18 July 2023

MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. India’s membership in the SCO has provided the nation with numerous benefits, but it has also brought up a number of challenges.

Paper & Topic: GS II – International Relations

The Shanghai Cooperation institution (SCO), a multilateral Eurasian political, economic, international security, and defence institution, was founded in 2001. There are now nine member states in the organisation, which welcomed India as a full member in 2017.

Important SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) opportunities for India include:

• Engagement with Central Asian Republics (CARs): India has the opportunity to forge closer connections with the CARs thanks to the SCO. In Central Asia, India already wields a sizable degree of soft power.
• Socio-economic cooperation: India has also pushed for increased cooperation in the areas of infrastructure development, energy, and connectivity in order to encourage regional economic growth and prosperity. The security worries that the SCO member countries currently experience could be significantly reduced as a result of this approach.
• Increasing security and stability in the region: India has made enormous efforts to promote peace, prosperity, and stability throughout the whole Eurasian region, particularly among the SCO members, ever since acquiring full membership. New Delhi, a strong supporter of intra- and interregional connectivity, can use the SCO to put pressure on Pakistan to change its position and strategy regarding the unification of Central Asia and South Asia.
• The SCO also enables global and regional counterterrorism measures, as well as the fight against the illegal drug trade, which is currently being utilised by India’s hostile neighbours to undermine society and target its youth. For example, New Delhi might inform SCO members about Pakistan’s narco-terrorism and its reckless use of terrorism in Pakistan’s larger Eurasian neighbourhood.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) poses several challenges for India:

• China’s dominance: India may face challenges as it attempts to use the SCO to further its economic and security goals in the Central Asian region. China’s prominent position within the SCO is one of these factors. Additionally, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is supported by each and every Central Asian nation, and China and Russia are closely collaborating and expanding their influence in the region.
• The government’s backing for terrorism is one of India’s biggest issues. India needs to inform the influential SCO members about state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. The dreaded international and local terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) must be defeated in order to defend the SCO and larger Eurasian region from these radical extremist forces.
• Illegal drug traffic: Another regular problem for the SCO region is the illicit drug trade coming out of the Af-Pak region. In 2021, Afghanistan was the source of more than 80% of the opium and heroin supply for the global opium market. As a result of the rising involvement of terrorist organisations in the drug trade, the SCO today faces new geopolitical challenges.
• Project restrictions: A volatile Afghanistan and terrorist safe havens in the Af-Pak region have produced many obstacles in connectivity projects launched by SCO member states and other Eurasia region countries. For instance, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline has been stalled since 2006 due to Pakistan’s impediments and Afghanistan’s turmoil.
• The impression that the SCO is an anti-Western forum has persisted in the West. However, in the era of multi-vector foreign policy, New Delhi is now a potential partner in reshaping the SCO into a body centred on Eurasia’s growth rather than an anti-Western alliance because of India’s growing economic and political relevance globally.
• India has pushed for win-win collaboration within the SCO for regional or transregional connectivity, regional security, defence cooperation, and combatting state-sponsored terrorism. However, India would still have to fight in the future to make the Eurasian region a source of economic growth and prosperity under the SCO’s umbrella.

Q2. What is a public-private partnership (PPP) and how does it aid in the development of the economy?

Paper & Topic: GS III – Economy-related issues

• PPPs are long-term agreements that can be used to fund, build, and manage projects. They are made by entities from the public and private sectors. PPP makes it possible to use private funding to complete large government projects like highways, bridges, and hospitals. These collaborations are successful when private sector technology and innovation are matched with public sector incentives to complete projects on time and under budget.

Public-private partnerships’ (PPPs’) role in promoting economic growth:

• Resource effectiveness: By achieving extraordinarily high productivity through the effective use of labour and capital resources, PPPs have surmounted economic capacity limitations. Because of this, collaborations and joint ventures between prestigious firms and the government have shown to be exceptionally successful in fostering job creation and expanding significant economic sectors.
• Infrastructure expansion and asset monetization: Investment-led growth is becoming a larger part of India’s economic strategy. The government is paying increasing attention to PPP efforts in order to develop infrastructure and monetize assets. For instance, the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), which promotes potential financing solutions to investors in the private sector, aims to increase the efficiency and transparency of public assets.
• Social and economic advancement: The private sector’s participation in programmes like Bharat Net that seek to expand access to e-services, communication tools, and digital resources will assist it in focusing on the opportunities in rural India and promoting social and economic advancement.
• Rebuilding the railways: PPP has increased investments and upgraded India’s rail network. As a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the PPP refurbishment and construction of stations, the Indian Railways Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) was founded in 2012.
• India has one of the highest rates of population increase worldwide, so it’s crucial to conserve government funds. Governmental and national resources have been preserved as a result of the completion of PPP projects using private firm financing.
• Can help promote sustainable tourism: As part of the Center’s initiative for the sustainable development of islands for the promotion of tourism, public-private partnerships (PPP) are being used to construct projects in the Andaman and Lakshadweep. This would not only bring in foreign currency but also provide jobs for locals.
• PPPs in India have ensured that large projects in the infrastructure, technology, and electricity sectors are finished rapidly and economically. This is highly important for taxpayers who gain from the results of such efforts.
• Utilising the expertise and resources of the private sector in public-private partnerships improves efficiency and transparency.
• The Infrastructure created as a result of these partnerships is also of the greatest standard. India today boasts several excellent buildings and airports as a result.
• Collaborations between the public and commercial sectors have shown to be crucial to the development process. The infrastructure deficit in India must be filled if inclusive growth and higher GDP growth are to be achieved. Therefore, it is essential for the realisation of a successful PPP to thoroughly examine the long-term development objectives and risk allocation. Additionally, the institutional and regulatory framework of the country must be supportive of this innovative method of service delivery and provide PPPs with effective governance and supervision mechanisms.