International Relations & Security

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Geopolitics of Indo-Pacific

Context: There was an assessment made by Central Intelligence Agency as per which China will likely launch its military mission against Taiwan sometime around 2027. It has made efforts to ready itself for this mission continue to make ripples among the tiny island nations of the South Pacific where it seeks to set up bases to tighten its grip in the region.

Recent Steps taken by China that highlights China flexing its muscle:

The Solomon Islands have been in the news recently with China trying to enter into a security pact with that country by persuading it to quit its present arrangement overseen by Australia. China has also been eyeing Vanuatu.
China has been trying to coerce the countries in the region to toe its line on Taiwan, especially when taken with Federated State of Micronesia.
Australia definitely has reasons to worry about China's attempts to win over the South Pacific island nations. Strategic access to these island nations could help China's military manoeuvres in the event of a conflict involving Australia or the US. This fear has been testified by China's deployment of its anti-ship ballistic missiles DF21 and DF21D.
China's recent manoeuvres should worry India also. It was reported that one of the missions of Xi Jinping during his recent summit with President Putin was to seek Russian supply of nuclear fuel, which China needs badly for expanding its arsenal at a feverish pace.
The closer Russia comes within China's sphere of influence the more uncertain will be Russia's dependability as a friend if the India-China conflict were to worsen.
China's role as a peacemaker in the Middle East could also be problematic. Most nations will see the peace brokered by China between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the region as a symbol of its increasing heft as a global mediator and its ability to fill the space held so long by the US. It could become a leading arms supplier of the region and bring in massive investments. The promise of a $400 billion investment in Iran is one of them.
Further China could even help Iran overcome its bottlenecks and realise its nuclear ambitions. India's involvement in Iran's Chabahar port project could be jeopardised in the long term and if China succeeds in peddling its influence in Yemen, with its base also in Djibouti on the horn of Africa, its presence in the region will be formidable.

India-China Defence Ministers Meeting

Context: The meeting between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his counterpart Li Shangfu saw both sides reiterating their positions, highlighting the persisting gap in the respective perceptions about what went wrong in Ladakh in 2020, its resolution, and how to move forward peacefully from there.

It was reiterated that development of relations between India and China is premised on prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders, all issues at the LAC need to be resolved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments and the violation of basic agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations.

On Border Dispute and its resolution:

Previously Indian and Chinese armies have conducted 18 rounds of military talks on ending the border row.
Though at the 16th round of military talks, the two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hot springs area.
The ties between the two countries nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake and in the Gogra area. The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.
Recently China released a statement included a map that showed the 11 places renamed by China as being within “Zangnan”, or southern Tibet in Chinese, with Arunachal Pradesh included in southern Tibet and China’s border with India demarcated as just north of the Brahmaputra river.

Army to raise Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings

Context: The Army Commanders Conference (ACC) that was held. The ACC had decided to operationalise Command Cyber Operations and Support Wings (CCOSWs) in the immediate future with current focus on net-centric operations.

These organisations will assist the formations to undertake the mandated cyber security functions to strengthen the cyber security posture of the Army. As Cyberspace has emerged as an important component of military domain both in grey-zone warfare as well as conventional operations and Indian Army too is rapidly migrating towards net-centricity, which entails increased reliance on modern communication systems at all levels.

About Grey zone Warfare

Grey zone warfare refers to employing aggression and other actions to achieve national objectives below the threshold of armed conflict and the ambiguity it creates.

The characteristics of the Grey zone warfare can be identified by

Grey zone elements remain below the threshold that would justify a military response, often through the use of non-military tools.
The second common characteristic of grey zone activities is that they unfold gradually over time rather than involving bold, all-encompassing actions to achieve objectives in one step. The progressive unfolding of aggressive moves over the years, or even decades, reduces opportunities for decisive responses as a counter.
The third characteristic, which applies to some but not all the activities in this sphere, is a lack of attributability. Most grey zone campaigns involve actions, whereby the aggressor aims for plausible deniability of its action. Whether it is cyberattacks or disinformation campaigns or the use of proxy forces, these actions allow a grey zone aggressor to deflect responses—and obstruct the potential for successful deterrence—by simply denying that it is responsible.

For example in cases where grey zone actions are open and attributable, such as China’s approach in the South China Sea, they are justified using extensive legal and political argument. Fourthly, grey zone campaigns target specific vulnerabilities in the targeted countries. Grey zone aggressors also typically aim to put the defenders in situations where strong responses appear ruled out or counterproductive for strategic and domestic political reasons. In other words, grey zone warfare takes advantage of strategic ambiguity to achieve gradual gains.

The ambiguities in the nuclear liability law

Context: The issues regarding India’s nuclear liability law has stalled work on Maharashtra’s Jaitapur, the world’s biggest nuclear power generation site under consideration.

What is the law governing nuclear liability in India?

Laws on civil nuclear liability ensure that compensation is available to the victims for nuclear damage caused by a nuclear incident or disaster and set out who will be liable for those damages.

The umbrella Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) was adopted in 1997 with the aim of establishing a minimum national compensation amount. The amount can further be increased through public funds, (to be made available by the contracting parties), should the national amount be insufficient to compensate the damage caused by a nuclear incident.

India was a signatory to the CSC (convention ratified in 2016).

India enacted the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) in 2010, to put in place a speedy compensation mechanism for victims of a nuclear accident.

Main Provisions:

1. strict and no-fault liability on the operator of the nuclear plant, where it will be held liable for damage regardless of any fault on its part.

2. It also specifies the amount the operator will have to shell out in case of damage caused by an accident at ₹1,500 crore and requires the operator to cover liability through insurance or other financial security.

3. In case the damage claims exceed ₹1,500 crore, the CLNDA expects the government to step in and has limited the government liability amount to the rupee equivalent of 300 million Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) or about ₹2,100 to ₹2,300 crore.

4. The Act also specifies the limitations on the amount and time when action for compensation can be brought against the operator.

India currently has 22 nuclear reactors with over a dozen more projects planned. All the existing reactors are operated by the state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL).

What does the CLNDA say on supplier liability?

The international legal framework on civil nuclear liability calls for exclusive liability of the operator of a nuclear installation and no other person. Similarly, suppliers of nuclear equipments called liability to be unviable and hinder the growth of nuclear energy. Other arguments were to provide single point liability and remove complexity of legal hurdles.

Section 10 of the annex of the CSC lays down “only” two conditions under which the national law of a country may provide the operator with the “right of recourse”, where they can extract liability from the supplier — one, if it is expressly agreed upon in the contract or two, if the nuclear incident “results from an act or omission done with intent to cause damage”.

However, India, going beyond these two conditions, for the first time introduced the concept of supplier liability over and above that of the operator’s in its civil nuclear liability law, the CLNDA.

CLNDA has a Section 17(b) which states that the operator of the nuclear plant, after paying their share of compensation for damage in accordance with the Act, shall have the right of recourse where the “nuclear incident has resulted as a consequence of an act of supplier or his employee, which includes supply of equipment or material with patent or latent defects or sub-standard services”.

Why is the supplier liability clause an issue in nuclear deals?

Suppliers have taken issue with two specific provisions in the law, Section 17(b) and Section 46.

The latter clause goes against the Act’s central purpose of serving as a special mechanism enforcing the channelling of liability to the operator to ensure prompt compensation for victims.

Section 46 provides that nothing would prevent proceedings to be brought against the operator. It allows criminal liability to be pursued where applicable. Issue: definition on the types of ‘nuclear damage’ being notified by the Central Government is not clear. Section 46 potentially allows civil liability claims to be brought against the operator and suppliers through other civil laws such as the law of tort. While liability for operators is capped by the CLNDA, this exposes suppliers to unlimited amounts of liability.

10 jawans killed in blast by Maoists in Dantewada

Context: Ten security personnel returning from a counter-insurgency operation and a civilian driver were killed when Maoists blew up their vehicle in Dantewada of Chhattisgarh. The deceased jawans were members of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a locally-raised force designed to carry out anti-Maoist operations. The tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Odisha located right at the southern tip of Sukma district in the south Bastar region is an area that witnesses the highest number of such incidents including the deadly 2010 Maoist ambush in Dantewada where 75 CRPF and one Chhattisgarh police personnel were killed.

Current trends in Left wing extremism in India:

The influence of Maoists and associated violence has been falling consistently in the country because of multiple factors, including a stronger push by security forces in Maoist strongholds, roads and civic amenities reaching the interiors to a greater extent than earlier, and a general disenchantment with the Maoist ideology among the youth, which has deprived the insurgent movement of new leadership.
Maoist violence in the country has gone down by 77% since 2010. The number of resultant deaths (security forces + civilians) has come down by 90 % from the all-time high of 1,005 in 2010 to 98 in 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
The government has cut the number of districts declared to be Naxal-affected from over 200 in the early 2000s to just 90 now, and claims that the geographical spread of violence is actually restricted to just 45 districts.
The presence of Naxals is said to be minimal to zero in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Jharkhand, and Bihar, which were at one time their strongholds.

Timing of the attack?

The CPI(Maoist) carries out Tactical Counter Offensive Campaigns (TCOCs) between February and June every year, in which the focus of its military wing is to inflict casualties on security forces
This period is chosen because with the onset of the monsoon in July, it becomes difficult to conduct offensive operations in the jungles. With the onset of the monsoon, both the Maoists and the security forces return to their camps.
Almost all major attacks by Maoists on security forces, including the 2010 Chintalnar massacre of 76 CRPF personnel, have taken place during the TCOC period.

Why Chhattisgarh still remains contested?

It is the only state in the country where Maoists continue to have a significant presence and retain the capability to mount big attacks. In the last five years (2018-22), 1,132 “violent incidents[were perpetrated by Left Wing Extremists”, in which 168 security forces personnel and 335 civilians lost their lives.
Chhattisgarh has accounted for more than a third of all Maoist-related violence in this period but the problem is the share in death is extremely high wherein it had a share of 70%-90% of deaths.
The violence graph in the state for this period has been up and down. Maoists mounted 275 attacks in 2018; the number fell to 182 in 2019, but rose to 241 in 2020. It then declined to 188 in 2021, but rose to 246 in 2022.

Delayed Response:

It is a widely accepted principle in counter-Maoist strategy that the war against Left Wing Extremism can only be won by the state police and not central forces. This is because the state police have local knowledge, understand the language, and have local networks that are essential for the generation of intelligence.
It was through the active involvement of local police in the leading role that states such as Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand were able to end their Maoist problem. All these states formed special units of their police forces with personnel and officers drawn from the state, gave them special training, and won the battle with concerted security and development efforts.
This process, security establishment started late in Chhattisgarh. By this time, police of neighbouring states had pushed Maoists from their states to Chhattisgarh, making it a concentrated zone of Maoist influence.
The special unit of the Chhattisgarh Police, the DRG, was raised from the local tribal population and trained to fight Maoists only a few years ago, and has become active relatively recently.
The absence of roads in the interiors of Bastar has stymied the operations of security forces.
Minimal presence of the administration in the interiors of South Bastar has ensured that Maoists continue to have influence in the region and enjoy local support through a mix of fear and goodwill.
Further security officials cite the lack of fool proof technology to detect IEDs and the increasing desperation of Maoists, who are avoiding direct combat with the forces, for such incidents.

Government measures to tackle Left Wing Extremism (LWE)

Central Government supports the LWE states through Security Related Expenditure (SRE), which focuses on equipping security forces to fight Maoists
Further the Special Infrastructure Scheme (SIS), which aims to strengthen local police and intelligence set ups
Special Central Assistance for building infrastructure such as roads in LWE districts, the Centre has maintained a massive presence of the CRPF in the affected states for almost two decades.
The Centre is also pushing for the erection of mobile towers in the interiors, which would help the local people connect with the mainstream, and also generate technical intelligence
The Centre has also unleashed the counter-terrorism National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate on CPI(Maoist) cadres, leaders, and sympathisers with the aim to choke their funding.
The CRPF has also raised a Bastariya Battalion the recruits for which were taken from the local population, who knew the language and terrain, and could generate intelligence. This unit now has 400 recruits and regularly conducts operations in Chhattisgarh.
Further the CRPF has been consistently enlarging its footprint by opening new camps close to 20 forward operating bases have been set up in Bastar

The Wagner Group’s actions in Africa

Context: After fighting erupted in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on April 15, questions have been raised over the involvement of the Wagner group, which has been active in African countries for years.

About Wagner Group

The Wagner group is a Russian paramilitary organisation headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Though it has been reportedly engaged in counter-militancy operations in Africa, its involvement is believed to have a more extensive scope covering political, economic and military fields.
There have also been reports of the group supplying arms and weapons, and training regional forces in fighting jihadist threats.
Despite its involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Wagner group’s presence in Africa has continued.
By siding with the domestic actors in a civil war situation, the group’s actions have impacted the democratic process in Africa.

Role of Wagner group

The Wagner group has been active in Sudan, Mali, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Libya in Africa.
The activities are related to providing direct support to authoritarian governments, supporting rival leadership engaged in internal wars, filling the void created by the withdrawal of the French military engagement, taking part in resource exploitation etc.
The Wagner group presents itself as a security provider to a few governments, mostly authoritarian ones in Africa.
It has also been supporting rival leaders engaged in a civil war.
The group’s ties with Sudan aimed at guarding mineral resources, notably gold mines, and therefore, supported Bashir’s government against international opposition.
It also played a direct role in suppressing the Sudanese uprising in 2019 that toppled Bashir’s regime.

Why does the role of the Wagner group seem to be controversial?

In Sudan, Russia has recently forged a strong relationship with the Rapid Support Forces (RSP) and its commander, General Mohamed Hamadan Dagalo. The latter is a rival leader fighting against the Sudanese army.
Russia is set to sign an agreement with Sudan to build a military base in Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Hence there is a conflict of interest because Russia has relations with parties involved in the civil war in Sudan

Operationalise Safe City Project by August: Saxena to Delhi Police

Context: Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena reviews the progress of the Central government-funded project, and issues instructions to complete the first phase of the ₹798-crore Operationalise Safe City Project by August.

About Operationalise Safe City Project

A Ministry of Home Affairs initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Child Development under the Nirbhaya Fund in eight metro cities — Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
The project aims to create a safe, secure and empowering environment for women and girls in public spaces.
Under the project, 10,582 CCTV cameras will be installed.
A command-and-control centre will also be set up with facilities for video analytics, AI, machine learning, facial recognition, etc., at police headquarters, district headquarters and police stations.
Two mobile command and control vehicles and 88 Prakhar Vans will also be deployed with mobile data terminals, body-worn cameras, etc.
The cost of the projects is shared in a 60:40 ratio between the Central government and the States concerned.
In Delhi, however, the Centre fully funded the project and implemented it through the Delhi Police through the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
The Pune-based C-DAC has appointed RailTel and NEC India to install CCTV cameras and connect them to feeders and main servers.

G20 health working group meet in Goa: Focus on comprehensive global health architecture, Minister urges G20 delegates

Context- Recently the second meeting of the health working group for G20 began in Goa.

Focus areas of discussion

discussions will continue on the three priorities set by the Indian presidency –

Tackling future health emergencies,
Building a manufacturing network of vaccines, medicines, and diagnostics, and
Leveraging digital solutions to provide universal health coverage.

Three technical sessions were held on the first day of the meeting

The first session focused on health emergency prevention, preparedness and response, with delegates discussing collaborative surveillance systems supported by advanced networks of laboratories and relevant infrastructure.
The discussion also centred on embedding anti-microbial resistance as part of any health emergency governance system and it being complementary to such ongoing efforts at various levels of government.
The second session focused on creating better collaborations at various levels for access and availability of safe, effective, and quality medical countermeasures.
The discussions centred on methods such as public-private partnerships, and international collaborations through a network-of-networks platform.
In the third session, a discussion on the draft outcome document was done exclusively among G20 member states in an hour-long session afterwards.
It was emphasised that any consensus must be built through measures that are evidence-based, inclusive, fair, equitable, transparent and need-based.

India’s proposals

With plugging the gap of inequitable access and creating a global manufacturing network for medical countermeasures – vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics – being priorities for the health working group, India is likely to raise the issue of intellectual property rights during a public health emergency.
The discussion is likely to focus on voluntary licensing and technology transfer by pharmaceutical companies, according to officials in the know of the matter.
For digital health, India is likely to propose a digital toolbox under an intra-government agency like the World Health Organization that can be accessed by other countries as per their need India will open up its teleconsultation platform eSanjeevani to all, just like it offered the vaccine management system CoWIN previously.
India focused on the need for collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable care, access to medical countermeasures and emergency coordination.
focus on reducing the drivers of pandemic risk, to prevent them before they emerge, surveillance, lab systems and strengthening the public health workforce”.

As Berlin shuts its nuclear reactors, Finland opens Europe’s largest one

Context; Recently Finland’s next-generation Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor, the largest in Europe, has gone into regular production after months of delays, and Germany ended its nuclear era.

About Olkiluoto 3 nuclear reactor

Olkiluoto 3, now producing around 14% of the country's power.
It is expected to remain operational for “at least the next 60 years”.
The plant is owned and operated by Teollisuuden Voima (TVO), a subsidiary of Pohjolan Voima
It is located on Olkiluoto Island, on the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia
The Olkiluoto plant consists of two boiling water reactors (BWRs), each producing 890 MW of electricity and
One EPR producing 1,600 MW. This makes unit 3 currently the most powerful nuclear power plant unit in Europe and the third most powerful globally

The lesser-known battles of Maoist women

Context: The article reflects that everything is not well in the Communist Party of India (Maoist) which, besides waging an armed struggle to capture political power, also claims to fight for gender equality. The Maoists profess discipline and integrity, but exploitation of women in the party is a stark reality. Women who join the party in the hope of bringing about a “revolution” for the proletariat and the landless class are often subject to the same structural violence that they are supposed to fight.

Gender issues within the movement

Under-representation: Women constitute 35%-40% of the total party members, but their representation in the Central Committee and the Dandakaranya Special Zonal Committee (DKSZC) is negligible.
Health issues: While jungle life is difficult for all cadres, the women have to face additional health challenges
The women cadres in the CPI(Maoist) don’t get even get sentry duty off and need to be alert all the time with a gun. In addition, they have to walk for miles daily to change their location.
Basic necessities ignored: Further Women are not permitted to liberally use water. Each cadre has to carry water in bottles for her own use. It is taboo to use water from streams or ponds for washing. Women are at the mercy of the unit commander who carries some medical necessities.
Lacking nutrition: Most women who are not conscious of their nutrition intake, particularly iron, become anaemic
Exploitation: There are instances of women cadres dying by suicide on account of ill treatment or suspicion.

Origin of left-wing movement in India

Naxalite are a group of left radical communist and the supporter of Maoist political ideology. The word Naxalite derived from the word "Naxalbari" which is the name of a village of west Bengal where a peasant insurgencies took place on 1967 against the landlords. Generally the majority of people of naxalite group are belongs to labourer, adibashi, and unemployed and mostly of them are living in remote area where the development failed to reach yet.
In India about 8% people are adhibasi and 92% of them living in tribal areas such as forest and hills and this tribal areas are far away from development or the government failed to give them a secure or peaceful life and this are the main causes for increasing number of naxalite movement in this areas. According shri Gadar "the revolutionary poet support Naxalism and said Naxalism is the result of failure of democracy."
The left-wing movement was originated under the aegis of Kanu Sanyal, Charu Majumdar and Jangal Santhal.
Kanu Sanyal, who was the follower of communist ideology thought that the economic freedom will come when you fight with maximum wealth holder
Charu Majumdar, who were inspired by the various ideology of Mao Zedong of China. He said, "That Indian peasants and lower class tribal's overthrow the government and upper class by force for whom he held responsible for their commitment." A large of urban elites were also attracted to the ideology, which spread through Charu Majumdar writing particularly the "eight historic documents" which formed basis naxalite ideology. Charu Majumdar wanted a prolonged people's war in India similar to Chinese revolution 1949.
The Naxalite movement first time appeared on 1967 in Naxalbari village of West Bengal by peasants against the landlords and this movement was leading by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, and Jangal Santhal.. Initially the Naxalite movement originated in West Bengal and had later moved to the less developed rural areas in southern and eastern India including in the state of chhatisgarh, Odisha, Andhrapradesh, and telengana. This was testified by the fact that as per 1971 census, about 60% of people of the population were landless and the major share of land were in the hands of 4% richest peoples. The peasants were exploited by the landlords raised their bow and arrows in insurgencies. And this was the primary cause of this movement.

Causes of Left-Wing Extremism

Land Related Factors

Evasion of land ceiling laws.
Existence of special land tenures (enjoying exemptions under ceiling laws).
Encroachment and occupation of Government and Community lands (even the waterbodies) by powerful sections of society.
Lack of title to public land cultivated by the landless poor.
Poor implementation of laws prohibiting transfer of tribal land to non-tribals in the Fifth Schedule areas.
Non-regularisation of traditional land rights.

Displacement and Forced Evictions

Eviction from lands traditionally used by tribals.
Displacements caused by irrigation and power projects without adequate arrangements for rehabilitation.
Large scale land acquisition for ‘public purposes’ without appropriate compensation or rehabilitation.

Livelihood Related Causes

Lack of food security – corruption in the Public Distribution System (which is often non-functional).
Disruption of traditional occupations and lack of alternative work opportunities.
Deprivation of traditional rights in common property resources.

Social Exclusion

Denial of dignity.
Continued practice, in some areas, of untouchability in various forms.
Poor implementation of special laws on prevention of atrocities, protection of civil rights and abolition of bonded labour etc.

Governance Related Factors

Corruption and poor provision/non-provision of essential public services including primary health care and education.
Incompetent, ill-trained and poorly motivated public personnel who are mostly absent from their place of posting.
Misuse of powers by the police and violations of the norms of law.
Perversion of electoral politics and unsatisfactory working of local government institutions.
These causes are most glaring in forest areas predominantly inhabited by tribal populations who thus become the main instruments and victims of left extremist violence.

Sources of Funding for Naxalites

Financial mobilisation by Naxalites is in the form of extortion from local people and from contractors executing various projects in the affected areas. Besides, funds are also raised through forest and mining operations.
The extensive contractor-transporter-extremist nexus and its links with illegal mining and collection of forest produce in the entire region affected by left extremism yields a huge volume of funds for the extremists.

Government’s Approach And Action Plan To Curb Lwe

The Government of India has adopted an integrated and holistic approach to deal with the Left-Wing Extremist (LWE) insurgency by simultaneously addressing the areas of security, development and promoting good governance. To achieve this, a National Policy and Action Plan has been put in place that adopts a multi-pronged strategy in the areas of security, development, ensuring rights & entitlements of Other Traditional Dwellers /Tribals etc with focused attention on 106 Districts in 10 States and particularly in 35 most affected LWE districts in 07 States.

Specific Measures taken by Central government

‘Police’ and ‘public order’ are state subjects. Central government, however, closely monitors situation and coordinates and supplements their efforts in several ways to deal with the LWE problem.
Ban on CPI (Maoist): This organisation is responsible for most incidents of violence/casualties.
Strengthening the Intelligence Mechanism: This includes intelligence sharing through Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) at the Central level and State Multi Agency Centre (SMAC) at the State level on 24x7 basis.
Better Inter-State coordination: The menace of Maoists is spread across various states. Thus, Government of India has taken a number of steps to improve Inter-State coordination through periodic Inter-State meetings and facilitating interactions between the bordering districts of LWE affected States.
Tackling the problem of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs): Majority of casualties incurred by the Security force are attributable to IEDs. The Ministry of Home Affairs has formulated an SOP on ‘Issues related to Explosives/IEDs/Landmines in Naxal Affected Areas’ and circulated to all stakeholders concerned for compliance.
Deployment of the Central Armed Police Forces
India reserve (IR)/Specialised India Reserve Battalion (SIRB): The Left-Wing Extremism affected states have been sanctioned India Reserve (IR) battalions mainly to strengthen security apparatus at their level and to enable the States to provide gainful employment to youth, particularly in the LWE affected areas.

Development measures taken by Government
Monitoring and Implementation of Flagship Programs:(a) Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)(b) National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)(c) Ashram School(d) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)(e) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)(f) National Rural Drinking Water Program (NRDWP)(g) Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)(h) Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)(I) Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)(j) Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Right) Act, 2006.

Way forward

Left extremism feeds on persistent and serious shortcomings in the domain of general and

development administration, resulting in the failure of the government to address the needs of the poor in areas pertaining to land, food, water and personal security, equity, ethnic/cultural identity etc. The ‘containment’ of the problem may inter alia require consideration of the following:

Most of the ‘participants’ in violence perpetrated under the banner of left extremist organisations are alienated sections of society rather than perpetrators of ‘high treason’ – they must be treated as such.
A fortiori police action over a long period is counterproductive; it is likely to affect the innocent more than the extremists.
Negotiations have a definite ameliorative role under the circumstances; this is the experience the world over.
Faithful, fair, and just implementation of laws and programs for social justice will go a long way to remove the basic causes of resentment among aggrieved sections of society.
Sustained, professionally sound and sincere development initiatives suitable to local conditions along with democratic methods of conflict resolution must be developed.

Changing foreign policy of Saudi Arabia

Context: Saudi Arabia has been pursuing as assertive foreign policy in order to extend its influence in the West Asia.

Background

For past many years, Saudi’s foreign policy centred around Iran and it resulted into the proxy conflicts across the region. The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is rooted in Islamic sectarianism. While Iran is the foremost Shia state in the world, Saudi Arabia is considered to be the religious home of Sunni Islam. This sectarian rivalry has translated into a tussle for regional hegemony and both sides being involved in multiple proxy conflicts against each other in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and most devastatingly, Yemen.

Saudi’s changing foreign policy:

It agreed to establish ties with Iran through talks mediated by China.
Saudi – Omani delegation hold talks with Houthi rebels for a permanent ceasefire.
It is holding talks with Syria to normalize ties with Assad Regime which may result into re-entry of Syria to Arab League.
It is also trying to balance its relationships with the US, Russia, and China.

Timeline

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The reason behind the shift:

Saudi’s past endeavours in West Asia were either unsuccessful or only partially successful.
In Yemen, Saudi led coalition failed to oust Houthi’s from Sana’a (Yemen’s Capital).
Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” calls for diversifying the oil-dependent economy by attracting tourism and foreign investment. Regional peace will be crucial to turning Saudi Arabia into the global hub that “Vision 2030” envisions. This has led to Saudi Arabia making concerted efforts to end long-standing conflicts/rivalries with powers across the region.
As the U.S. shifts its priorities away from West Asia, Saudi Arabia is confronted with a choice to either persist in their unsuccessful efforts to contain Iran in a region or they can work towards establishing a new balance with Iran.

Implications for the region:

Saudi Arabia’s normalization talks with Syria would help improve the overall relationship between Syria and other Arab capitals.
If Saudis can reach a settlement with Houthis, it could infuse some stability in the Gulf region.

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Finland’s Journey, from Neutral to NATO

Context: Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), becoming its 31st member. This is a significant event, given that NATO security guarantees will extend to this country which shares a 1,340 kilometre border with Russia. This historical moment in NATO’s history was full of symbolism, since NATO had clearly scored an additional point against Russia.

‘Conventional deterrence’ as a response to post-cold War Russian policies:

The main rationale behind Finland’s decision has been to receive additional security guarantees from NATO, which are specified in Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty. It ‘binds the members together, committing them to protect each other and setting a spirit of solidarity within the alliance’.
Finland’s NATO membership can be viewed through the lens of ‘conventional deterrence’. As described John Mearsheimer this concept as ‘an attempt to persuade an adversary not to initiate a war because the expected costs and risks outweigh the anticipated benefits’.
Finland is certainly not the first and will not be the last neighbour of Russia to join the alliance. Before Finland’s accession, countries such as Norway (1949), Latvia (2004), Estonia (2004), Poland (1999) and Lithuania (2004) were already a part of NATO.
In this scenario, Russia needs to learn how to navigate through these growing complexities, which it is partly responsible for.

Complicated past of Russia and Finland

The ‘relationship between Finland and Russia has been a combination of struggle and compromise. In 1809, the Russian Tsar Alexander I defeated Sweden, acquired Finland, and made it an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian empire.
In 1917, the collapse of the Tsarist regime and the Bolshevik Revolution paved the way for the full independence of Finland’. This made Finland pursue a pragmatic security policy which was flexible enough to balance its autonomy with the need for military cooperation with the West.
In the post-war era and during the cold war Finland saved itself from the spread of communist ideology. In 1948, the Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance was signed between the USSR and Finland, outlining ‘Finland’s desire to stay outside the conflicts of interests between the great powers’. This came to be known as Finland’s ‘neutrality’.
Paasikivi’s line (named after Juho Kusti Paasikivi, the president of Finland between 1946 and 1956) emerged and began to morph into what would eventually become Finland’s foreign policy strategy.
This Paasikivi’s line was based on the idea of peaceful coexistence with the Soviet Union with neutrality being its cornerstone. It helped Finland navigate complex international relations after the turbulent time of the Second World War.
While the Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 helped Finland boost trade with the Soviet Union, it became heavily dependent on Moscow thereby making it vulnerable to economic and political overtures from the Soviets.

Policy Change?

There were tensions between Finland and Russia as a result of the flux in domestic politics in both countries. For instance, Nikita Khrushchev was willing to negotiate with Finland and allowed for increased trade and cultural exchange between the two countries, despite the 1950s seeing Finland side with the West when the Soviet Union called for a boycott of the 1956 Summer Olympics in Australia.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it sought to build closer ties with Russia while also pursuing greater integration with Europe.
The country has been an active participant in European security initiatives such as the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO). At the same time, it has been able to maintain close economic ties with Russia.
The cooperation between Finland and NATO began as early as in 1994 with the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme. Finland had the status of an ‘Enhanced Opportunity Partner’ and contributed in a significant manner to the NATO-led operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Possible Outcome and wayforward

Finland's accession to NATO gives the impression that Finland’s security concerns are mostly assuaged.
However Russian authorities have signalled possible ‘countermeasures’ to the alleged ‘assault on its security and national interests’.
International political scientist believe that Russia and NATO should exercise cautious behaviour vis-à-vis the other. NATO and Russia should search for ways out of the constant cycle of implementing ‘measures’ and imposing ‘countermeasures’. During the last decade, a classic example of ‘security dilemma’ has been unfolding, whereby Russia and the West have been enhancing their security and creating a more precarious environment altogether.
Neither Finland nor Russia should see an escalation in their relations. The newly elected centre-right government in Finland should not exaggerate the potential threats from Russia but engage in bilateral dialogue, trying to understand the other’s security concerns. There should be at least some NATO members who would be willing to rely more on diplomatic tools and ‘lower the temperatures’.

Further reading about NATO and accession process
( https://compass.rauias.com/current-affairs/north-atlantic-treaty-organization/ )