Pakistan: Struggling on Kashmir
Sohini Bose
By taking it up with the UN Security Council (UNSCO through a friendly China, and going to the UNHRC in Geneva by itself, Pakistan is trying to keep the ‘Kashmir issue’ alive, going beyond New Delhi convincing the rest of the world that it was an ‘internal matter’, and thus the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35 of the Indian Constitution needed to be treaded and closed as such. The fact that the Indian decision flowed from an amendment to the nation’s well-served Constitution and it is this decision that Pakistan is contesting, should go a long way in convincing the rest of the world about the reiterated Indian position of the previous decades.
Despite Pakistan’s repeated requests in recent weeks, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed the belief that any intervention would only help the heightened tension between the two countries to escalate and has therefore appealed to both to resolve the issue on a bilateral basis through dialogue. Furthermore, the UN chief has maintained that his good office is only available if both sides sought the same.
This comes as India defended its decision of abrogating Article 370 at the ongoing 42
ndsession of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) being held in Geneva, as a ‘sovereign decision’. India has also explained Pakistan’s endeavours as a misrepresentation of facts. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Pakistan has apparently realised that its ‘terrorist’ intentions in Kashmir will no longer be achievable and has also blamed Pakistan for inciting violence in the Valley.
The UN appeal has, however, not been very satisfactory for Pakistan. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi subsequently rejected the idea and opined that the idea of holding bilateral talks would prove futile and a third party reconciliation was “the only option”. Qureshi’s statements are, however, in stark contrast to Pakistan’s earlier stance of being open to the idea of dialogue with India.
HR violations
It is, however, interesting to note how Pakistan with its track-record of human rights violations appears to be so agitated about the ‘violation of human rights’ in Kashmir. Is it just a case of the change in the country’s leadership that there is sudden paramount concern about human rights? In this regard, it must be remembered that very recently Pakistan had been vehemently criticised for its lack of freedom of press.
In the run-up to the 2018 parliamentary elections in the country, interference and censorship by the military establishment had increased dramatically. The journalists have faced harassment and interference, and the government had started jamming the signals and creating interruptions in the distribution of news that was not in its favour. Apart from the government, the Pakistani media also faces an increasing lack of trust from the public, and media crisis is a reality in the country.
Pakistan is also a major source, transit, as well as a destination country for forced labour and sex trafficking. Bonded labour is particularly prevalent in the country and young children are often sold, rented or even kidnapped by the insurgent groups. Due to economic hardships, poor families also often sell their children for decent work and pay. On the other hand families trapped in bonded labour surrender their children as payment when they are unable to repay loans.
Status of women
The status of women is also dire in rural Pakistan where the feudal outlook continues to predominate in many provinces. In the more regressive of these provinces, women are still considered as symbols of male honour. They are often abducted or enslaved in feuds to disgrace rivals. In villages the women are often deprived of any rights to landed property and those who inherit estates often become the victims of murder or are declared insane. The feudal attitude also restrains girls from receiving proper education and there is a serious lacuna of job opportunities for women in the rural areas.
Against this backdrop it is indeed hard to imagine Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir to be solely based on concern over violation of human rights. It is then indeed the fact that these violations are happening in India that intrigues Pakistan so much. The country has never before been so agitated over a humanitarian cause. Is the Kashmir issue then being used by Pakistan as an opportunity to malign India in an international forum? Is it then a chance for Pakistan to settle a political score?
In this regard, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the MEA, has stated that who were speaking on the human rights of minorities in other countries were “trampling upon them at will in their own country”. It must also be remembered here that relations between the countries has been degenerating steadily over the past few months and this is the first time India has been so assertive on the long disputed issue of Kashmir.
Stumbling economy
Or is Pakistan’s active concern over this issue an attempt to divert attention from its faltering economic situation? This year’s Pakistan Economic Survey, a government-issued report that precedes the annual budget presentation revealed the dismal state of the country’s domestic economy. All the financial indicators have shown a downward trend and the growth rate has dropped by almost 50 percent and is expected to go down further. This is projected to be the country’s lowest in the past ten years.
While the Pakistani rupee has lost a fifth of its value against the dollar, inflation is also expected to rise. Faced with an economy which is in doldrums, Pakistan has recently secured a loan of six billion USD from the International Monetary Fund. It is aimed at returning sustainable growth to the country's fragile economy and improve the standards of living.
However, even in this regard questions had been raised about Pakistan using this money for terror financing. This comes particularly in the light of the country failing to complete 25 of the 27 action points given by the international terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force to check funding to terrorist groups in June this year. It is thus important to delve deeper into the issue and decide if Pakistan’s interest in Kashmir is really humanitarian or is it entirely political.
Sri Lanka: ‘Joint patrol post’, permanent solution to ‘Katchchativu issue’?
N Sathiya Moorthy
At the annual Independence Day of parade of India at the State capital of Chennai this year, Tamil Nadu chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami conferred the prestigious ‘Kalpana Chawla Award’ for ‘courageous and daring action’ by a woman, on Ramyalakshmi, Assistant Director in the State Fisheries Department. The event did not get to be seen or heard across the Palk Strait, in neighbouring Sri Lanka, but the fact is that Ramyalakshmi was conferred the award for her efforts to seize ‘destructive’ purse seine nets that are at the centre of the fishers’ issue between the two nations, along with the deployment of even more destructive bottom trawlers, by coastal fishers.
Two broad issues govern the public perception in Tamil Nadu in matters of ‘fishers dispute’ with Sri Lanka. One is the issue of Tamil Nadu fishers’ right to fish in the ‘traditional waters’, which the Palk Strait, anyway, is. The other relates to the ownership and possession of Kachchativu islet in the ‘shared waters’, which now rests with Sri Lanka. In the average Tamil mind in the south Indian State, both are inter-linked.
The Rameswaram fishers may acknowledge that there is no big catch waiting in the Katchchativu waters. But there are those in the State who actually believe that had it not been India ‘gifting’ Katchchativu islet to Sri Lanka, their fishers woes would not have occurred. Another section, including politicos and political administrators, link ‘Katchchativu transfer’ to the 1974 bilateral agreement on International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between the two nations, and say fishers’ issue owed it to it all.
In their mindset and perspective, ‘Katchchativu issue’ and other aspects of the 1974 IMBL agreement are one and the same. To some of them, hurt Sri Lanka where it hurts, by demanding Katchchativu back, and they would let Rameswaram fishers fish in the ‘shared, traditional waters’. Or, so goes an argument, which gets revived whenever there are frequent arrest of Indian fishers by Sri Lanka Navy.
Carrot-and-stick
Truth be acknowledged, much of Ramyalakshmi’s efforts were focussed on stopping purse seine fishing along the State’s coastline, confined to Cuddalore district, where she was posted. It was only to ensure that they do not come in the way of artisanal and other non-trawler fishers using motor-boats in the disctrict. Extended to cover other districts down south even more, it could also mean that fishers in Rameswaram and other areas across the Palk Strait may not be able to use purse seine nets in what they call the ‘shared waters’ with Sri Lanka.
There is no denying that fishers’ livelihood in southern Tamil Nadu and Karaikkal enclave in the Union Territory of Puducherry are dependent on fishing in the Palk Strait. In doing so, they are known to be crossing into Sri Lankan waters. In the post-war years in Sri Lanka, the Tamil-speaking fishers from the North and the East of the country are feeling the pinch even more, especially after the Government lifted ban on their fishing in the seas, post-war, a decade ago.
A series of fishers’ talks from the two nations, facilitated by their respective Governments, has not made much headway so far. With the result, the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) continues to arrest Palk Bay fishers from India, and their ’destructive’ trawlers and fishing gear, which mostly includes purse seine nets. Such arrests seem to have only increased in the aftermath of the ‘Easter Sunday serial blasts’ in Sri Lanka this year, as the nation’s the security forces cannot take chances from terror-attacks from the seas.
In between, the Tamil Nadu Government has succeeded in launching the first of deep-sea vessels. The project, envisioned and part-funded by the Centre, aims at diverting Rameswaram fishers especially, to move away from the Palk Strait. The idea is also to help fishers away from destructive trawlers, and move on to more ‘fertile’ areas with rich profits. The effort, however, has to gain momentum.
Indications are that through a series of carrot-and-stick measures, the Tamil Nadu Government, which is directly in contact with the fishers in the State, should be able to wean away the Palk Bay fishers from ‘Sri Lankan waters’. The skippers of these vessels are also given satellite phones for free, to be in touch with officials on the coast in times of cyclones. If these are carrots, seizure of purse seine nets, which are anyway banned in the country, forms the ‘stick’ part of the deal.
In this context, there is a need both for Sri Lanka Navy and other authorities in the country, to appreciate the Indian initiatives across the Palk Strait, and slow down on fishers’ arrest. Frequent arrest of fishers and their vessels could only cause distress along the southern Tamil Nadu coast. Under such circumstances, political parties and the State Government cannot pressure the Centre to take it up with the Sri Lankan counterpart. In an election year in Sri Lanka, this could lead to multiple perceptions and could have multiple consequences, as well.
Strategic concerns
In this context, the Indo-Sri Lanka maritime agreement of 1974, conferring ownership of the Palk Bay islet of Katchchativu on the latter, needs to be studied closely than already. The Indian Government has repeatedly reassured Sri Lanka, in Parliament and outside, that Katchchativu belonged to the island-neighbour. The fact has also been notified as such under multi-lateral UNCLOS-! Agreement, and there was no question of India seeking to reopen the issue, unilaterally.
However, there is an off-again-on-again concern in the strategic community in India, which go beyond the livelihood concerns of Tamil Nadu fishers, which is alive and is being addressed, too. The more serious concern is that any further strengthening of Sri Lanka’s China relations beyond the continuing possession of southern Hambantota Port for around 100 years, can have consequences for India’s security from the sea-front.
As sections of them point out, there seems to be some kind of a ‘national consensus’ between Sri Lanka’s mainline Sinhala political parties, which are otherwise divided, on ideological and electoral basis. As they point out, even while reassuring India that they would undo all that was done on the Hambantota front by the predecessor Rajapaksa regime, the incumbent Government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe alone facilitated the ‘debt-for-equity’ transfer of ‘Hambantota possession’.
According to them, the draft agreement on Hambantota ‘swap deal’ even provided for handing over port security and that of the adjoining seas to China. With the so-called Chinese financiers of the port project having no navy of their own, it would have then flowed that the nation’s People Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) would have had free access to Sri Lankan territory, including territorial waters, to the exclusion of others, including Sri Lanka Navy, Army and police.
If the proposal in the draft agreement did not go through, it owed mainly to the steadfast position taken by President Maithripala Sirisena, the swift and serious criticism by the Rajapaksa-led political Opposition, and the strong reservations expressed by the Sri Lanka Navy and other sections of the armed forces, though in private.
Study in contrast
For appreciating the Katchchativu agreement in full and contrasting it with the Hambantota ‘swap deal’ Sri Lankans would have to study the contrasting nature of the two, to begin with. The 1974 agreement is unique in the sense that this was possibly the only one under the UNCLOS scheme that has shared a part of a sea between two nations, to the exclusion of third parties. In the case of Hambantota, in the name off paying off a debt, Sri Lanka handed over territory to a nation inimical to the Indian neighbour – and still continued to borrow more from that country.
In this context, reference should also be made to the US reportedly staking access to these waters, if and when India completed the Sethu Samudram project, now kept in abeyance, following court intervention. While the Sethu Samudram case is alive, though not active in the Supreme Court of India, the same cannot be said about a similar case, demanding re-take of Katchchativu.
In the Katchchativu case, the original, separate petitioners in the case, namely former TN Chief Ministers, Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, are both dead. They have filed the case in their personal capacity, and the respective political parties that they had headed, have not sought to re-activate the case, any other way. Yet, the question remains if a ‘dead case’ should not still be a ‘good case’.
A post-poll Government in Sri Lanka, especially the new President, may have to address India’s real concerns on the future of Katchchativu, if the current peace has to prevail in the Palk Strait. It could be in the form of setting up a joint patrol outpost on Katchchativu islet, or any other mutually agreeable way to address medium and long-term concerns of New Delhi. In between, starting with the incumbent Government, Colombo should stop the ‘harassment’ of Indian fishers, say, on a time-bound plan for India to divert them into deep-sea fishing, substantially if not wholly.
Country Reports
Afghanistan
Need for ‘full consent’
Recently Raveesh Kumar, the Spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, has said that any peace process in Afghanistan must be inclusive and must bear the “full consent” of the Afghan government and its people. This comes as the President of United States of America Donald Trump called off the negotiations in their final phase to condemn the series of deadly attacks that were being carried out by the Taliban in Kabul; killing many including an US soldier.
Dostum’s six-month plan
According to the First Vice President of Afghanistan, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the US is facing a stalemate condition in the country as far as the peace process is concerned. Therefore he has proposed a six month plan to the government, US and NATO to defeat the Taliban from the north of the country. This comes as a movie is about to be released illustrating Dostum’s role in support of the US led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Bangladesh
Rohingya repatriation fails
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed Myanmar for the delay in the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees. The Prime Minister alleged that Myanmar of dragging its feet on resolving the crisis despite signing a bilateral agreement in this respect. The attempt to the repatriation of the Rohingyas failed twice. Explaining the reason for the failure, PM Hasina observed that Myanmar could not win Rohingyas’ trust in creating a conducive situation for their dignified return.
BRI, an ‘opportunity’
Experts feel that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by China is an opportunity for Bangladesh to improve its infrastructure, increase investment, trade and enhance connectivity with countries in South Asia. However, they have expressed concern over debt trap and environmental damage. They suggested the country should negotiate terms of the loans to enjoy the benefits of BRI optimally. The views were expressed in an international conference on the BRI and interests of Bangladesh organised by the Dhaka based think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Bhutan
India’s slow down impacts
Bhutan’s economy is expected to be impacted by slowing of India’s economy due to reduction of exports, slump in tourism numbers and increase of import bills besides slowing down of projects. Bhutan’s economy in the 2019-20 was projected to grow by 7.2 percent on the back of strong service sector performance and increased production of power from the 720 MW Mangdechu. The first quarter of the 2019-20 financial year (April to June 2019) GDP numbers for India show GDP growth at a six-year low of five percent raising alarm bells that it is heading towards a major slowdown.
Policy for jobs needed
Labour Minister Ugyen Dorji, addressing the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industries’ (BCCI) annual general meeting, called on the private sector to create jobs. The private sector claims there are jobs in the sector, without takers. BCCI Secretary-General Sangay Dorji said that the issue was not so much about lack of jobs in the private sector but that Bhutanese youth were not willing to take up the jobs. Mismatch of skills and lack of a training that is required in the private sector, he said, also remained as an issue. Employers including hoteliers in dzongkhags like Bumthang were facing a shortage of employees. The shortage of employees in the private sector in the southern dzongkhags, however, is met with Indian day workers. Day workers from India, he said, were cheaper to hire requiring a policy intervention from the government.
Sustaining land resources
Bhutan committed to ensure sustainable management of land resources and called upon all international partners to adequately support the country’s efforts during the ministerial round-table discussions of the Fourteenth Session of the Conference of Parties (COP14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Minister of Agriculture and Forests, Yeshey Penjor led a delegation to the high-level segment of the UNCCD COP14, which was held from September 9 to 10 in India. The event was organised to identify viable solutions to the growing challenges of desertification, land degradation, and drought.
India
Hard-landing
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) initiated a lunar mission on 22 July by India’s most powerful rocket GSLV MkIII-M1. The spacecraft’s lander Vikram, which was about to touch the moon on 7 September, couldn’t be contacted by ISRO, just when the lander was 2 km away from the lunar surface. A day later, ISRO retrieved images showing Vikram surfaced on the moon. But communication couldn’t be re-established with the lander yet and ISRO is apprehending that the communication may have snapped due to hard-landing of the lander. However, ISRO is leaving no stone unturned to try to re-establish contact with the spacecraft’s lander.
New data repository
The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project wants to look social media accounts to the huge data base of records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details. The project which started in 2009 is an online database of scattered information and the database will give access to about 10 central agencies of the government.
Concern over Kashmir
Two prominent US law-makers, Pramila Jayapal and James McGovern, have written to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, asking him to persuade the Indian government to remove the communication restrictions in Kashmir on 10 September.
Maldives
US ‘designation’
In an unprecedented move, the US has ‘designated’ a Maldivian IS ‘recruiter’ Mohammed Ameen as a ‘terrorist’ with ‘targeted sanctions’. In what looked like a coordinated initiative, the Maldivian Parliament was called back from a recess, to amend the 2015 anti-terrorism law, to empower the State and the security agencies to arrest ‘suspects’ without following some of the normal criminal procedures, much of which has come under criticism from the nation’s strong human rights outfits.
Myanmar
Indian concern
A report by Indian intelligence agencies has suggested that Arakan Army is using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology to trigger landmines against Myanmar Army. The Arakan Army has set up several camps in areas across Mizoram's Lawngtala district, posing a threat to the Kaladan Project, which is a multi-modal transit transport project and considered India's gateway to Southeast Asia. The intelligence report exclusively accessed by Zee News also suggests the Myanmar Army has placed jammers to neutralise the threat of the landmines.
Enhanced ties with HK
At a meeting with Myanmar's Union Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations and Chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission U Thaung Tun at the Chief Executive's Office on 12 September, Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) highlighted the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement under negotiation, as well as the extension of a visa-free arrangement between the two places. Myanmar enterprises may leverage Hong Kong's advantages as an international financial, transportation and trade centre to explore the Belt and Road as well as global markets.
Nepal
Row over ‘Indo-Pacific’
Nepal’s mention in the Indo-Pacific strategic document released by the US has created ripples in the country and has also created a rift within the Communist Party of Nepal. Co-Chairman of CPN was recently heard negating Nepal’s mention amidst a conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, given the country’s stance of not joining any formal alliance. On the other hand, the other members of CPN have refrained from making any formal statement. The turn of events would be interesting to note.
New road to China
A 14 km long road is to be constructed in the Khadbari-Kimathanka Highway of Nepal which would connect China. The government has entrusted the Nepalese Army to take the responsibility. This is supposedly the shortest route. There would also be nine bridges. This step is yet another milestone in Sino-Nepal friendship.
Pakistan
Seeks support on Kashmir
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has commended the 58 countries and the European Union for supporting the cause for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute. This is in line with the resolution of the United Nations Security Council and international laws. This step reinforces the demands of the international community for India to put an end to the use of force, lift the siege and other restrictions and protect the rights of the Kashmiris.
Bid to shut loss-makers
In view of the poor performance and incurring losses of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and the Utility Stores Corporation, a sub-committee of the National Assembly’s public spending watchdog has recommended shutting down these two companies. A member of the committee pointed out that the medical bill of PSM employees in 1991 was higher than the total health budget of Balochistan. The employees bought cosmetics under medical claims which explain the dire state of the company’s present finances.
Sri Lanka
Disciplinary action
Sending out confusing and contradicting signals to cadres and allies alike, President Maithripala Sirisena-led SLFP and Prime Minister Ranil Wicklremesinghe’s ruling UNP have reportedly initiated disciplinary action against five MPs, and two junior ministers, respectively, during what has become a longish run-up to the presidential polls. The SLFP is in alliance talks with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s SLPP-JO, which has since named the latter’s brother and war-time Defence Secretary Gotabhaya, as its presidential candidate, but the five MPs have seemingly jumped the gun, to pressure the party leadership to sign on SLPP’s dotted lines. Likewise, two UNP ministers, among others, have openly sided with party’s deputy leader and Housing Minister Sajith Premdasa, who has thrown his hat into the ring for presidential nomination. On instructions from rivalling party boss, PM Wickremesinhe, Sajith P has begun talks with the UNP’s alliance partners, mostly representing the three ‘minority ethnicities’ in the country. Both SLPP and UNP allies have since declared that all negotiations on presidential polls should conclude this week and a clearer picture should emerge sooner.
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Futile Fines: On Traffic Violation Penalties”, 13 September 2019
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Taking a Quantum Leap to Revamp Myanmar’s Economy”,
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Reason to worry for Nepal”,
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The Health Ministry has failed at controlling the dengue outbreak”, 12 September 2019
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State of public finances”,
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PTI’s lopsided anti-corruption drive”,
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Interviews
Kelum Bandara,
“Main battle is to ensure security and development: Dinesh Gunawardane”, Daily Mirror Online, 11 September 2019
Contributors
Afghanistan & Pakistan: Sohini Bose
Bangladesh: Joyeeta Bhattacharjee
Bhutan: Mihir Bhonsale
India: Ambar Kumar Ghosh
Maldives & Sri Lanka: N Sathiya Moorthy
Myanmar: Sreeparna Banerjee
Nepal: Sohini Nayak
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