Analysis

Bhutan: Barriers to cross-border trade

 Mihir Bhonsale  Cross-border trade of Bhutan is being adversely affected due to non-tariff barriers. The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) of Bhutan in its ongoing investigation into the exports of boulder business revealed that Bhutanese exporters and transporters pay bribes and kickbacks at various checkpoints in India through intermediaries. However, the commission’s findings need further substantiation from the government and need to be taken up with the Indian authorities. Also, reportedly, last year, Bhutanese trucks carrying boulders, destined for Bangladesh, were allegedly stopped on the Indo-Bangladesh border, near Burimari in India. The boulder business in Bhutan has seen an exponential rise since Bangladesh waived off the duty on boulder imports from Bhutan. The border checkpoints of Changrabandha-Burimari and Fulbari-Banglabandha along Indo-Bangladesh border are used for the boulder exports.

Boulder export controversy

Bhutanese river boulders have a huge market in Bangladesh, which has been importing it since 2015 for the ongoing construction of the Padma Bridge. The sudden increase in the number of trucks carrying boulders has had effects on the trade, including the involvement of syndicates and corrupt traffic inspectors, who see an opportunity to make easy money. The boulder business has increased about 500 times from the financial year 2017-18 to 2018-19. India also exports boulders to Bangladesh though the latter prefers the ones from Bhutan over India. Bhutanese exporters complain a host of issues, including bribes and kickbacks thus increasing the overhead costs. Apparently, it is in the summer months, March to June, that there is a high volume of trade along the India-Bangladesh border. The Bhutanese trucks carrying boulders add to the existing pressure. The boulder lobby in Bhutan prefers to remove boulders from the foothills before they are carried away into India during the monsoon season. Summer season is the period when disruptions in the cross border movement of Bhutanese trucks have been reported the most. Trucks remain stranded for several days due to excess numbers of vehicles wanting to cross the Indo-Bangladesh border. However, all problems of the Bhutanese exporters are not while transiting through the Indian territory. For example, exporters also complain of delay in payments from their importers. Exporters reason that the delay could be due to the discrepancy between the importers and the banks in Bangladesh. Also, presently boulder exports from Gelephu have been facing non-tariff barriers from Bangladesh, halting the trade.

Non-tariff barriers

The findings of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) calls for a comprehensive report on the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to trade, both bilateral and third-country.  The ACC has already asked all exporters to refrain from paying bribes and kickbacks. It has said it would conduct surprise inspections to keep a check on malpractices of any sort. Besides, the ACC has also asked government agencies to enforce the rule of complying with loads as prescribed by vehicles manufacturers. However, Bhutan alone cannot address the problem, and it must appeal to India and Bangladesh to jointly address the issue. Going by the experience of exporters in Bhutan, common problems like stoppages of trucks during transit through India were solved once the government got involved. So, there is enough justification for taking up the barriers to trade at the governmental level. Beyond the NTBs, the boulder business also brings out the peculiarities of competition in the trade as both Bhutan and India supply boulders to Bangladesh. Some suspect that it is due to this competition that Bhutanese trucks face problems within India. Both, Thimphu and New Delhi need to address the competition for the extraction of resources and their exports that also have environmental consequences. Hence, the onus lies on the governments of India, Bhutan and Bangladesh to together mull measures for monitoring the trade and prevent malpractices in the extraction and cross-border trade of boulders.

---

 Afghanistan

Dwindling healthcare in Afghanistan

Sohini Bose In 2018, Afghanistan was ranked 168^th out of 189 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index. Indeed, much of the country continues to be riddled by infectious diseases as well as malnutrition. It is ironical that there is also an increase in the rates of preventable diseases. Given its history of war which continues to date, it is hardly surprising that psychological trauma and human rights abuse is also rampant in the country. Above all, health care facilities are dismal in Afghanistan. Ever since 1989, when the Soviet Union invasion left Afghan infrastructure in shambles, health care systems steadily deteriorated under the Taliban rule. When this regime too was toppled in 2001, the US began to provide health care to the country through NGOs. Primary healthcare is still provided by NGOs under contracts from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. However, as many of these services remain disproportionately distributed throughout the country and a coordinated health care system is yet to be developed, access to it by all sections of the population becomes problematic. Today, emergency health services are relatively unavailable to the public outside the US military or NATO hospitals. Emergency care also remains under-developed and ambulances cannot be accessed with alacrity given the dire state of roads. The number of health care practitioners also remains woefully limited. This is a serious concern as due to almost regular insurgent activities and the casualties left from military operations the civilians require emergency health care almost on a daily basis. Therefore it is important to understand the several challenges that obstruct the path of development of healthcare in Afghanistan.

Challenges obstructing healthcare

As the war continues to prevail in the country, bombings are almost a daily affair and naturally, the greatest challenge to the development of a health facility in Afghanistan is the lack of security. There are frequent cases of suicide bombings, gun firings, terror attacks as well as death by landmines. Behind the curtain of war, the ongoing practice of narcotics trafficking as well as illegal arms trade continues to fuel the insurgent attacks which indirectly takes a great toll on the mortality rates of the Afghans.  Also apart from war casualties, medics and health professionals are also often specifically targeted by the militants, which has resulted in a huge ‘brain drain’ from the country and increased the unavailability of health practitioners in the hour of need. At the psychological level such acts of terror have also dissuaded many from studying medicine. As the war increases in the southern provinces of Afghanistan, health in the country is suffering a serious blow as many flee from the Taliban and are either killed or severely injured in the process.

A ‘shaky’ economy

The lack of security in the country has also left its mark on Afghanistan’s economic prowess. According to the UNICEF, almost 54.4 per cent of the Afghan population lived below the poverty line as of 2016. As a fallout of this, malnutrition is rampant amongst the children who naturally become easy victims of diseases. Accordingly, the dismal state of health in Afghanistan is not limited to its lack of proper health care services but stems from its lack of more basic necessities like the proper supply of food, safe water and electricity. It must also be noted that much of Afghan health facilities as are provided by the NGOs and US army hospitals are run on international aid received from agencies such as the European Commission and the World Bank. But international aid received either from such agencies or from donor countries are subject to frequent policy changes and are therefore unpredictable. Hence there is a serious need for domestically sponsored affordable healthcare services in Afghanistan.

Improper infrastructure

This need highlights Afghanistan’s lack of basic healthcare infrastructure and the inaccessibility of the little facility that exists. There is a lack of coordination between the Ministry of Public Health and the NGOs which provide healthcare on a contractual basis. Transportation facilities are also dwindling in the country. Moreover, there is a serious discrepancy between the medical facilities available at the urban and the rural level which often causes the city hospitals to be overcrowded and under-funded at the same time. Recent reports also reveal that as war increase in the southern parts of the country, the hospitals are stooping under the sudden influx of patients. So much so, almost four people have to share in a single hospital bed in cases. The hospitals report that because of this demand the quality of their service is suffering and they would be able to serve better with fewer patients. There is also a serious dearth of specialised training in healthcare and its necessary equipment in the country. Even if the infrastructure is available in some cases, there are no doctors trained to handle the facilities as the hospitals are staffed with general practitioners. Doctors also often indulge in malpractices such as bribing patients into their private hour and over-prescribing. The lack of female medics is also a problem as in Afghanistan it is customary for women to treat women. Hence, gynaecological and maternal health is in the doldrums.

Government initiatives

Becoming aware of these challenges, the Afghan government has undertaken measures to improve the situation through initiatives such as the ‘Basic Package Health Service’ and the training of ‘community midwives’ to improve postnatal care. It is also to be noted that the Afghan National Security Forces comprising of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police do provide some health care which is often only consultative in nature. Even then it requires international assistance for continued functioning. Third party monitoring of health development has also helped. Neighbouring countries are also offering to develop health facilities in Afghanistan as part of the ‘reconstruction assistance package’. But health in Afghanistan though slightly better than the last decade still requires major improvements which may be achieved by a combination of domestic responsibility and guided use of foreign aid.

---

Country Reports

Afghanistan

No Eid ceasefire

Surprisingly the Taliban group in Afghanistan has recently rejected rumours regarding a ceasefire declaration during the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr. The audio clips that have been circulating on social media belong to last year and not this year confirmed the Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid. This comes as the Office of the Former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai had welcomed the Taliban declaration of ceasefire during Eid and had also urged the Afghan government to issue a reciprocal ceasefire.

Attack foiled in Kabul

Recently the Afghan National Defence and Security forces have seized 1000 kilograms of explosives during an operation in the Kabul city. The Special Forces have also detained three suspect militants during the same operation. The Security Forces have also recently seized the RDX-HMS type explosives during an operation. The Taliban group have so far refrained from commenting on this incident. This comes as the insurgents have been trying to carry out attacks in Kabul in the recent weeks.

Bangladesh

IS claims responsibility

The US-based international monitoring in a social media platform has said that global terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) is behind the explosion in Dhaka this week. To the intelligence group IS has claimed responsibility for the blast that left three people injured, including a police officer.  The police officials, however, informed that they are sure about the perpetrator.

Japan promises $1.2 b aid

Economic relationship with Japan strengthened as the country announced $1.2 billion in aid to Bangladesh. The announced followed on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to the country this week. The aid is aim to be used for economic development, a high-speed railway and other projects in Bangladesh.

President visits India

India and Bangladesh relations got a major boost with President Abdul Hamid’s three-day visit to India. President visited the country on the invitation of the government of India to attend the oath taking of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had a landslide victory for the second consecutive term. President was present at the ceremony with other leaders from the BIMSTEC countries, who were invited as special guests for the occasion. Bangladesh is an important neighbour of India the visit was significant for the bilateral relations. India recognises Bangladesh as an important partner in its flagship Act East Policy.

Bhutan

PM at Modi’s swearing-in

Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering arrived in New Delhi, India on 30 May to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi. Lyonchhen was received by the Indian Foreign Secretary, Ambassador of India to Bhutan and the Joint Secretary (North) at the Indira Gandhi International’s Airport. Over 8,000 guests were expected to attend the ceremony including the heads of government from BIMSTEC member countries, Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan.

Tariff revision on

With the three-year tariff cycle ending next month, the Druk Green Power Corporation (DGPC) and Bhutan Power Corporation (BPC) has proposed domestic electricity tariff revision for the next three years. The Bhutan Electricity Authority (BEA) has conducted its public hearing and is in the process of reviewing the proposals from the two companies.

India

Shah gets Home in Modi 2.0

As expected, ruling BJP president Amit Shah has joined the second government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, getting the all-important Home portfolio. Former Home Minister Rajnath Singh retains the number two slot and has moved on to Defence Minister, while Nirmala Sitharaman has moved over to Finance. This follows former Finance Minister Arun Jaitely formally opting out of the new Cabinet, and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj not contesting the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, both citing health reasons. This cabinet will also feature former bureaucrats such as S Jaishankar, alongside retaining some members of the previous Council of Ministers, such as veteran diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri and former COAS Gen V K Singh, as Ministers of State.

Terrorist Killed

In an encounter which broke out between terrorists and a joint team of security forces on Friday morning in the district of Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir. in the ensuing encounter, one paratrooper was injured in action. This encounter began as a search operation for a suspected team of two or three terrorists of unidentified affiliation in the village of Sopore by the 22 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group (SOG). The identity of the killed terrorist is yet to be identified.

Rahul Gandhi’s resignation from Congress

Following the defeat of the Congress party in the 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi has offered to resign as party chief. However, members of the party at all levels have been urging him not to resign and stay as the chief, with many undertaking a hunger strike in an effort to dissuade him from making his decision final. So far, his offer of resignation has been rejected by the Congress Working Committee, although reports suggest he stands firm on his decision and is urging the party to look for a new chief within its ranks.

Maldives

Appeal against Adeeb

The government has decided to appeal the Supreme Court’s acquittal of jailed former Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb in a corruption case. Adeeb was under house arrest after being shifted from Maafushi Prison on health grounds, when the Supreme Court upturned the High Court order in the matter. It was the last of the criminal cases pending against Adeeb, who was arrested when in office for alleged attempt to assassinate then President Abdulla Yameen. The Supreme Court facilitated his acquittal in all other cases, including the assassination-attempt case, under which Adeeb was ordered to serve a total of 33 years in prison.

Myanmar

President at Delhi

U Win Myint, President of Myanmar, took part in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's oath ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan on 30 May. He attended on the behalf of Myanmar's State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who will not be present due to her, other political engagements. Incidentally leaders from all BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) member-states attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony which significantly promises a new era of Act East Policy.

Japanese pressure

The Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar, Mr Maruyama, has stated that Japan would not support efforts by the international community to put pressure on Myanmar on the Rakhine issue. Japan believes that contributing to the latter's economic growth will bring about the necessary changes required. Thus, Japan is contributing to the upgrading of the Yangon-Mandalay railway route and Yangon circular rail system. Japan has provided $ 2.5 b for the upgrading of Yangon-Mandalay railway expected to be completed in 2025. Moreover, Japan is also helping to construct a modern jetty in Mandalay for the development of Myanmar’s inland riverine transportation.

Nepal

NCP feud to the fore

The merger of the CPN UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), during the 2017 elections in the country was undoubtedly based on amassing a majoritarian victory. However, the situation does not seem congenial at the moment, despite agreements that had been reached earlier between the two, before the formation of the cumulative party – NCP. An agreement from the past has resurfaced, pressurizing Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli to spill the beans of pre-declared negations, which would promulgate equal power. The crux of the matter undoubtedly indicates problems in paradise.

Mixed response

The federal budget of the Government of Nepal for the fiscal year 2019-20 was said to have received mixed reactions from the provinces. While some were enthusiastic, the others were a bit more sceptical, given the allocation of resources. Some of the points that came to focus include infrastructural projects like road linkages with China, improving agriculture and also special attention to hydropower projects.

PM at Modi inauguration

Prime Minister Oli attended the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi, who scored a massive victory in the recently held Indian polls. In his second term too, Modi is most likely to carry on with his efforts to engage with Nepal, as seen in his previous term as well. Whether the situation improves, given the omnipresence of China, only time will tell.

Pakistan

Provincial autonomy, still

Justice Maqbool Baqar of the Pakistani Supreme Court has ruled that the soul of federalism is the distribution of legislative powers between the federation and the provinces and its core is provincial autonomy. In relation to the case regarding the ownership of three hospitals in Karachi that followed the devolution of the health sector after the 18^th Amendment, he further stated that interpretation of constitutional principles must not encroach on the spaces reserved for the provinces at all.

Sudden HIV outbreak

A team from the World Health Organization recently arrived in Pakistan to investigate the reasons behind the spread of HIV. In that context, the team has visited children treatment centres for HIV in the Chandka Medical College children’s hospital and also made inquiries about the way the patients were handled.  The team also held a meeting with the Sindh Minister for Health Dr Azra Pechuho and other stakeholders to initiate efforts to fight the virus so far.

Sri Lanka

No prison for fishers

At the first bilateral after Sri Lankan President attended the second prime ministerial swearing-in of India’s Narendra Modi, the two leaders agreed that no fisher from either country should be kept in the other’s prison. The Sri Lankan Government later announced that the country would be the second after the Maldives that Modi would visit on the maiden overseas travel of his second term, both being scheduled for the second week of June.

Bibliography

Afghanistan

Opinion Pieces

Mohammad Zahir Akbari, “Taliban and Russia: Foreign Forces Must leave Afghanistan”, Daily Outlook Afghanistan, 30 May 2019 Thomas Gibbons-Neff, “Afghan Forces Hit with a wave of Attacks on Eve of Taliban Talks”, The New York Times, 29 May 2019

Editorials

Daily Outlook Afghanistan, “Gender Discrimination and Sexual Scandal Outrageous to the Afghan Nation”, 30 May 2019 Afghanistan Times, “Second Moscow moot may historical”, 27 May 2019

Bangladesh

Opinion Pieces

David Brewster, “Bangladesh’s road to the BRI”, The Interpreter, 30 May 2019 Sheikh Hasina, “The Japan-Bangladesh partnership for development”, Japan Times, 27 May 2019 M Serajul Islam, “NDA’s landslide victory and Bangladesh”, New Age, 27 May 2019

Bhutan

Editorials

The Bhutanese, “What the boulder issue reveals”, 25 May 2019

India

Opinion Pieces

Atman Trivedi, “Nationalism Won’t Solve India’s Job Crisis”, Foreign Policy, 29 May 2019 Shastri Ramachandran, “Congress Should Think Beyond Gandhi Family, Reinvent Itself For Survival”, Outlook India, 24 May 2019

Editorials

The Hindu, “To Be Decisive: Modi Must Win and Sustain the Trust of All”, 29 May 2019 The Economist, Print Edition, “Why Dowries Persist in South Asia”, 16 May 2019

Maldives

Opinion Pieces

Shazra Aishath, “Maldives Plastic Warriors”, Maldives Independent, 27 May 2019

Myanmar

Opinion Pieces

Lawi Weng, “Why Is the KNU Ready to Abandon the PPST?” The Irrawaddy, 31 May 2019

Nepal

Opinion Pieces

Tejashwi Nath Bhattarai and Pratyush Nath Uprety, “Building bridges”, Republica, 30 May 2019 Amish Raj Mulmi, “Who should tourism benefit in Nepal?”, The Kathmandu Post, 30 May 2019 Swasti Gautam, “State and citizenship”, Republica, 30 May 2019

Editorials

The Kathmandu Post, “The federal budget is out, and the government has disappointed yet again”, 29 May 2019 The Himalayan Times, “Ensure security to citizens”, 28 May 2019 The Kathmandu Post, “The shadow government needs to know its purpose to be effective”, 22 May 2019

Pakistan

Opinion Pieces

Asha’ar Rehman, “Where heat and hostility meet”, Dawn, 31 May 2019 Syed Mohammad Ali, “Implications of India’s elections”, The Express Tribune, 31 May 2019

Editorials

Dawn, “Reference against judges”, 31 May 2019 The Express Tribune, “Water shortage”, 31 May 2019

Sri Lanka

Opinion Pieces

Darshan Weerasekera, “Need for a new direction in foreign policy”, Daily Mirror Online, 1 June 2019 M S M Ayub, “Playing politics with terrorism”, Daily Mirror Online, 31 May 2019 Lynn Ockresz, “Foreign policy complexities to the fore in India”, The Island, 30 May 2019 N Sathiya Moorthy, “Sri Lanka: Working with India to end jihadi terrorism?”, www.orfonline.org, 28 May 2019 N Sathiya Moorthy, “From segregated education to secular education”, Ceylon Today, 28 May 2019 Jehan Perera, “Suspicion of the Muslim community is politically fuelled”, The Island, 28 May 2019 N Sathiya Moorthy, “What does Modi’s return mean for Sri Lanka?”, Colombo Gazette, 27 May 2019

---

Contributors

Afghanistan & Pakistan: Sohini Bose Bangladesh: Joyeeta Bhattacharjee Bhutan: Mihir Bhonsale India: Ameya Kelkar Maldives & Sri Lanka: N Sathiya Moorthy Myanmar: Sreeparna Banerjee Nepal: Sohini Nayak

• Neighbourhood
• Healthcare
• International Trade and Investment
• Neighbourhood
• Afghanistan
• Bhutan
• Neighbourhood Policy
• South Asia Weekly

The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.