Analysis
Nepal: Strengthening BIMSTEC
Sohini Nayak
The world has been keenly observing the massive electoral victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, calculating, interpreting and comprehending new strategic developments in South Asia. Furthermore, the invitation to and the presence of the Heads of Government from BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) countries at Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi has made speculations of an added leverage being given to them, extremely ripe. In this circumstance, the observations and diplomatic stand-point of neighbouring countries like Nepal are of extreme vitality to note, given the authoritative tone and perception, often associated with India from the neighbour’s viewpoint.
Recollecting first term
In retrospect, the events of 2014 lined up during PM Modi’s first term would show up a similar emphasis on South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Then, all Heads of Governments from SAARC countries were invited for the ceremony. However, it must be pointed out that with time, this regional organisation has been losing its relevance, primarily due to its lack of consensus-building capability, given the presence of countries like India and Pakistan, embroiled in geopolitical tension.
In fact, the SAARC Summit of 2016 was called off after the terror attack on the Indian Army camp at Uri, in the Indian border State of Jammu and Kashmir. Consequently, there have neither been any talks between the two neighbours, nor an improvement in the functioning of SAARC, since.
In such a situation, the credibility of SAARC comes under the radar for a lot of scrutiny and apprehension, thereby bringing in focus on the BIMSTEC as an obvious and viable choice. It is here that the Bay of Bengal region would be strengthened with almost all the countries sharing partnership in both the SAARC as well as the BIMSTEC.
This would be all the more relevant because the ‘Act East’ policy of India will be strengthened with the participation of the South-East Asian states, benefitting the entire South Asia and South east Asia as a growth corridor without the presence of any inherent antagonism. This picture seems to be very optimistic until we consider the presence of Nepal, who’s Prime Minister K. P Sharma Oli is now serving as the present Chair of SAARC and has urged for a ‘revival’ of the conformation.
Need for avoidance
The behaviour of Nepal as a small Himalayan country and a critical buffer between India and China seems to be quite discernible. It wants to create its own niche in the region, which definitely comes through positions of power and decision making, like being the Chair of SAARC. This not only marks recognition to it but also helps in valuing its capability to take the lead in a more or less India-centric region. Nepal is undoubtedly revelling in a kind of dilemma which is challenging its role as a leader on the one hand and its ability to make the best use of being a partner in the BIMSTEC in another, given its land-locked nature.
Prime Minister Oli was among the first few foreign leaders to congratulate Modi on his re-election. In Modi’s second term, it is important to avoid situations like the 2015 blockade that might be termed as a humanitarian crisis for Nepal, with economic crisis. Again, the more flexible Bay of Bengal grouping will guarantee Nepal a better bargain in trade and transition through the usage of Bangladeshi and Indian ports, apart from the privileges that it enjoys with Chinese ports. Nepal would also be able to engage with the maritime nations of South-East Asia like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore among the others, to engage in trade as well as other maritime exercises if necessary. The primary idea is to build its own perception.
Thus, Nepal must keep its outlook very flexible and according to the need of the hour. It is not a matter of choice between position along with power and extraction of benefits. It is about understanding the needs which the nation has. In order to maintain a peaceful and conducive neighbourhood, Nepal must participate more in BIMSTEC related summits, meetings and congregations, because it has more to offer at the moment. Once the country has prepared itself with adequate resources and participation in the regional forum, the propensity of it being heard would increase incredibly. It is only in such a scenario that Nepal would rise up at par with the strategic convergences and divergences of South Asian foreign policy and integration.
Sri Lanka: Taking trouble out of fishing waters, Tamil Nadu way
N Sathiya Moorthy
After funding and encouraging Palk Bay fishers to take to deep-sea fishing, authorities in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu are going after purse-seine nets in a big way. Together, such measures are expected to ensure trouble-free fishing in the shared waters with neighbouring Sri Lanka, even if it would take time for the results of the current efforts to be seen and felt on the ground – or in the seas.
The sudden change of heart in Tamil Nadu, especially at the official-level, may owe to a multiplicity of factors. There is now greater understanding at the political and bureaucratic levels that international borders, even at sea, cannot be flouted without an attendant cost. Though the traditional argument that fish know no international borders, and so do fishers, do not wash anymore, as in the case of Palk Bay fishers, there are attendant difficulties that the authorities in the State seem to be comprehending better now than earlier.
First and foremost, the Government of India, independent of political parties/alliances and leaders in power at the Centre, is plain and simple unwilling to alter the
status quo at the shared seas. Post-26/11 ‘Mumbai serial blasts’, there seems to be a grudging appreciation of sea-based terror-strikes and Tamil Nadu’s increasing vulnerability, given the geo-political realities of the shared seas with neighbouring Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Translated, this could mean an acknowledged respect for Sri Lanka as an immediate neighbour and Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) as the mandated security agency in that country to secure their ‘territorial waters’, not only from prospective terrorists but also ‘poachers’ of the Tamil Nadu fishers’ kind. It would also seem that
post facto, the State authorities may be willing to acknowledge the role of the ‘Sea Tigers’, arm of the dreaded LTTE, in raising the sea temperatures for the Sri Lankan Navy, and how the heat generated by fellow-Tamil fishers, even if from across the shores, in India, may have made them even more uncomfortable – and for valid and not-so-valid reasons.
The Tamil Nadu awareness was fed by the crucial Government of India decision to include officials from the State in all fisheries-related discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities, over the past decade. When as Chief Minister Jayalalithaa insisted that stalled fishers’ talks between the two countries could recommence only if she was seen as hosting the same when it was India’s turn to do it, possibly the political leadership in the State also learnt their lessons.
Source: Kosala Bandars/Flickr
Possibly through the heated negotiations between the fishers from the two countries, the Tamil Nadu officialdom and politicians guiding the local teams from behind, understood how the Tamil fishers from Sri Lanka were opposed to the ‘Indian poachers’ as the Sri Lanka Navy and Government were. Coming out to the free seas after decades of LTTE/Sea Tigers battles and wars, the Tamil fishers from Sri Lanka’s North and East made no bones about their opposition to the TN fishers’ large-scale deployment of bottom-trawlers, banned in the two countries, but enforced only in theirs.
Sri Lanka’s Tamil fishers also under-scored the mindless use of destructive purse-seine nets by their ‘umbilical cord’ brethren from across the Palk Strait. As they pointed out in meetings after meetings, both in Colombo and in Chennai, both with and without governmental blessings on either side, bottom-trawlers and purse-seine nets together destroyed the fish ecology in the Palk Strait, damaged the coral reefs, which were the breeding grounds of the export-valuable shrimp, and also ‘killed’ eggs and fishling in tens of thousands, with each outing.
More importantly, the Sri Lankan Tamil fishers’ insistence did find a welcome cord in the traditional fishing community in Tamil Nadu, even if the ‘commercial interveners’ from more recent decades, may have had another view, yet. To them, however, the punitive Sri Lankan Navy action, falling short of mid-sea shooting, seemed to have served a purpose. The constant arrest of Indian fishers in Sri Lankan waters, and lengthening stays in Sri Lankan jails and increasing fines, as ordered by local courts, acted as a further dampener.
Greater realisation
Such positive initiatives and pressuring drives too would help keep the shared Palk Strait waters calm. Going beyond it all, there is a greater realisation in Tamil Nadu about the increasing importance of inland fisheries across the country. Addressing an international seminar in the state capital of Chennai recently, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit pointed out how inland fishing and aquaculture has “emerged as a major contributor to the overall fish production in the country”. There is a paradigm-shift in the country, from marine-dominated fisheries to inland fishing, the Governor said.
With 12 million tonnes of fish and aquaculture production per year, India now was second only to China, Governor Purohit said. As he pointed out, “inland fisheries presently has a share of 66.81% in the total fish production of the country. Consequently, freshwater aquaculture, which had a share of only 34% in inland fisheries in mid-1980s, has gone up to about 80% in the recent years”.
Governor Purohit said prawn-farming has also grown considerably in the last few decades. He recalled how commercial shrimp farming began in the 1970’s and how advanced management practices, with the result 75% of farmed shrimp was produced in Asia. In this context, he also recalled how just two species of shrimp, the Pacific white shrimp and the giant tiger prawn, account for about 80% of all farmed shrimp.
In context, Governor Purohit made a pointed reference to the changing practices and management of blue-fin tuna fishing in other parts of the world. Tuna has been the mainstay of deep-sea fishers in Sri Lanka and is being offered to emerging counterparts along the Tamil Nadu coast, as a ‘safe alternative’ to the trawler fishers.
In the Mediterranean, Governor Purohit said, young blue-fin tuna were netted at sea and towed slowly towards the shore. They were then interned in offshore pens -- sometimes made from floating HDPE pipe -- where they were further grown for the market, Governor Purohit said. In 2009, researchers in Australia managed for the first time to coax southern blue-fin tuna to breed in landlocked tanks. Southern blue-fin tuna were also caught in the wild and fattened in grow-out sea cages in southern Spencer Gulf, South Australia, he said.
The depth of information and knowledge, brought out in Governor Purohit’s seminar speech should be reflective also of the greater understanding of the ground realities and emerging possibilities in Tamil Nadu’s fisheries administration and academic community. The seminar itself was organised by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries University, Nagapattinam, since named after late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, whose Government identified the institution as a link between the past and future global trends for the State’s fishers to learn from and adopt/adapt.
Initiatives for involving Tamil Nadu officials in bilateral fishers’ talks were approved when DMK’s M Karunanidhi was Chief Minister in 2007, so was unofficial blessings for non-official fishers’ talks between the two countries. However, open and official initiatives from the State Government became possible and visible after Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK returned to power in 2011.
Budget-2011 was path-breaking in the sense that it talked about deep-sea fishing with conversion-subsidies, provide by the Centre and State Governments, setting up of the fisheries university and also a cold-chain across the State’s long coastline for the fishers to store their catch and market them when the international prices were surging.
Domestic compulsions
In the early years of the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil fishers’ concerns over environmental destruction involving the Indian trawlers, there is no greater awareness in Tamil Nadu over all land-based environmental and ecological issues, nearer home. These concerns have taken a more vibrant political turn in recent months and years, and have been collectively reflected in the results of Elections-2019.
In contrast, there was a lesser acceptance of the Sri Lankan arguments about sea-centred environmental issues and concerns in Tamil Nadu than over their own land-based issues. However, the situation is changing slowly but surely. While in the case of land-based environmental concerns, there is a greater identification with a common ‘Tamil cause’, on the sea front, the latter is giving place to the former, instead.
This part, there is also an increasing realisation at the official level that trawlers and purse-seine nets have been the centre of ‘fishers wars’ closer to the local coasts across Tamil Nadu, especially from across the Sri Lankan waters. Over the past five years and more, artisanal fishers along the Tamil Nadu coast have been staging protests, both in their villages and landing-sites, and also in district headquarters and the State capital, protesting against the multiple ways the trawler-fishers have been destroying their livelihood than possibly the Sri Lankan authorities might have done in the case of the latter.
Such an increasing realisation of ground realities on the part of the State authorities led to the Government of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, announcing subsidies for trawler-fishers to take to deep-sea fishing, in Budget-2011. Though it did have a poor start, after trials and errors, the idea is slowly but surely catching up. The intervening ‘Cyclone Ockhi’ in late 2016 did destroy fishers and fishing vessels in the deep-seas, but there again, the State Government has since begun providing satellite phones and such other communication equipment, for mid-sea fishers to stay in touch with the coast.
With the State Government seriously pursuing the long-existing ban on purse-seine and other destructive nets, as notified, the chances of more Palk Bay fishers taking to deep-sea fishing early on are more likely than not. However, it has to be accompanied by better deep-sea fishing education, induction of mother-ships and facilities for mid-sea sale and transfer of fish to third nations and third parties, management techniques and cold storages all along the coast-line, for the fishers to adopt the wait-and-sell mode, to get the best price at a time of their choosing.
Such facilities were first mentioned in Budget-2011, and the State Government has to adopt a comprehensive approach. While Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami could be excused for not giving greater publicity to the launch of the first deep-sea vessels in the weeks before Elections-2019, the cause can do with better out-reach, whose message could be and should be heard, both across the Palk Strait and also inland.
With the Centre sharing part-funding of every aspect of the deep-sea fishing project, there has to be greater planning and coordination than already, though the existing pattern too has already begun delivering results – however small to begin with. The greater the State authorities interest in enforcing the laws in this regard, greater still may be the Centre’s interest in looking at the positive aspects of the initiative, like increasing funding for ‘deep-sea vessels’ or now for even helping to experiment with land or shore-based tuna-farming, which could be the mainstay of the deep-sea fishers, otherwise.
Country Reports
Afghanistan
Message from UN
While briefing the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tadamachi Yamamoto specified that the common message sent to the Taliban group is clear; the insurgent group must engage directly with the Afghan government regarding the impending peace process as there is no substitute for the Afghan people. He has also called upon countries which have direct contact and influence over the Taliban group to garner their efforts in organising consultations towards this objective.
UK promises fresh aid
The United Kingdom government has pledged an aid package of 70 million pounds to Afghanistan, announced Rory Stewart, UK’s International Development Secretary after his meeting with the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. The amount will be spent over the of five years so as to provide emergency aid; to the flood and drought affected people. The Afghan Red Crescent Society, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had already warned about this severe food crisis.
Bangladesh
Fastest economy in Asia-Pacific
Bangladesh has achieved the fastest growth in the Asia-Pacific economies comprising of 45 countries, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). According to ABD, the country’s attain a growth rate of 7.9% growth which was the fastest since 1974 in the fiscal year of 2018-19. ADB had predicted a growth rate of 8% in the FY2019.
Khaleda gets bail
Former Prime Minister and jailed chairperson of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Begum Khaleda Zia, has been granted for six months in two defamation cases. Nevertheless, Begum Zia cannot be released from jail as she is convicted in two graft cases.
Bhutan
Pay revision cleared
Passing the pay revision Bill, the Assembly has endorsed 12 of the 19 recommendations the National Council provided on the pay revision Bill while rejecting the proposal of 13% pay hike for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Speaker. The proposed 13% hike for the two posts was found in contravention of the Parliamentary entitlement Act.
EU promises 7.3-m euros
Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering commended the European Union for bringing together international partners to address the issue of inequalities at the European Development Days (EDD) in Brussels. During the two-day EDD on 18-19 June, the EU approved an additional funding of € 7.3 million to Bhutan for the establishment of the National Training Centre for Search and Rescue and the Water Flagship Programme.
Scholarships from Japan
Bhutan’s Ambassador to Japan, V Namgyel, and Japan’s Ambassador to Bhutan, Kenji Hiramatsu, signed the Exchange of Notes for the ‘Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship’ on 19 June in New Delhi. The project worth 174 million Yen of the government of Japan will support Masters and PhD courses for 10 government officials in Japanese universities from 2020.
India
Encephalitis toll up in Bihar
The State of Bihar is trying to cope with the deaths of 136 children who have lost their lives to a malignant brain disease named Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, with the total afflicted rising beyond 600. The district of Muzaffarpur has recorded a staggering 117 deaths out of the 136 in the entire state. Experts are blaming toxins in unripe litchis which were being eaten by malnourished children in the state, with the state health department deputing additional medical officers and nurses, along with emergency supplies to help the medical officials in the Muzaffarpur district.
Triple talaq bill tabled
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, commonly known as the Triple Talaq Bill, was tabled in the Lok Sabha again, amid protests from the opposition parties who stated that it targeted women from a particular religion and did not apply to all sections of society. Following a division of votes, with 186 members supporting and 84 members opposing the bill, the Bill was tabled in the House, with the Law Minister stating that the Bill was necessary to bring justice to women who would otherwise be powerless. The opposition voice, most notably Shashi Tharoor, stated that the Bill is an example of class legislation, as the bill only protects those women from the Muslim community, but fails to address the larger problem of abandonment of wives by husbands from the other communities.
Speaker calls for decorum
The newly elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, on Wednesday, stated that chanting of religious slogans or any form of heckling will not be permitted in the Lok Sabha under his tenure as the Speaker. Citing the heckling some opposition members received when they were being sworn in, the Speaker stated that the Parliament is a place where officials can lay down their grievances and accusations in a civilised manner, without any form of heckling or sloganeering. Stating that the parliament is a temple of democracy, the Speaker further urged all political parties to respect the rules and guidelines of the parliament, saying that as the largest democracy in the world, India has the obligation to set an example for the rest of the world through its strict abidance to the rules of parliamentary procedure.
Maldives
JSC probes Justice Didi
In an unprecedented initiative, constitutionally-empowered Judicial Service Commission (JSC) commenced public hearing against incumbent Supreme Court Justice, Abdulla Didi, after the Full Bench of the Court and the Judicial Council of all Justices had stayed the earlier JSC-ordered suspension of the latter. Denying allegations of corruption and other wrong-doing, Didi sought time to pursue the ‘documents’ presented by and before the JSC hearing, which was promptly denied. The JSC probe may have political ramifications as the original complaint was filed by Parliament Speaker Mohammed Nasheed, former President, with veiled support from incumbent and party colleague, Ibrahim Solih, who issued a statement, indicating that constitutional institutions should not interfere with each other’s functions (SC and JSC). Didi is being defended by a team of top criminal lawyers, including former Vice-President, Dr Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, a presidential-aspirant, still.
Myanmar
Poll campaign on
According to the UEC notification 31/2015, issued on 8 July 2015, both the President and the State Counsellor would take part in election campaigns for the party in person within the framework issued by the Union Election Commission (UEC) for the 2020 election campaigns. Dr Myo Nyunt, NLD party spokesman cited “This notification explicitly says the persons holding the offices of President and State Counsellor have authority to do party organisation work and election campaigning in both their own constituencies and other constituencies during the election campaign period,”
Bridge work on
Construction material for the Kaladan River Bridge in Chin State that were destroyed by the Arakan Army (AA) are being replaced. This will facilitate the completion of the construction of bridge which is being targeted to be opened by February 2020 as originally planned. The bridge bearings, nuts and paint worth about K491 million were torched by the AA. IKBZ Insurance handed over K491 million in compensation for the damage at a ceremony at the Ministry of Construction in Nay Pyi Taw on 18 June 2019. The Kaladan Bridge is part of the Paletwa-Mizoram road, which connects Myanmar with India and is also important for Rakhine State.
Nepal
Reshuffle soon
There are high chances of the government of Nepal being reassembled, as hinted by the Communist Party Chairperson, Pushpa Kamal Dahal. This issue has gained all the more prominence after the fiscal budget of 2019/20 was unveiled. In this regard, the Media Council Bill would also be reconsidered.
Lesser dependence
Bhim Rawal, Standing Committee member of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), had recently made a comment on how the country can take care of its own Upper Karnali Hydropower Project. Given the present notion held by the world of Nepal’s dependence on either China or India, this project could be self-supported. Furthermore, it will be helpful in finishing the project on time.
Pakistan
Garnering support
Since 2018, Pakistan has been on the grey list of the global money laundering watchdog’s radar for terror financing and money laundering that was revealed after an assessment of the country’s security mechanisms and financial systems. Nonetheless, Islamabad has recently managed to acquire essential support from three member states of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to avoid being put on the black list as is required by the FATF charter. But the country’s apprehensions continue to linger.
Zero-rate regime repealed
Revival of the zero-rated regime is no longer an option, clarified Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to the textile industry. The government is, however, open to resolving the industry’s genuine concerns. It has also withdrawn the zero-rated regime from four other sectors, namely, leather, carpets, sports and surgical goods and has also imposed a standard sales tax rate of 17pc on all items. It is hoped that this new tax regime will raise an additional Rs.75 billion.
Sri Lanka
Cardinal meets Pope
Ahead of the meeting with Pope Francis in Vatican, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, said that the Sri Lankan Government was ‘hiding the truth’ about the Easter Sunday serial blasts, which claimed more than 250 lives. Cardinal Ranjith, who showed a video of the carnage to the Pope, said the Government back home had not explained the ‘intelligence failure’ over the blasts after Indian agencies had passed on specifics well in advance.
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Editorials
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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
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