the freedom of action or strategic autonomy of these members and other like-minded countries in the region.
• India will also be hoping that the Macron-Biden call was a sign of things to come and AUKUS hasn’t done lasting damage to collaborative efforts in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
• In last, India wants to see its various partners and like-minded coalitions pulling in the same direction. Thus, it will do what it can to soothe ruffled feathers. Finally, Indian officials will assess what opportunities have opened up for India particularly with France, which it considers relatively more reliable as a defense trade partner, and with the U.S. and Australia, which are in better alignment regarding China.

THE CONCLUSION: Form the above analysis, it is clear that AUKUS will impact the effectiveness of QUAD but a helpful forum for this group. It is also helpful for India to secure its relations in Indo-Pacific by being a partner for any security group. Now India’s official needs to play smartly to grab the opportunity provides by the newly formed group.

Questions

1. How far do you agree with the view that with the help of AUKUS, India can secure its interests Indo-Pacific without being a member of any security group? Analyze your view.
2. ‘AUKUS and Quad are not conflicting in nature but supporting’. Comment.