August 2020: International Relations | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

Quadrilateral Dialogue: China, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan

Recently, China convened a quadrilateral dialogue with the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. 

Key Points

➤ Four-point Plan

• China proposed a four-point plan to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, boost economic recovery and resumption the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure projects. 
• The four-point plan included:
  (i) To share consensus in fighting the pandemic as good neighbours.
  (ii) To learn from China and Pakistan's joint prevention and control model of the pandemic.
  (iii) To look at opening up green channels as soon as possible by the four countries.
  (iv) Green channel is the route followed in passing through customs in an airport, etc by passengers claiming to have no dutiable goods to declare. 
• China's expertise to the three countries in fighting Covid-19. It also included the vaccines that are being developed, to be shared with the three countries. 
• Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan actively supported the four-point cooperation initiative proposed by China.

➤ Other Discussed Issues

• China also proposed extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan, as well as taking forward an economic corridor plan with Nepal, called the Trans-Himalayan Multi­dimensional Connectivity Network. 
• All the four countries supported the maintenance of multilateralism, strengthened the role of the World Health Organisation (WHO), backed the realisation of a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the epidemic, and the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

➤ Concerns for India

• China asked the three countries at the quadrilateral meet to take advantage of their geography, strengthen exchanges and connectivity between the four countries and central Asian countries, and safeguard regional peace and stability. 
• The remarks assume significance as they came amid the border tensions between India and China. 
• The quadrilateral meeting also came at a time of deepening concerns over the India-Nepal relationship due to border disputes at the Kalapani region. 
• Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Oli also accused India of trying to destabilize his government.

1947 Tripartite Agreement on Gurkha Soldiers

Recently, Nepal's Foreign Minister has said that the 1947 Tripartite Agreement between India, Nepal and the United Kingdom (that deals with the military service of Gurkha soldiers from Nepal) has become redundant.

• He also said that Nepal would prefer to handle the matter bilaterally with India and the United Kingdom.

Key Points

➤ The Tripartite Agreement

• In 1947, when India became independent, it was decided to split Gurkha regiments between the British and Indian armies. 
• From the first quarter of the 19th century, Gurkhas had served under the British, first in the armies of the East India Company, and then the British Indian Army. 
• East India Company first recruited Gurkhas after suffering heavy casualties during the Anglo-Nepalese War also known as the Gurkha War. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. 
• It ensured that Gurkhas in British and Indian service would enjoy broadly the same conditions of service as that of British and Indian citizens. 
• The services include all perks, remuneration, facilities and pension schemes etc. 
• Gurkha recruitment was the first window that was opened to Nepali youth to go abroad.

➤ Issues Involved

• The objection from Nepal regarding the Gurkhas serving in the Indian military has become prominent in the backdrop of the Nepal-India territorial dispute over the Kalapani region of Pithoragarh district that Nepal claims as its own. 
• Nepal has responded by publishing a new map that included the disputed territories of the Kalapani region. 
• The issue became a talking point after the Indian Army Chief remarked that Nepal's strong protest against Indian road construction in the Limpiadora- Kalapani-Lipulekh area was at the behest of a third party (China). 
• The Nepalese people believe that the Indian Army Chief, who is granted the honorary post of a General in the Nepal Army has hurt the sentiments of the Nepali Gurkha Army personnel who lay down their lives to protect India. 
• Also the Gurkha veterans have been alleging that the United Kingdom has been discriminating against them in terms of pay, pension and other facilities. 
• The British government started providing equal pay and pension to Gurkhas in 2007.

➤ Gurkhas in the British Army

• After the 1947 Tripartite Agreement, the British Army amalgamated the Gurkha regiment into combined Royal Gurkha Rifles (RGR). Currently, the Gurkhas comprise up to 3% of the British Army. In 2015 they completed 200 years of service in the British Army. 
• The Gurkhas are recruited every year at the British Gurkha camp at Pokhara in Nepal, for the British Army and the counter-terror arm of the Singapore Police Force. 
• Their signature weapon of Gurkhas, Khukri, forms part of the Gurkha regimental insignia in Britain as well as in India.

Operation Breathing Space: India-Israel

Recently, an Israeli team arrived in India with a multi­pronged mission, codenamed Operation Breathing Space to work with Indian authorities on the Covid-19 response. 

Key Points

➤ Development of Test Kits

• India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel's defence ministry research and development team are working together to develop four different kinds of rapid testing kit for Covid-19 which can give the result within 30 seconds. 
• Types of Tests: 
• The tests include an audio test, a breath test, thermal testing, and a polyamino test. 
• In the audio test, a patient's voice would be recorded and evaluated through artificial intelligence and machine learning. 
• In the breath test the patient will blow into a tube that will detect the virus using terra-hertz (high frequency) waves. 
• Thermal testing will enable the identification of the virus in a saliva sample. 
• Polyamino acids test seeks to isolate proteins related to Covid-19.

➤ India Specific Approach

• The kits will be jointly developed after trials on Indian Covid-19 patients. The tests have already been tried on a small sample of Israeli patients.

➤ Other Assistance

• The Israeli team has brought robotic equipment, and wrist monitors that will help doctors and nurses monitor a patient without increasing risks of infection to themselves. 
• The team has also brought 83 advanced respirators to help patients with severe symptoms.

➤ Benefits

• The success of rapid tests will help India's overworked health-care professionals, who are experiencing fatigue. It will also help to address the public impatience over the Covid-19 test. 
• The quicker test will help authorities to take quicker prevention measures, which will reduce the spread of the virus among people.

Beirut Explosion

Recently, a massive explosion took place in Beirut, capital of Lebanon, which left more than a hundred people dead and more than 4,000 injured, according to the reports until now.

Key Points

• There were two explosions in the central port area of Beirut which occurred barely within minutes of each other within nearby buildings. 
• The blast affected residents living as far as 10 kilometres away from the site and was felt up to 250 Km. 
• The blast created seismic waves equivalent to a magnitude 3.3 earthquake. 
• The blasts were likely triggered by over 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been confiscated and stored by authorities near the port for over six years. 
• A two-week state emergency has been imposed in Beirut following the blast.

➤ Impact of the Blast

• Economic: Lebanon is an import-dependent country. The badly damaged port facility is Lebanon's largest maritime gateway and it will make essential items expensive and threaten food security in the country. 
• Lebanon has already been struggling with a huge economic meltdown, with the rapid devaluation of the local currency and a volatile exchange rate on the black market fueling inflation, shuttering businesses, unemployment and poverty. 
• It had also defaulted on a Eurobond repayment in March 2020.
• It is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a USD 10 billion loan program. 
• The blast will pose an additional financial burden of rebuilding the city. 
• Political: Lebanon faced nationwide protests against corruption, economic mismanagement and sectarian politics in October 2019, which forced the resignation of then-Prime Minister Saad Hariri. 
• This blast along with the growing economic crisis can again cause social unrest. 
• Health: The country's health system is already burdened with the patients of the Covid-19 pandemic and the victims of the blast will add to this.

Loya Jirga: Grand Assembly of Afghanistan

Recently, a three-day Loya Jirga-grand assembly has been called in Afghanistan to decide on freeing about 400 Taliban fighters convicted for serious crimes including murder and abductions.

➤ Loya Jirga

• It is a mass national gathering that brings together representatives from the various ethnic, religious, and tribal communities in Afghanistan. 
• It is a highly respected centuries-old consultative body that has been convened at times of national crisis or to settle national issues. 
• According to the Afghan Constitution, a Loya Jirga is considered the highest expression of the Afghan people. It is not an official decision-making body and its decisions are not legally binding. 
• However, Loya Jirga's decision is seen as final, with the president and parliament expected to respect the ruling.

Key Points

➤ Need for Convening Loya Jirga 

• The Loya Jirga has been convened after the Afghanistan President refused to release the Taliban prisoners. This threatened the derailment of intra-Afghan talks, tentatively scheduled for 10th August 2020 in Doha (Qatar). 
• The Taliban has also threatened more bloodshed if the prisoners are not released. 
• The USA believes that the talks between the Afghanistan government and Taliban will lead to a reduction of violence and direct talks, resulting in a peace agreement and an end to the war in Afghanistan. 

➤ Background

• The prisoner exchange is a part of the agreements signed by the USA and Taliban and the USA and Afghanistan government in February 2020. 
• However, these were delayed for several months, and the intra-Afghan talks that were scheduled on 10th March had to be put off. Few argue that the current Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. 
• The USA announced to withdraw its forces and reduced its strength to about 8000, after pushing for the Afghanistan government to release the Taliban prisoners, and for the Taliban to release Afghan soldiers and civilians in its custody. 
• Over the past few weeks, the USA government has been keen to speed up the Taliban-Afghan reconciliation process, with an eye on the November 2020 Presidential elections. 

➤ India's Interests in Afghanistan 

• India has a major stake in the stability of Afghanistan. India has invested considerable resources in Afghanistan's development. E.g. the Afghan Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam) among others. India favours the continuation of the current Afghanistan government in power, which it considers a strategic asset vis-a-vis Pakistan. 
• An increased political and military role for the Taliban and the expansion of its territorial control should be of great concern to India since the Taliban is widely believed to be a protege of Pakistan. 
• Afghanistan is the gateway to Central Asia. 
• Withdrawal of the USA troops could result in the breeding of fertile ground for various anti- India terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba or Jaish- e-Mohammed.

J&K Issue Raised at UNSC

Recently, China has called India's move in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) "illegal and invalid" and raised the issue at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in New York (USA).

• On 5th August 2019, the President of India promulgated the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 effectively abrogating the special status accorded to J&K under the provision of Article 370. 
• 5th August 2020 marks the first anniversary of that move. On its eve, Pakistan released a new political map that includes all of J&K, Ladakh, Sir Creek and Junagadh. The Kashmir issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India, which is an objective fact established by the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India. 
• Any unilateral change to the status quo in the Kashmir region is illegal and invalid. 
• Kashmir region issue should be properly and peacefully resolved through dialogue and consultation between the parties concerned.

➤ India's Reaction

• India has noted the Chinese comments and held that Beijing has "no locus standi" on the matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations. 
• India and China are holding talks over the disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

➤ UN's Response

• The J&K issue has been raised at the UNSC three times in the last year but there has been no concrete solution to it yet. 
• UN human rights experts have called on India to take urgent action to address the alarming human rights situation in the region. If India fails to take any genuine and immediate steps to resolve the situation, meet the obligations to investigate historic and recent cases of human rights violations and prevent future violations, then the international community should step up. 

➤ Amnesty International India Report

• Amnesty International in its report has urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the National Commission for Women (NCW) to set up offices in J&K to facilitate easy access to the complaint filing process for the local people. 
• NHRC has been asked to appoint a special monitor for the region and to take up cases pending with the erstwhile State Commission. 
• NCW has been recommended to set up a J&K cell for addressing problems faced by women. 
• The report held that people in J&K do not have any way of redressal of the violations of their rights after the closure of the State Commission in 2019. 
• It also called on the government to release all political leaders, journalists and activists from detention; restore 4G mobile Internet; decongest prisons and start an independent investigation into attacks on journalists. 
• The report acknowledged that there may be security concerns that merit restrictions on the right to freedom of expression. 
• It suggested that curbs should be for a limited timeframe and as per the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which India is a state party. Amnesty International 
• It is an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) founded in London on 28th May 1961. 
• It seeks to publicise violations by governments and other entities of rights recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), especially freedom of speech and conscience and the right against torture. 
• It also works with intergovernmental human rights bodies to expand and enforce human rights protections in international law. 
• In 1977, it was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

India-Nepal Talks

The ambassadors of India and Nepal are likely to meet in Kathmandu (Nepal) to review projects funded by the Indian government.

• The meeting is likely to take place via videoconference given the Covid-19 pandemic situation.

Key Points

• This meeting will be a part of India- Nepal Joint Oversight Mechanism. 
• The mechanism was established in 2016 to review ongoing bilateral economic and development projects. 
• The government of India has allocated '800 crore in budget 2020-21 for projects in Nepal. 
• These projects include building roads in the Terai region, helping Nepal in its post-earthquake (2015) reconstruction work, building railway lines, a police training academy, a polytechnic college, an oil pipeline and border check posts. 
• Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and Nepal for the construction of a sanitation facility at the Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu. 
• This meeting is important in light of recent tensions between India and Nepal. 
• In 2017, Nepal signed up to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which sought to create highways, airports and other infrastructure in the country. BRI was rejected by India and this move of Nepal was seen as an inclination towards China. 
• In 2019, a new political map of India, made after the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh, showed Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as part of Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand state. 
• India and Nepal have border disputes over Kalapani - Limpiyadhura - Lipulekh trijunction between India-Nepal and China and the Susta area (West Champaran district, Bihar). 
• Nepal objected strongly against this map and opinionated that the issue should be resolved through negotiations. 
• Further, the inauguration of a road up to Lipulekh Pass (for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra) by the Indian government on the border with China sparked more protests from Nepal. 
• In retaliation, Nepal released a new map that includes all the disputed territories claimed by India.

Israel-UAE Peace Deal

Recently, the President of the USA has announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties as part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state.

• Both the UAE and Israel are the USA's close allies in West Asia.

Key Points

• The UAE has become the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the third Arab nation to have active diplomatic ties with Israel. 
• Egypt made a peace deal with Israel in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994. 
• Under the deal, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank. 
• The West Bank is sandwiched between Israel and Jordan. One of its major cities is Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of Palestine. 
• Israel took control of it in the Six-day Arab-Israeli war, 1967 and has over the years established settlements there. 
• A joint statement from the USA, the UAE and Israel has been issued which says that delegations would meet in the coming weeks to sign deals on direct flights, security, telecommunications, energy, tourism and health care. 
• Both nations will also partner in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. 
• It remains unclear what prompted Israel and the UAE to make the announcement now. 
• In June 2020, the UAE's ambassador to the USA warned that Israel's plan to annex the Jordan Valley and other parts of the occupied West Bank would upend Israel's efforts to improve ties with Arab nations.

➤ Background

• Formed in 1971, the UAE is a USA-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula which did not recognise Israel over its occupation of land home to the Palestinians. 
• The UAE relied on white-collar (people who perform professional, desk, managerial or administrative work) Palestinians in creating its nation and maintained its stance that Israel should allow the creation of a Palestinian state on land it seized in the 1967 war. 
• In recent years, ties between Gulf Arab nations and Israel have quietly grown, in part over their shared enmity of Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. 
• The UAE also shares Israel's distrust of Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and the militant group Hamas that holds the Gaza Strip.

➤ Impact on the UAE

• The deal smoothens the UAE's international campaign to be seen as a beacon of tolerance in the Middle East despite being governed by autocratic rulers. 
• It puts the UAE out first in a regional recognition race among neighbouring Gulf Arab states.

➤ Impact on Israel

• The announcement justifies the year-long claims of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his government enjoys closer ties to Arab nations than publicly acknowledged. 
• The deal gives Netanyahu a domestic boost at a time when Israel's coalition government is facing infighting and the possibility of early elections.

➤ Impact on the USA

• The recognition grants a diplomatic win to the USA President Donald Trump ahead of the November election. 
• Neither his efforts to bring the war in Afghanistan to an end nor efforts to bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians have been successful yet.

➤ For Palestine

• For Palestinians, who long have relied on Arab backing in their struggle for independence, the announcement marked both a win and setback for the Israel-Palestine relations. 
• While the deal halts Israeli annexation plans, the Palestinians have repeatedly urged Arab governments not to normalize relations with Israel until a peace agreement establishing an independent Palestinian state is reached.

Anti-Drug Working Group BRICS

Recently, the 4th Session of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group was held through a video conference.

• The session was chaired by Russia this year.

Key Points

➤ Issues Raised by India

• Misuse of darknet and modern technology being used for drug trafficking by international criminals. 
• It also called for nodal points to enable real-time information sharing among BRICS nations. 

➤ A Global Menace

• According to the report released in May 2020 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Report (UNODC), Covid-19 induced lockdowns and movement restrictions may lead to an initial statistical reduction in drug seizures but is unlikely to have any effect on illicit drug supply.

➤ India and Illicit Drug Trade

• Major Hub of Illicit Drug Trade: According to UNODC, India is one of the major hubs of illicit drug trade ranging from age-old cannabis to newer prescription drugs like tramadol and designer drugs like methamphetamine. 
• Drug Trafficking Routes: India is in the middle of two major illicit opium production regions in the world, the Golden Crescent (Iran-Afghanistan- Pakistan) in the west and the Golden Triangle (South-East Asia) in the east.

➤ Anti-Drug Action Plan

• India has launched the Anti-Drug Action Plan for 2020-21 which includes: 
• De-addiction Facilities, 
• Drop-in-Centres for Addicts, 
• Integrated Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts (IRCA), and 
• Drug-Free India Campaign.

➤ Golden Triangle

• It represents the region coinciding with the rural mountains of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. 
• It is Southeast Asia's main opium-producing region and one of the oldest narcotics supply routes to Europe and North America.

➤ Golden Crescent

• This region of South Asia is a principal global site for opium production and distribution. 
• It comprises Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan.

➤ Darknet

• It refers to the hidden internet platform used for narcotics sale, exchange of pornographic content and other illegal activities by using the secret alleys of the onion router (ToR- free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication) to stay away from the surveillance of law enforcement agencies. 
• It is tough to crack because of its end-to-end encryption. 
• The darknet is part of the deep web, which encompasses all unindexed sites that don't pop up when an Internet search is done. 
• However, not all activities associated with the deep web are nefarious like the darknet. In most cases, these pages are not searchable because they are password-protected and require authorization to access them. Personal email, online banking, and other similar sites are included under the umbrella of the deep web. 
• The internet we see today is the only tip of the iceberg, the majority is the deep web only.

Boundary Working Group: India-Nepal

Recently, it has been reported that Nepal has pro­posed a meeting of the Boundary Working Group (BWG) in August-end or early September 2020.

• The meeting was proposed during a telephonic conversation between the Prime Ministers of the Countries on 15th August 2020 (India's 74th Independence Day). 
• This high-level contact came after nearly nine months of tension and war of words after India (in November 2019) asserted control over the Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura region of Pithoragarh (Uttrakhand) which is claimed by Nepal.

Key Points

➤ Boundary Working Group (BWG)

• The BWG is a joint agency constituted by the governments of India and Nepal in 2014 to carry out works in the fields of construction, restoration and repair of boundary pillars including clearance of 'no-man's land' and other technical tasks. 
• Led by the Surveyor General of India, the BWG is different from the foreign secretaries meeting that is being sought to discuss the Kalapani border dispute, but it is an important mechanism to review the boundary work. 
• Survey of India is the National Mapping Agency under the Department of Science & Technology.
• The group so far has held six meetings. The last meeting was on 28th August 2019 in Dehradun (Uttrakhand). 
• The BWG's inputs are critical as they are given to the governments based on field-level survey.

➤ Recent Tension Between the Two Countries

• The border dispute between India and Nepal had come to the fore in November 2019 when India published its new map following the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories and the end of its special status under Article 370. The map showed Kalapani as a part of Uttrakhand State. 
• Susta area in Bihar is another disputed area between the countries. 
• Nepal had proposed talks to discuss the boundary issue. It was tentatively scheduled for March 2020 but had to be put off due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Nepal suggested a videoconference and then claimed that India stalled the proposal. 
• India's inauguration of a new road from Dharchula to Lipulekh on the Mansarovar Yatra route in May 2020 provoked the government of Nepal which came out with a new map of Nepal, depicting the Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura region as part of the territory. 
• Further, a Constitution Amendment Bill was passed by Nepal's Parliament to legitimize the alteration or addition of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura to the country's new map. The passage of the Bill and the new map led to the breakdown of communication between the two countries.

➤ Issues Involved

• India perceives Nepal to be tilting towards China under the leadership of Prime Minister K P Oli and his Nepal Communist Party. 
• From Nepal's perspective, Indian diplomacy seems increasingly unresponsive under the centralised control of the Prime Minister's Office. 
• Nepal has thrice approached India officially for boundary dialogue since November 2019, however, India has maintained that Nepal has to first create the right conditions for it.