IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
TOPIC: General Studies 2
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
Background:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on an official bilateral visit to Myanmar from September 5. This follows upon his earlier ASEAN-related visit in November 2014 and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit in May 2012. The visit marks seven decades of diplomatic relations between India and Myanmar.
Political context:
Though overdue, taking into account Mr. Modi’s ‘Neighborhood First”, ‘Act East’ and diaspora policies, international and domestic developments since then have clarified the political context of the visit. These include
Key elements of the visit could be:
Key issues:
The Rohingya crisis
The visit is taking place amidst some of the worst violence involving Rohingya militants and the Myanmar security forces ever resulting in a full-fledged international crisis triggered by large-scale, coordinated attacks by Rohingya militants under a recently formed Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA, now designated as ‘terrorists’) against government and security outposts in northern Rakhine state on August 25-26. The attacks and clearance operations against it have resulted in some 400 (and mounting) deaths, mostly Rohingya; widespread arson and burning of villages allegedly by both sides; displacement of thousands within Rakhine state and across the Naf river to Bangladesh; and severe disruption in food and humanitarian supplies. The Modi government has unequivocally condemned the “terrorist” attacks at a time when the security forces and Ms. Suu Kyi herself face heightened international criticism on the handling of the issue. This is likely to resonate in Mr. Modi’s favour in Myanmar. If called upon, India can certainly help in improving the socio-economic conditions in the area and also create employment opportunities.
China factor:
The visit is also taking place against the backdrop of uncertainties in the future India-China relationship caused by the now defused Doklam stand-off and the BRICS summit.
The shadow of China is thus looming large. However, Myanmar would welcome closer economic ties with India to balance and offset its domineering ties with China.
Bilateral issues that have the potential to transform the relationship between India and Myanmar:
Strengthening the development cooperation framework: No other country has committed as much in grant-in-aid to Myanmar as India. These include four major connectivity projects running into hundreds of millions of dollars — the Kaladan multi-modal corridor, repair of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa road and the construction of the 120-km Kalewa-Yargyi corridor, both of which are part of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, and the Rhi-Tiddim road in the Chin state bordering Mizoram. Unfortunately, the projects have not been completed in time.
Way ahead:
It is essential that the two countries immediately start negotiating transit and other agreements for the smooth movement of goods and vehicles for optimal use of the infrastructure — even though such traffic may not flow before 2020.
Capacity building in Myanmar:
Six centres imparting training in diverse subjects, from English language to industrial skills, are running successfully in Myanmar. The Myanmar Institute of Information Technology set up in Mandalay with the collaboration of IIIT Bangalore has been a success with all its graduates finding ready employment. The Advanced Centre for Agriculture Research and Education set up in collaboration with India’s ICAR is a fine example of pooling research efforts on pulses and oilseeds.
Way ahead:
With Myanmar’s government emphasising higher education and vocational training, more Indian-assisted institutions can come up in the country. Scholarships for undergraduates can work if a way is found to bridge the difference between the matriculation system of schooling in Myanmar and India’s 10+2 system.
Geater cooperation between Northeast India and Western Myanmar:
Four states in the Northeast share common borders with Myanmar’s Sagaing and Chin provinces. The Kaladan corridor also passes through the Rakhine state till it arrives at the Sittwe port developed by India.
Way ahead:
Expanding bilateral trade and investment:
Bilateral trade between the two countries has, for long, remained at around $2 billion. India ranks fifth among Myanmar’s import sources and 10th among foreign investors. Barring a few outfits, large Indian business groups are conspicuous by their absence. Chinese, Singaporean, Korean, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese businesses have actively seized business opportunities in Myanmar. Commercial trade and investments:
Both stand on narrow bases, primary agricultural and forest products from Myanmar in the case of trade, and oil and gas in case of investments, underlining a strong need to expand, diversify and upgrade commercial ties in ways that also contribute to Myanmar’s development needs and meet India’s $3 billion trade target set in 2012.
Way ahead:
Conclusion:
Modi’s visit to Myanmar can truly invigorate the ‘Act East’ agenda. It's high time Indian and Myanmar realise the potential of their relationship and act accordingly.
Connecting the dots:
TOPIC:
General Studies 2
General Studies 3
Background:
The recently released Ease Of Doing Business report by NITI Aayog and the IDFC Institute, based on an enterprise survey carried out in 2016, delineates the problem of not-growing enterprises sharply. According to the sixth economic census conducted during 2013 and the first quarter of 2014, 131.29 million people are employed in 58.5 million establishments in industry and services. Only 21% of the enterprises employ 10 or more workers. Own account enterprises, meanwhile, which were managed entirely by their owners and didn’t employ any other workers, constituted almost 45% of the enterprises.
Growth problem:
Indian manufacturing enterprises have a growth problem, often turning out to be “dwarfs”. These dwarfs dominate the sector numbers-wise. They suffer from low productivity given that their small size prevents them from achieving economies of scale, among other disadvantages. However, they employ a huge chunk of the labour force.
Small firms dominate. The jobs they create are low-paying ones. The wage spread between small and large enterprises is a disquieting 80%.
Reasons behind:
The report shows that there are two reasons for this:
The solutions:
Thus, the government of the day needs to bite the bullet if the problem of manufacturing enterprises not growing as expected needs to be solved.
Connecting the dots:
Who were the first settlers of India
Sabre rattling
Rearranging the BRICS summit
Carrot to stick
North Korea's bomb
Delhi's air pollution puzzle
Demonetisation will cost more than slow growth
Don’t TRAI this
Forex reserves can be managed better