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The world is facing a lasting crisis and there is no clarity about how long this “state of instability” will last.Inaugurating the Voice of the Global South Summit, a virtual event, Mr. Modi said, the Global South does not have adequate voice in the “eight decades old model of global governance” and that it should shape the “emerging order”.
In his concluding remarks to the first session, Mr Modi said, the countries of the Global South will drive the world economy in the 21st century.
“Most of the global challenges have not been created by the Global South. But they affect us more. We have seen this in the impact of COVID pandemic, climate change, terrorism and even the Ukraine conflict.
The search for solutions also does not factor in our role or our voice,” said Prime Minister Modi addressing the the virtual summit that saw participation of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, Cambodian PM Hun Sen, and leaders of a number of countries including Vietnam.
Our development partnership covers all geographies and diverse sectors. We supplied medicines and vaccines to over hundred countries during the pandemic.
India has always stood for a greater role for developing countries in determining our common future. As India begins its G-20 Presidency this year, it is natural, our aim is to amplify the voice of the Global South.
The countries of the Global South should unite and change the unequal “global political and financial governance” structures, said Mr. Modi. Stressing the formula of “Respond, Recognise, Respect and Reform” for the Global South, Mr. Modi said the world should respond to the priorities of the Global South, recognise the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities for global challenges, respect sovereignty of all nations, rule of law and reform international institutions like the United Nations.
In the last century, we supported each other in our fight against foreign rule. We can do it again in this century, to create a new World Order that will ensure the welfare of our citizens.
Mr Modi further urged the countries of the Global South to unite and get rid of the “cycle of dependency on systems and circumstances” that was not created by the developing and the least developed countries of the world.
Editorial
Entering a year of uncertainty (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Soothsayers seldom read the future correctly, especially in the realm of geopolitics. Quite a few soothsayers, however, were partially right at the beginning of 2022 when they said that uncertainty and impermanence would dictate the course of world events that year.
The year did witness a spike in geopolitical challenges and risks, but no one predicted that 2022 would be a year that would put the world to test.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which erupted in February 2022, has become a major disruptor of the existing order. In turn, it has led to one of the largest population shifts in modern times.
With hindsight, however, some of this could have been anticipated. By mid-2021, Russia had begun a major build-up around Ukraine and in December 2021, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a list of new security guarantees it wanted from the U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including a promise not to expand the alliance eastward.
What possibly could not have been anticipated was the extraordinary display of Ukrainian nationalism, and the swift response of the West, including NATO and the U.S., in rallying behind Ukraine and extending military and other types of cooperation. All said, even today few experts are able to fully comprehend what all this presages or what lies in the future.
It might, therefore, be intriguing to make a comparison with the situation that prevailed during World War I, especially in 1916. Back then, the risk of escalation both horizontally and vertically was underplayed. It might be useful to heed the lessons from that time. In the present case, any escalation vertically would mean the use of nuclear weapons.
Any escalation horizontally would mean opening new fronts. As in 1916, there are many ‘unknowns’ today. Unexpected incidents could result in dangerous outcomes. The spectre of an all-out war is ominously present.
There could be several other fallouts as well. Already, the ‘proxy war’ between the U.S., Europe and NATO on the one hand, and Russia on the other, is having a major fallout in the economic realm.
The incessant imposition of sanctions by the West and its allies on Russia, the barring of Russian banks from SWIFT, and the freezing of Russian foreign assets have all provoked an energy crisis.
This is accompanied by the soaring prices of oil, with Russia using oil as a weapon. The full extent of this is yet to be properly understood, but what it does portend is the possibility of a wider conflagration.
Explainer
A Governor and a Chief Minister at loggerheads (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The victory of the Aam Aadmi Party in the recent Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections has added a fresh backdrop to the unceasing face-off between the Lieutenant Governor of the National Capital Territory and the elected government.
Several Governors, who are all too eager to further the Bharatiya Janata Party’s politics, confront elected Chief Ministers from Opposition parties, but Delhi’s case is unique, given the vast executive power at the command of the Lieutenant Governor.
The most recent flashpoint between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena came ahead of the January 6 election of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the MCD, when Mr. Saxena appointed 10 aldermen and a BJP councillor to preside over the polls.
The AAP alleged that Mr. Saxena had bypassed the tradition of appointing the senior-most councillor as the presiding officer. It has alleged that the aldermen appointed by Mr. Saxena were given voting rights in violation of the MCD Act, a question that remains unclarified.
The party has pointed out that the Lieutenant Governor is ignoring the Council of Ministers and issuing orders to the bureaucracy directly on all matters, regardless of the division of power established by the Supreme Court between the two entities.
Technically, the Lieutenant Governor has executive control over only the three reserved subjects of police, public order and land; all other subjects (transferred subjects) lie with the elected government. But by virtue of being in control of the bureaucracy, and exercising the power to transfer, suspend or take any action against any employee of the Delhi government, the Lieutenant Governor’s authority extends beyond those.
As its earlier interventions have not settled the dispute between the Lieutenant Governor and the elected government, the Supreme Court is currently examining the question afresh. Meanwhile, the relations between the Chief Minister and the Lieutenant Governor are sliding further.
The Lieutenant Governor sought a meeting with the Chief Minister, but then refused to give him time. Till October, the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister used to have weekly meetings.
The Supreme Court’s calls for statesmanship and wisdom by actors have not resolved the stalemate, which is seriously impacting
News
TIPRA Motha makes poll alliance conditional on Greater Tipraland (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
We will ally with any political party that gives us written assurance to support our demand for Greater Tipraland, Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (or TIPRA Motha) chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma.
His comments come after CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that the party is ready for an understanding with the Congress and the TIPRA Motha to defeat the the BJP in the upcoming Assembly election.
The demand for Greater Tipraland is a non-negotiable, Mr. Debbarma asserted.The Greater Tipraland includes the region under Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous district Council (TTADC) and 36 villages out of it, within the Tripura State boundaries.
Tipra Motha is demanding that this area should be carved out as a State or a Union Territory. Currently, Mr. Debbarma said, that the TTADC receives two percent of the State budget while it has 40% of the State’s population.
The Left has expressed support for Greater Tipraland. At a press conference in Agartala on Wednesday, CPI(M) State secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said that the demand is within the Constitutional framework. But the State Congress President Birajit Sinha has already ruled out any support for it.
There can be no closed door conversation on this. Whoever wants to ally with us needs to give us in writing that they support our demand for Greater Tipraland.
He added that the Tribal language, culture and socio-political ethos is under threat and delimitation scheduled for 2026 will further push the tribal population to margins.
Unlike the NSCN which is asking for Greater Nagaland, absorbing regions from different States, we are not asking to take away from any State. Ours is a Constitutional demand.
He did not entirely rule out a tie-up with the BJP too. “I have been fighting them for the last four and a half years. It was Tipra Motha who stood up for the Muslims when mosques were burnt here.
But if tomorrow they give to us in writing that they support our demand, we will ally with them. Forget BJP, I will ally with AIADMK and DMK too if they support my demand.
India intensified crackdown on activists, media in 2022: Human Rights Watch report (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Reports)
The Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2023 said that Indian authorities had “intensified and broadened” their crackdown on activist groups and the media through 2022, adding that the “Hindu nationalist” Bharatiya Janata Party-led government used “abusive and discriminatory policies to repress Muslims and other minorities”.
The BJP government’s promotion of Hindu majoritarian ideology provokes authorities and supporters to engage in discriminatory and at times violent actions against religious minorities, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, adding that the authorities should be reigning in party members and supporters responsible for these abuses instead of “jailing critics and shutting down rights groups”.
The 712-page report in its 33rd edition, reviews human rights practices in close to 100 countries. In the section on India, the HRW said authorities throughout India arrested activists, journalists, and other critics of the government on what it called “politically motivated” criminal charges, including that of terrorism.
The authorities in several BJP-ruled states demolished Muslim homes and properties without legal authorization or due process as summary punishment for protests or alleged crimes, in a statement, adding that authorities also “misused” laws forbidding forced religious conversions “to target Christians, especially from Dalit and Adivasi communities”.
Referring to the release of the 11 Hindu men convicted and sentenced to life in jail for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of 14 members of her family, and the celebration of their release by some BJP members.
On Jammu and Kashmir, the HRW said that even after three years of removal of Article 370 and creation of two federally-administered territories, “the government continued to restrict free expression, peaceful assembly, and other basic rights there”.
The global human rights observer referred to suspected militant attacks on minority Hindu and Sikh communities in the Kashmir Valley and also the instance of Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Irshad Matto being prevented from leaving the country to receive her Pulitzer Prize. It added that authorities also invoked the J&K Public Safety Act and UAPA to “arbitrarily” detain journalists and activists.
It added that rights groups were harassed by Indian authorities throughout the country through tax raids, the use of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act, and other allegations of financial irregularities.
To highlight the human rights situation in India, the HRW also noted that during the country’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council, “member countries raised concerns and made recommendations on a range of issues including the need to protect minority communities and vulnerable groups, tackle gender-based violence, uphold civil society freedoms, protect human rights defenders, and end torture in custody.