5 Key Points on India’s Act Far East Policy

1. PM Modi unveiled the "Act Far East" policy to boost India's engagement with Russia's Far East region.
2. For the development of Far East, India will give line of credit worth $ 1 billion.
3. Ahead of the PM’s trip, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal led a delegation of four BJP chief ministers and 140 businessmen last month to the Russian Far East in a bid to stamp India’s presence in a region currently dominated by China.
4. In many ways India’s presence and involvement in sparsely populated Russian Far East as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy will balance Chinese presence in this region of Russia on the Pacific coast.
5. India's connection to Russia's Far East go back a long way. India was the first country to open a Consulate in Vladivostok.

5 Points on Spiraling Tension between USA-IRAN

1. US Withdrawal from Nuclear Deal: In May 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement reached between the P5+1 countries, the European Union, and Iran, which Mr. Trump once derided as the “the worst ever deal”. That move was in disregard of the opinions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Mr. Trump’s own top advisers that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action had proved effective.
2. There has not been any let-up from the U.S. strategy of exerting “maximum pressure” on Iran so far. In August 2019, the administration imposed sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
3. In April 2019, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was designated a terrorist organisation.
4. Iran’s Economic Isolation: Tehran’s crude exports are said to have plummeted to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) or less since April 2018 levels (more than 2.5 million bpd), according to estimates. Corporations that continue to do business with Iran face the risk of being cut off from the dollar system.
5. Rising Tension in West Asia: In retaliation to these measures, Iran demonstrated its ability to paralyse Western maritime operations by seizing oil tankers off the Gulf of Hormuz. While Mr. Trump held back from a counter-offensive following the downing of a U.S. drone, the missile attack amplified the risk of conflict in the region.

5 Significance of Afghan Peace Process for India

1. Peace in the region- is needed so that trade and prosperity could be ushered among the countries.
2. Strategic Depth- India has invested heavily in capacity building of the Afghan forces, administration among other domains. If a settlement is achieved, India will have a strategic partner in Afghanistan, which can be used as a tool against Pakistan.
3. Economic Markets- for Indian agricultural products, electrical machinery, rubber products, pharmaceuticals among others. During April-December 2016-17, the bilateral trade was to the tune of $590.1 million with India’s exports to Afghanistan being $377.2 million and imports from Afghanistan worth $212.9 million.
4. Connectivity- to Iran and Central Asia through highways.
5. Spread of terror- If the terror groups operating from and around Afghanistan-Pakistan border are not neutralized now and US withdrawal takes place in haste, it could have dangerous effects for Indian security.

5 Points on India's Stand on Afghan Peace Process

1. Legitimately elected government in Afghanistan should be a part of any peace initiative. In the past, the Afghan government was often sidelined by international interlocutors when they engaged with the Taliban.
2. All initiatives and processes must include all sections of the Afghan society. There is acceptability in India about talking to the Taliban, since they represent a “section of the Afghan society”.
3. The achievement of establishing democratic processes and human rights, including women’s rights, should be respected.
4. Any process should not lead to any ungoverned spaces where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.
5. Also, the Pakistan-based terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and Jaish-e-Mohammed must not be allowed to relocate.

5 Solutions for India's RCEP Apprehensions

1. Protect & Promote domestic industry: Given the costs and benefits in RCEP, it is important for India to strike a balance between domestic and external interests to minimise the adverse effects of RCEP on its domestic engineering industry. If domestic industry has to thrive, it needs protection as also the enabling conditions created by factor and product market reforms.
2. Use of skilled labour: India has been insisting on capitalising on its pool of 'skilled' labour force to gain from improved access to employment opportunities in these economies. This has been expected to come about by increasing the ease of movement of professionals through the liberalisation of what is called Mode 4 in services trade.
3. Protect tariff structure: India should continue to maintain its position of proposed dual tariff structure in the RCEP as it will help India to protect its tariff lines which are more vulnerable to cheap Chinese imports. It must emphasise on a special and differential treatment based on stages of economic development.
4. Restrict Rules of Origin (RoO): It can be used as a strong instrument in RCEP to curb the free flow of Chinese goods into the domestic market. India should restrict RoO to high value-addition to prevent the imports of cheap Chinese goods, which may come to India through our existing FTA partners. Strict RoO in RCEP will provide a safety wall to domestic producers against cheap Chinese goods.
5. Placing suitable safeguards: Within the FTA, provision should be made for safeguard measures like antidumping etc which should be invoked if a volume or price trigger for the concerned products is reached.

5 Apprehensions of India Regarding RCEP

1. Trade deficit: India’s trade deficits have always widened with nations after signing free-trade-agreements (FTAs) with them. India’s merchandise trade deficit with the RCEP grouping hit $105 billion in FY19 (60% of its total deficit).
2. Threat to domestic market: RCEP members, particularly China, are demanding zero tariffs over 90 per cent tariff lines which is a major concern for India as low cost Chinese manufacturing goods will swamp its domestic market by dumping cheaper goods. A large number of Indian industry including iron and steel, dairy, marine products, electronic products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and textiles have expressed concerns that proposed tariff elimination under RCEP would render them uncompetitive
3. Low labour productivity: Despite low relative labour cost, labour productivity in India in manufacturing is still one of the lowest in the world, and spatially fragmented labour laws escalate costs of transaction. Under such circumstances, the Indian industry is hardly in a position to compete in a level playing ground in a freetrade region.
4. Strict IPR policy: The “stringent IP provisions” have been stumbling blocks for a while, with India arguing for these to be taken out of the agreement. The provisions, if adopted, would lead to domestic pharma companies not being able to launch or export affordable life-saving drugs across the world. While in the agriculture sector, farmers would lose the right to save or sell seeds or the harvested produce from plant varieties that have been granted intellectual property.
5. Competition from China: It is evident that the size and scale of Chinese manufacturing industry backed with extensive financial and non-financial support provide a clear edge to Chinese manufacturing producers.

5 Benefits of RCEP to India

1. Market Access: Owing to its size, it is expected to provide market access for India’s goods and services exports and encourage greater investments and technology into India.
2. Alternative to APEC: RCEP offers alternative to Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) on economic front in which India has been attempting to join APEC since 1993, but still has not got the membership.
3. FDI gains: The arrangement is expected to harmonise the trade-related rules, investment and competition regimes of India with those of other countries in the group. There would be a boost to inward and outward foreign direct investment, particularly export-oriented FDI.
4. Aligned with India’s initiative: India wants its ‘Make in India’ to become a global success, it must participate positively to become a part of the Asian value and supply chain which either begins or ends in India. It also aligns with Act East Policy which make both economic and strategic sense for India to be the part of the agreement.
5. Growth of supply chains: Signing the RCEP treaty will enable India to enter the global supply chain as it will be helped by frictionless movement between 16 members.