Unit 5: India’s Negotiating Style and Strategies: Trade, Environment and Security Regimes

Q. Discuss the changes in India's negotiating style and strategies in multilateral forums and
Inter-governmental organizations in recent times. [READ SOL ALSO ]

Despite the fact that protecting sovereignty and territorial integrity are the primary interests
of a nation, the foreign policy strategy in relation to trade, environment and security are the
burning issues that cannot be undermined in present circumstances. India since its
independence, has survived as the largest democracy in the world. India with near about 1.4
billion population is one of the growing economies that is slowly emerging as the centre of an
attractive destination for investment and large-scale industries and technology centres. There
has been a manifold increase in India's global trade since the introduction of Liberalisation,
privatization and globalization in 1991. The market reforms boosted the confidence of
industrial tycoons to choose India as an investment destination in future. It is noteworthy to
say that India has arisen as a forerunner country in negotiating in the area of climate change
and global warming. More importantly, it is impossible to think up a secured world without
India. The role of India in the area of both conventional and human security is highly
significant as it advocates peace and universal disarmament are the only means which can
guarantee peace for the betterment of humanity.

The first portion would deal with Indiaís global trade, problems and prospects. The second
part would analyse environment and the steps have been taken by India till now and the
action that it is going to take to achieve the targets fixed in different COP meetings. And the
third section would analyse Indiaís security challenges and strategy.

I. TRADE
Q. Discuss India's growing role in WTO as an emerging economy in the twenty-first century.
Q. Discuss India's strategies/ strategy for protecting its trade interests in WTO.
Q. Write short notes on WTO AND INDIA/ INDIA's role in WTO

INTRODUCTION
India is a mixed economy4world8s sixth largest at $2.6 trillion and set to continue its steady
run as the world8s fastest growing major economy. One objective of India’s economic policy
has been to protect its markets from international competition, minimise imports and
encourage exports. “Make in India” campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
2014 is based on the basic tenets of inviting investments to help the economy grow on the
one hand and generate employment on the other.
India is now targeting to become a $10 trillion economy from about $2 trillion today by 2030.
The newly elected government for the second term under Prime Minister Modi has set the
target to become $5 trillion by the year 2024. In a globalized world, India has shifted towards
a market economy, privatized many state-owned enterprises, opened doors to the private
sector and FDI and deregulated several industries. Needless to say, by becoming an integral
part of the global economy, India had to face several concerns relating to trade-bilateral and
multilateral, sanctions, dumping and negotiations-global and regional, from GATT to WTO.
It is interesting to note that this phenomenal growth has lifted more than a hundred million
Indians out of abject poverty. India8s rapid economic growth has attracted international
attention during last two decades4so much so that it has world8s fastest growing economy
today.
Despite the recent expansion of India8s trade with the world, its share of global trade is
disproportionately small given its size. India8s bound tariffs are still relatively high, although
applied tariffs are much lower. Because of this gap, the government currently retains
significant policy space with respect to trade, including the ability to raise and lower tariffs in
response to prevailing conditions. Thus, the decisions it makes in trade negotiations to bind
tariffs at lower levels or otherwise change the rules governing its engagement with its trading
partners constrains its existing policy space and potentially has significant impact on the
evolution of the economy.
The policy of economic liberalisation of India was put into operation with effect from 1991.
A highly crucial aspect of economic liberalisation is the liberalisation in the field of foreign
trade. India has been incrementally integrating into the global economy and liberalising its
trade settings. For example, trade in goods and services as a percentage of GDP has risen
from 15.7 per cent in 1990 to 39.8 per cent in 2016.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

The World Trade Organization is the only organization in the world that has been formed for the
operation and regulation of international trade. The WTO deals with the economic aspect of foreign
policy, whose basic objective is to create an environment of fair competition for trade between
member states through a multilateral trade system throughout the world.

In 1994, 123 countries signed the agreement through the ‘Caracas Agreement’ and as a result of
negotiations of the Uruguay cycle for 8 years, it was decided to convert the GATT into World Trade
Organization. WTO was born on January 1, 1995, after the GATT and Dunkle Proposal. This is in a
way a new GATT agreement. WTO was set up in 1995, during the Uruguay rounds of trade
negotiations, as institutional Avtar of GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ) which is a legal
trade agreement among many nations under the UN Conference on Trade and Employment in 1947
at Geneva. Thus, although the WTO is not a UN-specialized agency, it is part of the UN system. Unlike
IMF and World bank, WTO is not the outcome of Bretton Woods conference.

The World Trade Organization is the successor organization of GATT. The World Trade Organization
is a well-organized and sustainable world trade body that has a legal status. In many ways, the
emergence of the WTO was a response to the changing imperatives of the international trading
system in the 1980s, linked to the wider triumph of neoliberalism and the acceleration of
globalization. In comparison to GATT, the role, functions, and powers of WTO is more extensive. WTO
also deals in trade in services and Intellectual property rights. Unlike GATT, trade rules made by WTO
are binding on member nations. It has also the power to decide upon the trade disputes among
member nations, who are bound by those decisions.

STRUCTURE OF WTO
WTO is an Inter-governmental organization based in Geneva (Switzerland) for regulating and
facilitating ‘free’ trade among member nations and dispute resolution related to trade.The World
Trade Organization is a permanent institution with a secretariat. Headed by the Director General
(DG), who acts like its chief executive officer. Day-to-day decisions and management are carried out
by the General Council. The top decision-making body is the Inter-ministerial conference held once
every two years. Trade/commerce ministers of member nations are the party to the Interministerial
conference.

Membership:
As of January 1995, it had only 77 members, the number of which has risen to 164 at present. In
the year 2018, Libya has become its 163rd member country and Afghanistan’s 164th member
country. OR The WTO has 164 members, accounting for 98% of world trade. A total of
25 countries are negotiating membership.
Voting Rights & Decision-making Process: Each member has one vote; decisions are generally taken
by consensus; voting is used rarely.

Objectives of WTO
The WTO has the following objectives:
1. To promote free trade by minimizing the barriers to world trade.
2. Effectively increase the standard of living of the whole world.
3. Increase in employment opportunities all over the world.
4. Encourage trade in goods internationally and Encourage trade in services.
6. Strengthen the concept of sustainable development.

Main role & functions of WTO

• To ensure that global trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible by having rule-
based multilateral trade agreements
• WTO aims to reduce barriers to trade by lowering tariffs and tackling non-tariff measures, such as
import licensing restrictions, quotas, or the use of trade measures for protectionist purposes.
• To monitor and implement trade agreements.
• Provides a forum for negotiations and for settling trade-related disputes.
• Review and report national trade policies, technical assistance, and capacity building (training,
workshops, seminars).

ROLE OF WTO IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD

The economic rise of China and its becoming a member of the World Trade Organization in the year
2001, as well as the growing influence of the fast-emerging economies of countries like India, Brazil,
Egypt, and South Africa, affected the balance within the World Trade Organization and the
organization has started changing. This was particularly demonstrated by the halting of the Doha
Round of Talks, which began in 2001 it was suspended in 2009 largely due to disagreements over
agriculture and clothing, as the United States and the European Union were unwilling to give up
‘protectionism’27. Nevertheless, the main ideological debate focuses on its benefits and the
philosophy of free trade. Some argue that free trade brings prosperity to all and in the process the
chances of war are reduced. On the other hand, other critics view ‘fair trade’ as clearly unfair and a
reason for structural inequality.

INDIA AND WTO OR Impediments on the Way of India’s Trade

.India has made a significant contribution to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since it
came into existence in January 1995. India has been a founding member of both GATT and
WTO right from 1948. Post establishment of WTO, India’s trade policies changed
dramatically as per WTO guidelines and policy directions.

Some of the significant advantages to India under WTO have been: increase in foreign trade;
increase in agriculture exports; an inflow of foreign capital investment; and, investments in
services. It also had its disadvantages, e.g., loss of domestic industries; effects on domestic
prices; impact on employment; and decline in regional groupings like SAARC, ASEAN,etc.

Throughout the existence of WTO, the debate has raged as to what has India achieved due to
this. It has become a dispute settlement body and has mostly been blocked by the US,
paralysing the dispute settlement mechanism. Meanwhile, several complaints are pending
before WTO dispute settlement body. The prominent among them are agriculture subsidy,
environment, market access, and investment related issues and food safety standards. Being
India is primarily an agricultural country where near about 30 per cent people living below
poverty line. It is the responsibility of the government to improve their life standard. Even the
government is facing deep sense of resentments among the peasants to increase minimum
support price of the agricultural.

The WTO has been dominated by the developed countries, with US playing a predominant
role. The US is now becoming protectionist, moving away from its earlier stance of
supporting trade and investment liberalization, insisting on tariff reductions. In order to
realise the goal of ‘America First’, President Donald Trump has renegotiated North American
Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico and so on. On the contrary, China has
emerged as a supporter of globalization and free trade as it remains the biggest exporter in the
world.

In this context, it becomes imperative for India to expand its trade and economic ties with
regional partners and focus on India becoming a manufacturing hub with the objective to
become an export market.

INDIA VS ASEAN
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises Indonesia, Singapore,
Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.
India’s focus on a strengthened and multi-faceted relationship with ASEAN since
liberalization and its continued search for economic space resulted in the ‘Look East’ policy.
This has today matured into a dynamic and action-oriented 7Act East8 policy.

India-ASEAN trade and investment relations have been growing steadily, with ASEAN being
India's fourth-largest trading partner. India's trade with ASEAN stands at $81.33 billion.
India's export to ASEAN stand at 11.28 percent of our total exports. In the backdrop of
intensifying US-China trade war, it is assumed to have been the main push factor for
enhanced regional cooperation.

In the wake of recent developments the US, India, Australia and Japan have collectively
come out in strong support of an ASEAN-led mechanism to preserve and promote rules-
based order in the Indo-Pacific region where China is flexing its muscles. The four countries
have affirmed their strong support to ASEAN centrality and ASEAN-led regional
architecture. The 10-nation Association is considered one of the most influential groupings in
the region and India and several other countries are its dialogue partners.

INDIA AND G20

The G20, founded in 1999, to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international
financial stability, is the latest in a series of post-World War II initiatives targeted at
international coordination of economic and financial relations and policy. To start with it was
Bretton Woods System consisting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), later re-christened as the
World Bank. This has since paved the way for WTO.

The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world8s largest advanced and emerging
economies, representing about two-thirds of the world8s population, 85 percent of global
gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade. The members of G20 are
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan,
Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, US and the
European Union.

India has emerged as an important member of G204contributing and influencing the

reshaping of the world's economic and financial order. India is pursuing an ambitious multi-
pronged agenda for the G20: ranging from deploying global surpluses for infrastructure
development, inclusive development, and energy efficiency to global action to mitigate
terrorism, reforming global financial architecture, corruption and black money. India8s core
agenda centres around stable and sustainable global growth for employment generation,
stable financial markets and global trading regimes. Accordingly, the country is pushing for
poverty eradication and sustainable development, besides trade and investment.

Heads of various nations, including India, the US, and Australia, among others, met at the
recent G20 summit in Osaka, Japan in June 2019 to address major global economic concerns
and pave the way for inclusive and sustainable growth, by dealing with social, economic and
environmental challenges. Suresh Prabhu, India Sherpa to the G20, while addressing the
Summit in Osaka, said India has been working on tax evasion, economic offences and
fugitive offenders running away (from the country). He further added that the global
community must act in unison to deal with issues of people committing economic offences
and running away. Prabhu also said that India strongly believed that climate change was a
reality, the biggest threat to humanity and the country was focusing on clean and renewable
energy to generate power.
The following efforts of India at G20 have been appreciated in a G20 status report: 1. India
has done a good job to popularise the derivative instruments on exchanges; 2. The
international body observed that India has done a good work in labour reforms in order to
boost workers8 security and increasing female participation in the workforce; and, 3. India
has initiated Start-ups to facilitate external borrowings by promoting innovation and easing of
doing business.

INDIA’S TRADE RELATIONS IN SOUTH ASIA

South Asia and America are the two regions with which India has a trade surplus. India’s
trade surplus with South Asia is an extraordinary 87 percent of exports to the region. This not
only signifies the current dominant status of India in South Asia, it also indicates that there is
a considerable potential for enhancing intra-regional trade. The World Bank estimates that if
barriers to trading with neighbors were removed, intra-regional trade in South Asia could
increase from the current $28 billion to $100 billion. Emphasis is, therefore, being placed on
the removal of impediments to such trade for the realization of the potential.

The main characteristics of India’s trade with countries in South Asia are summarised below:
 Bangladesh is the largest trading partner in South Asia, followed by Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Maldives.
 The highest quantum of exports within South Asia is also to Bangladesh followed by Nepal,
Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives.
 83 percent of the total exports in South Asia were made to Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri
Lanka.
 Bangladesh alone accounted for more than 35 percent of the exports with Nepal
contributing 28 percent, Sri Lanka around 20 percent, Pakistan around 10 per cent; the
exports to Afghanistan, Bhutan, and Maldives cumulatively accounted for only 7 per cent of
the exports to South Asia.
 The maximum imports are from Bangladesh followed by Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal,
Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Maldives.
 India enjoys a substantial trade surplus with all the countries in South Asia. In line with the
trend of exports and imports, the top three countries in terms of trade surplus are Bangladesh,
Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
 The trade surplus as a proportion of exports is least for Bhutan and Afghanistan, indicating
a more balanced trade with them, compared to the other countries in South Asia.
 The trade surplus as a proportion of exports is highest for Maldives followed by Nepal and
Sri Lanka, showing India8s dominance in bilateral trade with them.

CONCLUSION
In an integrated world, economic policies of a country usually affect other countries as well.
The policy of economic liberalization of India was put into operation with effect from 1991.
A highly crucial aspect of economic liberalization was the liberalisation in the field of foreign
trade, decontrol, de-licensing, removal of tariff barriers, facilitating foreign investments,
spurring manufacturing with focus on exports and employment generation. Ease-of-doing
business, Start-up India, change in labour laws, encouraging electronics manufacturing,
industrial policy reform, demonetisation, Goods and Services Tax (GST) are but few steps in
putting India on a higher growth trajectory to achieve 2030 goals. Needless to say, the
Narendra Modi Government 2.0 has already set the target of making India $5 trillion
economy by 2024.

II. ENVIRONMENT
Q. Analyze the impact of global warming on India's national security.
Q. What are India's environmental negotiation strategies?
Q. Short Note on Major Environmental Concerns for India
Q. Short Note on Climate change negotiations and India's role

INTRODUCTION
In a globalized world, the boundaries between states are less visible; and political, economic,
cultural, and social events are more interconnected with far-reaching impact. Debates on
environmentalism do not lack the extensive importance attached to globalization. Green
activists include globalization as their main agenda. The damage caused to the ecosystem by
the oil that spilled from one of the leaking containers of British Petroleum in 2010 is just one
of the examples of the threat globalization poses to the environment.
Climate change, deforestation, and pollution are now, a few of the many, widely used
expressions in international relations as we have achieved the era of the resource wars.
The environment and natural resources are deeply related to security, which was and will
always remain one of the most controversial concepts of international politics.
Certain countries over-consume energy while others under-consume. Consumption levels
around the globe have reached such high levels that Earth is struggling to keep up with the
regeneration required for us to maintain our high consumption levels.
Hence, the international agencies that have been created to protect the environment would
have to revisit their concerns and are required to show a strong will to implement the
decisions in this direction.

GLOBALIZATION AND ENVIRONMENT

Our lifestyles have been altered by the process of globalization. We are globally consuming
more products, burning more fossil fuels, discarding more clothes and piling more electronic
waste. This all has impacted the ecological cycle as increased consumerism leads to high
levels of production which requires more extraction and transportation of raw materials and
that in turn leads to high carbon footprints. Extractivism and stress on transportation has led
to the added strain on the non-renewable sources of energy. The waste generated from
production gets dumped in the oceans which adversely affects the sea life. Foreign foods are
preferred more than locally-grown food. The genetic makeup of the plants is also affected
due to toxic waste disposal. Plastic is very useful for packaging and preserving the products
which are exported. There are innumerable examples and incidents which clearly suggest that
the globalisation has made irreversible changes to our lives and has also led to some major
concerns, environment in particular.

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT ISSUES AND INITIATIVES

The environment is undoubtedly the most global and multidimensional issue in the
international system. Climate change is a cause of concern for mankind as it has serious and
various catastrophic economic, ecological, and environmental implications. And so, it
demands immediate action. It is common knowledge that due to climate change, we
experience many disasters. The frequency and the severity of climate related disasters is on
an increase. Hurricanes like Katrina in USA, Tsunamis in South Asia, Earthquakes in
Afghanistan and India, and Typhoon Tokage in Japan are a few examples of disasters from
the recent past. The environment was not as polluted as it is now and so the concerns were
also negligible.

It is only recently, one can say after the Second World War, that environmental movements
have become very active. However, this rise in the environmental movement is closely linked
to the phenomenon of globalization as globalization has transformed the structure of the
international system. The international and transboundary dimensions of environmental
issues have been realized by governments and individuals due to the phenomenon of
globalization. Beginning with the UN Conference on the Environment held in Stockholm,
Sweden in 1972, there has been an increasing movement towards the adoption of
international instruments as tools for environmental protection. The global climate system is
a ‘common’ resource and looking at the catastrophic implications of global warming-induced
climate change its utmost care becomes a collective global responsibility. This can be
managed only through a multilateral treaty like the Montreal Protocol adopted in 1987 to
protect the ozone layer. United Nations (UN) has to its credit two major achievements in this
respect. They are United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and
The Kyoto Protocol.

I. UNFCCC
UN initiated negotiations, in 1991, to take care of the climate system through adoption of a
convention. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty which was adopted on 9
May 1992. It was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14
June 1992. After that it entered into force on 21 March 1994, after a sufficient number of
countries had ratified it. The UNFCCC objective is to stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG)
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system.
This framework has set non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual
countries. No enforcement mechanisms are mentioned in the framework. However, the
framework outlines how particular international treaties, which are called protocols or
agreements, may be negotiated to decide and specify further action towards the main
objective of the UNFCCC. The UNFCCC has 196 Parties (States) plus the European Union
as of November 2019.
Due to nearly universal membership, the convention enjoys broad legitimacy. The parties to
the convention meet annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess the progress for
climate change and to adopt, if needed, new measures. COP is the supreme decision-making
body of the Convention. To date, 27 COPs have been held, the last one was in Sharm-el-
Sheikh, Egypt from 6-20 November 2023.

UN’s pursuance for a multilateral protocol on this issue promoted two broad groups of
governments like the North-South divide. Now these groups are popularly known as Annex I
countries which include developed countries and transition economies like Russia and
Ukraine. The group of developing countries is known as Non-Annex I countries. UNFCCC
asked the signatory countries to calculate the national-level inventories of GHG emissions.

II. KYOTO PROTOCOL

The details of the protocol were decided in the third round at Kyoto, Japan in December
1997. The Kyoto Protocol was opened for signature in 1998 but it came into effect only on
February 16, 2005. The first commitment period expired in 2012. The USA and Australia
refused to ratify this protocol. Thirty-eight developed countries which are Annex I countries,
had ratified the protocol. They had a legal binding to cut down the emissions of GHGs by 5.2
percent of their base level total emissions by 2012 which was the end of the first commitment
period. The non-Annex I countries, which are the developing countries also had ratified the
protocol but have no emissions limit to adhere to. They were to cooperate in the reduction of
GHG emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC had devised three ‘Flexibility Mechanisms’ to enhance
cooperation and assist parties in meeting their emissions reduction targets in a given time
frame. (a) Emissions Trading (ET): As per Article 17 of the protocol, Annex I nations are
allowed to trade emissions reductions among themselves or selling credits towards their
commitments. (b) Joint Implementation (JI): As per Article 6 of the protocol, collaboration
between Annex I nations is allowed on projects that would reduce carbon emissions. Such
projects earn emissions-reduction credits for the nations involved. (c) The Clean
Development Mechanisms (CDM): Further, Article 12 provides incentives to those firms that
intend to invest in those projects that target reduction in emissions in the developing
countries. The credits resulting from such projects are called Certified Emissions Reductions
(CERs). Such credits get shared between the host country and the firm which invested in that
project.
First two mechanisms have focused on developed Annex I countries. Emissions Trading and
Joint Implementation, both are expected to work economically and effectively in realising the
targeted level of GHGs emissions in a given timeframe. CDM is concentrating on
cooperation and partnership between developed and developing countries. This mechanism is
expecting that not only governments in developed countries but also the multinational firms
will be encouraged to help the third world countries through suitable projects - afforestation,
transfer and adaptation of technology related projects to support the efforts of the developing
countries. The levels of national GHGs emissions which were identified by all the signatory
nations of UNFCCC were used to create the 1990 benchmark levels for accession of Annex I
countries to the Kyoto Protocol and for the commitment of those countries to GHG
reductions. Updated inventories of GHGs emissions are submitted annually by Annex I
countries. The Protocol was amended in 2012 to encompass the period 2013-2020 in the
Doha Amendment, which as of December 2015 had not entered into force as only 31
countries had ratified the amendment, instead of the requirement of ratification by 144
countries.

III. PARIS AGREEMENT

Representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC met
in Le Bourget, near Paris, and adopted by consensus the Paris Agreement on 12 December
2015. The Paris Agreement entered into force on 4 November 2016. As of March 2019, 195
UNFCCC members had signed the agreement, and 187 were become party to it. The central
aim of this agreement is to strengthen the global response 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 pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5
degrees Celsius. The agreement also aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with
the impacts of climate change.

INTERNATIONAL STAGE
For the first time in 2007, UN Security Council conducted a meeting to discuss the climate
change issue. This issue is also a recurrent theme in the G20 Summits of the previous years.
At the 2014 Davos World Economic Forum, major public panel sessions were dedicated to
the discussion of vital issues from an environmental perspective like future natural resources
extraction in a sustainable world, global food security, resilience to natural disasters, climate
change, etc. Another example that demonstrates that the environmental issues have played a
prominent role on the international stage is the China-US Climate Agreement which was
announced in November 2014.

1. North-South Divide The wealthy developed countries are collectively known as the North
while the poorer developing countries as well as the least developed countries are
together known as the South. The South prioritizes the above-mentioned issues as
environmental concerns. These issues are mostly of global character which often includes
climate change, ozone depletion, and biodiversity. The issues which the South prioritizes,
are less visible on the global agenda. Such invisibility of environmental issues prioritized
by the South can be related to the North-South power gradient. What weakens the
position of the developing countries in various multilateral negotiations as well as their
participation is the lack of national scientific capacity. Hence it is imperative to increase
the generation of scientific knowledge in the South and of the South. Four strategies
could be pursued in this direction: (1) strengthening the data and science foundations of
the South; (2) strengthening the scientific community in the South; (3) encouraging more
research on the South among Northern scientists; and (4) expanding the groups capable of
generating scientific knowledge.

INDIA AND ENVIRONMENT

India has the population of 1.35 billion people and stands at the second most populous
position worldwide. India is one of the twelve mega-biodiversity countries of the world.
From 70 percent of the geographical area surveyed so far by the Botanical Survey of India,
Zoological Survey of India, and Forest Survey of India, about 16,000 plant species and
81,000 animal species have been identified in India. The major environmental issues which
India is facing are:
 Air pollution from the industries  Vehicular emissions  Greenhouse gas emissions 
Chemical and oil pollution  Municipal solid waste management  Water pollution from raw
sewage  Slash and burn practices

India is also one of the highly vulnerable countries to global warming because the Indian
economy highly depends on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, water, forest and
hydro-power. Further addition to the magnitude of vulnerability is provided by India8's
densely populated low-lying coastline. The coastline remains under constant threat from
climate related disasters including rise in level of sea water.

To combat such vulnerability, India has agreed to the Montreal Protocol in 1992. India has
also endorsed UNFCCC in 1993 and consented to the Kyoto Protocol in 2002. India8s
strategy towards climate change as well as the contribution to global efforts to reduce the risk
of climate change are noteworthy. As per the study, Climate Change Mitigation in
Developing Countries: Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey (2002), by
Pew Centre, India's growth in energy-related carbon dioxide emissions was reduced over the
last decade through economic restructuring, enforcement of existing clean air laws by the
nation’s highest court, and renewable energy programs.

According to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 signed by 37 industrialized countries and the
European Union, the goal for 2008-2012 was to reduce the GHG emissions to 5.2% lower
than the 1990 level. India, as the third largest producer of GHGs, is facing tremendous
pressures from the international community to meet these targets.

India's extensive environmental laws seem to have very little effect in reducing the harmful
effects of pollution, MSW, and GHG emissions. One of the reasons could be the major
concern of how to safeguard the environment without adversely affecting the country's
economic growth and employment levels.

Since 1987, through the Montreal Protocol, much is achieved by the international community
but still, the stratospheric ozone layer is not safe. India has honoured the Protocol along with
its London Amendment in 1992. Ministry has established an Ozone Cell to cooperate in this
respect and has taken also appropriate measures.

The role of international environmental management regimes becomes instrumental for

developing countries like India. For example, the UN Conference on Human Environment in
Stockholm in 1972 inspired the Indian government to set up a National Committee on
Environmental Planning and Co-ordination. As a result, the Parliament passed a few acts.
Further, the government also framed rules based on these acts e.g., (a) Air and Water
Pollution, (b) Forest Conservation, and (c) Wildlife Protection. In the late 70s and early 80s,
it was all about environmental planning and co-operation. Even till 1986, there was no
Ministry at the Centre to guard the environment and the forests. There was no National
Environment Policy in India till 2006. It was adopted for the first time in 2006 after about 60
years of India8s independence.
According to a 2014 report from the World Bank, ecosystem degradation in India currently
costs the country $80 billion annually, or 5.7 percent of GDP. If the country wants to break
the cycle of environmental loss and resource depletion, it must further embrace clean
technology and sustainable policies, the World Bank said.

SOLUTION TO THE ENVIRONMENT PROBLEMS

Some of the environmental problems are spread across political boundaries. A local or
regional environmental problem may have implications for the global environmental. On the
other hand, some global environmental problems can only be solved through local initiative.
For managing globalization and the global environment we need global and regional
governance. Efficient and effective mechanisms are to be developed which can check the
impact on the environment. Governments and individuals need to show strong will for the
genuine implementation of the existing mechanisms, particularly in India. Some researchers
also believe that the solution to the problem lies in the problem itself i.e., globalization can
provide the support structure which will be economically feasible and environment friendly.
Globalization involves the movement of manufactured goods as well as the transfer of
intermediate goods, capital goods, and technologies. Multinational corporations with clean
state-of-the-art technologies can transfer their green know-how to countries with low
environmental standards.

Due to high consumption levels, humanity's ecological footprint has increased to the point
where the Earth is unable to keep up in the struggle to regenerate. The key to resolving this
challenge is to de-link consumption from growth and growth from development. With the
clean technologies and environmental initiatives launched by Europe, U.K and Sweden, we
can say that the key actors have begun to recognize and some have started to implement the
notion of constrained consumption. It is required to provide the poor with the opportunity to
increase their use of resources while the affluent reduce their share to achieve sustainable
global equity. We are responsible for all the environmental threats we face today and only we
can possibly solve them to a great extent, if not completely, if we show our will to do it.

CONCLUSION

Globalisation has direct as well as indirect effects on the environment. The environmental
concerns of every nation are linked with global environmental concerns and hence it was
imperative to throw some light on them. Such concerns were born out of the recognition that
ecological processes do not always respect national boundaries and that environmental
problems often have global impacts. Global warming, climate changes, ozone cover
depletion, biodiversity conservation are some examples of such global environmental issues.
Global partnership and cooperation are crucial in tackling these issues. And so the global
initiatives like UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol were discussed. The developed and
developing countries have different views on what constitutes environmental issues as it was
clear after the discussion of the North-South knowledge divide. Some steps taken by the U.S,
UK, China and Europe were also discussed along with their future orientation. India8s active
role in the global environmental initiatives like the Kyoto Protocol was explained wherein the
role of flexible CDMs was given more importance. It is an absolute necessity that we take
steps and make efforts to maintain harmony with the environment. Humans will survive on
this planet only if we stop ignoring the consequences of our own actions. The moral and
spiritual dimension of planetary aspirations may not seem like an appropriate subject for
policy discussions, but it lies at the very heart of the type of global society that we want to
live in and the type of global society that we are constructing. The proposed solutions have
sentiments of anti-globalisation and globalisation both in the background through which the
environmental issues can be tackled but the strong will is common in both the school of
thoughts. The need of the hour is to create effective policies, their sound implementation
and a genuine will to work in this direction.

III. SECURITY REGIMES

Q. Discuss India's new nuclear policy since Independence. Do you think India's
nuclear weaponization has enhanced its national security?
Q. What are the security strategies of India as an emerging power with global
ambitions?
Q. Critically evaluate India’s claim for permanent membership in the United Nations
Security Council.

INTRODUCTION
India faces various security challenges in the contemporary globalised world. Newer
areas of conflict and contestation are emerging making the security threats and
challenges multidimensional and multifaceted in this age of globalization. Although
after seven decades of its independence India does not face any existential threat to its
security however, in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world the
security concerns have multiplied, become intense, and are of global in nature.

It is important to understand the broad historical context in which the current security
concerns confronting India needs to be evaluated. During the early years of India8s
independence, under the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru8s leadership, various efforts were
made to build closer partnerships with the countries of Asia and Africa. The Conference of
the Asian Relations organized in New Delhi in 1949 and the Bandung Conference in 1955
were some of the crucial initiatives undertaken on the idea of forging the Afro-Asian unity.
At the same time India in an attempt to avoid binaries of Cold War adopted an independent
policy of 7Non-alignment8 to keep away from both the Western and the Socialist bloc. The
country8s foreign policy was focused on maintaining strategic autonomy keeping distance
from bloc politics. India8s Non-alignment and its own economic policy of import substitution
and quest for self sufficiency resulted into a more idealistic foreign policy.

However, the end of Cold War changed the entire scenario. The unipolar world was now
witnessing the forces of globalization, liberalization and the resurgence of idea of
regionalism. India launched its economic liberalization program in 1991, in an attempt to be
integrated into liberal international economic order. The flow of Western capital and
technology, turn around in India’s relations with the US, and India’s entry into the ASEAN
Regional Forum were the major shifts from India’s earlier position on Non-alignment. The
launch of the ‘Look East’ policy was a watershed event in the history of India8's integration
with the world. Therefore, India gradually moved from cautious isolationism to more active
engagement with regional multilateral institutions in the post-Cold War period.

In recent years, with the modern armed forces and rising economic growth, India has
emerged as one of the major Asian giants with a quest for great power status, resulting in
significant shifts in India's strategic policies. At the same time, significant changes in the
world's political and economic scenario since the early 1990s have resulted into a more
integrated and interconnected world, which has also redefined the idea of security and
security challenges.

DEFINING SECURITY

The concept of security is always changing and expanding in some meaningful ways.
Security is an omnipresent concept for the policy makers, yet there is no unanimously
accepted definition of the term. The United Nations, Department for Disarmament Affairs in
report for 1986 defines security as “a condition in which states consider that there is no
danger of military attack, political pressure or economic coercion, so that they are able to
pursue freely their own development and progress.”

In the traditional view of security, the main instrument is the military, and the only security
referent is the state. However, in the post-Cold War era, the concept of security as the
absence of existential threats to the state emerging from another state has come under serious
criticism. A new discipline of security studies, has emerged. Earlier the threats were due to
acts of violence by state actors. However, the emergence of the non-state actors has changed
the scenario; today more earnest issues at hand are non-military in nature such as climate
change, natural disasters, infectious diseases, food shortages, irregular migration, drug
trafficking, smuggling of persons and such other transnational crimes.
The events of September 11, 2001, and November 26, 2008, and subsequent perceptions of
terrorist threats have resulted in a reappraisal of the meaning of security. It is still about
protecting the security and well-being of a nations citizens but instead of overt threats from
military sources, the threats are veiled and perhaps even unthinkable. These new challenges
are being labeled as 7non-traditional security8 (NTS) challenges and are changing the way
the idea of security is understood. That said; however, it should be recognized that traditional
threats from inter-state conflicts though diminished relatively in significance but have not
disappeared completely.

Therefore, the aim of the state should be to ensure comprehensive and cooperative security at
the individual as well as national, regional and international level through bilateral and
multilateral efforts against common dangers but at the same time national security remains
most significant concern for the states.
INDIA’S TRADITIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

Over the past seven decades since independence India’s foreign policy has travelled from
‘idealism’ to ‘pragmatism’. India being a heterogeneous nation, one of the main challenges
for the country has been to manage the diversity and assimilation of diverse ethnic, religious
cultural, and regional identities with the national identity. These differences have also
resulted into social polarization and fragmentation and identity politics. Therefore, the
foremost domestic challenge for the state in India has been to maintain unity and values of
inclusion in a diverse society. At the same time, many of India’s regional and global security
concerns are linked with its domestic security problems.

In the realm of foreign policy, the focus is often on external challenges to the country’s
security. India's geographical location makes India surrounded by unstable and dysfunctional
states, creating a challenging regional security environment. The entire Indo-Pacific region,
in which India is centrally located, is undergoing an unprecedented transformation in its
security outlook with complex and at times competitive interests of regional and global
powers.

As the world economic and political center of gravity shifts towards the Indo-Pacific region,
the region is becoming an area of power politics among a number of regional and extra-
regional players. Under such circumstances, India faces significant security concerns given
the policies and actions of some of the important players in the region.

Bilateral Issues with Neighbouring Countries

CHINA
One of the crucial issues in India8s foreign policy has always been its relationship with its
northern neighbor China. The rise of China and her quest for dominance in Asia and in the
world has put forward a new set of questions and complications not just for India but also
challenging the Western supremacy in the world. China7s economic and military rise and its
power projection capabilities seems to be challenging the regional and global balance of
power.

As the world witnesses the rise of two Asia giants, China and India, simultaneously it will
create certain complication. Earlier, their domain of competition was continental but now the
competition has shifted to maritime sphere. India and China’s great power aspirations and
their quest for security have compelled the two powers Robert Kaplan says, ‘to redirect their
gaze from land to seas’. Both are emerging as significant naval powers in the Indo-Pacific
region with sustained economic growth which is highly dependent on the continued,
uninterrupted supply of energy products, raw materials, and finished products for markets
elsewhere transported mainly by the sea routes in Indian Ocean and the contiguous waters.
Therefore, both the countries also have a stake in continued regional peace and stability.

China-India relations have some chapters of bitter history, the 1962 war and continued border
issues, the Doklam standoff being the most recent one in 2017 when the 73-day standoff in
the tri-boundary region in Himalayas where the Bhutan-China-India borders meet, created
tension between the two countries.
Over the years there has been a lot of noise about China’s earlier contested ‘strings of pearls’
strategy aimed at encirclement of India. Now China has made its intentions publicly clear
with its Belt and Road initiative (BRI) which includes the development of massive maritime
and land-based connectivity infrastructure in the region, reviving the ancient “Silk Road”
concept. New Delhi has expressed displeasure over China’s BRI, particularly given India8s
reservations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Given the concerns, India refused
to attend the Belt Road Forum in Beijing in 2017.

China’s activities in neighboring waters in recent years have been worrying for India. China
has funded a series of support facilities in friendly countries along with the Ocean’s northern
seaboard in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and smaller islands including
Maldives, Mauritius, and Seychelles. Particularly the Gwadar port, on the southwest coast of
Pakistan, has attracted a lot of attention due to its strategic location, at about 70 kilometers
from the Iranian border and 400 kilometers east of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil supply
route. China has also set up its first official overseas base in Djibouti. Though China has
never acknowledged it and has explained that these infrastructures are for purely commercial
purposes. But all of this is unnerving India, engendering a classic security dilemma
between the two Asian giants because China's naval capabilities have a direct bearing on the
area which is strategically important to India. Whatever China’s vision, together with its
expansive military budget, its growing footprint across the globe has created concerns among
its neighbors. Ironically, this distrust between the two countries is harbored alongside healthy
economic and trade relations between the two.

PAKISTAN
Another country with which India has a history of bitter relations is Pakistan. Since the
partition and the creation of the two nations in 1947, the India-Pakistan relationship has been
rocky. The two countries have been involved in four wars and numerous border clashes.
Some analysts go to the extent of saying that both nations are always in a perpetual state of
war.
Kashmir has been the bedrock issue between both nations, particularly, with rising discontent
and a volatile situation in Kashmir time and again. Cross-border terrorism and ceasefire
violations from the Pakistani side have always been major irritants. Terrorism, particularly
targeting India which is bred on Pakistani soil is yet another major issue which has mired the
bilateral relationship.

India has always adopted the policy of peaceful engagement with Pakistan on all fronts. India
has emphasized dialogue and confidence building on all outstanding issues including
economic, cultural, and people-to-people contact. However, Pakistan has directly or
indirectly held such economic and cultural engagements hostage to the Kashmir issue.

Doubts regarding Pakistan's sincerity in seeking a solution were reinforced by its repeated
sabotage of peace initiatives. This did not merely occur in the aftermath of Vajpayee8's
Lahore bus diplomacy in the form of Kargil but also happened after Modi's late December
2015 visit to Pakistan in the form of the Pathankot attack in early January 2016. India has
found it difficult to restart the dialogue because of acts supported by a nexus between state
agencies and non-state actors. The Mumbai attacks (2008), the case of the beheading of
Indian soldiers (2013), and the Pathankot and Uri attacks (2017) prove this point.

India’s concern in the region is also to counter the threat posed by joint Sino-Pak activities in
the Indian Ocean region, The Deep sea port of Gwadar in Pakistan does provide China with a
‘listening post’ from where it can monitor Indian activity in the Arabian Sea, and future US-
Indian maritime cooperation activities in the Indian Ocean8. Though Pakistan8s naval
capabilities alone do not pose any challenge to India, the combination of the Chinese and
Pakistani naval forces can indeed be formidable for India to counter.

In recent years, to deal with challenges from Pakistan, India has been taking retaliatory
actions against those elements and locations along the Line of Control (LoC) that are
complicit in perpetrating cross border terrorism. The surgical strikes in 2016 were an example
of this approach. India has also attempted to expose Pakistan8s complicity in employing
terrorism as a state policy at various multilateral platforms like ASEAN, BRICS, and UN.
Therefore, the relationship with Pakistan has always been one of the major concerns in
India8s security and strategic policy calculus.

Apart from the bilateral relationships the regional geopolitics and interplay among the
different players like China, Japan, Pakistan, US, Russia and relationships with other
neighboring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia are analysed
keenly given considerations in India8s strategic policy formation.

NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY CHALLENGES

The benefits of globalization have been uneven and new challenges have been thrown up
like growing inequity and inequality across and within nations, volatility in the financial
market and environmental degradation, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and
groups of radicals, extremists, fundamentalists, hackers, pirates, and terrorists have sought
to exploit the new environment to gain an asymmetrical advantage. Such transnational
challenges from non-state actors have become even more significant in contemporary
times.

1. Terrorism and Extremism

 A 2006 report by India’s Defence Ministry noted that “India is closely monitoring the rise of
Islamic fundamentalism as well as increasing incidents of terrorism including state-sponsored
and political violence with its attendant repercussions on the security of India”.
 Cross-border terrorism has been a major security concern for India for a long time.
 India has faced deadly terrorist attacks in the past including the 1993 in Bombay, the 2001 attack
on the Indian Parliament, 2008 Mumbai attacks to mention a few in a series of bloody terrorist
incidents throughout major cities of the country.
 India has continuously criticized Pakistan8's role as a haven for a variety of militant groups and
sponsoring cross-border terrorism, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
 However, India's criticism and international pressure have not deterred Pakistan’s continued
patronage of Lashkar-i-Tayyiba and other militant groups operating in Kashmir.
 The Afghanistan-Pakistan region, along with Central Asia and northern Africa, continues to
remain a hotbed for terrorism. Al-Qaeda, Indian Mujahidin (IM), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),
Haqqani network, and ISIS, are major terrorist organizations in the region.
 India also has been confronted with the challenge of possible links between domestic insurgents
and extremist groups such as SIMI, and their like-minded elements in neighboring countries like
Bangladesh and Pakistan.
 The country needs to develop a robust counter-terrorism response mechanism. The major
initiative after the Mumbai attacks has been the creation of a new National Investigation Agency
(NIA), empowered to investigate cases of terrorism and organized crime and streamline the
 existing mechanism. Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) was created at Delhi, to streamline intelligence
efforts to combat terrorism in 2002, and re-operationalized with effect from 2009, in the
aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. MAC was converted eventually into the National Counter
Terrorism Centre (NCTC), to share information. In the field of terrorism and extremism, a major
challenge is to deal with the nexus of state and non-state actors.
 Terrorism as a challenge is also linked to other non-traditional threats like piracy, drug, arms, and
human trafficking. As often groups committing these crimes operate in concert with each other.
Added to these is the transnational security concern of human smuggling with its manifold
effects, from fuelling terrorism to illegal immigration, resulting in sociopolitical instability.
 Border protection is a major issue in the maritime domain as maritime borders can be more
porous than land and air borders.

2. ENERGY SECURITY
 The economic development of a state is closely linked to its trade and energy supply.
 India's fragile energy security is under severe strain from its rising dependence on imported oil,
regulatory uncertainty and opaque natural gas pricing policies, a small pool of skilled manpower
and poorly developed upstream infrastructure, and dependence on fossil fuels as the dominant
source of energy in the near future.
 Coal, oil, and natural gas are the most important sources of primary energy in India. Inadequate
domestic supplies of these hydrocarbons are forcing the country to increase its imports.
 In precise terms, energy security means that we should be able to meet the country’s growing
needs for non‐renewable petroleum products.
 India8s oil consumption is expected to rise to 245 million tonnes annually by 2020 and our
import dependency will rise to nearly 85 percent.
 India aims to supply 25 percent of electricity from nuclear power by 2050. For that imported
uranium is required. This would also reduce India's dependence on greenhouse gas-emitting
hydrocarbons.
 At present, the contribution of nuclear power to India's energy sector still remains very low. So,
developing nuclear energy could be one solution to the energy needs of India.
 Energy security is a growing concern in India given the increasing energy requirement of the
developing economy.
 As the international energy market is dependent on reliable transport mostly sea-based, even
the temporary blockage of a choke point can lead to a substantial increase in total energy costs.
 Imports to South Asia from West
 Asia utilize the Strait of Hormuz. Closure of the Strait along with the rise in maritime traffic, the
variety and intensity of threats including piracy, maritime terrorism, and inter-state conflicts, may
challenge energy security in the region.
 High prices and a growing sense of supply scarcity have led to new tensions among the major oil-
importing countries in Asia and elsewhere due to concerns about access to global energy
supplies. Within this context, some analysts suggest that ‘’resource wars’’, largely over energy,
will be one of the defining characteristics of the twenty-first century. Supply chain dynamics are
the key to energy. At the same time, sustainable utilization of resources is also a need of the
hour. With limited resources and limitless ambitions is the root cause of the problem.
 The security of energy has two aspects. We may well have to worry about the security of future
oil resources in different parts of the globe, and we may also have to provide security to the long
and vulnerable supply chains, stretching across the globe, to keep them safe from any
interruption.
3. CYBER SECURITY
 India over the past year has seen a sharp increase in the incidence of data breaches and cyber-
attacks across sectors and company sizes. Cyberspace is the connected internet ecosystem.
 Cyber intrusions and attacks have increased dramatically over the last decade, exposing sensitive
personal and business information, disrupting critical operations, and imposing high costs on the
economy.
 Cyber security is protecting our cyberspace from attack, damage, misuse, and economic
espionage. Cyberspace has inherent vulnerabilities that cannot be removed. Nation-states, non-
state actors, and individuals are all capable of waging such attacks. It is again a transnational
challenge facing the global community.
 India ranks third in terms of the highest number of internet users in the world after the US and
China. India secures a spot amongst the top 10 spam-sending countries in the world alongside
the US. India ranked third in 2018 in the list of countries where the highest number of cyber
threats were detected.
 The recent threats like ‘’wannacry ransomware’’ in 2017 or the Facebook data breach which
reportedly also affected millions of Indian users.
 Banking systems, surveillance systems, industrial control systems, and the medical industry are
the most probable affected sectors.
 As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning gather pace and start to impact more and
more industries, it is sure to play a bigger role in cyber security.
 Currently, the Information Act, of 2000 is the primary law for dealing with cybercrime and digital
commerce in the country. India is at number 23 of the UN Global Cyber Security Index (GCI)
2017. Cybersecurity is one of most recent new-age security concerns.
 In the present digital age, the Indian Government has been taking serious steps to prevent
cybercrimes and build a safe and secure cyber network in the country.

CONCLUSION
Therefore, above mentioned are some of the major challenges facing India in the 21st-century
globalized world. The region surrounding India is becoming an increasingly contested strategic space
with the growing interests of regional and extra-regional players. At the same time, threats from
nonmilitary sources and non-state actors are becoming sinister in recent times.

The rapidly changing regional balance of power is creating a tricky geopolitical environment,
resulting in a new set of competition and contestations in the region. India remains fully committed
to maintaining peace and stability in the region and global context through effective diplomacy
including confidence-building measures, dialogue, bilateral, and multilateral engagements, and
credible military deterrence. India needs to focus on a long-term strategy to deal with security
concerns in a fluid global security environment. There is a need to recognize and deal with security
challenges at national, regional and global level by adopting a multi-pronged strategy.