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Russia’s war in Ukraine “obliges” Japan and India to take a common stand on the importance of maintaining the international order, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Mr. Kishida and PM Narendra Modi discussed coordinating the agendas of the G-7, to be held in Hiroshima in May, and the G-20, to be held in Delhi in September, on a number of issues like debt financing, food and energy security.
Mr. Modi accepted Mr. Kishida’s request to be one of the special invitees to the G-7 summit of the world’s seven most developed countries on May 19-21.
Among other special invitees announced on Monday are leaders of Brazil, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, Vietnam, the Cook Islands and Comoros.
Mr. Kishida’s remarks were significant as they came the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Moscow to discuss the Ukraine conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I explained in detail to Prime Minister Kishida about the priorities of India’s G-20 Presidency. Giving voice to the priorities of Global South is an important pillar of our G-20 Presidency.
The India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership is based on our shared democratic values, and respect for the rule of law in the international arena.
I reaffirmed with Prime Minister Modi our commitment to strongly upholding international order based on the rule of law, adding that views of the G-7 and G-20 groupings concur on issues like “development finance, food security, climate change and energy.
Speaking to journalists, Japanese Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs Noriyuki Shikata said Mr. Kishida was “straightforward” about the fact that no country should “condone” a unilateral change in the status quo anywhere in the world.
Editorial
Concluding on a high note, in Manhattan (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India concluded its eighth stint in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) at the end of December 2022. And, by any yardstick, its two-year stint has been unprecedented.
It has been my privilege to serve as India’s Ambassador/Permanent Representative in the Council for 18 out of the 24 months.
I arrived in New York in May 2020, on a relief flight, when COVID-19 was at its peak, only to find the empty roads of Manhattan. The UN had begun conducting its sessions virtually. Fortunately, by May 2021, the UNSC resumed physical meetings in the Council Chamber.
When we entered the Council on January 1, 2021, we had clear priorities. When focused inter alia on maritime security, terrorism, UN peacekeeping, reformed multilateralism and the Global South.
India was elected Chair of three important UNSC Committees: the Taliban Sanctions Committee, Libyan Sanctions Committee and Counter-terrorism Committee.
The Prime Minister of India chaired for the first time a UNSC meeting on maritime security. The Presidential Statement issued was the first holistic document on this issue which, for the first time, had a direct reference to UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as international law setting out the legal framework in the context of maritime activities.
It also called for, inter alia, freedom of navigation, anti-piracy and combating terror and transnational crime at sea.
Old conflicts on the UNSC agenda festered and new conflicts were added — Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Mali or Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Haiti, Libya, the Sahel, and of course Ukraine. The Council stood polarised, unable to act decisively. India strove to bring them on the same page.
There was a military takeover in Myanmar on February 1, 2021 soon after we came into the Council. The Permanent-5 (P-5) were pulling in opposing directions while the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counselled caution.
India shares a nearly 1,700 kilometre-long border with Myanmar and it was vital to stop violence, bring in stability and ensure democratic processes went forward. India ensured balanced and comprehensive Council pronouncements, which finally culminated in a resolution on Myanmar (adopted under our presidency) in December 2022.
Opinion
The wide disparities in human development (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India is now one of the fastest-growing economies globally. However, this growth has not resulted in a corresponding increase in its Human Development Index (HDI).
The HDI is a composite statistical measure created by the United Nations Development Programme to evaluate and compare the level of human development in different regions around the world.
It was introduced in 1990 as an alternative to conventional economic measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which do not consider the broader aspects of human development.
The HDI assesses a country’s average accomplishment in three aspects: a long and healthy life, knowledge, and a decent standard of living.
According to the Human Development Report of 2021-22, India ranks 132 out of 191 countries, behind Bangladesh (129) and Sri Lanka (73).
Given India’s size and large population, it is critical to address the subnational or State-wise disparities in human development. Doing so will help India realise its demographic dividend.
For this purpose, I have developed a new index using the methodology suggested by the UNDP and the National Statistical Office (NSO) which measures human development on a subnational level for 2019-20.
The HDI is calculated using four indicators: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, expected years of schooling, and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita.
Life expectancy estimates are taken from the Sample Registration System, and mean and expected years of schooling are extracted from National Family Health Survey-5.
Since estimates for GNI per capita are unavailable at the subnational level, gross state domestic product (GSDP) per capita is used as a proxy indicator to measure the standard of living. GSDP (PPP at constant prices 2011-12) is gathered from the Reserve Bank of India’s Handbook of Statistics on Indian States.
GSDP per capita is estimated using the population projection provided by the Registrar General of India’s office. The methodology involves calculating the geometric mean of the normalised indices for the three dimensions of human development while applying the maximum and minimum values recommended by the UNDP and NSO. HDI scores range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating higher levels of human development.
Explainer
A boost to the zoonoses theory (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
In the never-ending debate about the origin of the virus that set off the COVID-19 pandemic, there is now fresh grist for the mill for those who have held out for the zoonotic angle — that the infection skipped from animals to humans.
Undisclosed genetic data from a food market in Wuhan has been unearthed and is being used to support the zoonoses theory over the lab leak theory.
These findings were presented to the Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens, an expert body constituted by the WHO.
According to Science, Florence Débarre, who specialises in evolutionary biology at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France, discovered the data which consists of genetic sequences posted in GISAID, a virology database, by Chinese researchers.
The Chinese team had reportedly collected samples from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which has been, since 2020 notoriously connected to a cluster of early COVID-19 cases.
They had, in February 2022, posted a preprint with a graph that showed several environmental samples from the market containing the virus which also had human genetic material.
It was this that Debarre had stumbled upon. It also reported that these sequences were later removed on the request of the authors.
Are foreign law firms now allowed in India? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Five years after the Supreme Court allowed foreign law firms and foreign lawyers to visit India on a temporary period for giving legal advice to their clients, the Bar Council of India (BCI), a statutory body governing legal practice in India, has framed Rules that allowed them to open offices in India.
On March 13, 2018, a division bench of Justices A.K. Goel and U.U. Lalit had ruled that foreign law firms or foreign lawyers cannot practise law in the country either on the litigation or non-litigation side.
However, the court said that there was no bar on foreign law firms or foreign lawyers visiting India for a temporary period for giving legal advice to their clients. The court had also asked the BCI to make appropriate rules in this regard.
On March 10, the BCI notified the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022.
This will enable foreign lawyers and law firms to practise foreign law, international law, international arbitration, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters etc on a reciprocal basis.
The Rules mention, “This would also help to address the concerns expressed about the flow of Foreign Direct Investment into the country and would help make India a hub for international commercial arbitration.
Foreign lawyers and firms have to submit an undertaking that they shall not practise Indian law in any form or before any court of law, tribunal, board or any other authority legally entitled to record evidence on oath”.
The legal fraternity in India is not likely to suffer any disadvantage in case law practice in India is opened up to foreign lawyers in a restricted and regulated manner.
This is mainly because the principle of reciprocity in the Rules ensures that it would be mutually beneficial for lawyers from India and abroad.
News
Rapid action against climate change needed: UN panel (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health and there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in a report on Monday.
The UN panel does not itself undertake scientific assessments but only evaluates the state of scientific evidence on various aspects of climate change.
The current report does not weigh in on new scientific evidence but synthesises findings from three working groups. It also integrates evidence from three special reports during the sixth assessment cycle.
Future reports of the IPCC aren’t expected until 2030 and that’s already marked out as a boundary point year beyond which – if significant action to cut emissions are not taken – it would be impossible to prevent the earth from heating 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels.
Overshooting 1.5°C will result in irreversible adverse impacts on certain ecosystems with low resilience, such as polar, mountain, and coastal ecosystems, impacted by ice-sheet, glacier melt, or by accelerating and higher committed sea level rise.
Certain future changes are “unavoidable and/or irreversible” but could be limited by deep, rapid and sustained global greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits.
This synthesis report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all.
Supreme Court directs govt. to clear ₹28,000¬crore OROP arrears by February next year (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court on Monday gave the government leeway to pay in instalments ₹28,000 crore in arrears due to veterans under the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme.
The staggered payment of OROP arrears would be made to various categories of eligible pensioners, totalling 21 lakh persons, from April 2023 to February 2024.
The entirety of the arrears was supposed to be paid by March 2023, according to an earlier deadline given by the court.
The alternative arrangement has been made after the Ministry of Defence, represented by Attorney- General R. Venkataramani, said the Ministry of Finance had conveyed its inability to provide the entirety of the OROP arrears “in one go”.
The hearing saw a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud toss back to the government a “sealed cover” containing documents purportedly on the “financial implications” and “live wire” issues connected to the OROP expenditure.
This is not fair. I am personally averse to sealed covers. It is fundamentally contrary to the judicial process and principle of fair trial. The court has to be transparent. The Attorney-General said the documents were confidential as they contained “some issues of sensitivity”.
Mr. Venkataramani, reading out from a note, said the budgetary outlay for the Ministry of Defence for 2022-23 was ₹5.85 lakh crore.
Of this, ₹1.32 lakh crore is for the planned expenditure for total pension disbursements during the year. An amount of ₹1.2 lakh crore was already disbursed in February 2023.
The ₹28,000 crore in OROP arrears is for the period between 2019-2022, which is an “additional component”.
Scholars, experts from SCO countries discuss ways to revive Buddhist culture (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
In a first-of-its-kind event, India hosted a conference last week on ‘Shared Buddhist Heritage’ under the ambit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which saw participation of scholars and experts from Russia, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Belarus, Bahrain, Myanmar, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan.
India will also be hosting the World Buddhist Conference in the next few months. Cross-cultural linkages between central Asian and South East Asian nations need to be revived and the spiritual artery of Buddhism remains in India. And the effort is for the revival of Buddhist culture to which the SCO can give momentum, given the common linkages despite the divergences.
The two-day conference on March 14 and 15 was organised by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of External Affairs and the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), as a grantee body of the Ministry of Culture.
The aim of the conference is to re-establish trans-cultural links, seek out commonalities between Buddhist art of Central Asia, art styles, archaeological sites and antiquity in various museums’ collections of the SCO countries.
Buddhism can be used to build a common cultural line between all the SCO countries, another official said at the conference. Cooperation aside, the much-awaited announcement of the next Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhism, is a continuous issue with China stating that the choice of the next Dalai Lama lies with them.
In future, in case you see two Dalai Lamas come, one from here, in free country, one chosen by Chinese, then nobody will trust, nobody will respect (the one chosen by China),” said the 14th Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile in India since fleeing China in 1959.