Some major updates to cover in today’s Indian Foreign Policy Report are as follow:

United Nations Economic and Social Council

On the 75th anniversary of the United Nations ECOSOC, this week, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the virtual gathering. This happened to be the second time, that Mr Modi had the opportunity to address the council, as he had delivered the keynote address back when the council was celebrating its 70th anniversary in the year 2015. However, this does happen to be the first opportunity the Prime Minister has had to address the gathering of member nations since India was overwhelmingly elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The summit was themed around Multilateralism post- COVID-19 and the kind of United Nations we need on the 75th anniversary.

During the address, the Prime Minister called for a reformed multilateralism with a reformed United Nations at its centre. He also stressed on India’s motto, ‘Sabkasaath, Sabkavikaas, Sabkavishwas’, that resonated with the SDG principle of leaving no one behind. The Prime Minister also used this opportunity to reflect on India’s perseverance in improving the socio-economic situation in the country. On that note, he said, “While marching forward on the path to development, we are not forgetting our responsibility towards our planet.” In terms of India’s effort in battling the virus, the Prime Minister praised the system in place by commenting, “Our grassroots health system is helping India attain one of the best recovery rates around the world, in the fight against COVID.”

A large majority of the Prime Minister’s speech revolved around International cooperation and India’s role and partnership with the ECOSOC and other international bodies. The present member states, made note of a significant impact on the global SDGs, due to India’s contribution to the improvement of socio-economic conditions and the support it provided to other developing countries. The Prime Minister also focussed on the role of the first responder that India has been carrying out in the region an example of which would be, India’s Operation Sagar, carried out in the Indian Ocean Region to provide both material and medical assistance to countries. Lastly, the Prime Minister spoke about the importance of financial inclusion and the necessity of providing housing and healthcare, by giving the example of the on-going development efforts in India, especially the ‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan’ campaign.

Indo-Pak Relation

Relations between the two neighbours; India and Pakistan experienced a new low in the last few days as the Charge d’Affairs of Pakistan was summoned by the Indian Government, following an unprovoked ceasefire violation by Pakistani forces on the night of the 17th of July, 2020 in the

Krishna Ghati Sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Keeping in mind the soaring number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan which have resulted in the death of 21 Indians and have injured close to 94 civilians, has pushed India to strongly condemn the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by the Pakistani forces. The Indian Government has also seized this opportunity to show their contempt at the subvert and continued Pakistani support for cross border terrorist infiltration into India. India has called upon Pakistan to adhere to the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding between the two countries, which requires them both to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Line of Control and the international border.

India Ideas Summit

The India Ideas Summit, being organized by the India-US Business Council, which is celebrating its 45th anniversary, had the prime Minister deliver the keynote address. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Building a Better Future’. The summit essentially aims at developing a strategic working relationship between the United States and the Indian Republic. The summit will include both Indian and American government policymakers and state-level officials. Minister of External Affairs, Dr S Jaishankar, U.S Secretary of State Mr Mike Pompeo, Senator of Virginia and the co-chair of the Indian Caucus, Mr Mark Warner and the U.S ambassador to the United Nations, Ms Nikki Haley will be among those attending the summit. The summit essentially aims to discuss India-US cooperation and the relations between the two countries in a post COVID world.

India-Spain Foreign Office Consultations

India this week was a part of the 6th Foreign Office consultation with Spain, held on the 21st of July. The Indian delegation was led by Mr Vikas Swarup, Secretary (West). Meanwhile, the Spanish side had, Ms Cristina Gallach, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ibero-America, and the Caribbean, at its helm. The two countries along with discussing reforms and opportunities for enhancing bilateral economic cooperation exchanged views on the COVID 19 response and post- COVID recovery priorities. Lastly, the two sides revised agreements under consideration and mutually agreed to forward the bilateral agenda, including exchange by both sides.

Release of Nidan Singh Sachdeva

Nidan Singh Sachdeva, who was kidnapped last month from the Chamkani district in Pakita province on 22nd June 2020, was recently released from captivity. Nidan Singh belongs to the Hindu-Sikh community of Afghanistan. The Indian Government conveyed its appreciation to the Government of Afghanistan and various tribal leaders of the region for their help. The kidnapping of Nidan Singh has revealed the ongoing targeting and persecution of minority members by terrorists who are controlled by their external supporters. Lastly, in a decisive measure, India has decided to facilitate the return of those minority members who face external security threats.

Conclusion

Even though the country is experiencing a worsening of conditions with its neighbours, keeping in mind the recent development of tensions with Pakistan, over the unprovoked fire at the Line of Control, the country has extended a helping hand towards both nations like Afghanistan in the Middle East and at the same time European nations such as Spain. In the last few years the country has developed military relations with the United States, but in recent times it has looked at the possibility of venturing into developing an economic partnership with the superpower. Lastly, India’s image as developing power worldwide has been further augmented by its election into the United Nations Security Council and the keynote address delivered by the Prime Minister at the Economic and Social Council.

Read Also: INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY REPORT – EDITION #4

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USA and its Historical Ties with the United Nations and its Subsidiaries

Starting from Franklin D Roosevelt in 1954, the USA has shown signs of solidarity with the UN and the United States’ voice in decisions of the UN has always played a pivotal role, especially since it is one of the P5 members. Conjointly, along with its allegiance to the United Nations, the US has been a significant actor in the projects carried out by the WHO. 

For decades the United States has been a committed partner of the World Health Organisation in aiding global health emergencies and has financially supported its prospects. The US was the number one donor for the 2016-2017 programme budget and for many previous years. Both state and individual donations combined, the total donations made to the WHO that rooted from the States has been a total of US$ 945.6 million in WHO for the 2016-2017 period. And the contributions from the United States were made up for over 76% of voluntary funding.

The United Nations was built upon the principle of global syndication and interdependence, however, with the USA’s interventions over the years and its weighty contributions have to some extent eroded the UN’s legitimacy. Although the foundation of the United Nations is that of a liberal idea with the notion of co-dependence and overall prosperity of both big and small state actors, it has been proven time and again that for many states, especially ones that are permanent members, like the US, have used the United Nations as a forum to further their neo-realist agendas wherein non-state actors are only a pathway to increase power and legitimacy and not multilateralism. 

China’s Participation and COVID

Although China’s funding in the United Nations has been increasing each year over the last decade, its contribution to the World Health Organization has especially seen a rise pertaining to the current Coronavirus pandemic which originated in China’s Hubei province. Hence, making China’s say in the matter that of much more significance in comparison to any other state. 

The WHO has appreciated China’s efforts and action towards this pandemic publicly and stated that their response made a major impact on the spread of the virus globally. However, there were many criticisms in regards to the same. Specifically by the US. 

The WHO’s sudden inclination towards China with the arrival of this pandemic was questioned by many and ticked off the US as a result. The role of the World Health Organization is to maintain diplomacy and be an advisory organ for states to act upon at their discretion. This has been the preliminary basis of debate over why the organisation is in the wrong for potentially siding with China and not criticising them for notifying other states much later than the first traces of the virus were found, in December 2019. In addition to this, China’s circulation of faulty safety kits also added to the narrative of China deceiving other nations and not painting a clear enough picture for states to act upon. 

The World Health Organisation’s backing towards China potentially has its roots in the increased funding by China to the UN as a whole. China is now the second-largest contributor to the United Nations funds amongst the G77 countries. This, therefore, makes it a notable member whose presence in the United Nations can not be forgone. 

President Trump’s Response

On the 7th of July, 2020, President Trump announced the USA’s withdrawal from the World Health Organisation. This decision faced a lot of opposition from opponent parties given the WHO’s role in fighting global health emergencies that the world is currently living through and the fact that the United States has one of the highest numbers of cases globally.

Not only will this move have a detrimental impact on the United States status as far as the number of cases goes, but this can also result in a global setback of vaccine development in which the US could have been a major stakeholder and contributor. While the Trump administration has already cut off all funding, the withdrawal process will take approximately a year. However, the 2020 presidential candidate, Joe Biden has vowed to reverse this action and be part of the organisation again. 

This decision further goes on to prove the USA’s intentions with non-state actors and how they are linked to notions of neorealism and are used as a tool to safeguard self-interest rather than build on global interdependence through collaborative measures. 

Furthermore, the decision to pull out of the WHO is also an indication of what US-China relations will be like post-COVID, as prior to this it was still an unclear picture. However, pulling out of the WHO as a result of backing China is a clear enough signal that at least under the Trump Administration these tensions will continue and are not going to change in the foreseeable future. 

Conclusion

Regardless of the gravitas of this situation, this move does not come as a shock after the US pulled out of the Paris Agreement. Inferring from the series of events that have taken place before and after this monumental decision issued by the US government, it is safe to assume that this is in relation to President Trump’s prolonged pattern of claiming that the United States is being taken advantage of by intergovernmental organisations such at WHO and NATO and this action is one of the biggest showcases of it. 

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India-US, Foreign Office Consultations

Historically, India has always chosen to tread the neutral path when it has been faced with the decision of choosing a side in geopolitics, especially during the Nehruvian years, that is immediately after it attained independence, where it followed a strict policy of non-alignment. However, in recent times as India has chosen to increase its influence and emerge as an important geopolitical leader in the South-Asian region, it has substantially increased its cooperation and strengthened its ties with the United States. The latest developments between the two nations include a set of Foreign Office Consultations. The virtual meeting took place between the Foreign Secretary, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale. Given the current situation where the virus is surging by leaps and bounds in both countries, the two representatives agreed to further strengthen the health partnership, including in the areas of pharmaceuticals and vaccine development.

They further agreed to ensure the enhancement of mutually beneficial trade and people-to-people ties. During this discussion, the Indian delegation addressed the issues regarding the VISA facilitation post-COVID, especially keeping in mind professionals and students. Following this, the two representatives moved on to address the elephant in the room, the Indo-Pacific, that has come to be seen as one of the most strategically important regions in the world, with 75% of world trade passing through the region. Keeping in mind India’s geographic proximity to the region and the US’ trade and military interests, both nations have persevered in the past to ensure a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, against China’s predatory approach. The following consultation acted as a testimony to India-US joint initiatives in the Indo-Pacific in the future. Lastly, the United States emphasised the US-India cooperation in the United Nation, especially after India was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the year 2020-21.

India-European Union Summit

India’s increased engagement in the Western Indian Ocean regions has led to the country cooperating and investing in strategic relationships with several European Nations. The 15th meeting of the India-European Union summit is scheduled to be held virtually. The meeting was co-chaired by the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the President of the European Union, H.E Charles, and the President of the European Commission, H.E Ursula Von Der Leyen. The summit that is to be held in the coming days will mainly focus on India-EU cooperation covering political and security relations and at the same time will look into avenues of trade and investment. The summit would mainly be addressing the issues of development during the COVID 19 pandemic and contemporary global matters.

Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border Affairs

India has been locking horns with the Chinese Republic over several issues. Most recent of these has been the border situation, at the Galwan Valley. On the 10th of July, 2020. The 16th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs was held. The Indian delegation was led by the Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs. Meanwhile, the Chinese delegation was led by the Director-General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before deliberating over the future steps in regards to the de-escalation in violence at the border regions, the two delegations looked back at the agreements between the two nations. The first of these agreements were between the two foreign ministers on the 17th of June, following which there was an agreement reached between special representatives on the 5th of July. The recent consultation essentially reviewed the situation at the India-China border including the progress made in terms of the ongoing disengagement of troops. It was decided that another meeting of the WMCC will be conducted in the future, followed by a meeting of the Senior Commanders, which will discuss further steps to ensure a complete disengagement and de-escalation in a timely manner. 

High-Level Summit of the United Nations Economic and Social Council

The Prime Minister recently delivered the keynote address at a high-level summit of the United Nations Economic and Social Council on the 17th of July. PM Narendra Modi had previously addressed the member nations of the council in 2016 at the 70th anniversary of the ECOSOC. This time around the Prime Minister delivered his address at the Valedictory session, where he was joined by the Prime Minister of Norway and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The summit attracted a diverse set of representatives from several nations. The Conference that celebrated the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, bears the theme of ‘Multilateralism after COVID 19: What kind of United Nations do we need at the 75th anniversary’. The session that primarily focused on bolstering leadership through global cooperation and international institutions, was the first opportunity the Indian Prime Minister had to address member nations since India got elected to the United Nations Security Council. The Summit acts to India’s advantage as it aligns with India’s Security Council priority, wherein India has emphasised the need for reformed multilateralism in a post-COVID-19 world. The session also recalled India’s role as a holder of the inaugural Presidency of the Economic and Social Council.

International Appointments

Jawed Ashraf, the Indian Ambassador to the French Republic has been concurrently accredited as the Ambassador to Principality of Monaco. At the same time Dr Vidya P Nair, who currently serves as a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, has been designated as the next Ambassador to Turkmenistan. Lastly, Shri Hemant Harishchandra Kotalwar, presently Joint Secretary on deputation to NCSC has recently taken up the position of the next Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Conclusion

India has for long followed an inward-facing forward policy, that did not prioritise bilateral relations and strategic partnerships and adopted a neutral stance on geopolitical matters. However, that is not the case anymore. With the given situation that the country finds itself in regards to the Chinese Republic, and the leadership position it has assumed after the Indian Prime Minister addressed nations at the Shangri-La dialogue, India has further increased its relations with European Nations and further strengthened its bilateral relations with the United States, to an extent where India has been promoted to the status, generally granted to treaty allies. With India’s burgeoning interest in geopolitics, India’s current foreign policy decisions will shape the position it assumes in the post-pandemic world order. 

Read Also: INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY REPORT – EDITION #3

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Confinement in homes, and lack of steady incomes, seems to have been fostering tensions and frustration in households and strain due to concerns over health and security. The lockdown is also putting women in isolation with violent partners, with nowhere to turn to for help. In India, the National Commission for Women has reported a 200 per cent increase in the reporting and stress call numbers of domestic violence on their helpline in the month of June alone.

Even before the lockdown was imposed, domestic violence was one of the most prevalent violations of human rights and a key impediment to the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with one in three women have experienced it at some point in their lives. Economist Amartya Sen has estimated in 1990 that more than 100 million women are ‘missing’ — that includes those that never lived because of sex-selective abortions and infanticide, child neglect and maltreatment. That number was revised in 2015 to 136 million – this just shows how females have been subject to violence, at times even before they are born, at an alarmingly high rate.

Furthermore, it is essential to address that violence against women not only affects individuals, but also households, families and communities. However, the only way to change this stark reality is to hold the aggressors accountable and ensure that the problematic social norms that perpetuate the instances of violence are also tackled in an inclusive manner. The SDGs act as an apt framework to work off of, in order to shape a violence-free world – here’s how:

SDG 1: No Poverty

Women’s work – in agriculture, in communities, and at home, fuels economies and yet, isn’t regarded as ‘economic activity’. The exposure of females to incessant discrimination and mistreatment at the workplace makes them vulnerable and susceptible to gender-based violence. Women and girls are four per cent more likely to live in poverty and poor living conditions, a risk that rises up to twenty-five per cent as we factor-in other inequalities. Financial independence for women creates new opportunities and avenues for them to reject typical gender norms and leverage independence against violent partners. It also helps them to create a mentality of freedom and a sense of self for themselves. As a result, the reduction in poverty proves to be a catalyst towards enabling women in societies.

SDG 4: Quality Education

An estimated 246 million girls and boys experience school-related violence every year and one in four girls say that they never feel comfortable using school washrooms, according to a survey on youth conducted across four regions by the United Nations. Quality education is essential to ending violence against women. Educated girls are more likely to make their decisions towards family planning and managing finances, it is fundamental for the development of aspirations and skills, and children of educated women are more likely to have been safeguarded against malnutrition and illiteracy. Educational exposure also enables women to get access to leadership and decision-making opportunities. Hence, it propels them into a cycle of development that helps them create barriers to economic violence at home or in their communities.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

According to a 2018 report by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in India, 18 per cent of women and girls aged between 15 and 49 years of age have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or family member in the past twelve months. Further, someone is known to them – every day kills more than 137 women around the world. These figures represent a fraction of the discrimination against women in terms of opportunities, wealth, inheritance, safe access to public spaces, lack of decent work, and safe and healthy environments of living, learning, working, and engaging with their communities. These inequalities leave them extremely vulnerable to gender-based violence.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Unsafe and poor working environments affect women regardless of their age, location, income, careers, or social standing. As of 2020, 18 countries have laws that enable husbands in preventing their wives from going to work. UN Women estimates that the economic costs of violence and harassment amount to US$12 trillion every year. As of 2018, 59 countries do not have laws protecting women from sexual harassment in the workplace. Economic growth cannot be achieved without the inclusion of women and their contribution to sustainable development in an empowering work environment.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

In developing countries, concerns of safety and restricted access to public transport reduce the probability of women participating in the labour market by 16.5 per cent. As the processes of urbanization and industrialization catch up to tier two and tier three cities, the UN estimates that more than 5 billion people will reside in cities by 2030. This becomes an essential notion to address in the light of crimes against women that are prevalent in most urban regions. Further, there is widespread human rights abuse in many industries, such as fast fashion, many of which employ women in majorities. Women may be subject to exploitation in such circumstances and need to be safeguarded against such instances.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

In 37 countries, rape perpetrators are exempt from legal prosecution if they are married to, or subsequently marry the victim. Improving access to justice for survivors, and strengthening the legal framework against violators is an essential step towards making justice accessible for women – be it against violence, sexual misconduct at the workplace, or any crime against them. It is further imperative for women to mobilize and advocate support for their personal rights and those of their communities. This can be done digitally, individually, or at any level.  

Conclusion

At this point in time, COVID-19 is already testing humanity in unprecedented capacities. The shadow pandemic that we have had to face additionally is a mirror to the kind of societies we have built for ourselves so far. As we emerge from the pandemic, we must renew the outlooks towards inequalities and factor them into our responses to create a more equitable and sustainably sound world.

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Modern Genocide

Since the summer of 2017, we have been hearing frequently from the world media and human rights organisations, appalling reports of ginormous internment of people. Most of them who have been arbitrarily detained are Uyghur (a primarily Turkic-speaking Muslim minority ethnic group), Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang). According to the latest Chinese census, the population of Uyghurs is about 12 million. However, sources indicate that their population is undercounted by the Chinese authorities.

Since 2017, eight hundred thousand to two million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities have vanished into an extensive network of “re-education camps”. Forcing the detainees to repudiate Islam and espouse the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seems to be the ultimate goal for the government. Former detainees reported mandatory classes where they were required to recite Communist slogans and praise the CCP. Some reported the rampant presence of cameras and microphones without any blind spots monitoring their every move. Women have shared stories of sexual abuse, forced abortions and having contraceptive devices implanted against their will.

Initially, China denied the existence of such camps. But once evidence started to mount with pictures, videos and testimonies, they changed their narrative and asserted that these internment camps were “vocational education centers” designed to help young, unemployed people in Xinjiang to learn job skills and the Chinese language, concealing the fact that the middle-aged population is almost wiped out in southern Xinjiang. Till date, China doesn’t accept that any human rights violation is taking place. It holds that the purpose of the camps is to get rid of the environment that breeds terrorism and religious extremism.

Outside of the camps, Uyghurs have continued to suffer from a long clampdown by Chinese authorities. Surveillance is intrusive and ubiquitous making it one of the most heavily surveilled police state in the world. Muslims are being forced to accept Communist Party officials in their homes, effectively extending state surveillance everywhere. 1.1 million local government officials have been stationed to spend about a week every two months living in the home of a Uyghur host family. It is referred to as the “Pair Up and Become Family” campaign. Additionally, each square has a police station that closely monitors the locals through regularly scanning their ID cards and searching their mobile phones.

Fleeing out of China is not enough to escape the rule of CCP. In 2017, Uyghurs worldwide reported being contacted by Chinese police and were ordered to return home. Those who obeyed often disappeared and those who did not, received calls from family members begging them to repatriate for the fear of detention. It also coerced many countries into returning Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups to China. In 2015, Thailand returned nearly 100 Uyghurs. In July 2017, Egyptian authorities deported two dozen Uyghurs, who instantaneously disappeared on arrival in China. In some cases, like Malaysia, foreign governments resisted Chinese pressure, often through the support of the United States and refused to return Uyghur individuals.

The Organ Scandal

China announced that it had performed the first double transplant on a 59-year-old after her lungs failed due to coronavirus. The fact that the patient had to wait for merely five days for a donor to provide a perfectly matching set of lungs while the world’s waiting time for a single lung could be months and even years, raises doubts about the legitimacy of the organ harvesting program. These suspicions are being raised because China has a voluntary donor rate of only 0.6 per one million citizens. Of the 1.5 million Chinese citizens who are in need of an organ transplant donor each year, only 10,000 receive a successful match, according to the Journal of Biomedical Research.

The Final Judgement of Independent Tribunal Into Forced Organ Harvesting from Prisoners of Conscience in China given on 1^st March 2020 declares, “Forced organ harvesting has happened in multiple places in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and on multiple occasions for a period of at least 20 years and continues to this day,”. The judgment further states that, “Falun Gong practitioners in detention were systematically subjected to blood tests and organ examinations. Dr Trey, an (expert) witness raises the question ‘Why would detained Falun Gong practitioners receive specific physical examinations (including X-Ray, ultrasound and blood tests) while at the same time being subjected to brainwashing, labour work, torture or torture death?’ He postulates that the only rational explanation is to build up a systematic medical databank of potential living organ donors.” On the basis of all the evidence on the subject, the Tribunal concluded that the medical testing of Falun Gongs and Uyghurs was related in some way to the group concerned because other prisoners were not tested. No explanation has been given by the PRC for these testings yet.

Both the Red Cross Society of China and Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting also cast doubts in this regard as there had been a sudden increase of more than 25,000 organ donors on a single day in December 2015 and 88,300 registered organ donors within a six-day period in December 2016, a number that can only be explained by a large-scale, forced organ harvesting programme. Ethan Gutmann, a human rights investigator, testified to the China Tribunal that “over the last 18 months, literally every Uyghur man, woman, and child – about 15 million people – have been blood and DNA tested, and that blood testing is compatible with tissue matching”.

The Proponents and Opponents

China’s critics are mainly in the western world and also include major democracies like Australia and Japan. All 27 are considered either full or flawed democracies according to the Democratic Index 2019 given by The Economist Intelligence Unit. China is backed by a conglomeration of authoritarian and hybrid countries, including many of the world’s most brutal dictatorships namely North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

Unexpectedly, most of the signatories of the letter defending China’s new policy happened to be Muslim-majority nations like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Qatar, UAE and Syria. In the past, as the members of the Organization of Islamic Co-operation (OIC), they were not muted when Myanmar persecuted Rohingya Muslims and expelled 700,000 of them to Bangladesh. They were unequivocally releasing statements in condemnation when the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But they are almost hushed on China’s attempt to suppress Islam in Xinjiang.

Albeit, some other OIC members such as Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, and Turkey refrained from signing the statement in support of Beijing. Regardless, all Muslim majority countries have ignored the call by the UNHRC to examine the situation in Xinjiang. There are quite a few factors which may have led these countries to keep distance from criticizing China.

Some OIC members are part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and thus have their economic future linked up with China. The political cost of impeding the Uyghur issue would be too high for any of these countries to endure. The success of the BRI depends on the Xinjiang region as it is the main route to the Arabian Sea via Pakistan. Any instability here can jeopardize Beijing’s plans for trade connectivity, risk its investments and disturb all stakeholders.

Beijing remains the Arab world’s long-term consumer base for the next few decades as fluctuating oil prices and the rise of western demand for alternate energy sources endanger its economic stability.

China is also expending loans and grants to these nations. $20 billion in loans to Arab countries, $6.7 billion to Pakistan, $27 billion in projects in Kazakhstan and many other central Asian nations. China’s massive investments are bearing fruit. Beijing has effectively taken advantage of the UNHRC to endorse the very activities it was created to oppose.

Conclusion

China is not only inflicting a cultural genocide of Uyghurs, but it is also repressing other cultural and religious minorities like Christians and Hui Muslims. It continues to abuse lawyers, human rights defenders, and activists. Any activity carried out in China to advocate for social change runs the risk of harassment by Chinese authorities. Basically, anything that the government considers as a threat to itself is a crime in its perspective. The worst violation of human rights is happening right in front of us. China is actively shifting the world narrative in its favour. Regardless of power, there are consequences for challenging China. Australia found itself in a trade dispute with its largest trading partner after pushing for international scrutiny into the origins of the novel-coronavirus. Two Canadian citizens are still being held in China after Canada arrested Huawei’s CFO on behalf of the United States. Nevertheless, China has been backlashed by the global community which grows its support for defending the human rights.

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Over the years, not only has the United Nations solved conflicts but has also catered to humanitarian crises, a number of which have been successful. The Polio Eradication Initiative led by WHO in India has been one of the most effective health campaigns carried out by WHO. In 2009, India had the highest number of polio cases in the world. This public health emergency was especially challenging to tackle due to India’s population density, poverty rate and poor sanitation. Given the rising cases of polio and the challenges the Indian government was faced with, the WHO’s intervention in 2010 made a lasting impact. 

 In the procedure of eliminating Polio, the WHO introduced bivalent oral polio vaccines, the implementation of which was excellently supported by the Indian government. The prompt response to this led to a nationwide inoculation drive and polio vaccines became a must and were being heavily implemented in every state through micro-planning. Despite the complexities of reaching out to every section of the society in a diverse country like India and refusal of getting vaccinated the UN subsidiary in amalgamation with the Indian government led to a sharp fall in the numbers of reported polio cases. 

Although the UN has made crucial contributions towards the betterment of certain aspects, it has, however, failed to prevent war in some instances and has had counterproductive peacekeeping missions. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been victim to the UN’s inefficiency and sub-par performance during the peacekeeping mission set out by the UN for the DRC. 

In 1999 the UN started operation MONUC and sent peacekeeping forces to Congo due to its civil war and the rising threat to human rights it posed. The Congolese Civil War gained traction from its neighbouring states, but the most vital role was played by the Rwandan Army. to counter the same Congo and the UN pledged to remove insurgents in return for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops. In spite of this Rwanda did not comply since they felt the pledge was not upheld and went on to order the UN to withdraw its peacekeeping forces. 

Shockingly, the UN complied and withdrew its forces from the region. Resultantly, the Rwandan Army’s militaristic involvement in Congo increased and caches of weapons in the DRC were found in the following year. Rooting from the UN’s very explicit inaction and resistance towards changing the status quo, this mission by the United Nations is considered one of the most consequential and colossal failures of the organisation. 

Regardless of its performance, the UN has undoubtedly played a key role in shaping world order and contributing to changing the balance of power. Over the years IGO’s have become a platform for states to posture themselves in the international arena and flex their muscles. While the realist beliefs refute the importance of non-state actors and any means of power that is not militaristic or economic in nature, there has been a steady growth in the investments made in the United Nations due to its magnitude. 

China being one of the most prominent states to visibly express their interest in investing and following through has definitely added to its soft power and sphere of influence. China is now the second-largest contributor in financial investments in the form of troops to the UN amongst G77 countries. In 2015 Xi Jinping pledged to supply 8,000 peacekeepers and after withholding that pledge, they committed to a 10 year $1 billion China-UN Peace and Development Fund for peacekeeping operations.

China’s sudden involvement and constant support towards the UN, financially, is no coincidence. By gradually becoming a salient aspect of the mechanism and functioning of the United Nations, China has gained an upper hand in all the conflicts and human rights violations attached to it. Taiwan’s position as a state and not being recognised as a nation-state by the United Nations, now seems far from happening due to the UN’s dependency on China for financial aid. 

2020 being the UN’s 75th anniversary and still being a major stakeholder in the system of states and their functioning, the aforementioned arguments and cases are a pure reflection of the United Nations work over the years and paints a clear picture of its performance and potential actions in the future. 

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About the New Law

The new security law came into force on 30th June 2020. It contains 66 Articles that deal with subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with external forces. Although the law covers the aforementioned laws, their definitions can be interpreted broadly to cover various types of speech and forms of organizing. Life imprisonment can be awarded for calling on foreign governments or publishing views which are considered anti-Beijing. So, can be awarded for making statements undermining the ruling authority. 

Some of the key provisions under the law are-

1. To vandalize public property would be considered terrorism;
2. Breaking away from the country, colliding with foreign governments, using violence against persons or property, going against the central government is punishable with life imprisonment at maximum;
3. Beijing would establish a new security office in Hong Kong which won’t be under the local jurisdiction;
4. Those convicted under this law won’t be allowed to stand for public offices;
5. Companies can be fined if found guilty;
6. The new security office can transfer cases to mainland china for trials;
7. Neither the judicial offices nor the public bodies would have the authority to interpret the law, the power rests with Beijing authorities when the law conflicts with any Hong Kong law;
8. People can be wire-trapped and put in surveillance if authorities suspect them for breaking the law;
9. Trials can take place behind closed doors;
10. The law would also apply to outsiders

A Threat to Hong Kong?

The people of Hong Kong are afraid of their freedom under the law. Beijing has said that people should protect their rights and liberties while safeguarding the nation’s authority. Reports show that the people have started deleting posts from the fear of being prosecuted under the new law. The city is the only common law jurisdiction in China, but now it is feared that it won’t be independent anymore and would look like Mainland China.

On 1st July, Hong Kong completed 23 years of Handover by Britain to China. Usually observed by a long march, thousands of people gathered to protest and were arrested for crimes that did not exist a day before. Around 370 people were arrested, out of which 10 were arrested for the new law which protects Beijing from challenging political activities. The law threatens the cultural scene and civil liberty that exists in Hong Kong which makes it different from the rest of China. 

Many people from Hong Kong wish to emigrate, a task which was promised to be made easier by Britain. The British government informed that some Hong Kongers would be allowed to live in Britain for five years and then would be allowed to apply for citizenship. Not only the citizens but international organizations are also evaluating their future in the city because the new law said that the government would strengthen the management of foreign NGOs and news agencies. Many Activists have deleted their accounts from social media platforms like twitter and telegram fearing their past activities might lend them in trouble. 

Joshua Wong, who is perhaps the best-known activist, announced that he is quitting from his youth political group named Demosisto which was founded in the year 2016, citing concerns for his safety. After that, three other leading members left the group leading to an announcement of the disbanding of the group altogether. News agencies have been asked by authors to take down their posts. The central government assured that the law is to bring stability but chaos seems to be all around the place.

What is the Motive of China?

Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 over a small agreement- a mini-constitution for Hong Kong called the basic law and a ‘one country, two systems’ principle. They are supposed to protect certain freedoms of Hong Kong which no other part of China has. Under Article 23 of the basic law, Hong Kong was supposed to enact a security law that did not happen. 

Last year, Protests over an extradition law turned violent and resulted in an anti-China movement. China does not wish to have it again. The law punishes protestors to protect the authority. 

India’s Stand on the Law

Amid the ongoing tensions on borders with China, India on Wednesday made statements stating that it hoped that the relevant parties would address the concerns “properly, seriously and objectively” while not naming china. The statement was made by India’s representative at the ongoing UN human rights council in Geneva. India urged the security council to seriously address the matter of recent developments in Hong Kong, as it is home to substantial Indian Community.

 Standing up for Hong Kong is in India’s interest both diplomatically and politically because as per sources Hong Kong is India’s top trading partner as opposed to China and India shares a history with Hong Kong since the early 19th century- be it, Indian soldiers, fighting for the city or entrepreneurs adding to the dynamics of their market.

China and India are currently amid a military stand-off on borders in 45 years. India lost 20 soldiers last month, in a clash with the Chinese troops. India has remained silent over protests at Hong Kong over several years, so a statement by India is significant.

Last Friday, the UN independent experts in a joint statement asked the human rights council to hold a session to monitor abuses like “Moves against people of Hong Kong”.

Conclusion

The new law introduced by China to protect the government in power is being demonstrated as an end of Hong Kong by the critics. It increases Beijing’s power on the city-state threatening freedom of people residing in Hong Kong. Arrests under the new law have been made on grounds that did not exist until a few days ago, forcing citizens, multinational organizations, news forces etc to ponder over their future. Even if China claims the new law’s power to bring back stability, the current situation seems to be creating fear while dominating the rights the city enjoys. 

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Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all like the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) perfectly encapsulates the motto- “Leave no one behind”. However, India’s progress in attaining this goal is a mixed success story. With innumerable schemes like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and the Right to Education (RTE) Act, we all expected modification in the sector with everyone getting free access to quality education and thus able to improve their living standards. But that is not the story here. Although India has made progress in getting children enrolled in educational institutions, it is still not enough. In fact, according to the Progress Report 2020, the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) for primary education has decreased from 87.1% in 2015-16 to 82.5% in 2017-18. Similarly, for the upper primary, it has decreased from 74% to 72.6%. But still, India has come a long way since 1947 in terms of quantity of education and it’s doing better in that regard. What it really lacks in is the quality of education.

Despite implementing the Right to Education Act 2009, India’s performance is worse than the developing South-East Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam with the mean years of schooling at 6.5 years according to the Human Development Report 2019. The learning outcomes are even worse. According to ASER Report 2018, only 44.2% of Standard V students and 69% of Standard VIII students in rural government schools can read a Standard II level text and this proportion has only decreased in the last 10 years. Between 2008 and 2018, the proportion of ‘division solvers’ in Standard V in rural government schools went down from 34% to 22.7% and that for the students in Standard VIII went down from 65.2% to 40%. These figures are just outrageous. There is a huge variation in the literacy and numeracy levels among these students which is the most critical constraint in the structure of the Indian Education system. The learning outcomes for rural private schools are no better than rural public schools. PISA is an international assessment that provides cross-national learning benchmarks and helps nations improving their learning levels. The last time India participated in PISA in 2009-10, it stood at the second last place. Imagine the learning deficits that have accumulated from years of low-quality education. When the time comes to look for employment, what are these young people trained in this mangy manner going to find?

With the reduction in profitability from agricultural activities, parents in rural areas have let their children study well beyond the age when they have themselves joined the workforce in hope that it will be a way out of their insecure farm life. However, when these children graduate, they will find that there are hardly any good jobs. It’s a disaster that is waiting to happen. Even if we look at the whole population instead of just these poorly educated rural children, the story remains the same. The Annual Employability Survey 2019 report by Aspiring Minds revealed that only 20% of the Indian engineers were found employable in the knowledge economy and a meagre 2.5% of them possess new-age skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that the industry actually requires. These figures can be justified if we look at the proportion of those above 5 years of age who are able to use the internet which is just 20.1%. Estimates suggest that only 2.3% of India’s workforce has undergone formal skill training compared to Germany’s 75% and South Korea’s 96%. The enrolment rate for tertiary education is merely 28.3% which points towards failed policies. This all has led to a large fraction of the workforce having insufficient work skills. If the employability remains so low, we cannot ensure a sustainable pool of students enrolled in schools as their trust in the system erodes.

According to a report tabled in the parliament by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), we have over 100,000 schools with solitary teachers. At the national level, over 75 per cent of schools have a multi-grade situation with one teacher being coerced into teaching students of several grades in the same classroom. The high rate of teacher absenteeism, limited time spent on teaching when the teacher is in the class and generally poor quality of education are among important reasons for an abysmally low number of enrolments as reported by the NITI Aayog. In February 2015, Maharashtra held an evaluation test for teachers of government-run schools. Only a little over 1% primary teachers and 4.9% upper primary teachers who took the test passed. This is a furious figure and perfectly explains where the problem lies in our education system.

Talking about inclusion for everybody, India’s position is abominable in that too. Literacy rate of male population above 15 years of age is 82% while that of the female population is just 65% which is a stark difference. The reasons for females for not attending school being the classic ones – engaged in domestic activities, financial constraints, marriage or not interested in getting education. The enrolment rate of children with disabilities is mortifying with merely 1.18% in primary education, 0.56% in secondary education and 0.25% in higher secondary education. There is an urgent need to develop infrastructure to accommodate these children as hardly 22% of the schools have disabled-friendly toilets and only 33% have disabled-friendly ramps. Not only this but only 55 in 100 schools have basic handwashing facilities.

The Draft National Education Policy 2019 (DNEP) bought really good suggestions regarding the separation of regulators from operators and policymakers thus avoiding the conflict of interest, significant autonomy to the university system and Early Child Care and Education (ECCE) but it fails to address the real crisis which is teacher quality or rather teacher’s unaccountability. The underlying notion for all the reforms suggested is that there is a lack of resources which can be in connection with infrastructure, quantity of teachers or even quantity of trained teachers and this is a fundamentally mistaken idea. The real culprit is not the lack of inputs but the absence of accountability of schools, teachers and the system as a whole.

The new education policy also asked to double the public expenditure on education from 10.6% (2018-19) to 20%. It is not a sensible thing to do in the current circumstances of wastage of government resources. Public Schools with fewer than 50 students and an average of 29 students per school stood at 3.7 lakh schools in 2014-15. They represented 36% of all public schools. This is a catastrophic situation. This is too small a size for it to be pedagogically or even economically viable as the per-pupil salary expenditure becomes really high. At the point where the learning outcomes of these government schools are pitiably low, almost 80% of the public expenditure on education in 2018-19 is spent on teacher’s salaries. In a state like Uttar Pradesh, there is an increase of 15% in salaries each year where inflation is just 3-3.5%. All the capacity of the state to increase expenditure on education is being tapped by salaries alone. There is such an inefficient use of the government resources that any effort towards increasing education spending is like putting your money in a blackhole. What we need to do is put in place some new governance mechanisms to increase efficiency instead of increasing the budget itself.

The policy talks about the issue of small schools being economically suboptimal and suggests for consolidation of these schools by creating large school complexes. But this again won’t be beneficial for students if it is not done keeping in mind that these small schools cater to the needs of those living in isolated and remote areas. An independent study by Accountability Initiate (AI) maintained that Rajasthan saw a 6% decline in enrolment of backward social groups including Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Castes (OBCs) when small schools were merged. The study highlighted that the stakeholders in the process namely teachers, principals and parents were never consulted. If providing the required number of teachers for every school has become physically and economically unviable, we must seriously review the earlier approach of providing a school in every habitation within one or three kilometres or providing a school where 20 or more school-going children live. If they want to consolidate schools, they should provide the children with facilities to go to school.

CONCLUSION

India has a long way to go to provide quality education to all. It especially needs to focus on rural and backward regions’ education which is in poor health and needs an overhaul. India’s history is strewed with ambitious education policies that have not been fully implemented. The latest National Education Policy has a possibility of being similar to the previous policies in terms of poor implementation unless the government addresses the reasons behind the past policy implementation failures and makes conscious efforts to amend the mistakes. These points are important because in India what we tend to do is write policies and plans that say the right things but are unable to drive the intended changes.

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Nobody on this planet is going to be untouched by the impacts of the climate change

From the wide-open green lands to the well-industrialised society, we have come across a long way. It’s the 21st century and in today’s age we, humans, have developed so many appliances to make our life comfortable and easy. Along the way to human evolution and generation, technology and innovation have made our life effortless. We can obviously count them as a sign of progress but one important thing which we can’t ignore over this is the cost we pay for this comfort, environmental degradation.

Glaciers are key indicators of climate change because they exhibit high responsiveness to climate change. Loss of sea ice expedited sea-level rise and longer, more intense heat waves. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which have more than 1,300 scientists and researchers from the US and other countries, predicts a temperature increase of 2.5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. Global climate is predicted to continue to change over this century and beyond. The extent of climate change beyond the next few decades depends primarily on the amount of heat-trapping gases emitted globally. Because anthropogenic warming is superimposed on a naturally changing climate, the temperature rise has not been, and will not be, same or smooth across the country or over time. Average precipitation has increased since 1900, but some areas have had increases greater than the national average, and some areas have had decreases. Projections of future climate suggest that the recent trend towards risen heavy precipitation events will continue. This trend is projected to happen even in regions where total precipitation is expected to decrease, such as the Southwest. Droughts in the Southwest and heat waves everywhere are projected to become more severe, and cold waves less intense everywhere. Summer temperatures are projected to continue increasing, and a reduction of soil moisture, which intensifies heat waves, is projected in summer. The Arctic Ocean is suspected to become ice-free in summer before mid-century. Global sea level has surged by about 8 inches since 1880. It is forecasted to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100. This is the result of melting land ice.

The rise in global climate change over the years has become a most concerning issue for us to deal with and the industries, gadgets and vehicles we rely on so much are the prime causes of this deterioration. We cannot completely stop ourselves to recourse them which is also not an ideal approach but we can control the misuse and prevent the severe changes in the environment and that’s what we are trying to achieve with the discussed and calculated measures taken over a long period of climate negotiations.

A brief history of climate negotiations:

• In 1979, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had organised the First World Climate Conference to evaluate existing knowledge of how higher meteorological greenhouse emitting gas concentration levels could drive an increase in average temperature. The Conference didn’t turn out any well because, from a political viewpoint, anthropogenic climate change was in those days mainly deemed as a theoretical possibility, incompletely supported by scientific proofs and surrounded by relatively large uncertainties.

• In 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted and opened for signatures in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to stabilize “greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would deter dangerous interference with the climate system.

• The first Conference of the Parties (COP 1) to the UNFCCC was held in Berlin, Germany towards a protocol with quantified emission reduction targets to be achieved within a certain timeframe. 

• 1997—  the process resulted in the formation of the Kyoto Protocol at COP 3, in Kyoto, Japan. The Protocol proposed legally binding emissions targets for developed country Parties for the six major GHGs, which are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Nevertheless, negotiations towards the Kyoto Protocol had been slow. 

• 2005— COP 11 were held in Montreal, Canada. This conference was the first to take place after the long-pending Kyoto Protocol took force. The parties discussed issues such as “transfer of technologies, development and various financial and budget-related issues, the opposing effects of climate change on developing and least developed countries, comprising guidelines to the Global Environment Facility (GEF).” 

• 2007—  parties agreed to an action plan to assign GHG mitigation actions after the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 at COP 13 held in Bali.

• 2009—  Developed nations pledged $100 billion for climate aid to developing countries.

• 2011— Parties agreed to the enhanced Action which is a structure to build a new international emissions abatement protocol at COP 17 was held in Durban, South Africa. The EU also agreed to stretch their Kyoto Protocol targets, which were scheduled to expire at the end of 2012, into a 2nd duty period from 2013-2017. 

• 2012— COP 18 was held in Doha, Qatar. Parties failed to set a roadmap to provide $100B per year by 2020 for developing countries to support climate change adaptation, as agreed upon at COP 15 in Copenhagen. The concept of “loss and damage” was introduced as developed countries promised to help developing countries and small island nations pay for the losses and damages from climate change that they are already experiencing.

• On 12 December 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached a historical agreement at COP 21 in Paris. The Paris Agreement was focussed to encourage the global acknowledgement to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to try efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

• In December 2017, One Planet Summit Results in Finance Commitments world leaders gather in Paris to illustrate how billions of dollars could be shifted towards a low-carbon future. Financial flows are crucial for countries’ national climate action plans under the Paris Agreement.

Impact of coronavirus on the environment:

Apart from the negative part, coronavirus has some positive effects on the environment. One of the main impacts of the coronavirus outbreak is a significant drop in air pollution which has been noted in many parts of the world. Many countries around the world have implemented lockdown and quarantine to slow down the spread of the virus and due to this flights have cancelled, many regions have experienced a drop in air pollution and fewer greenhouse gases being emitted and air quality have improved significantly and the earth’s ozone layer is also recovering. Slowing economic activities also bring down emissions as countries ordered closedown of schools, factories, industries and emissions are expected to fall. A study by specialist outlet Carbon Brief discovered that in China, GHG emissions have fallen by around 25%.  A drop in air pollution was first observed by NASA in China’s Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak began in December 2019, Marshall Burke, a researcher at Stanford University, calculated the improvements in air quality recorded in China may have saved the lives of 4,000 children under 5 years old and 73,000 adults over 70. 

India’s capital is one of the world’s most polluted cities, but its skies have turned blue and many people can see the Himalaya Mountains for the first time. Another surprising impact on the atmosphere from the coronavirus has been observed in Venice, Italy. With tourists numbers declined because of the virus, the waters in Venice’s canals are cleaner than they have been, so much so, in fact, that fish can be seen once again in the canals. One example is New York. Researchers have discovered that there has been a 5- to 10% fall in air pollutants like carbon dioxide in New York. Methane emissions have also dropped significantly. And a similar effect has been seen in northern Italy as well. All this is an unexpected upside of the coronavirus crisis that has proved global air quality can be dramatically improved – and fast. The change has been created by lockdowns that have grounded flights and shut factories. But environmentalists warn it could be temporary. 

Conclusion

Using the information from published research and news websites I’ve tried to conclude what climate change may lead to if not treated properly. The unprecedented change in climate has already affected the environment in the most severe ways and will keep continuing which is quite known to everyone, if we individually don’t adapt to essential changes in our lifestyle then the situation will go further worse only and the future doesn’t look brighter for the upcoming generation because nature knows its ways to control and prevent detoriation of environment.

References:

1. Alessi, M., & Gaast, W. van der. (n.d.). Climate Policy Info Hub. Retrieved from https://climatepolicyinfohub.eu/history-un-climate-negotiations-part-1-1980s-2010
2. The Effects of Climate Change. (2019, September 30). Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
3. Piccirilli Dorsey, Inc. (n.d.). Timeline of Major UN Climate Negotiations. Retrieved from https://www.eesi.org/policy/international
4. What is the Paris Agreement? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/what-is-the-paris-agreement
5. Alkozay, M. (2020, April 2). Coronavirus Impact on Environment. Retrieved from https://www.khaama.com/coronavirus-impact-on-environment-8760986/

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