Daily Current Affairs

Japan, Britain, Italy to develop next generation fighter jet (GS Paper 3, Defence)

Why in news?

• Japan, Britain and Italy will jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet in a project that holds scope for future cooperation with allies including the United States.
• The joint project is called the Global Combat Air Programme.

 

Details:

• The new jet, to be ready by 2035, is expected to merge the nations’ current research into cutting-edge air combat technology, from stealth capacity to high-tech sensors.
• The “ambitious endeavour” would “accelerate our advanced military capability and technological advantage” at a time when “threats and aggression are increasing” worldwide.

 

Britain:

• Britain had already been working with Italy on a future fighter jet project called Tempest, launched to great fanfare in 2018.
• The objective was to develop by 2035 a twin-engined stealth aircraft that could be operated manned or unmanned, could not be detected by radar, and would boast features such as laser-directed weapons and a virtual cockpit.

 

Japan:

• Japan’s prior project to build a next-generation fighter plane, named F-X, was reportedly expected to cost more than five trillion yen (around $40 billion).
• But the war in Ukraine, repeated missile launches from North Korea and growing pressure from China have helped build support for a bigger budget.
• The companies Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, BAE Systems and Leonardo would oversee the new project, which is Tokyo’s second joint development after its SM-3 missile made with U.S.

 

Way Forward:

• The Global Combat Air Programme is the latest high-profile example of allied countries collaborating on an ad-hoc basis to develop defence equipment.

 

FTA with Australia to create level-playing field for home textile exporters

(GS Paper 3, Economy)

Why in news?

• India’s free trade agreement (FTA) signed with Australia, which comes into effect from December 29, 2022 will be beneficial for Indian garment and home textile exporters, according to India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).
• Even as there is a slowdown in demand for Indian garments in the US and Europe, free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia is likely to provide a level-playing field for home textile exporters in 2022-23.

 

How it will be helpful for India?

• Australia’s zero import duty access to India, which was earlier 5 per cent, will provide a level-playing field with exports from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
• Given that China accounts for almost 60 per cent of textile imports into Australia with India at 5-6 per cent, Ind-Ra expects the volume of exports to gradually increase in 2023 and thereafter may increase further based on producer capacities.
• A long-term shift for meaningful volume increases, which encourages incremental capital expenditure, would necessitate improving the cost competitiveness and availability of a pool of skilled labour, it added.
• The availability of domestic sources of cotton and long-term visibility of demand could encourage domestic entities to diversify exports and manage demand cyclicality better.

Future potential:

• Given the slowdown being experienced by the US and Europe, this could provide partial relief along with other FTAs likely to be signed with UAE, UK, Canada and Israel.
• These markets have an aggregate textile import of USD 60 billion and even an incremental gain of 5 per cent for India would be a 50 per cent gain on the existing exports of USD 6 billion. The total textile export from India to the world aggregated USD 43 billion in FY22.
• India exports a significant proportion of its low value-added products 25-30 per cent in FY22 such as yarn and fabrics to China, Bangladesh and Vietnam which use them to value add and export to countries such as Australia and other potential FTA partners.
• Ind-Ra expects the removal of these tariff barriers through FTAs to increase the incentive to create value addition within the country and increase the proportion of such products in the overall export basket. This will aid the process of diversification and limit the inherent cyclicality associated with the industry.

 

Way Forward:

• China, Vietnam and Bangladesh continue to hold major market shares in the import basket of Australia and a meaningful shift in volumes would necessitate looking at addressing tax anomalies, shortage of skilled labour and increasing the focus on sustainable practices including the use of green energy.
• As wage costs in China continue to rise, India would stand to benefit, although, our costs are still higher in relation to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Indias Central Asia outreach

(GS Paper 2, International Relation)

Why in news?

• Recently, the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval hosted a meeting of his counterparts from five Central Asian countries; Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan in New Delhi.
• All countries except Turkmenistan sent their NSAs; it was represented by its ambassador in New Delhi.

 

Background:

• The meeting, which took place in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the security situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban, flowed from the first India-Central Asia virtual summit of January 27, 2022.
• The leaders of the Central Asian countries had been invited for the Republic Day celebrations, but their in-person participation was scuttled by the Omicron-led Covid surge in India.

 

Engagement with Central Asia

• The Silk Route connected India with Central Asia from the 3rd century BC to the 15th century AD. From the export of Buddhism to the lasting influence of Bollywood, India has shared old and deep cultural ties with the region.
• In 1955, during a 16-day visit to the erstwhile Soviet Union, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru travelled to Almaty, Tashkent, and Ashgabat, all of which became capitals of newly-independent countries after the 1991 collapse of the USSR.
• Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in 1992, and Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in 1995. In 2003, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the first Prime Minister to visit Tajikistan; he had travelled to Kazakhstan in the previous year. Manmohan Singh visited Uzbekistan in 2006, and the Kazakh capital Astana in 2011.
• Despite India’s focus on its other relationships — the US (nuclear deal), China (2003 border pact), and Pakistan (in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks — diplomatic parts continued to move on Central Asia. India also attended Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits, which were attended by the Central Asian countries, and put in its request for membership.
• Focussed engagement began with the “Connect Central Asia policy” in 2012, which received a fillip with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to all five Central Asian countries in July 2015 — the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

 

Battle for strategic space

• Central Asia has always been seen as Russia’s backyard, some 20-30% of the population is of Russian origin, and Russian is spoken widely.
• Central Asia is extremely rich in mineral and natural resources. Kazakhstan has one of the biggest reserves of uranium, besides stores of coal, lead, zinc, gold, and iron ore.
• The Kyryz Republic is rich in gold and hydro-power, and Turkmenistan has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas. Tajikistan has huge hydro-power potential and Uzbekistan has gold, uranium, and natural gas.
• China’s President Xi Jinping chose to visit four Central Asian countries on his first overseas trip in September 2022 after two years of Covid-related disruption, underlines the strategic importance of this region.

 

For India, engagement with the Central Asian countries is important because of a range of reasons —

1. security cooperation after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan;
2. to counter China’s influence in the region;
3. plans for connectivity with Europe including the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC);
4. to meet its energy needs (Turkmenistan is part of the proposed TAPI gas pipeline); and
5. for reasons of old cultural links and trade potential.

 

India’s engagement

• The recent engagement began with the India-Central Asia foreign ministers’ meeting on December 19, 2021. That meeting was held against the backdrop of the fall of Kabul in mid-August 2021, and a little more than a month after the NSAs of Central Asian countries, along with the NSAs of Russia and Iran, attended the Afghanistan-focussed Regional Security Dialogue in New Delhi.
• Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan share borders with Afghanistan.
• This was followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s January 27, 2022 virtual summit with the leaders of the Central Asian countries, in which he called for an integrated approach to regional cooperation and flagged Afghanistan as a common concern.

 

India and the five Central Asian leaders decided, among other things,

1. to hold a leaders’ summit every two years;
2. regular meetings among their foreign and trade ministers;
3. a joint working group on Afghanistan;
4. joint counter-terrorism exercises between India and interested Central Asian countries; and
5. a group to operationalise the use of Chabahar port by all five countries.

 

Highlights of recent meeting:

• China, which has a direct border with the region, has a bilateral trade of $50 billion with Central Asia, and has made major investments in these countries with its Belt and Road Initiative. India’s trade with the region is a paltry $2 billion.
• The lack of overland transport access is a major challenge to India’s Central Asia plans. India wants to integrate the INSTC with Chabahar port in Iran to access the resource-rich region. The NSAs, who generally focus on security issues, discussed these connectivity corridors in recent meeting.
• From the security perspective, the NSAs discussed the challenges of extremism, terrorism, and radicalisation in the region.
• Central Asia is seen as the northern boundary of the Islamic world, and with the Taliban’s return in Afghanistan, the threat of radicalism and possible regrouping of the Islamic State poses a serious security challenge for the countries in the region.

Way Forward:

• India does not want the post-Soviet space to be captured by the Chinese, and the NSAs engagement is a key mechanism in Delhi’s toolkit.
• In June 2002, Vajpayee had said in Almaty that the new “Silk Route Initiative” of India’s foreign policy seeks to build a new Silk Road of Friendship and Cooperation between India and Central Asia. Twenty years later, India remains on the road, and on the job.