HEALTH ISSUES

1. WHAT IS BF.7, THE OMICRON SUB-VARIANT DRIVING THE SURGE IN CHINA?

THE CONTEXT: The current surge in Covid-19 infections in China is believed to be driven by the BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron that is circulating in that country.

THE EXPLANATION:

What is the New Variant?

• When viruses mutate, they create lineages and sub-lineages — like the main trunk of the SARS-CoV-2 tree sprouting branches and sub-branches. The BF.7 is the same as BA.5.2.1.7, which is a sub-lineage of the Omicron sub-lineage BA.5.
• A study published in ‘Cell Host and Microbe’ journal earlier this month reported that the BF.7 sub-variant has a 4.4-fold higher neutralisation resistance than the original D614G variant — meaning that in a lab setting, antibodies from a vaccinated or infected individual were less likely to destroy BF.7 than the original Wuhan virus that spread worldwide in 2020.
• But BF.7 is not the most resilient sub-variant — the same study reported a more than 10-fold higher neutralisation resistance in another Omicron sub-variant called BQ.1.
• A higher neutralisation resistance means there is a higher likelihood of the variant spreading in a population and replacing other variants.
• BF.7 accounted for more than 5% of US cases and 7.26% of UK cases in October. Scientists in the West were watching the variant closely; however, there was no dramatic increase in the number of cases or hospitalisations in these countries.

BF.7 circulating in India as well?

• The January 2022 wave in India was driven by the BA.1 and BA.2 sub-variants of Omicron. The sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 that followed were never as prevalent in India as they were in European countries; thus, India saw very few cases of BF.7 (which is an offshoot of BA.5).
• As per data from India’s national SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing network, BA.5 lineages accounted for only 2.5% of cases in November. At present, a recombinant variant XBB is the most common variant in India, accounting for 65.6% of all cases in November 2022.

Connect the Dots:

• About m-RNA
• Vaccine technology
• What is Genome Sequencing?

ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

2. SCIENTISTS FREEZE GREAT BARRIER REEF CORAL IN WORLD-FIRST TRIAL

THE CONTEXT: Recently, Scientists working on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef have successfully trialled a new method for freezing and storing coral larvae they say could eventually help rewild reefs threatened by climate change.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Scientists are scrambling to protect coral reefs as rising ocean temperatures destabilise delicate ecosystems. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered four bleaching events in the last seven years including the first ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon, which typically brings cooler temperatures.
• Cryogenically frozen coral can be stored and later reintroduced to the wild but the current process requires sophisticated equipment including lasers. Scientists say a new lightweight “cryomesh” can be manufactured cheaply and better preserves coral.
• In December 2022, scientists conducted trials using the Great Barrier Reef coral for the first time. They used cryomesh to freeze the coral larvae at the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences (AIMS). The coral has been collected from the reef, during the brief annual spawning window.

Why does freezing a coral larvae matter?

The Great Barrier Reef had experienced 4 bleaching events in the last seven years, including the first-ever bleach during a La Nina phenomenon, which generally brings cooler atmospheric temperatures. The cyromesh paves the path towards a future where coral reefs can be restored in the wild, enabling assistance to some of the aquaculture and restoration interventions.

Connect the Dots:

• Corals reefs in India
• What is Coral bleaching?
• La Nina and El Nino

3. A NEW GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK

THE CONTEXT: The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations agreement to conserve and sustainably use earth’s biodiversity, got a boost at a conference held in Montreal recently, when 188 of 196 member governments agreed on a new framework to halt the sharp and steady loss of biological species.

THE EXPLANATION:

What does the Kunming-Montreal pact aim to achieve?

• It sets out targets for 2030 on protection for degraded areas, resource mobilisation for conservation, compensation for countries that preserve biodiversity, halting human activity linked to species extinction, reducing by half the spread of invasive alien species (introduced plants and animals that affect endemic biodiversity), cutting pollution to non-harmful levels and minimising climate change impact and ocean acidification, among others.
• The GBF goals and targets do not prohibit the use of biodiversity, but call for sustainable use, and a sharing of benefits from genetic resources. Target five specifically states that the use, harvesting and trade in wild species should be “sustainable, safe and legal, preventing overexploitation, minimising impacts on non-target species and ecosystems and reducing the risk of pathogen spillover.”
• The GBF emphasises respect for the rights of indigenous communities that traditionally protect forests and biodiversity, and their involvement in conservation efforts. It advocates similar roles for women and local communities.

Sustainable Agriculture:

• Agricultural practices also find a strong focus. Besides emphasising sustainable practices in agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries and forestry, the agreement calls upon members to adopt biodiversity-supporting methods such as agroecology and sustainable intensification. This acquires significance, since growing Genetically Modified (GM) crops is not favoured by agroecologists as they could contaminate nearby wild species of the same plants.
• One target also looks at turning cities into hosts of biodiversity, by expanding the area of and improving the quality and access to urban green and blue spaces. Urban planning should also be biodiversity-inclusive, “enhancing native biodiversity, ecological connectivity and integrity, and improving human health and well-being and connection to nature.”
• Earlier, the CBD had launched the Aichi biodiversity targets for 2020, which included safeguarding of all ecosystems that provide services for humanity’s survival, and the Nagoya Protocol which went into effect in 2014 to ensure sharing of biodiversity access and benefits.

What funding arrangements are planned?

• By 2030, the GBF hopes to see at least $200 billion raised per year from all sources — domestic, international, public and private — towards implementation of the national action plans. In terms of international funding, developing countries should get at least $20 billion a year by 2025 and at least $30 billion by 2030 through contributions from developed countries.
• The Global Environment Facility (GEF), a multilateral body that partners countries and agencies, has been asked to establish in 2023, and until 2030, a Special Trust Fund to support the implementation of the GBF. Complementing this, the GBF envisages that there will be access to justice and information related to biodiversity for indigenous peoples and local communities, respecting their cultures and rights over lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge, as well as by women, children and youth, and persons with disabilities, and ensure the full protection of environmental human rights defenders.

Connecting the Dots:

• Aichi Targets
• Global Environment Facility
• GM Crops

THE PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

4. THREE MORE SITES ADDED TO TENTATIVE LIST OF UNESCO

THE CONTEXT: Gujarat’s Vadnagar town, the iconic Sun Temple at Modhera, and the rock cut sculptures of Unakoti in Tripura have been added to the tentative list of UNCESO World Heritage Sites.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The UNESCO tentative list is an “inventory of those properties which each State Party intends to consider for nomination”. India now has 52 sites on UNESCO Tentative List.
• The Sun Temple at Modhera which is dedicated to the sun god, is the earliest of such temples which set trends in architectural and decorative details, representing the Solanki style at its best.
• Vadnagar is a municipality in Mehsana district of Gujarat. A multi-layered historic town, Vadnagar has a recorded past stretching back to nearly 8th century BC. The town still retains a large number of historic buildings that are primarily religious and residential in nature.
• Unakoti is an ancient holy place associated with Shaiva worship. The site is a massive gallery set in a forested area displaying a number of towering low-relief images in a unique style, making it a masterpiece of human creative genius.

VALUE ADDITION:

What is the tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites?

• If a state considers a monument/site has cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value and therefore suitable for inscription on the World Heritage List. Then the state prepares a list of such sites and sends it to UNESCO. The UNESCO after preliminary inspection accepts/rejects the monument and form a tentative list.
• A position on a country’s tentative list does not automatically tender that site with world heritage status.
• It is mandatory to put any monument/site on the Tentative List (TL) before it is considered for the final nomination dossier.
• After a site is listed as a tentative site, country has to prepare a nomination document that will be considered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for a World Heritage Site.

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES AND INITIATIVES IN NEWS

5. REVISION SERIES: INDIA SEMICONDUCTOR MISSION

• India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has been setup as an Independent Business Division within Digital India Corporation. ISM has all the administrative and financial powers and is tasked with the responsibility of catalysing the India Semiconductor ecosystem in manufacturing, packaging and design.
• ISM has an advisory board consisting of some of the leading global experts in the field of semiconductors. ISM is serving as the nodal agency for efficient, coherent and smooth implementation of the programme for development of semiconductor and manufacturing ecosystem in India.

Objectives of ISM are as under:

• Formulate a comprehensive long-term strategy for developing sustainable semiconductors and display manufacturing facilities and semiconductor design eco-system in the country in consultation with the Government ministries / departments / agencies, industry, and academia.
• Facilitate the adoption of secure microelectronics and developing trusted semiconductor supply chain, including raw materials, specialty chemicals, gases, and manufacturing equipment.
• Enable a multi-fold growth of Indian semiconductor design industry by providing requisite support in the form of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, foundry services and other suitable mechanisms for early-stage startups.
• Promote and facilitate indigenous Intellectual Property (IP) generation.
• Encourage, enable and incentivize Transfer of Technologies (ToT).
• Establish suitable mechanisms to harness economies of scale in Indian semiconductor and display industry.
• Enable cutting-edge research in semiconductors and display industry including evolutionary and revolutionary technologies through grants, global collaborations and other mechanisms in academia / research institutions, industry, and through establishing Centres of Excellence (CoEs).
• Enable collaborations and partnership programs with national and international agencies, industries and institutions for catalyzing collaborative research, commercialization and skill development.

ISM has been working as nodal agency for the Schemes approved under Semicon India Programme. The applications were received by ISM and are being appraised by ISM. ISM has also been engaging with various stakeholders of Semiconductors and Display ecosystem to attract the investments in India.

1. Our reality and the web of causality READ MORE
2. Right to salvation READ MORE
3. GOD’S love is for one and all READ MORE

1. As fog comes to Delhi, a look at the phenomenon and what causes it READ MORE
2. Unity in biodiversity: Doing little about the extinction of other species is a suicide pact by 8 billion humans. But here’s some good news READ MORE  

1. Gender violence: To change society, start at home READ MORE
2. Social morality can’t dictate dignity, or rights READ MORE

1. Upholding the autonomy of the Election Commission READ MORE
2. Judicial independence, above all READ MORE
3. CAG Reforms~I READ MORE
4. CAG Reforms~II READ MORE
5. Anti-Conversion Laws and the Mobilising of Coercive Power READ MORE
6. Case to improve judicial efficiency in India READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Improved, heavy rare earth-free, low-cost magnets for EV vehicles could reduce mobility costs READ MORE  
2. PMGSY in Backward and Tribal Dominated Areas READ MORE
3. Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence in Agriculture READ MORE
4. Fitch retains India rating at BBB-, cites robust medium-term growth outlook READ MORE
5. Vadnagar town, Modhera Sun Temple, Unakoti sculptures added to UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage Sites READ MORE
6. Rule 267 becomes the bone of contention in Rajya Sabha READ MORE
7. New health threat? Pathogens frozen in permafrost resurface as Earth heats up READ MORE
8. Small loans: Microcredit means more people can borrow money — but more scrutiny is also needed READ MORE

Main Exam

GS Paper- 1

1. As fog comes to Delhi, a look at the phenomenon and what causes it READ MORE
2. Gender violence: To change society, start at home READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Upholding the autonomy of the Election Commission READ MORE
2. Judicial independence, above all READ MORE
3. CAG Reforms~I READ MORE
4. CAG Reforms~II READ MORE
5. Anti-Conversion Laws and the Mobilising of Coercive Power READ MORE
6. Case to improve judicial efficiency in India READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Social morality can’t dictate dignity, or rights READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Tawang clash: Sixty years on, why doesn’t India have a China-specific strategy? READ MORE
2. India must reorient its China policy READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Digital rupee can transform India’s financial transactions READ MORE
2. India must speed up shift to renewable energy generation READ MORE
3. Unilateral carbon pricing: India needs to work on carbon border tariffs READ MORE
4. How Rise in Income Inequality is Linked With Growing Wealth Inequity READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Unity in biodiversity: Doing little about extinction of other species is a suicide pact by 8 billion humans. But here’s some good news READ MORE  

SECURITY

1. Terror activity drops: Amid challenges, a flicker of hope in J&K READ MORE

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Ready for the worst: on government’s better preparedness for cyclones READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Our reality and the web of causality READ MORE
2. Right to salvation READ MORE
3. GOD’S love is for one and all READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. To realise India’s demographic dividend, we must improve our gender dividend. Comment.
2. An intervention framework that acts at multiple levels of society is needed to end the pervasive nature of gender-based violence and create a gender-equitable future.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable and unethical.
• To improve accessibility for all, socio-legal and health systems must be integrated into an age- and gender-inclusive manner.
• Gender equality can be achieved when girls and boys have equal rights, conditions, opportunities, and power to shape their lives and affect society.
• Socio-cultural factors play a significant role in shaping the way women are perceived in society.
• An intervention framework that acts at multiple levels of society (individual, community, institutional, legal, and policy) is needed to end the pervasive nature of gender-based violence and create a gender-equitable future.
• The Indian legal system as it is designed now, is suited to favour the rich, which makes the idea of access to justice a distant dream. Reforms at several levels are required for it to be made accessible in the true sense.
• Colonial governments essentialised religious practices and communities to create governable populations. The present-day regime remains just as ignorant of the fluidity of faith and faith-based practices in India.
• Montreal marks a breakthrough in the struggle to protect the planet’s biodiversity richness. A beginning has been made. The United Nations pact establishes a global benchmark but the lack of agreement on financing is a worry.
• A credible and impartial system of appointing judges is necessary. Any appointment must ensure judicial accountability, fostering a judiciary that, at an individual and systemic level, is independent of other branches of government.
• In sorting out the method by which the Election Commission of India is constituted, the guiding principle must be functional and effective independence from the executive.

ESSAY TOPIC

• Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable and unethical.

50-WORD TALK

• Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena’s order to recover Rs 97 crore from AAP for political advertisements published as government ads is exemplary. Government ads must adhere to SC guidelines and information about its policies, programmes and people’s rights and entitlements. Ruling parties must stop using taxpayers’ money to serve political interests.
• Opposition parties’ demand for a trade ban with China is impractical and driven by political considerations. Indian defence forces and diplomats can deal with Chinese mischiefs adequately and effectively. Modi government should take the opposition into confidence on sensitive national security matters instead. Broken politics is India’s biggest strategic vulnerability.

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 is in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and 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 389]

THE CONTEXT: India was elected to the UNSC for the eighth time in 2020 and began its two-year term this January. It is the council’s president in August and is, rightly, using the pulpit to focus on areas of vital interest affecting international peace and security.Recently the Prime Minister chaired the high-level debate on ‘Enhancing Maritime Security – A Case for International Cooperation’ by United Nations Security Council. The meeting was meant to discuss ways to effectively counter maritime crime and insecurity and strengthen coordination in the maritime domain.This article discusses about the importance of maritime security for India and challenges related to it.

WHAT IS MARITIME SECURITY?

The latest buzzword in international relations; maritime security doesn’t have a commonly agreed definition. It classifies issues in the maritime domain comprising national security, marine environment, economic development, and human security. Besides world’s oceans, it also deals with regional seas, territorial waters, rivers and ports.

THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OUTLINED BY PM MODI FOR MARITIME SECURITY

1. For free, maritime trade, it is necessary that we fully respect the rights of the seafarers of other countries.
2. Maritime disputes should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law.
3. Countries should jointly tackle maritime threats from non-state actors and natural disasters.
4. The maritime environment and marine resources needed to be conserved, highlighting pollution from plastic waste and oil spills.
5. A structure was required to boost maritime trade, for responsible maritime connectivity, with the development of global norms and standards.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MARITIME SECURITY FOR INDIA

STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE

• India is a major maritime nation by virtue of its long coast line of around 7517 Kms on the western and eastern shelves of the mainland and also along the islands, bejeweled with 13 major and 176 non- major ports, strategically located on the world’s shipping routes.
• The geo-strategic position of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has risen in economic and political significance in the last two decades that have witnessed a tectonic shift in international power play from the Atlantic Ocean to the Asia-Pacific—more specifically to the IOR.

Thus India has a natural interest in enhancing maritime security.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

• The Indian economy is hugely dependent on energy imports to the extent of 81 percent of the total domestic oil consumption in 2015-16. These imports are transported by sea.
• While offshore oil gas production accounts for 80 percent of all domestic gas production.
• Nearly 95 percent of India’s international trade by volume and over 70 percent by value is carried over the seas.
• India is also the world’s fourth largest producer of fish, most of which comes from the sea.
• The Sagarmala project has provided a renewed thrust to port-led development and infrastructure for quick and efficient transportation of goods to and from ports.
• India has made significant strides towards harnessing deep sea resources with the International Seabed Authority according it pioneer status and an allocation of 75000 sq.km of seabed in the Central Indian Ocean.
• The living and non-living resources in Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which measure about two-third of the landmass of the country, are exclusive to India, as also the trade and transport facilities that navigate through this area.

Nurturing this nascent maritime economy will require concerted national efforts whilst ensuring that impediments and potential threats are kept at bay.

CULTURAL IMPORTANCE

• India’s location in the Indian Ocean has placed it at the nerve centre of trade and cultural cross-pollination in this region throughout history.
• Historical evidence exists of Indian linkages with Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mauritius with manifestations of Indian culture clearly seen in their temples and legends.
• Nurturing of these linkages is important for preservation of India’s interests in the region.
• The Ministry of Culture launched Project Mausam in June 2014 to re-connect and re-establish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world.
• Focused efforts to further projects such as this and others like the Kerala government’s ‘Spice Route’ will strengthen India’s maritime interests in the IOR.

FOREIGN POLICY IMPORTANCE

• India has invested in a variety of sectors like infrastructure, industry, energy, and services in a number of countries in the immediate maritime neighbourhood and beyond.
• India has made significant strides towards harnessing deep sea resources with the International Seabed Authority according it pioneer status and an allocation of 75000 sqkm of seabed in the Central Indian Ocean.
• ONGC Videsh Ltd has invested in oil exploration in Vietnam’s EEZ in two blocks allotted by the Vietnamese Government. China has protested against this activity deeming it to be illegal in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

While India still seems to be taking baby steps in this sector of the economy, it is important that this area of national endeavour be suitably encouraged whilst protecting it from being jeopardised by inimical interests.

SECURITY IMPORTANCE

• Securing Sea lanes of Communication: In the Indian Ocean, three major Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCS) play a crucial role in the energy security and economic prosperity.

1. India’s exports and imports have remained mostly across the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean. Therefore, securing Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) have been an important issue for India in 21^st century.
2. Securing the sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) that traverse the oceans is of central importance to enhancing maritime security.
3. The Indian Ocean region transports 75% of the world’s maritime trade and 50% of daily global oil consumption.

THE CHALLENGES

Given its distinctive geography and the recent shift of global maritime focus from the Atlantic-Pacific combine to the Indo-Pacific continuum, the importance of the Indian Ocean Region in India’s national security calculus has greatly increased in the post-Cold War/post 9-11 era.

STRATEGIC CHALLENGES

• India’s main strategic challenge comes from its prosperous northern neighbour; China. The all-weather Sino-Pakistan alliance, with its strong anti-Indian slant, further complicates our security problems.
• The rapid growth of both economies has led to increasing reliance on energy and raw materials and transported by sea. This has focused sharp attention on the criticality, for both economies, of uninterrupted use of the sea- lanes for trade and energy transportation.
• Indian strategists are, naturally, paying attention to developments practically in all waters due to the country’s growing international profile. Their growing concern is regarding tensions rising in the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Mediterranean.

SECURITY CHALLENGES

• India has a coastline of 7,517 kms, out of this 5,422 kms are with mainland. This vast coastline presents numerous security challenges like piracy, illegal landing of arms and explosives, infiltration, use of sea and off shore islands for criminal activities, drug and human trafficking and smuggling.
• Absence of physical barriers on the coast and presence of vital industries like port and important defence installations like RADARs and nuclear reactors enhances the risk and the need to protect its maritime region.

TRAFFICKING

• The Indian Ocean Region is regrettably home to the world’s most notorious areas of drug production, the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle.
• The trans-national networks established by the drug smugglers also serve as conduits for other destabilising activities like gunrunning and human trafficking.

MARITIME TERRORISM

• India’s huge coastline, a thriving maritime commercial community along its coast with nearly 200,000 fishing boats and a fishermen population of 4 million make the job of monitoring maritime activity an unenviable task.
• The ability of adversarial interests to exploit this vast maritime activity for launching attacks on land is therefore quite high, as was witnessed in the 26/11 terrorist acts.

UNSTABLE LITTORAL

• The Indian Ocean remains largely peaceful but has an unstable littoral and a northern periphery comprising countries experiencing conflict/near-conflict situations.
• The one concern is to prevent the tensions in the neighbouring waters from spilling into the Indian Ocean.

NON-TRADITIONAL CHALLENGES

• The growth of modern technology and socio-economic developments have also generated the so-called ‘non-traditional’ security challenges such as climate change, haphazard urbanisation of coastal regions, natural disasters and pandemics.
• All of them impact on security at sea and in the littoral regions which interact upon each other.

GLOBAL AND REGIONAL COOPERATION’S

• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS)- The IONS is a voluntary initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. It has 23 countries as members including India.
• Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM)- HACGAM provides a platform for pan regional cooperation and was a takeoff from the Regional Senior Experts Meetings of Coast Guard Agencies of Asia which were held for combating piracy and armed robbery against ships. Have 17 nations as member including India.
• Indian Ocean Rim Association– Their charter is to promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the member states. Maritime Safety and Security is one of key roles. It has 20 countries as members including India.
• Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS)- They are a series of biennial meetings of the Pacific nations to discuss naval matters held on even numbered years. 25 countries have been participating including India.
• Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP)- CSCAP is a non-governmental (Track II) process for dialogue on security issues in the Asia-Pacific. Membership in CSCAP is on an institutional basis and consists of member countries. Current membership comprises Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States.
• The Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP)– was concluded in September 4, 2006, by 14 contracting countries for this region in which India was also a member. This also includes the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre for sharing of piracy-related information.

WAY FORWARD 

• A rules-based international order that recognises national sovereignty and territorial integrity, apart from stressing environmental sustainability, is the need of the hour.
• It is also important that the world sees enhanced coordination among countries in responding to high seas crimes including piracy, trafficking, narco-smuggling and other non-traditional maritime security threats, and acts jointly to meet humanitarian commitments at sea.
• The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides a general framework that could be built upon for a comprehensive approach to maritime security and guaranteeing of the seas as a global commons for the benefit of all.
• It is important that all countries agree to adhere to international rules governing the maritime domain and put them into effect nationally. Such an order should serve all nations, big or small, and ensure similar rights under international law to all.

CONCLUSION: Given the huge role of sea-borne trade in human wellbeing, ensuring freedom of navigation and safety on the seas is a global imperative. For India, maritime security is also important given its sea-facing geography and civilisational links developed over millennia through seafaring. It is, thus, once again in the fitness of things that India should push towards a comprehensive approach to maritime security.