India-Afghanistan Relations: Challenges and Prospects

India-Afghanistan Relations: Challenges and Prospects

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES: PAPER II (India and its neighbourhood relations)

Table of Contents

Present Situation in Afghanistan

India’s linkages with & broad objectives in Afghanistan

Recent Lows and Highs of India Afghanistan Relationship

Guiding Principles for India’s Afghanistan Policy

Novel Ways of Extending Assistance to Afghanistan

India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement

“The closeness of the India-Afghanistan relationship is not a new phenomenon. It has existed since time immemorial. And as a close friend, ever since India's Independence, we have done and will continue to do whatever is required to be done to see Afghanistan grow and progress as a close friend.”

PM Narendra Modi

“India will stand by the people of Afghanistan as they prepare to assume the responsibility for their governance and security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014.”

Former PM Manmohan Singh

Present Situation in Afghanistan

Security situation in Afghanistan is worsening.

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are tense.

The peace process with the Taliban is in disarray.

There is a leadership change in Uzbekistan. Radical forces are spreading in the region as shown by suicide bombing at the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan.

Note to understand Pakistan’s ploy in Afghanistan: Pakistan's former ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, whose book Magnificent Delusions is an essential guide, says that "Pakistan has always worried that the natural order of things would be for Afghanistan to come under the sway of India, the giant of the subcontinent. The Pakistani Army came to believe that it could gain leverage in Afghanistan through religious zealots. Afghanistan's secular groups and ethnic nationalists are all suspicious of Pakistan, so the only path in is though those who see a common religious ideology." This strategy is not new, Haqqani points out, noting that funding for such groups began in the mid-1970s, before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Can the insurgency be suppressed? 

The country has a democratically elected government widely viewed as legitimate. Poll after poll has suggested that the Taliban is unpopular. The Afghan army fights fiercely and loyally. And yet the Taliban comes back.

Role of Pakistan: We cannot solve the problems of Afghanistan without recognising that the insurgency against that government is shaped, aided and armed from across the border by one of the world's most powerful armies.

It is an old adage that no counterinsurgency has succeeded when the rebels have had a safe haven.

Taliban leaders have been treated as State guests, but Pakistani leadership has constantly denied these allegations in the face of increasing evidence to the contrary.

Why is it important that India works with Afghanistan to control the situation on ground? 

When the India-hating Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 until December 2001, Pakistani militant groups based out of Afghanistan launched frequent cross-border attacks on Kashmir. India was in all kinds of trouble when Pakistan-based Harkat-ul-Mujahideen terrorists hijacked an Indian Airlines flight on 24 December 1999 and took it to Kandahar airport in southern Afghanistan. The eight day hijack drama ended only after India freed three high-profile Kashmiri separatist prisoners.

India’s linkages with & broad objectives in Afghanistan

India’s linkages with Afghanistan

India’s economic, political, and strategic linkages with Afghanistan have improved significantly:

Investments: Indian projects of worth $2 billion have covered various sectors.

Scholarships: Every year 1,500 Afghan students come to India on fellowships.

Military Training: Another 500 training slots are provided to officials.

Defence Equipment Supply: Last year, four Mi25 attack helicopters were supplied to Afghanistan. More military equipment from India could be in the pipeline.

Financial Assistance: An additional $1 billion assistance was committed during the visit in September 2016.

Bilateral Trade: Last year, bilateral was $835 million with more than $300 million exports from Afghanistan to India. For many years, India is the number one export market for Afghan products.

India’s broad objectives in Afghanistan include:

Assist Afghanistan, which is undergoing three simultaneous transitions: Security, Political and Economic.

Ensuring the safety and security of its assets and personnel.

Increasing trade, transit, and energy links with Central Asia through Afghanistan are added objectives.

From low to high, India-Afghanistan relationship has seen it all in the last one year (September, 2015 – September, 2016). Comment

(Author’s Note: The purpose of this question is to clarify in brief as to what has happened since Hamid Karzai stepped down and Ashraf Ghani became the president of Afghanistan. Note that during Karzai regime, India had excellent relations with Afghanistan and had even signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement.)

After President Ashraf Ghani took charge in 2014, he made a decisive shift towards mending fences with the Pakistan Army, including visits to the Pakistan General Headquarters and inviting the Army and intelligence chiefs to Kabul, and signing an MoU between intelligence agencies NDS and ISI, even as his government joined talks with the Taliban hosted by Pakistan.

President Ghani took above steps at a great risk to his popularity – domestically and with India, all in the hope Pakistan would deliver peace. That effort failed spectacularly, undermining his domestic legitimacy. The battered president has turned to India for help.

Not only has President Ghani turned to India for help, but has also unequivocally condemned Pakistan’s use of state sponsored terrorism against India and itself.

What should be India’s guiding principles, so far as getting involved in Afghanistan affairs is concerned?

Close political ties with Kabul, strong goodwill among Afghan citizens and acceptance of India as an important regional player on Afghan matters indicate that India’s aid to Afghanistan has not gone waste.

Moreover even to safeguard our own interests (as outlined above), we must redouble our efforts, and work as follows:

Coordinator of global efforts: Afghanistan is an international project. It is beyond the capacity of New Delhi alone to resolve the serious security and development challenges.

Present hand-holding desirable: However, enhanced Indian engagement at this point will be a big boost to policy-makers in Kabul. In the prevailing negative western discourse on Afghanistan, Indian experts and think-tanks can also help in changing the narrative towards a positive outcome.

Use multilateral/regional groupings to garner support for Afghanistan: The Afghanistan-India-US trilateral dialogue is going to take place in New York soon. Next month, a major international conference on Afghanistan will take place in Brussels. The Heart of Asia Ministerial is taking place in Amritsar on December 4.

With appropriate framework, India can also work out joint projects with other partners.

Security Engagement: In recent months, the news out of the country hasn’t been good: District after district has fallen to the Taliban, with Afghanistan’s 352,000-strong army proving unable to hold ground. India opens itself up to risks by siding with Afghanistan. However, allowing Afghanistan to be overrun by Islamist warlords would impose terrible costs, too. Either way, India appears to be at the cusp of its most significant overseas engagement since Sri Lanka. Each step forward must be measured.

What can India do that looks beyond traditional ways of extending assistance?

(Some novel points)

Can the Indian government get market access to the Afghan fruit industry and dry fruit growers through chartered freight flights that help sell melons, grapes and pomegranates in cities like Delhi and Mumbai?

Can the Indian government help with technological and infrastructural support to the Afghan carpet industry so that its dependence on Pakistan for final finishing process and market reduces?

Lastly, can small Indian businesses be encouraged to set up shops in secured Special Economic Zones that Afghanistan has created in abandoned bases of US and Nato forces?

India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement

The Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the two sides, inter alia, provides for assistance to help rebuild:

Afghanistan's infrastructure and institutions;

Education and technical assistance to re-build indigenous Afghan capacity in different areas;

Encouraging investment in Afghanistan's natural resources;

Providing duty free access to the Indian market for Afghanistan's exports;

Support for an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned, broad-based and inclusive process of peace and reconciliation;

Advocating the need for a sustained and long-term commitment to Afghanistan by the international community.

Politico-security component: The agreement states clearly that the strategic partnership is not directed against “any other state or group of states”. India has merely agreed to assist in the “training, equipping and capacity building programmes for Afghan national security forces.”

High Powered Implementation Mechanism: A “Partnership Council” at the Foreign Ministers’ level with four separate joint working groups, on political & security consultations, trade and economic cooperation, capacity development and education, and social cultural & civil society interactions, will be set up. The numerous existing dialogue mechanisms between the two countries will be consolidated and brought under the Partnership Council. The two sides will also have a regular strategic dialogue. The setting up of a Partnership Council will ensure that bilateral relations get sustained attention.

Bibliography

17.09.16: The Afghan Push

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/afghanistan-ashraf-ghani-visit-new-delhi-india-pakistan-jihad-terror-military-the-afghan-push-3035036/

20.09.16: Coherence in the neighborhood

http://m.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/indias-diplomacy-coherence-in-the-neighbourhood/article9121256.ece

25.09.16: India's Afghanistan policy on right track'

http://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/india-s-afghanistan-policy-is-on-the-right-track/story-1ydcHErzWmglejVp19qCeN.html

29.08.15: India Rebuffs Afghanistan on Strategic Meet

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-rebuffs-afghanistan-on-strategic-meet/article7592059.ece

Embassy of India, Kabul, Afghanistan – Webpage

http://eoi.gov.in/kabul/?0354?000

Indian Democracy: Challenge of Churning amidst Chaos

Indian Democracy: Challenge of Churning 

amidst Chaos

UPSC GENERAL STUDIES: PAPER II

Table of Content

Introduction

Other Names of Parliamentary System of Government

What really is a democracy? What are the prerequisites of a successful democracy?

Characteristics of a Liberal Democracy

Merits of the Parliamentary System of Government

Demerits of the PS of Government

Reasons for Adopting PS of Government

Tackling the Negative Perception of our Democratic

Evaluate the democracy, i.e. India

Bibliography

Authors’ Note

Introduction

Modern democratic governments are classified into parliamentary and presidential on the basis of nature of relationship between the executive and the legislative organs of the government. The parliamentary system (PS) of government is the one in which the executive is responsible to the legislature for its acts and policies. In the presidential system, the executive is constitutionally independent of the legislature and is not responsible to the latter for its acts and policies to the latter.

The Constitution of India provides for a parliamentary system of government, both at the Centre and in the states. Article 74 and 75 deal with the PS at the Centre and Articles 163 and 164 in the states.

Other Names of PS of Government:

Cabinet Government: Name coined by Sir Ivor Jennings; because the cabinet is the nucleus of power in PS.

Responsible Government: As the cabinet (i.e. the real executive) is accountable to the parliament and stays in office so long as it enjoys the latter’s confidence.

Westminster Model of Government: After the location of the British parliament, where the PS originated.

Prime Ministerial Government: In recent periods, the PM’s position has become more important vis a vis the cabinet. PM has come to play a dominant role in the politico-administrative system. Hence many analysts have described the PS of government as Prime Ministerial Government.

What really is a democracy? What are the prerequisites of a 

successful democracy?

Democracy is not merely a form of government but a way of life and order of society. It is a way of social and economic relations and above all a belief system.

It is based on the ideals of dignity, of equality of citizens, liberty, fraternity, justice and a responsible govt.

Prerequisites of a successful democracy can be classified under three heads – social, economic, political:

Social:

1. Equality of status
2. Equality before law
3. Equality of Opportunity
4. Educationally and culturally developed citizenry
5. Absence of all kinds of discrimination

Economic:

1. Fulfillment of basic minimum needs
2. Absence of widespread of inequalities
3. Justifiable distribution of resources
4. Equal pay equal work
5. Protection against exploitation
6. Equal opportunities for gainful employment

Political:

1. Rule of law
2. Equal opportunities for participation in political affairs
3. Guaranteed and protected rights
4. Govt by the people or their representatives
5. Free and fair elections
6. Respect for dissent and opposition

Some of the Characteristics of a Liberal Democracy are as 

follows:

As Ramchandra Guha has put it, the devices of democracy can be distinguished into hardware and software. By ‘hardware’ he mean the political features by which we may recognize whether a society is democratic or not.

Government is formed by elected representatives and is accountable to the citizenry: This means not just being accountable on paper, but in actual functioning.

Multi-Party System: Having multiple parties is only the beginning. A system which engenders multitude of opinion, of policy options is what a multi-party system should lead to.

Open & periodic elections for power based on Adult Franchise: This is an important, and definitely not the principal element of a democracy. If periodic, free and fair elections continue to take place in the absence of other elements, India will be reduced to what Ramchandra Guha has called an ‘Elections only democracy’.

Pressure groups also operate in the system: Pressure groups of all hues, representing not just the elite, but also the vulnerable and downtrodden, must exist and exist functionally.

Civil liberties such as various freedoms are guaranteed: This tenet must be respected not just in letter but also in spirit and must be reflected in the functioning of the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

Separation of powers: Various organs have powers which are written in the Constitution. They must use these powers to deliver upon the ideals and goals of our Preamble.

Checks and Balances: Finally, when all of the above tenets are observed, there will be a system of healthy checks and balances upon the functioning of each and every organ of governance.

Writings on democracy, whether scholarly or popular, focus on the processes and institutions by which citizens are free to move and to speak their mind, by which they choose and replace their leaders, and by which they are governed (or misgoverned) in-between elections.

However, little attention has been paid to democracy’s ‘software’, which are its cultural and emotional aspects. Crucial here are:

(i) The pluralism of faith, that is to say, the freedom to worship any god of your choice (or no god at all)

(ii) The pluralism of language, that is, the freedom to speak, write, think, learn, and (if necessary) govern in the language of your choice

(iii) The pluralism of culture more generally, that is, the freedom to dress, eat, sing, cohabitate, etc. according to the dictates of group tradition or individual conscience.

Merits of the PS of Government

Harmony between Legislature and Executive: The latter is a part of former, and both are interdependent at work. Therefore there is less scope for disputes and conflicts between two organs.

Responsible Government: Parliament exercises control over the executive through instruments such as question hour, discussions, adjournment motion, no confidence motion etc.

Prevents Despotism: Executive authority is vested in a group of individuals and not in a single person; this dispersal of authority checks the dictatorial tendencies of the executive; moreover the executive can be removed by a no confidence motion.

Wide Representation: Executive consists of a group of individuals. Hence it is possible to provide representation to all sections and regions in the government.

Demerits of the PS of Government

Unstable Government: A no-confidence motion or political defection or evils of multiparty coalition can make the government unstable. The government headed by Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, VP Singh, Chandra Sekhar, Deve Gowda and IK Gujral are some such examples.

No Continuity of Policies: PS not conducive for the formulation and implementation of long term policies. This is due to the uncertainty of tenure of government. The best example is 1977 Janata Government reversing policies of previous Congress government, followed by 1980 Congress Government reversing those of Janata.

Dictatorship of the Cabinet: When the ruling party enjoys absolute majority in the Parliament, the cabinet becomes autocratic and exercises nearly unlimited powers.

Against Separation of Power: Cabinet acts as the leader of the legislature as well as the executive. Hence, the whole system of government goes against the theory of separation of powers.

Governments by Amateurs: PS is not conducive to administrative efficiency as the ministers are not experts in their fields. The PM has a limited choice in the selection of ministers; his choice is restricted to the members of Parliament alone and does not extend to external talent. Moreover, the ministers devote most of their time to parliamentary work, cabinet meetings and party activities.

Reasons for Adopting PS of Government

A plea was mode in favour of US Presidential System of government in the Constituent Assembly. But the founding fathers preferred the British Parliamentary System due to the following reasons:

Familiarity with the system: The constitution makers were somewhat familiar with PS as it had been in operation in India during the British rule. KM Munshi argued that our constitutional traditions have become parliamentary; after this experience, why should we go back and buy a novel experience.

Preference to more responsibility: Ambedkar opined thus in the Constituent Assembly: A democratic executive must satisfy two conditions: stability and responsibility. Unfortunately, it has not been possible so far to devise a system which can ensure both in equal degree. The American system gives more stability but less responsibility. The British system, on the other hand, gives more responsibility but less stability. The Draft Constitution in recommending the PS of government preferred more responsibility.

Need to Avoid Legislative-Executive Conflicts: The framers of the Constitution wanted to avoid the conflicts between the legislature and the executive which are bound to occur in the presidential system prevalent in the USA. They thought that an infant democracy could not afford to take the risk of a perpetual cleavage, feud or conflict between these two organs of the government.

Nature of Indian Society: India is one of the most heterogeneous States and most complex plural societies in the world. Hence, the founding fathers adopted the PS as it offers greater scope for giving representation to various sections, interests and regions in the government, this promotes a national spirit among the people and build a united India.

Tackling the Negative Perception of our Democratic 

Institutions

Why do we have doubts over efficacy of our democracy? OR

How did the public perception of our democratic institutions, parliament chief among them, come to be so negative?

For some time now, Indian democracy has been corroded by what the sociologist André Béteille terms ‘the chronic mistrust between government and opposition’. 

(SOLUTION: Communication)

Parliament meets rarely— when it does, it resembles a dusty akhara more than the stately chamber of discussion it was meant to be. 

(SOLUTION: Re-establish sanctity of Parliamentary Proceedings)

In television studios, representatives of ruling and opposition parties trade abuse. Calling the former PM Manmohan Singh ‘Shikhandi’ to terming the tenure of previous government as ‘Rome Raj’ to calling the present PM Modi as ‘maut ke saudagar’ – instances abound. 

(SOLUTION: Hammer out and follow a Code of Political Conduct)

Courtesy in debate, and civility in argument, is fundamental to what we valorize about democracy. If these attributes go missing for a substantial period of time, public will naturally have a negative perception of democracy and its institutions.

In between elections, the nation seems unable to govern itself decisively, with a chaotic, gridlocked, dysfunctional parliament. Suggest some reforms that can help Parliament function better.

While India’s electoral democracy works, its parliament barely does. Much of this is due to the obsolescence and unsuitability of many rules and customs originally adopted from 19th century England and America, which themselves have since amended their systems.

Re-modelling the Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha is partly modelled on the US Senate to represent India’s states, and resembles it by its members having six-year terms and being elected indirectly by rotation, one-third of them every two years.

Thus, Rajya Sabha membership is effectively a party nomination. And since India does not have direct elections to RS, it is essentially a patronage position doled out by party leaders.

The issue of checks and balances between legislative chambers in bicameral systems has been dealt with in one of two ways by other democracies. The US took the route of retaining the Senate’s powers, but making it directly elected in order to better reflect the public mood, albeit by rotation over six years.

In UK the powers of the House of Lords, which is not elected but nominated, were amended so that it can no longer block legislation passed by the Commons. It can only delay it by a year. India now needs to consider similar constitutional amendments.

Anti-Defection Stranglehold

India’s 1985 Anti Defection Act, enacted to prevent the then-prevalent switching of party affiliation by legislators, has had the unintended consequence of making it impossible to disobey party leaderships’ whips on virtually every issue in parliament.

Together, these have had the effect of giving disproportionate clout to the leaderships of parties who may not have the popular mandate. Their lingering “unelected” presence in the Rajya Sabha gives enormous leverage against the public will to just a few individuals. This is untenable in the long run.

Formal system for deciding the agenda of the House:

There are other structural impediments in both chambers of India’s parliament that also need reassessment. These include the lack of specific, numbers-based rules to decide the agenda for discussions, motions, and votes. Today, such a rule exists only for the “nuclear option” of a no-confidence motion against the government, which requires 50 Lok Sabha MPs’ signatures. All other matters are essentially decided by consensus, which has become nearly impossible to achieve. Thus, even routine agenda items can rarely be agreed on, leading to frequent protests and disruptions that have made parliament a byword for unruliness and gridlock.

Increased communication between leaders from various parties.

More of that can only be good.

Evaluate the democracy, i.e. India

India, as a democracy, has witnessed both success and failures during last more than six decades of its existence.

India is not only the biggest democracy in the world—815 million of its 1.29 billion population are eligible to vote—but also the most diverse. It has 36 states and union territories, many of them the size and population of large European countries. Its people speak 22 major languages, and perhaps a hundred more, which are not officially recognised, as well as hundreds of dialects. Despite this apparent unwieldiness, India has defied naysayers who doubted the country could hold together at all, let alone as a democracy. Today no one seriously questions that the modern Indian republic has grown deep democratic roots and traditions.

Quality of life has improved and major breakthroughs have been achieved in S&T.

The diverse races and ethnolingual groups have been unified without destroying their identities. Above all a vast multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multicultural country has been kept united.

However, Indian society is far from being in line with the lofty doctrines of liberty, equality, fraternity, social justice, secularism and rule of law.

• Still about 1/3rd of its population lives in abject poverty
• More than 60% of the population does not have access to basic sanitation.
• Weaker sections were made conscious of their position of exploitation and discrimination but were not given a participatory role in the socio-economic development of the country by the political parties. This led to the alienation of people from the political system in general and elections in particular. Consequently PP started mobilizing people on the basis of identities like caste, language, region, religion etc. As such elections have become an instrument of self-promotion, rather than change.
• The politicization of crime and criminalization of politics is posing a serious challenge to the Indian democracy.

But there is reason to remain optimistic that our vibrant democracy can find a solution to the above problems. Women, the rural poor and the oppressed have increasingly come to believe that better, more humane life is possible, they have woken up to the political power that they have inherited in the Constitution. India’s democratic political system, despite many weaknesses, provides them the framework in which to exercise that power. The power of the people in a democracy is the ‘liberating deluge’ that can surely sweep away the accumulated dirt of the ages. This is, of course, all the more reason for the preservation and deepening of democracy in India.

Bibliography

Book:

Indian Polity for Civil Services Examination by M. Laxmikant

Articles:

Are we becoming an Election only Democracy? (Ram Guha)

http://ramachandraguha.in/archives/are-we-becoming-an-election-only-democracy-hindustan-times.html

Degrading Democracy (Ram Guha)

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111203/jsp/opinion/story_14819041.jsp#.V9940vB97IU

Democracy and Violence (Ram Guha)

http://ramachandraguha.in/archives/democracy-and-violence-in-india-and-beyond-economic-and-political-weekly.html

India’s Parliament is Paralyzed by 19^th Century Rules (Jay Panda)

http://qz.com/574143/jay-panda-indias-parliament-is-paralysed-by-19th-century-rules/

Authors' Note: Naturally this is just one among the many posts on democracy that will follow in the future. There are so many dimensions from which a question can emerge, that it is practically impossible to cover all of them in one post. Please feel free to share your suggestions on this post as well as for the topics that can be covered in the future. We try to avoid typos, but surely some may still have crept in. Feel free to point them out. Thank you for reading.