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1. Back in the game: Quad and India-U.S. ties
India must cooperate with U.S. on vaccines, trade, and leverage Quad for regional stability
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s summit meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, and his first in-person meet of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue mark an important step forward in India’s engagement with major global powers as it seeks to revive its economy and strategic role in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis. At the heart of the two leaders’ meeting was the issue of vaccine availability — and a critical victory for the Biden administration as it received Mr. Modi’s assurance that as the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, India would resume supplies to the global COVAX pool under its ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme. The breakthrough comes after turmoil in this space earlier this year, when India halted exports after facing criticism for domestic supply bottlenecks as it contended with a devastating second wave of COVID-19. Around the same time the U.S. also invoked its Defense Production Act, effectively preventing the export of raw materials for vaccine manufacture in a bid to prioritise domestic production. With both countries now moving forward on their domestic vaccination programmes, albeit with the U.S. still struggling to overcome vaccine hesitancy in certain States, the summit provided them a timely opportunity to take up long-pending conversations on trade, defence ties and more. At the confluence of those two areas was the reaffirmation by Mr. Biden that India remained a ‘Major Defence Partner’, making it a key nation with which Washington could share information and strengthen cooperation in advanced military technologies, including, for example, a recent project to co-develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles.
Issues of global concern, including the ongoing pandemic, climate change, technology cooperation, supply chains and security, and preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific were themes that came up at the Quad gathering. Following on the heels of the first virtual summit of the four leaders in March 2021, this meeting builds upon the intention of the Quad member nations — India, the U.S., Australia, and Japan — to ensure an Indo-Pacific region “free from coercion and disputes… solved in accordance with international law”. While India has sought to disassociate its role as a member of the Quad from the recently announced Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) partnership, there is little doubt that the creation of a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines for Australia under the AUKUS framework will have significant and positive implications on India’s strategic calculus regarding the Indo-Pacific region. From New Delhi’s perspective, health concerns and economic revival remain at the very apex of the policy agenda. This is a time for India to rapidly deepen cooperative initiatives with the U.S. regarding vaccines and trade and continue engaging vigorously with the Quad for regional stability. That is the optimal strategy to navigate the uncertain global ecosystem that it now finds itself in.
2.Needless row: On amendment to Rajasthan marriage law
Rajasthan’s law does not validate child marriages, but helps rights of underage brides
The controversy over the recent amendment to the Rajasthan Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act is unnecessary, as it clearly does not amount to validating or legitimising child marriage. However, the issue made by the Opposition and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights may occasion a reconsideration of the legal framework dealing with child marriages that continue to take place despite a statutory prohibition. The Rajasthan law enacted in 2009 provided for compulsory registration of all marriages. It is largely similar to the enactments in other States, and is based on the Supreme Court’s verdict in Seema vs Ashwani Kumar (2007), which directed that all marriages in India should be registered. The original law itself did not exclude registration of child marriages, and all that the amendment does is to change the age at which the obligation to register shifts from the parents or guardians to the parties to the marriage. Earlier, it was the duty of the parties to the marriage to submit a memorandum on their marriage to the registrar if they were both above 21 years; and if younger, it was the duty of the parents or guardians. The amendment changes this age limit to 21 for men and 18 for women. It is difficult to see this change authorising the bride herself to participate in the marriage registration after the age of 18, as one that permits child marriage.
Under the law, child marriages are not void, but only voidable at the instance of one of the parties, who may approach the court for nullifying the marriage within two years of attaining majority. Registering such a marriage may help establish the legal rights of the underage party and those of any children born and deter any attempt to deny the marriage later. It may even help prosecution of those solemnising child marriages and implement provisions relating to maintenance and residence of the girl whose marriage is invalidated later. Nothing prevents the marriage registrar from alerting the child marriage prohibition officer after registering the marriage. One must note that there was never any specific prohibition on registering child marriages. Even the Supreme Court observed that even though registration itself could not be proof of a valid marriage as such, it would have “great evidentiary value in the matters of custody of children, right of children born from the wedlock of the two persons whose marriage is registered and the age of parties to the marriage”. As a fallout of this controversy, Parliament ought to consider the Law Commission’s recommendation to amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, to make child marriages below 16 years void, and those solemnised when either party was between 16 and 18, voidable.
Tariffs & strategy: China can be countered by getting global value chains to shift here. But we have high trade costs
September 26, 2021, 8:30 PM IST TOI Edit in TOI Editorials, Edit Page, India, Times View, World, TOI
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TOI Edit
Times of India’s Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day.
The first in-person leaders’ summit last week of the Quad grouping resulted in a promising outcome that meshes economic integration with the overarching strategic motive. India is an immediate beneficiary of this thrust. The Quad Vaccine Partnership is financing a manufacturing expansion of domestic vaccine maker Biological E. The summit’s joint statements highlighted other potential areas of collaboration. The clean hydrogen partnership, a semiconductor supply chain initiative and telecommunications are three areas where India will potentially be presented with opportunities to make a technological and economic leap.
If the Quad’s economic potential is to materialise, it will come through private sector collaboration. In economic terms, the Quad economies are the antithesis of China, private firms operating in rules-based market economies drive things forward. For sure, agreements between governments will create an enabling environment. The potential will however have to be realised by private firms. In other words, if the Indian economy is to benefit from the opportunity arising out of the realignment, private firms need enough incentive to invest here.
In practical terms it translates into India’s tighter integration into global value chains (GVCs). An important factor influencing integration is the level of trade costs in India, through both tariff and non-tariff barriers. India’s trade policy in the recent past has pushed up costs through tariff increases. WTO data shows that India’s simple average applied MFN (most favoured nation) tariff increased from 13% in 2014-15 to 15.4% in 2020-21. At a more granular level, the percentage of tariff lines in the 10-30% duty category increased from 12.1% in FY15 to 22.1% in FY21. There’s been a marked shift towards protectionism that has on average increased trade costs. It will only discourage potential GVC investments. The prevailing favourable strategic environment needs supportive trade policies that persuade GVCs to come here.
India’s FDI inflows have increased recently in absolute terms but a look at the nature of flows suggests that access to the domestic market has been an important pull factor. There will be more positive spin-offs if an increasing incidence of inflows locks the domestic firms into GVCs. It will lead to diffusion of advanced technology and raise productivity across-the-board. Therefore, the historic opportunity arising out of closer ties of the Quad grouping can be realised if India reorients its trade regime to draw in FDI that binds the Indian economy to GVCs extensively. India is a more stable and dependable alternative to China for GVCs.