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Less than two weeks after Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9, military commanders from the two sides held a fresh round of high-level talks on December 20 to try and resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
A joint statement issued Thursday said the talks were “frank and in-depth” and “in line with the guidance provided by the leaders of the two countries to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest”.
In the interim, the two sides agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the Western sector,” it stated, referring to the eastern Ladakh region.
In September, Indian and Chinese troops disengaged in the Gogra-Hot Spring area, the last of the acknowledged “friction points” that were discussed over 16 rounds of Corps Commander level talks that began in June 2020, after Chinese incursions at several points weeks earlier.
Tensions in Ladakh continue over the presence of Chinese troops in Depsang, intrusions in Demchok and the rapid Chinese infrastructure build-up, including two bridges over Pangong Tso that will reduce Chinese mobilisation time on the lake’s southern bank.
the Indian pushback in Tawang came at a time when issues remain to be resolved in Ladakh, where there is tension over the presence of PLA troops in Depsang, intrusion in Demchok and Chinese infra build-up along LAC.
Stating that the 17th round of India-China Corps Commander level meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side on December 20, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said the two sides exchanged views on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western sector in an “open and constructive manner.
They had a frank and in-depth discussion, keeping in line with the guidance provided by the state leaders to work for the resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest which would help in restoration of peace and tranquillity along the LAC in the Western sector and enable progress in bilateral relations.
In Parliament
Bill to decriminalise minor offences in 42 laws introduced in Lok Sabha (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend certain enactments to decriminalise minor offences amid a ruckus by the Opposition that saw the House being adjourned multiple times.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal introduced the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill in the Lok Sabha seeking permission of the House for the same to be sent to a joint committee of Parliament.
In the afternoon, the House took up matters under Rule 377 only to be adjourned twice before it was reconvened at 4.30 pm allowing enough time to Goyal to introduce the Bill.
The Opposition created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha through the day demanding the Prime Minister’s presence in the House to answer questions on China’s incursions across the Line of Actual of Control.
Introducing the Bill, Goyal said, “In our country there are many such laws under which people are punished or have to make rounds of courts for very minor offences.
Government thinks that we must trust people. Generally, ordinary people and businessmen want an honest system, run their businesses honestly and live an honest life.
Sometimes they end up committing mistakes too. In such situations, we believe they must not be prosecuted for small offences. We want to bring in a system that has provisions for compounding of such offences by way of fines.
The Bill has been brought in to shed the baggage of antiquated laws that adversely affect developmental trajectory, as well as to increase ease of doing business and ease of living, according to the government.
Goyal underlined that the Modi government had since 2014 taken multiple decisions to make life easy for people which he said included decisions such as self attestation of documents and introduction of GST to reform the taxation system.
Editorial
Law for digital assets (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The G20’s Finance Track discussions placed the regulation of virtual digital assets (VDAs) to curb financial crimes such as money laundering and terror financing as a priority.
This comes on the heels of the ‘No Money for Terror’ conference hosted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The conference concluded with a commitment from the 93 participating nations to end all financing of terror, including through the use of emerging technologies such as VDAs.
The concerns around the misuse of VDAs for illicit activities require careful legislative responses and forward-looking regulatory guardrails.
On a fundamental level, these concerns stem from a lack of reporting and transparency norms, and an absence of international consensus on regulatory design.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Director highlighted the difficulty in regulating VDAs, given the lack of reliable data on VDA transactions.
This allows bad actors to engage in unchecked transactions and defraud investors, as evinced by one of the (erstwhile) largest VDA exchanges – FTX.
In this context, PM Narendra Modi’s mantra of creating “global solutions” to address global problems posed by fast-changing technology is important.
As one of the highest-ranked countries in terms of VDA adoption, and now with the G20 presidency, India has a critical role to play in shaping the global regulatory environment.
In the short term, a viable approach for India is in taking the industry and the investor into confidence by allowing anti-money laundering (AML) authorities visibility over VDA transactions, and the power to impose controls upon them and prosecute in the event of any misuse.
There are several international templates to this effect. The Financial Action Task Force Guidelines on Virtual Asset Transactions (FATF Guidelines) are a case in point, which have been adopted by various jurisdictions, including the EU, Japan and Singapore.
The FATF prescribes minimum AML/CFT standards that countries should employ to prevent the likelihood of misuse, and the FATF Guidelines prescribe the same for VDA transactions.
The Guidelines are applicable to VDA service providers of member states like India. Key features of the FATF Guidelines include licence/registration requirements and extensive reporting and record-keeping obligations for VDA service providers.
Ideas Page
Fork in the sea (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The announcement of the AUKUS by the US without prior warning was one of the low points in Indian foreign policy. It was most probably caused by a (mistaken) perception in Washington that Canberra was a more reliable ally against Beijing than New Delhi.
The perception was probably caused by the Indian hesitancy to agree to even minimally militarise the QUAD from a purely diplomatic grouping to a more military alignment.
The consequences of not being given access to US nuclear submarine technology are devastating for the Indian Navy’s plans to offensively confront Beijing in the maritime arena.
Now, however, there is an opportunity to leap-frog the disappointment over the AUKUS by inviting Japan to join India in a bilateral nuclear submarine building project.
Most laymen would question the need to invite Japan into a submarine-building consortium, when India has already launched the Arihant and the follow-on is about to be commissioned.
This is based on a misperception that all nuclear submarines are similar. They are not. Only the US and the UK operate nuclear submarines with a fuel core of 95 per cent enrichment, thereby giving the propulsion unit enormous power over the 35-year lifespan of the submarine.
Compared to this, other submarines have a core of low-enriched uranium, giving them a limited life of fewer than 10 years at a moderate operating tempo.
The difference is between chalk and cheese. A US or British nuclear submarine has so much reserve power that it is operated continuously by two complete crews alternating one after another.
Distances mean nothing to them as they transit at 500 miles a day at cruising speed. Repeated attempts by retired Indian admirals to canvas congressional support for US nuclear submarine technology have been refused on the grounds of US naval opposition.
Economy
As disruptions loom, shrugging off China imports not an option for now (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Amid renewed concerns of supply-chain disruptions emerging in the wake of the sharp surge in Covid cases in China, the dynamics of the trade equation between India and China may not have much scope to be tweaked in terms of the inputs coming into India from there, at least in the short term.
The rising imports from China, a steady theme through 2021 and much of 2022, is being seen as crucial from India’s perspective as a catalyst for its focussed manufacturing push, with imports of capital goods and intermediate products forming the major chunk of the import basket.
There are also not many import options when it comes to other inputs such as active pharmaceutical ingredients used to manufacture medicines and rare earth minerals that go into electronics and gadgets.
This is being part of the global supply chain and to make products of that quality, inputs have to be imported and that will take time to get tapered.
Electronic components imports from China have almost doubled, but those are essential imports for manufacturing by many telecom manufacturers including for manufacturing iPhone.
All countries are now involved in these value chains, can’t wish away with it and only rely on domestic factors. Domestic strength is important from the perspective of an increase in consumption of items like petroleum, oil and lubricants.