Viswapramod blog

The ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague against China’s claim on the South China Sea in a case brought before the court by the Philippines should prima facie have remained a bilateral matter between the litigants. In reality, however, it has become an exemplar of China’s role in the ongoing contest to determine the world order. China’s shrill and bellicose response during and after the ruling has only served to heighten alarm over Beijing’s intentions and behaviour among all the major powers, including India. China’s attitude ranged from benign disengagement and denial of the court’s jurisdiction to rabid intimidation and downright threats. It made little effort to engage with either the PCA or to build support for its cause. Instead, it erroneously assumed that as a global power, it had earned the right to violate the very rules that it had signed up to earlier. Among China’s paltry and dubious supporters were land-locked Afghanistan and Niger. Ironically, ...

While China is actively seeking to diversify energy routes to reduce its dependence on the Straits of Malacca, the strategic waterway still remains a safer bet than other untested alternatives. The Straits of Malacca and Singapore are one of the most vital sea lines of communication in the world, constituting the principal passage from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. More than 30 percent of the world’s seaborne trade passes through this narrow 500 nautical-mile-long waterway. Apart from serving the strategic needs of the riparian states, China, Japan, and South Korea are reliant on this strategic waterway for their supplies, especially energy. Despite increased imports through Russia and Kazakhstan, China remains heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil, with up to  80 percent of its energy supply  passing through the Straits. Having little control over the passage, any disruption – ranging from piracy to fears of a potential naval blockade by the United States and its...

The prime International institution of the world, The United Nations Organization, which was established in 1945 post world war 2, to promote international peace and collective security, after seven decades is thinking seriously about a structural and comprehensive reform agenda. The "10 point declaration", recently proposed by UN has already received support from over 120 countries across all the continents. We would analyse the concerns and prospects around this 'hopefully promising but yet sceptical action plan' endorsed by the UN. ★ Theoretical and historical background: Well, known sociologist, Daniel Bell says   "nation states are too big for small problems and too small for big problems" Which necessitates the establishment of global institutions or Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGO's). Global institutions provide a large Network of state and non-state actors, a forum for civilised dialogue, debate, discussion, interaction and a platfor...

" The basis of government is jugglery . If it works it becomes a policy"- ( Benjamin Franklin ) . This applies perfectly to the policy of Indian Government towards the Chinese despotic global aspirations to manifest as the undisputed superpower.  The border disputes between the two Nation States, might not be of prime interests as of now for India as it has bigger issues to handle both internally and externally.  To a large extint, peace and tranquility maintained in borders shared by India and China, there isn't much of a threat, barring a few aggressions here and there, as PM Modi rightly said " Even though there is disputes within our borders, not even one single bullet has been fired since 1962" this situation is far better when compared to our greatest regional adversary, " The Terror republic of Pakistan" . But India has bigger issues to worry and analyse, which is the different stages of war China is waging upon us - 1) Phycological warfare: C...

It's been close to two months since the standoff between the PLA( people's liberation army) of China and the Indian army in the trijunction in the Docklam region of Bhutan began. It's geo-political, economic and strategic crisis is being much discussed about, in most of the periodicals. But the crisis in the diplomatic conduct been the two Nation States is being is being ignored by the experts and actors concerned and engaged in this issue. The fact of the matter is India has taken a backfoot on the diplomatic front. There aren't enough of Lamentations about it.    Reflecting back in the history towards our engagement with the Chinese counterparts, in the historic panchasheel devised by Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, spoke about a highly intellectual principle, " Mutual non interference in each other's internal affairs" though, an idealist provision, it potrayed the rich cultural heritage of our civilization. Chinese intellect was so limited that they were unab...

The issue of using a so-called 'human shield' in Kashmir to control the extreme conditions during the by-poll has sparked an unnecessary controversy by a section of the biased intelligentsia. Let us first understand the meaning of a human shield, in the context of international law. Geneva convention very clearly says " use of civilian human shields is prohibited in the conventional warfare against the opponent's army". Neither there was the Pakistan army nor there were a group of armed terrorists, whom our men in uniform had to encounter, In fact, there were more than 500 civilian stone pelters whom, a handful of army personnel had to deal with. For this, we can clearly distinguish what is right and what is wrong. The situation in Kashmir is that of a proxy war, proudly sponsored by the Pakistani establishment, but what is more blatantly visible now is a massive international human rights lobby, supported by sections of Indian media, intellectuals, NGO'S, h...

The struggle for India's independence and Indian National movement was based on one purpose of freeing India from a colonial and exploitative rule of the British. The nationalism which emerged from this discourse was essentially anti-Imperial and anti-colonial in nature. This version of nationalism became the ethos of India for generations to come. But unfortunately in the recent times, due to the adhesive influence of the dominant intellectual discourse ( essentially left liberal, colonialist and Marxist), the idea of Indian nationalism has been distorted dented and tainted systematically. This is happening so rampantly because Indian nationalism has been linked with the aggressive nationalism of Europe which had left behind the legacies of world wars. Some sections of intelligentsia even equate Indian nationalism with fascism. One must understand these two versions of nationalism are entirely different because their essence, nature and the very purpose is different. If we look...