THE INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. THE GOVERNOR’S ROLE IN APPROVING A BILL

THE CONTEXT: The Tamil Nadu Assembly has once again adopted a Bill that was earlier returned by Governor R.N. Ravi. The Bill seeks to grant exemption from the mandatory National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) for seats allotted by the Government in undergraduate medical and dental courses in Tamil Nadu. Before it, the Governor returned the Bill, contending that it was against the interests of rural and poor students.

What comes next?

There is no doubt that the Governor will now have to grant his assent to the Bill. Under Article 200 of the Constitution, which deals with grant of assent to Bills passed by the Assembly, the first proviso enables the Governor to return a Bill, that is not a Money Bill, with a message requesting the House, or Houses, if there is an upper chamber, to reconsider the Bill, or any provisions, and also consider introducing amendments he may recommend. The House will have to reconsider as suggested. If the Bill is passed again, with or without changes, and presented for assent, “the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom”.

In the present case, the Bill will have to be sent to the President for his assent, as it is enacted under an entry in the Concurrent List on a subject that is covered by a central law. NEET is mandatory under Section 10D of the Indian Medical Council of India Act, an amendment introduced in 2016. Therefore, the State law can be in force only if the President grants his assent. This will cure the ‘repugnancy’ between the central and State laws.

What is the Governor’s function in passing a Bill?

• Under Article 200, the Governor maya.

a) Grant assent

b) Withhold assent

c) Return for reconsideration by the Legislature or

d) Reserve for the consideration of the President any Bill passed by the State legislature and presented to him for assent.

• There is no time frame fixed in the Constitution for any of these functions.
• The Constitution makes it mandatory that the Governor should reserve for the President’s consideration if, in his opinion (a phrase that means he exercises his own discretion in this), a Bill that “so derogates from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill”.
• In other words, any Bill that seems to clip the wings of the High Court or undermine its functioning will not become law without the President’s assent.

What happens when the President considers the Bill?

• Article 201 says when a Bill is reserved by a Governor for his consideration, “the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, or that he withholds assent therefrom”.
• He may also direct the Governor to return the Bill, if it is not a Money Bill, to the Legislature along with a message.
• The House or Houses will have to reconsider the Bill within a period of six months from receiving it. It may pass the Bill again with or without any change. The Bill shall again be presented to the President for his consideration. The article ends with that.
• This means that the Bill will become law if the assent is given, but nothing can be done if the Bill is denied assent by the President or if he makes no decision.

THE INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

2. INDIA TO HELP SRI LANKA LAUNCH ITS VERSION OF AADHAAR

THE CONTEXT: India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card. The Rajapaksa government will “prioritise” the implementation of the Framework as a national level programme.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Under the proposed Unitary Digital Identity Framework, it is expected to introduce a personal identity verification device based on biometric data, a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices.
• The initiative follows bilateral talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019.
• It comes amid substantive economic assistance from India totalling $ 1.4 billion since the beginning of this year to Sri Lanka, to help the island nation cope with its dollar crunch, and import food, medicines and fuel amid frequent shortages.
• This is not the first time that Sri Lanka is attempting to digitise its citizens’ identities. Just a few years ago, the predecessor Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, in power from 2015 to 2019, mooted a similar Electronic-National Identity Card or E-NIC that privacy advocates opposed on grounds that the state would have full access to citizens’ personal data in a central database.
• The former Mahinda Rajapaksa government tried initiating the project as early as 2011. Neither project was implemented.

THE ECONOMY

3. PRADHAN MANTRI ANNADATA AAY SANRAKSHAN ABHIYAN (PM AASHA)

THE CONTEXT: It is a scheme announced in 2018, that aims at ensuring fair price for farmers and their produce.

Its three components are as follows:

1. Price Support Scheme (PSS): Through the Price Support Scheme procurement of pulses, oilseeds will be carried out by the Central Nodal Agencies with support from state governments. The PSS will be set up by the Food Corporation of India along with NAFED and any expenses incurred will be borne by the Central Government.
2. Price Deficiency payment Scheme (PDPS): In this scheme, all oilseed notified for SP will be covered. Direct payment of difference between Minimum Support Price (MSP) and selling price will be made to registered farmers. All payments will be made to the registered bank account of the farmer. No procurement will take place but rather the difference between MSP and selling price will be paid to farmers.
3. Pilot of Private Procurement &Stockist Scheme (PPPS): As per the Pilot of Private Procurement &Stockist Scheme (PPPS) the private sector will take part in the procurement operations. The states will have an option to carry out the scheme on pilot basis in selected APMCs with involvement from the private sector.

4. STEP UP AGRI-SPENDING, BOOST FARM INCOMES

THE CONTEXT: The growth in agriculture sector has the highest positive impact on poverty reduction. Any Budget is best evaluated by examining the continuity in policies and programmes highlighted in the previous Budget(s), linkage(s) among related ministries and departments and the harmony with the overall needs of the society. The Budget apropos agriculture and farmers’ welfare can be said to pass the muster from this perspective.

THE EXPLANATION:

India’s agriculture is needed to meet nutritional security, generate jobs, create wealth for the farmers and ensure ecological sustainability. Diversification of production, integration of farm gates with markets for monetisation and expansion of the sector into bio economy-centric secondary agriculture contain the kernel of solution. The Budget attempts to address these issues, when the statements and allocations of different ministries/departments related to the agriculture sector are evaluated, and not just of the Ministry of Agriculture.

 Deficit crop segments

• Rightly is the attention paid to deficit crop segments — oil seeds and millets. India has been importing annually 70,000 crore worth edible oils. If domestic oilseeds and others sources like palm are encouraged, it is the Indian farmers who will gain. Millets are a rich source of the much-needed nutrients.
• These two segments along with pulses are also climate-resilient, thus offering a win: win solution to India’s efforts in climate action. The millets will now be provided for post-harvest value addition, enhancing domestic consumption and branding their products for integration with supply chains. Promoting these deficit-crops is integral to the practice of smart agriculture.
• Stepping of the Budget into smart agriculture is further galvanised by supplementing production technology with digital technology. The ensemble of digital technology including that of ‘Kisan Drones’ will take care of the plurality of issues all along the value chain. These encompass production planning, resource use efficiency and risks that arise from monsoons and markets, apart from the desired digitisation of land records and delivery of digital and high-tech services.
• The increasing volumes of marketable surpluses will get better monetised with the continuing support to mobilisation of farmers and aggregation of farm-produce through FPOs. The budgetary allocation gets strengthened with blended capital to be raised under the co-investment model facilitated through NABARD. The spin-off effect of financing the agricultural and rural entrepreneurial start-ups linked to farm produce value chains will extend the footprints of agriculture into secondary agriculture.
• This finds adequate support in the higher allocations for the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (a jump of more than 125 per cent); and various initiatives committed in favour of the MSME sector, including the Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), that expands the credit size to ₹200,000 crore. The resulting growth of secondary agriculture and bio economy will generate supplementary jobs and incomes besides stimulating an eco-friendlier developmental approach.
• Making a strong bid for energy transition and climate action, specific references are made to solar power, circular economy, carbon neutral economy, and promotion of agro forestry and private forestry. If the targeted 5-7 per cent biomass pellets come to be co-fired in thermal power plants, along with savings of carbon di-oxide, there will be opportunities for extra income to the farmers and jobs for the locals.
• The government’s focus is on higher capital investment through convergence of budgetary and non-budgetary financial sources by way of sinking up the policies and programmes of various ministries. The Railways, for example, intends to develop infrastructure for small farmer produce. It is such cohesive inter-ministerial approach that will enhance capital use efficiency, which has a great bearing on agricultural growth rate. The vision of the government for transitioning agriculture as an employment creating, income generating and sustainable entrepreneurial system even as it meets the food and nutrition security is well borne out by the Budget.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

5. 50 CHEETAHS TO BE INTRODUCED IN INDIA IN NEXT 5 YEARS

THE CONTEXT: Cheetah was expected to be reintroduced into our country in November 2021 in Madhya Pradesh, but the plan got derailed due to the pandemic. After becoming extinct in 1952, cheetah is all set to return to India as the Central Government has launched an action plan under which 50 of these big cats will be introduced in the next five years.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Union Environment Minister launched the action plan at the 19th meeting of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The plan to reintroduce cheetah had gone in limbo due to COVID-19, an NTCA official had earlier said.
• As per the action plan, a cohort of around 10-12 young cheetahs that are ideal for reintroduction shall be imported from Namibia or South Africa as a founder stock during the first year.
• An existing coalition of wild males shall be selected while the selected females shall also be known to each other as far as possible.
• The animals’ lineage and condition shall be checked in the host country to ensure that they are not from an excessively inbred stock and are in the ideal age group, so as to conform to the needs of a founding population, said the over 300-page action plan.
• Among the 10 surveyed sites in five central Indian States, Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh was rated high on the priority list for introduction of cheetah because of its suitable habitat and adequate prey base. As per the plan, the Central Government, along with ministry of environment and the Cheetah Task Force, will create a formal framework to collaborate with governments of Namibia and/or South Africa, through the Ministry of External Affairs.
• The Union Minister released a Water Atlas, mapping all the water bodies in the tiger-bearing areas of India.
• The atlas contains information about presence of such bodies in several areas, including the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic plain landscape, Central Indian Landscape and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats landscape, North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra flood plains and Sundarbans. The atlas has been put together using remote-sensing data and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping. It will provide baseline information to forest managers to shape their future conservation strategies.
• Union Environment Minister said that tiger continues to be an endangered species. He said it is imperative that we have a reliable estimate of tiger number at Tiger Reserve & Landscape Level for their effective management. The 5th cycle of All India Tiger Estimation which is currently underway will help in taking correct policy decisions.

India has 51 Tiger Reserves in the country and efforts are being made to bring more areas under the Tiger Reserve network. The minister said that the tiger reserves were not just for tigers because more than 35 rivers originate from these areas which are crucial for water security. The continuous efforts are being made for involvement of local communities for protection of tiger reserves and eco-tourism there.

Fourteen tiger reserves have been accredited under CA|TS, and NTCA is working on getting other reserves evaluated for CA|TS accreditation. The minister said that six committees will be formed which can visit the reserves and help formulate better policy.

Regarding poaching, the minister said the air gun problem in north eastern states is an issue and that states and union territories have been advised by the ministry for holding awareness program so that people can surrender their air guns.

6. INDIA’S NEWEST MAMMAL: WHITE CHEEKED MACAQUE

THE CONTEXT: The White Cheeked Macaque has distinct white cheeks, long and thick hair on the neck and a longer tail than other Macaque species. It is the last mammal to have been discovered in Southeast Asia. Scientists from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have found a new mammal species in the country — the White Cheeked Macaque.

THE EXPLANATION:

• While the Macaque was first discovered in China in 2015, its existence was not known in India before this — it is only now that Indian scientists have discovered its presence in the remote Anjaw district in central Arunachal Pradesh. That is barely 200 km aerial distance from where it was first spotted in China — in Modog in South-eastern Tibet.
• The discovery has been published in the February 3 issue of international journal ‘Animal Gene’. The discovery was entirely accidental. The ZSI scientist and Dr Mukesh Thakur said that they were not looking for the White Cheeked Macaque; they had received a grant of Rs 10 crore for a project to study Himalayan species — this involved exploring biodiversity of the Himalayas and studying large threatened species in the region,” ZSI scientist and Dr. Mukesh Thakur, also the lead author of the study carried out under recently retired director of ZSI, Dr. Kailash Chandra.
• ZSI scientist said that they were tracking the Red Panda and the Arunachal macaque in the eastern Himalayas after that they started studyingon Arunachal macaque. They collected faecal and skin samples of the macaque and when they carried out DNA sequencing at ZSI lab, expecting it to be the Arunachal macaque, they realised it was actually the White Cheeked Macaque.
• Taken aback by the results, ZSI scientist Dr. Thakur said the team carried out DNA sequencing a second time around. Only to reconfirm that the ZSI had indeed stumbled upon the White Cheeked Macaque in India.
• Since then, ZSI has carried out several confirmations — through more testing and camera trapping of the animal. They even discovered a juvenile White Cheeked Macaque, which had been captured and held in the house of a local villager — the tribal people inhabiting Anjaw are traditional hunters.
• ZSI scientist Dr. Thakur called the discovery in both China and India as ‘breakthrough discoveries’.

Features of White Cheeked Macaque –

• The White Cheeked Macaque has distinct white cheeks, long and thick hair on the neck and a longer tail than other Macaque species. It is the last mammal to have been discovered in Southeast Asia.
• Both the Arunachal macaques as well as the White Cheeked Macaque exist in the same biodiversity hotspot in the eastern Himalayas.
• The further exploration will lead to more populations of the White Cheeked Macaque in eastern Arunachal, which is closer to where the Chinese White Cheeked Macaque was found, and that there is a high likelihood of the animal being present in Bhutan as well.
• The discovery will also lay the foundation of the species not only being included in the wildlife list but also being covered by the Wildlife Protection Act of India.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 9TH FEB 2022

Q1. Consider the following statements about Governor’s power related to State bills:

1. When a bill is sent to the governor after it is passed by state legislature, Governor has to either give assent or send it for reconsideration of the House withing six months.
2. If the bill is returned by the President for the reconsideration of the House or Houses and is passed again, the assent to the bill can be withheld by Governor.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor

ANSWER FOR 8^TH FEB 2022

Answer: b)

Explanation:

• The first separate Agriculture Budget to be presented in the Rajasthan Assembly session starting on February 9, with the emphasis on welfare measures for farmers and innovations for the benefit of cultivators.
• Budget will especially promote drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in view of scarcity of water in the State.

Answer: b)

Explanation:

• It is located in the state of Telangana and also known as the Rudreshwara (Lord Siva) temple.
• It was inscribed recently as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
• Outside the temple, there is an inscription in Telugu that describes Racherla Senapati Rudrayya, a general of the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal, who commissioned the lake and the temple, which took 40 years for completion in the 13th century.
• The Kakatiyas, after breaking free from Chalukyan overlordship, ruled much of central India, up to the eastern seaboard, between the 12th and 14th centuries.

Architecture:

• In contrast to the softer sandstone used for in the temples of Khajuraho, or the carvings of chlorite, laterite and khonda- rite in the Sun Temple in Konark, Ramappa’s sculptures are carved of black basalt, one of the hardest stones to work with.
• The temple is neither named after the presiding deity, Rudreshwara, nor the general who commissioned the project, but after the sculptor who built it.
• The temple rests on a foundation that uses sandbox technology, with red sandstone and black basalt used to construct the main temple, and light bricks used for the gopuram or cupola.

Dance guru Nataraja Ramakrishna used the dance poses carved in this temple to revive Perini Sivatandavam, a Kakatiya-era warrior dance form performed by men.

1. Why opinion polls need regulation READ MORE
2. Democracy should bridge economic chasm READ MORE

1. Rights of the weak, duties of the powerful: A complaint of undue emphasis on rights creates the suspicion that citizens are being disempowered READ MORE  
2. Human to Human Conduct READ MORE

1. The earth likely holds more than 9,000 undiscovered tree species; and they are in danger READ MORE
2. Fifth-warmest year: 2021 was marked by floods, heatwaves, other climate anomalies for Europe READ MORE

1. Domicile quota is not a remedy READ MORE
2. Addressing India’s education crisis READ MORE
3. What arguments in marital rape case reveal about the insecurity of patriarchy READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. KISAN SAMPADA YOJANA READ MORE
2. The Governor’s role in approving a Bill READ MORE
3. Meet India’s newest mammal: White Cheeked Macaque READ MORE
4. India to help Sri Lanka launch its version of Aadhaar READ MORE
5. Centre issues new media accreditation guidelines, journalists can lose it over defamation and other clauses READ MORE
6. 50 Cheetahs to be introduced in India in next 5 years: Environment Minister READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. What arguments in marital rape case reveal about the insecurity of patriarchy READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Why opinion polls need regulation READ MORE
2. Democracy should bridge economic chasm READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. Domicile quota is not a remedy READ MORE
2. Addressing India’s education crisis READ MORE

 INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Explained: The China-Russia relationship READ MORE
2. Russia, China closing ranks: Deepening ties complicate India’s foreign policy challenges READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Step up agri-spending, boost farm incomes READ MORE
2. Moving to an era of better regulation READ MORE
3. How to build a new innovation structure READ MORE
4. Reducing edible oil imports READ MORE
5. Opinion: Without lowering unemployment rates, India cannot effectively address inequality READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. The earth likely holds more than 9,000 undiscovered tree species; and they are in danger READ MORE
2. Fifth-warmest year: 2021 was marked by floods, heatwaves, other climate anomalies for Europe READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Rights of the weak, duties of the powerful: A complaint of undue emphasis on rights creates the suspicion that citizens are being disempowered READ MORE  
2. Human to Human Conduct READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Rights and duties are conceptually linked to one another. There are no rights without duties.’ Argue.
2. ‘Despite Election Commission’s efforts opinion and exit polls continue to undermine elections’. In the light of the statement discuss whether the opinion polls need to be regulated?

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• The heart of manipulation is to empathise without being touched.
• India’s poor AOI is a stark reminder of the need to attain a key sustainable development goal of higher agri-growth.
• The intensification in government spending towards the agricultural sector is the key to attain the sustainable development goals of higher agricultural growth and farm income.
• These duties are not antagonistic to rights; they are moral, non-justiciable.
• Powerful men have explicitly laid out their view that sex against the wishes of their wives is not a crime, legal or moral, while others are in the mood for a marriage strike against what they perceive as a men’s rights issue.
• Despite EC’s efforts, broad consensus from political parties, opinion and exit polls continue to undermine elections.
• Carrying out regulatory impact assessment not only improves the quality of regulation but is also cost effective for the regulated and the ecosystem.
• One of the most moving and defining images of the current times is that of a girl bursting into tears after she returned to the classroom as schools reopened earlier this month in India.
• High rates of unemployment point to an economy whose circulatory system is malfunctioning. Because it is through wages, or in other words wages resulting from employment, that the working population can partake in the value that they help generate in the economy, popularly measured through GDP.
• The violent protests in Bihar and UP are telling us something grave and urgent: the economy is ailing from clogged arteries. And we’ll be wise to take the message seriously, not just for the health of ‘the economy’ but for that of our society.

50-WORD TALK

• Israel’s police, it has been revealed, used Pegasus software to spy on elected politicians, businesspeople and activists — even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son. This shows how easily surveillance capabilities can be abused. Israel has ordered an investigation into what went wrong; the Indian government should stop stonewalling and follow suit.

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.

[WpProQuiz 153]

THE CONTEXT: The 17th Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) ministerial meeting was held on 1 April 2021. Though the grouping is ready to move forward, a number of obstacles stand in the way of this, including regional tensions, uncertainties surrounding SAARC, and China’s involvement in the multilateral.

ABOUT THE RECENT BIMSTEC SUMMIT

The 17th Ministerial virtual Meeting of BIMSTEC leaders was held on April 01, 2021. Here are the major outcomes of the summit;

• India’s commitment to further building the momentum of regional cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework and making the organization stronger, vibrant, more effective, and result-oriented.
• India is the Lead Country to Counter Terrorism & Trans-national Crime, Transport & Communication, Tourism, and Environmental & Disaster management.
• BIMSTEC Master Plan for Transport Connectivity for adoption at the next BIMSTEC Summit and three MoUs / Agreements for signing at the next BIMSTEC Summit.
• Member States to complete their internal procedures for adoption of the BIMSTEC.
• Chair to hold the Fifth BIMSTEC Summit in Sri Lanka.
• BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate, being hosted in India, is fully functional with the state of the art facilities to provide Disaster Early Warnings.

ISSUES FACING BY BIMSTEC IN RECENT TIMES?

BIMSTEC is facing several issues in recent times. Those are posing challenges to the grouping. Major challenges are as follow:

THE ISSUE OF MEETING:

• While most multilateral groupings from G20 to ASEAN and SCO held their deliberations at the highest political level in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, BIMSTEC leaders failed to do so.
• In contrast to a meeting of even SAARC leaders held at India’s initiative a year ago, BIMSTEC could not arrange its ministerial meeting until April 2021.

ISSUES BETWEEN THE MEMBER STATES:

• A strong BIMSTEC presupposes cordial and tension-free bilateral relations among all its member-states.
• This has not been the case, given the trajectory of India-Nepal, India-Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh-Myanmar ties in recent years.

THE ISSUE OF SAARC:

• Uncertainties over SAARC hovers, complicating matters.
• Both Kathmandu and Colombo want the SAARC summit revived, even as they cooperate within BIMSTEC, with diluted zeal.

CHINA PRESENCE IN SOUTH ASIA:

• China’s decisive intrusion in the South-Southeast Asian space has cast dark shadows.
• It is believed that BIMSTEC would make progress if China is accepted as its principal interlocutor and partner. This perspective has hardly any takers in India and its friendly partners in the grouping.

MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR:

• The military coup in Myanmar, brutal crackdown of protesters, and continuation of popular resistance resulting in a protracted impasse have produced a new set of challenges.

WHY BIMSTEC IS FACING THESE ISSUES?

LACK OF RESOURCES:

• Despite its huge potential, the forum has long suffered from a lack of resources and proper coordination among its member states.
• Many factors have contributed towards the sluggishness of BIMSTEC and it is still beset with difficulties.
• India, its largest member, has often been blamed for not providing strong leadership.
• Consequent to the slow progress of its mandate, Thailand and Myanmar have often seen ignoring BIMSTEC for ASEAN Forum.

LACK OF PROPER MEETINGS:

• The relevance of BIMSTEC as an organization can be gauged from the fact that only four meetings have been held since its inception 21 years back.
• It took seven years for its first summit to take place in 2004 in Thailand; the second one was held four years later in 2008 in India; the third one six years later in Myanmar in 2014 and the fourth summit has just concluded in Nepal on 31 Aug 2018.
• It also took 17 long years for this Forum to establish its permanent secretariat in Dhaka in 2014.

LACK OF ECONOMIC COORDINATION:

• The organization currently faces the challenge of realizing its vision of an integrated economic space and a bridge between South and Southeast Asia that drove its founding members.
• The BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed in 2004, is yet to be implemented.
• The protectionist economies of South Asian countries and so-called national interests are making free trade an unattainable objective.
• Countries like Bangladesh on the other hand, often fear that whenever India discusses connectivity, it means benefits only for India.
• Such fears & apprehensions question the basic fabric of BIMSTEC and foster mistrust, thus blighting any prospect of free movement of goods.

ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUES:

• BIMSTEC Secretariat, established in 2014 in Dhaka, has been unable to adequately contribute to the development of the organization, and its negligible budget affects its capacity to perform a basic convening function.

ROHINGYAS FACTOR:

• The Rohingyas factor emerged as a major issue.
• Their refugee crisis has complicated relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar, may affect BIMSTEC’s multilateralism in the future, and completely derail its efforts to foster regional cooperation.

MISUNDERSTANDING BETWEEN MEMBERS:

• Another challenge lurking in the forum is the impression that it is an India-dominated bloc, a problem that India faced for a long time in SAARC too.
• This perception of Indian hegemony, coupled with the over-dependence of BIMSTEC Countries, on China, seems to be a major impediment to this Forum’s success.
• Nepal’s pulling out of the ongoing BIMSTEC military exercise being conducted in India probably substantiates this point.
• The underlying aspiration of China to be part of BIMSTEC, on the same lines as it harnesses a desire to be a permanent part of SAARC groupings, further aggravates the problem.

PRESENT DYNAMICS & RENEWED INITIATIVE

However, two recent developments have generated renewed hopes for BIMSTEC to forge an effective regional group for broader economic integration.

1. First was the Outreach Summit, held in Goa, India in October 2016, wherein the BRICS-BIMSTEC leaders pledged to work collectively towards making BIMSTEC stronger. This Summit, brokered by India, has certainly reinvigorated BIMSTEC by inviting its members to participate in a larger platform like BRICS, comprising five major emerging economies of the world.
2. The second is the concluded Fourth summit of BIMSTEC at Kathmandu from August 30 to 31, 2018. The theme of the summit was ‘Towards a Peaceful, Prosperous and Sustainable Bay of Bengal Region. Representatives of all member nations explicitly showed their renewed desire to forge ahead on mandated objectives with the signing and adoption of the Kathmandu Declaration.

THE ANALYSIS

• The 18-point Declaration is expected to enhance the effectiveness of the BIMSTEC Secretariat by engaging it in various technical and economic activities in the region. Foreign ministers of BIMSTEC countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection.
• The Declaration stresses ending poverty in the region by 2030 & strongly condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. It covers issues such as agricultural technology exchange, gradual reduction of the impact of climate change, increased trade and investment, and ease in visa processing for the people of member states. It also highlights the importance of trade and investment as one of the major contributing factors for fostering economic and social development in the region.
• It now remains to be seen as to how all the seven members can take this momentum forward in making BIMSTEC more ‘effective’, ‘visible’ and ‘result-oriented’ as well as draw synergies with other groupings to hasten the process of integration for the benefit of 1.6 billion people in the region.

RELEVANCE OF BIMSTEC FOR INDIA

• For India, BIMSTEC stands at the very important juncture of ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘Act East Policy. Its relevance to India is driven by two key factors, one, the potential economic rewards of greater regional connectivity it provides. Second, the rapidly changing geostrategic context of Asia and India’s need to look at the Bay of Bengal as a key theatre for containing an increasingly capable and assertive China.
• BIMSTEC, unlike SAARC’s subcontinental focus, is the only forum that brings together India’s strategic peripheries under one single grouping. Regional integration comes more naturally to India through BIMSTEC vis-a-vis SAARC, which is dominated and hamstrung by tensions between India and Pakistan. BIMSTEC also allows India to push a constructive agenda to counter Chinese investments.
• Three projects pending with BIMSTEC, when finished, are likely to transform the region, especially India.
• Kaladan Multimodal project linking India and Myanmar: The project envisages connecting Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar, and then Mizoram by river and road. India and Myanmar had signed a framework agreement in 2008 & are yet to be finished.
• Trilateral Highway connecting India and Thailand through Myanmar: The highway will run from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar thereby establishing connectivity between India and Southeast Asian countries. The project is currently underway.
• The goods and vehicles: were signed in the year 2015 and is, awaiting internal clearances of some members, involves the movement of goods and vehicles. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal (BBIN) have signed this pact. Trial runs are on.
• India has finally realized that the lack of importance given to BIMSTEC can seriously jeopardize its economic and strategic agenda. Consequently, it has committed to re-energising BIMSTEC, which was evident during the BRICS Outreach Summit. This pragmatic step on India’s part lucidly demonstrated its intentions &potential to play the role of a regional leader.

BIMSTEC VS. SAARC: WHICH IS MORE SUITABLE FOR INDIA?

If India wants to prove itself as a regional power, as the largest country in South Asia, India cannot escape its responsibilities under SAARC. The following points explain the differences between SAARC and BIMSTEC. In the end, it can be seen that none of them can substitute for each other. Rather, they can complement each other’s roles.

PARAMETER: VIBRANCY AND DYNAMISM

BIMSTEC:

• BIMSTEC meetings have been held only four times in the last twenty years.
• BIMSTEC meetings are rather considered to be retreats for the leaders of the member nations and there are hardly any talks on policy.
• As of now, BIMSTEC finds vibrancy since India is using it to promote its Act East Policy that aligns with the Look West Policy of Thailand.
• It is argued that India also uses the BIMSTEC platform to substitute SAARC. However, the success of BIMSTEC does not render SAARC pointless; it only adds a new chapter in regional cooperation in South Asia.

SAARC:

• SAARC on the other side is a more active group. Over the last 32 years, ignoring the annual SAARC summits that have been postponed 11 times for political reasons, SAARC has been assiduously nurtured through a multitude of meetings and initiatives, including 18 summits.
• This has seen it evolve a whole set of conventions, organs, and mechanisms and a network of more than a dozen regional centers and other institutions, with a secretariat in Kathmandu.
• Since the SAARC summit has only been postponed, not cancelled, the possibility of revival remains.

PARAMETER: GOALS

BIMSTEC: BIMSTEC’s role is more restricted to the economy and regional integration only.

SAARC: 

• SAARC has broader goals compared to BIMSTEC.
• SAARC is aimed at promoting the welfare of the people; accelerating economic growth, social progress, and cultural development; and strengthening collective self-reliance.
• Other objectives include strengthening cooperation with other developing countries and cooperating with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes.

PARAMETER: INTRA-TRADE

BIMSTEC: Trade among the BIMSTEC member countries reached six percent in just a decade.

SAARC: In SAARC, it has remained around five percent since its inception.

PARAMETER: CAPACITY OF THE SECRETARIAT

BIMSTEC: The BIMSTEC secretariat faces a severe resource crunch, both in terms of money and manpower, which has adversely affected its performance.

SAARC: SAARC secretariat has more resources. This can be used when SAARC meetings are held.

PARAMETER: COVERAGE

BIMSTEC:

• BIMSTEC is interregional and connects both South Asia and ASEAN.
• BIMSTEC provides SAARC countries a unique opportunity to connect with ASEAN.

SAARC:

• SAARC is a purely regional organization.
• Thus, it is also possible that both the regional organizations can thrive together and even prove complementary in geographically overlapping regions.

CHALLENGES & IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIA

India faces a few challenges which need to be ironed out for the smooth functioning of BIMSTEC. From the strategic perspective, two factors merit as a challenge;

• The first is India’s realization that regional integration in South Asia would work only if Pakistan was not involved. Thus projecting BIMSTEC as more relevant in spite of its overlapping mandate and members with SAARC, appears a daunting task for India.
• The second factor is China’s strategic & economic influence on BIMSTEC members, who can make BIMSTEC hostage to Indo-China regional rivalry. India, therefore, will have to carefully navigate through this emerging regional geopolitics& reassure South Asia that the region can work together to achieve common goals with India playing its due role.
• India is currently the largest contributor to the BIMSTEC secretariat’s budget with an annual contribution of Rs 2 crore (32% of the total budget) for 2017-18. With the secretariat now planning to strengthen its capacity, India may need to consider allocating more resources. India’s generosity would be a key test of its commitment to the subregional grouping.
• Another issue that besets BIMSTEC is that it is an India-dominated bloc. However, due to changing Geo-economics, most of the smaller neighbors today are more willing to engage India due to its economic rise. India needs to proactively engage them and show sensitivity to their concerns.

HOW BIMSTEC CAN REINVENT ITSELF

BIMSTEC as a Forum is well equipped in facilitating this new regionalism. However, its visibility needs to be enhanced for which its member states should:-

• Instill in the organization a vision for a cooperative, multilateral, regional order which is based on principles of liberalism, not on unilateralism.
• Empower the BIMSTEC secretariat with greater financial resources enabling it to proactively drive the organization’s agenda.
• Prioritize sustained physical connectivity and high-quality infrastructure, to facilitate greater regional flows of goods& services.
• India’s role as an informal leader has to be expanded.
• Open BIMSTEC to cooperate with regional powers committed to inclusive regionalism to include Australia, European Union, Japan, and the United States.

CONCLUSION:

BIMSTEC holds the catalytic potential to transform the economies of member states and create a peaceful, prosperous, and integrated neighborhood. The road from potential to reality will be successfully traversed only when all actors and stakeholders come together to play their role well to achieve a shared dream of peace, stability, and prosperity for this dynamic region.