Daily Current Affairs

World Elephant Day – 2022 (GS Paper 3, Environment)

Why in news?

• Recently, the World Elephant day - 2022 was celebrated  at Periyar, Kerala.

 

About World elephant day:

• World elephant day is observed on August 12 every year, to create awareness about elephants.
• The inaugural world elephant day was launched to bring attention to the dire plight of Asian and African elephants. 
• World Elephant Day was officially founded, supported, and launched by Patricia Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation on August 12, 2012.
• Elephants are listed as endangered species and their population has shrunk over the past few decades.

 

New releases:

• The Union Minister released “Elephant Reserves of India: An Atlas”, “Elephant Reserves of India: Land Use Land Cover Classification”, “Caring for elephants: Managing health and welfare in captivity” and the Special edition of “Trumpet”.
• Commemorating 30 years of completion of Project Elephant, a poster on elephant conservation in India was released.

 

 Gaj Gaurav award:

• For the first time in an initiative taken by the Union Minister, Gaj Gaurav award was conferred for the commendable efforts of local communities, frontline staff and mahouts working at grass root level to conserve elephants in wild and captivity.
• In 2022 the Malasar Community belonging to the Anamalai of Tamil Nadu and mahouts of Kerala and Assam were awarded the Gaj Gaurav award.
• Prizes were also given to school students for several competitions held on the theme “Living with elephants”. 

 

Elephants in India:

• The current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000 - 60000  Asian elephants in the world. More than 60% of the population is held in India.
• The population of 29,964 elephants as recorded in the last elephant census conducted in 2017 speaks volumes of the passion for wildlife conservation ingrained in Indian culture.
• India has 31 Elephant Reserves. In the last 3 years, Dandeli Elephant Reserve has been notified by the state of Karnataka, Singphan Elephant Reserve by Nagaland and Lemru Elephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh. This has brought the total area under Elephant Reserves in India to about 76,508 sqkm across 14 states of the country.
• India is going to witness the establishment of one more Elephant Reserve, the Agasthiyamalai in Tamil Nadu, adding yet another 1197 sqkm of Protected Area dedicated for protection and conservation of elephants in India. 
• Indian Elephant has also been listed in the Appendix I of the Convention of the Migratory species in the recently concluded Conference of Parties of CMS 13 at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat in February 2020.

 

Way Forward:

• Elephant is the Natural Heritage Animal of India and India also celebrates this day to spread awareness towards conservation of the species.

 

 

Baloch separatism and the coercive accession of the Khanate of Kalat

(GS Paper 2, International Relation)

 

Context:

• Baloch separatism has been an ongoing issue in Pakistan since the birth of the nation in 1947.

Background:

• The roots of the crisis go way back to the time when the Indian subcontinent became independent, and some 500-odd princely states had to be convinced to join either India or Pakistan.
• A majority of them ended up with India and among the few that decided to accede to Pakistan, those comprising the province of Balochistan proved most complicated.
• It is rumoured that the Khan of Kalat, territory at the heart of modern day Balochistan, had desired to join India, although there is no substantial evidence pointing to it. However, the province did remain an independent entity under the Khan of Kalat, well into March 1948, when the ruler, under much political pressure, signed the instrument of accession.

 

Balochistan before Independence:

• Modern day Balochistan is the largest among the four provinces in Pakistan. It is strategically located in the south western part of the country and is extremely rich in natural resources including gas, oil, copper, and gold.
• Prior to Independence, the province of Balochistan was composed of a number of tribes, whose chiefs were in treaty relationships with the British.
• The Khan of Kalat was the most important among these chiefs. His territories were divided among a number of feudatories with varying levels of independence.
• Three among them; Makran, Las bela and Kharan  had emerged as the separate political entities, who along with Kalat formed the Balochistan States Union.
• It was also referred to as the Khanate of Kalat or the Kalat confederacy. The British got into an agreement with the Khanate of Kalat in 1876, establishing direct rule over it.
• The treaty of Kalat, as it was called, formed the basis for the last Khan of Kalat, Ahmed Yar Khan, claiming independence for the territory.

 

The accession of the Khanate of Kalat:

• As the British withdrawal from India became clearer after the Second World War, the Khan of Kalat stood firm on his demand that Kalat ought to remain an independent sovereign entity.
• In December 1946, the prime minister of Kalat, Muhamed Aslam wrote to Lancelot Griffin, the assistant to the crown representative, recounting all the treaties concluded between the British government in India and the Kalat.
•  It quoted Article 3 of the treaty of 1876 that bound the British government “to respect the independence of Kalat”.
• Further, the Khan hoped that due to his close friendship with Jinnah he would be able to convince the government of Pakistan of a friendship treaty instead of accession.
• His demand was initially accepted and on August 11, 1947 a treaty was signed between Kalat, Pakistan and the British in which Kalat was accepted as an independent state.
• However, the British government was not in favour of an independent Kalat fearing Russian expansionist designs, and pressed upon Pakistan to insist upon the accession of Kalat.
• The Khan, who was vehemently opposed to the idea of accession took the matter to the newly established parliament and both the House of Commons (Darul Awam) and House of Lords (Darul Ummrah) refused to accede after a prolonged debate on the matter.

 

Indulgence of other feudatories:

• What complicated the situation though was the fact that Kharan, Las bela and Makran, the three feudatories of Kalat, wished to accede to Pakistan.
• The ruler of Kharan, Mir Mohammed Habibullah, wrote to Jinnah on August 21, 1947 announcing his decision to join the Pakistan union as its suzerain. In November 1947, he wrote to Jinnah, “my state will never submit to the dictates of the Kalat state and will continue to oppose any moves aimed at an interference of the state’s freedom to act”, as quoted by Sayyid.
• By October 1947, Jinnah changed his mind about the independence of Kalat and demanded from the Khan to sign the instrument of accession as the other states joining Pakistan had done. When the Khan consistently refused to accede, Jinnah terminated his personal role in the matter and turned the negotiations over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

 

Accession:

• Consequently, on March 17, 1948 the Pakistan government decided to accept the accession of the three feudatory states. This left Kalat landlocked and with less than half its landmass.
• Further pressure on the Khan was mounted when a piece of false news broke on All India Radio claiming that Kalat wanted to join India. Left with no other choice, he signed the instrument of accession on March 27, 1948.
• Soon after, in July 1948, the brother of Ahmed Yar Khan, Prince Abdul Karim rebelled against the accession agreement. It was the first among the now five Baloch insurgencies.
• The revolt was brutally suppressed by the Pakistani forces and its leaders imprisoned. After being released, they started working for Baloch rights within the federation of Pakistan and the demand for an independent state of Balochistan.

 

India’s talks with NATO

(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)

 

Why in news?

• India held its first political dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) in Brussels on December 12, 2019.
• The idea was to ensure the dialogue was primarily political in character, and to avoid making any commitment on military or other bilateral cooperation.
• Accordingly, the Indian delegation attempted to assess cooperation on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

 

What is NATO?

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, is a political and military alliance of 28 European countries and two countries in North America (United States and Canada).
• It was set up in 1949 by the US, Canada, and several western European nations to ensure their collective security against the Soviet Union. It was the US’s first peacetime military alliance outside the western hemisphere.
• Thirty countries are currently members of NATO, which is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
• The headquarters of the Allied Command Operations is near Mons, also in Belgium.

 

What is important about NATO’s collective defence?

• Members of NATO are committed to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
• Collective defence lies at the very heart of NATO, “a unique and enduring principle that binds its members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the Alliance”.
• This is laid out in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding treaty of NATO.
• Article 5 reads: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.”

 

What are the origins of NATO?

• At the end of WWII, as battered European nations started to rebuild their economies, the US, which believed that an economically strong, re-armed, and integrated Europe was critical to prevent the westward expansion of communist USSR, embarked on a programme to supply economic aid to the continent on a massive scale.
• The European Recovery Programme, known as the Marshall Plan after President Harry S Truman’s Secretary of State George C Marshall, promoted the idea of shared interests and cooperation between the US and Europe. The USSR declined to participate in the Marshall Plan, and discouraged eastern European states in its sphere of influence from receiving American economic assistance.
• In the 1946-49 Greek Civil War, the US and UK worked to thwart the Soviet-backed communist takeover of Greece. The western nations threw their weight behind Turkey as it stood up to Soviet pressure over control of the Bosporus and Dardanelles Strait (which connect the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, and the Sea of Marmara and Aegean Sea, respectively) and in 1947-48, the US committed itself to containing the communist uprisings in Turkey and Greece.
• In 1948, Stalin’s government sponsored a coup in (erstwhile) Czechoslovakia, which led to the installation of a communist regime in a country sharing borders with both Soviet-controlled East Germany and the pro-West West Germany.
• In 1948-49, the Soviets blockaded West Berlin to force the US, UK, and France to give up their post-war jurisdictions in the country, leading to a major crisis and an 11-month airlift of supplies by Western countries to keep their part of the city going.
• All these events led the US to conclude that an American-European alliance against the USSR was necessary. The Europeans too were convinced of the need for a collective security solution.

 

Formation of NATO:

• In March 1948, the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg signed the Brussels Treaty of collective defence, which meant that if any of the signatories faced an attack, they would be defended by all the others.
• A few months later, the US Congress passed the Vandenburg Resolution, a landmark action “advising the President to seek US and free world security through support of mutual defence arrangements that operated within the UN Charter but outside the Security Council, where the Soviet veto would thwart collective defence arrangements”.
• The Vandenburg Resolution was the stepping stone to NATO. The US believed the treaty would be more effective if it included, apart from the signatories of the Brussels Treaty, countries of the North Atlantic — Canada, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, and Portugal.
• From the American perspective, these countries were the links between the two shores of the Atlantic Ocean, and could help facilitate military action if it was needed.
• The treaty was signed in Washington DC on April 4, 1949. It had 12 signatories initially: the US, UK, Canada, France, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy, Iceland, and Luxembourg.

 

What is the significance of India’s talks with NATO?

• India’s talks with NATO hold significance given that the North Atlantic alliance has been engaging both China and Pakistan in bilateral dialogue. There was a view here that given the role of China and Pakistan in India’s strategic imperatives, reaching out to NATO would add a key dimension to India’s growing engagement with US and Europe.
• Until December 2019, NATO had held nine rounds of talks with China, and the Chinese Ambassador in Brussels and NATO’s Deputy Secretary General engaged with each other every quarter.
• NATO had also been in political dialogue and military cooperation with Pakistan; it opened selective training for Pakistani officers and its military delegation visited Pakistan in November 2019 for military staff talks.
• The first round of dialogue was finalised for December 12, 2019 by the Indian mission in Brussels after it received a draft agenda for the meeting from NATO.
• Upon receipt of the draft agenda, an inter-ministerial meeting was convened with representatives from the External Affairs and Defence ministries, and the National Security Council Secretariat.
• The government was of the view that engaging NATO in a political dialogue would provide India an opportunity to bring about a balance in NATO’s perceptions about the situation in regions and issues of concerns to India.

 

Was there any common ground?

• In India’s assessment, there was a convergence in the perspectives of both India and NATO on China, terrorism, and Afghanistan, including Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan.
• From NATO’s perspective, it was not China, but Russia whose aggressive actions continued to be the main threat to Euro-Atlantic security, and that NATO had faced difficulties to convene meetings of NATO-Russia Council due to Russian refusal to place issues such as Ukraine and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on the agenda.
• Given the divergence among NATO countries, its view on China was seen as mixed; while it did deliberate on China’s rise, the conclusion was that China presented both a challenge and an opportunity.
• In Afghanistan, NATO saw the Taliban as a political entity, which was not in line with India’s stance. This was almost two years before the Taliban announced an interim government in Afghanistan in September 2021.
• However, the Indian side felt maritime security was a principal area of conversation in the future, given a substantial common ground with NATO.

 

India’s view:

• In its first round of talks with NATO, India realised it did not share a common ground with the grouping on Russia and the Taliban. With NATO’s views on China also mixed, given the divergent views of its members, India’s Quad membership is aimed at countering Beijing.
• Otherwise, the alliance’s engagement with China and Pakistan separately would leave it with lopsided perspectives on regional and global security matters of concern to India.

 

What are the next steps?

• On its part, the NATO delegation is learnt to have expressed keenness to continue engagement with India on a mutually agreed agenda. In NATO’s view, India, given its geo-strategic position and unique perspectives on various issues, was relevant to international security and could be an important partner in informing the alliance about India’s own region and beyond, sources said.
• The two sides also discussed a possible second round in New Delhi in 2020, which was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
• As far as India is concerned, it may consider proposals emanating from NATO, if any, on bilateral cooperation in areas of interest to India, based on the progress achieved in the initial rounds.
• While many say it is logical to follow up and formalise the talks, some caution because of sensitivities attached to the perception of NATO — seen by some as expansionist in nature.

 

 

55 years of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)

Context:

• On 8 August 2022, ASEAN celebrated its 55th anniversary, which coincides with the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki.
• The ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in August marked its anniversary with relative ease. Cambodia as chair restored credibility since it was under its chairmanship in 2012 that ASEAN saw no agreement at the AMM.

 

ASEAN: Through the years:

• ASEAN deserves praise for having manoeuvred through the dynamic changes in the international order since its inception. The ASEAN grouping was created in 1967 when the Vietnam War was at its peak.
• The Philippines and Thailand, ASEAN charter members were United States (US) allies through SEATO. They were apprehensive about the spread of communism and wanted to develop without being distracted by security concerns.
• They externalised their security largely to a US umbrella and built for themselves a region which could seek its social, cultural, and economic development.
• In 1984, Brunei post-independence joined the ASEAN five.

ASEAN Regional Forum:

• In 1989, ASEAN was somewhat challenged by the emergence of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Though seven ASEAN countries are its members, it was not an ASEAN-centric body.
• ASEAN realised that security often played a detrimental role, affecting its objectives. Therefore, the first ASEAN-centric body with members from outside was established in 1994 when the ASEAN Regional Forum was formed. This remains the largest of the ASEAN-centric bodies, with 27 members.
• Following the creation of the ARF, in the next five years, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia joined ASEAN. Since 1999, no new country has joined, though Timor-Leste is eagerly waiting.

 

Indo-Pacific:

• ASEAN is in an important focal position in the Indo-Pacific as the entire contention over the South China Sea washes up on its shores. The transformation of a functional Asia-Pacific to a more strategic Indo-Pacific challenges ASEAN.
• In 2023, Indonesia will chair the G20, while Thailand will chair the APEC. The liberal functional approach asked ASEAN to periodically review its functioning and seek greater cohesion and efficacy.

 

Significant decisions:

• Among the significant decisions was the creation of the Treaty on Amity and Cooperation 1976, which was among its members and then open to all willing countries. It now has 43 adherents. 
• In 2015, ASEAN created the Economic Community, Political Community, and Socio-cultural Community. Most ASEAN activity and with its partners is conducted through these pillars.
• ASEAN engagement with other ASEAN-centric bodies, like the East Asia Summit (EAS) also tries to model itself on these three aspects. The ASEAN secretariat is organised to focus on these through differentiated responsibilities.

 

Emerging challenges:

• However, over the last decade during which the American imprint on the region became lighter and the Chinese aggressive intent grew, ASEAN faced larger strategic and competitive attitudes of some of its partners.
• Since ASEAN lacked the wherewithal to engage in a power tussle, it devised its way to deal with the emerging China-US rivalry, the Quad, and AUKUS. ASEAN would very much like it if such a rivalry fades away because they would not want to choose sides.
• However, ASEAN believes that they can engage China, for instance, for two decades to seek a code of conduct in the South China Sea and not feel the need to seek rival support.
• Currently, the grouping faces similar issues like the rest of the world: The challenge of the pandemic, economic recovery, the impact of sanctions on Russia, and the resultant problems of the Ukraine crisis.

 

China-Taiwan crisis:

• The strong Chinese reaction regarding Taiwan coincided with the 55th ASEAN ministerial meeting and the attendant EAS and ARF meeting. Unsurprisingly, Taiwan overshadowed other aspects of the discussion.
• It was sufficiently concerned for a separate statement to be issued by the AMM on the cross-strait situation in which they sought peaceful negotiations to avoid miscommunications and miscalculations.
• The union is acutely aware that just as they were adversely impacted by the Ukraine crisis despite the geographical distance, a crisis in Taiwan can have a remarkable impact on the region which may then become closely aligned to the possible area of hostilities.

 

ASEAN Vision beyond 2025:

• ASEAN works towards keeping a strategic autonomy which includes keeping silent on things it believes will rile some of its friends.
• However, as the world drifts towards bipolarity between the US and China, ASEAN should be aware that a multipolar world is more conducive to their model of cooperation, just as it is for India and others. Strategic autonomy has a larger validity in a multipolar world.
• To handle the uncertainties, members of the High-Level Task Force, are seeking an ASEAN Vision beyond 2025. By the end of 2022, the task force will present an idea of the common vision of ASEAN  2025–2035.

 

ASEAN and India:

• India and ASEAN are also marking the 30th anniversary of their dialogue partnership. The special India–ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting in June showed considerable cohesiveness between Indian and ASEAN positions.
• ASEAN is increasing its partnerships and has added the UK as its 11th dialogue partner in 2021 and in 2022, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been brought in as sectoral partners.
• ASEAN has Sectoral Dialogue Partnerships with Norway, Switzerland and Türkiye, as well as Development Partnerships with Chile, France, Germany, and Italy.

 

India- ASEAN Cooperation:

• India and ASEAN can cooperate more closely towards an economic and functional relationship which can deal with all the current issues while trying to keep the increasing strategic polarisation out of the matrix. India’s Act East Policy has balanced the engagement through the three pillars and increased defence economic and cultural engagement substantively.
• India–ASEAN trade and FDI are both expanding and need not compete with ASEAN’s similar engagement with others particularly Japan, Korea, and China.
• ASEAN should recognise that India is seeking a partnership with them, not a donor relationship. A partnership implies mutual responsibilities. India is a consistent supporter of ASEAN cohesiveness and places faith in its centrality. International dynamics requires ASEAN to do more by itself for its unity and to manifest its centrality.
• In November, at the India-ASEAN summit, the likelihood of India being accorded the status of a comprehensive strategic partner is high. Among the most important things to pursue is resilient value chains which India and ASEAN can develop, keeping in view the ASEAN- India Trade in Goods Agreement that is now due for review.

 

Future roadmap for India- ASEAN engagement:

• Several ASEAN countries have similar problems as India. In this, the role of impact investment to achieve the SDGs could be considered since this is a private sector initiative and works well in triangular situations as well.
• Of particular interest would be the health sector where public health and covering last mile connectivity for it can be usefully dealt with under such investments.
• Protection of children is another important area since India and many ASEAN countries have youthful populations and a large number of children. Protecting children and their rights, ensuring their education and health and making them good citizens will be major contributions to the future of the region.
• These things can be done outside direct government engagement. An India-ASEAN Wise People’s Group to complement the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) should look at the next five years on challenges of public health, digital vision, economic and social impact, and achieving the SDGs. It should be convened on a Track 1.5 basis.
• This will bring in the vitality of the private sector, the civil society and India’s exemplary government programmes which can be an important model for several partners in ASEAN.