Category Centres

Xi’s Moscow Visit: A Formidable Force Against the West?

Beginning his three-day state visit to Moscow on March 20, China’s President Xi Jinping stated that relations with Russia are based on “no-alliance, no-confrontation and not targeting any third party”, even though “in a world of volatility and transformation, China will continue to work with Russia to safeguard the international system”. The joint statement issued after talks stated that bilateral relations have “reached the highest level in history”. President Vladimir Putin and President Xi have met 40 times so far.

India’s G20 Presidency: Promoting Oneness and Prosperity

India formally took over the baton of the G20 Presidency from Indonesia which started for one year from December 1, 2022. At the time of acceptance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated that “The world is looking at the G-20 with hope. Today, I want to assure that India’s G-20 presidency will be inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented. Over the next one year, we will strive to ensure that the G-20 acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action.” This was extremely important and flagged a dismal reality of a transitional global order and severe global challenges implicit in prevailing fragmentation, protectionism, and unilateralism in international discourse.

Six Takeaways for India from Russia-Ukraine Conflict

The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, visibly evident in the bloody fighting in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, has again drawn attention to the constant – war is the ultima ratio or the supreme arbiter in international politics. International politics takes place in the shadow of war, and force in international politics is timeless, remaining a viable instrument of statecraft.There are six key takeaways for India from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

J&K, Property Tax & Levying Power

The union territory administration of Jammu and Kashmir notified rules for levying property tax in towns and cities in the region. The Lieutenant Governor and the officers of urban development are leaving no stone unturned in convincing the people that this is a ‘progressive tax’, and the values are abysmally low and hence there will be hardly any burden on the people.

Is Plastic Ban the Best Option?

Do not ban plastic; the costs are too high for society, in particular for the less well-off. Instead, invest heavily in technologies to degrade the plastic not already amenable to biodegradation and deploy these to solve the problem. India has the worker capacity to collect all plastic waste and recycle it or treat it with chemical or biological agents to convert it into simpler compounds such as carbon dioxide, water and methane. India also has the brain power to innovate novel solutions to the problem of plastic persistence in the ecosystem

Relevance and Reliance on China’s Provisions of providing Financial System

The crises in Sri Lanka and Pakistan are raising questions about the relevance and the costs of their reliance on the alternative financial system provided by China’s Belt and Road Initiative

On March 6, China became the last major bilateral creditor to provide financing and restructuring assurances to Sri Lanka. Following this, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has agreed to make a final decision on Colombo’s $2.9 billion bailout package. Sri Lanka’s consistent back-and-forth negotiations with the IMF and China indicate a broader development in South Asia. In 2022, two other South Asian nations and participants of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — Pakistan and Bangladesh — had sought financial assistance from the IMF. These developments in the subcontinent indicate that developing countries are furthering their economic interests and stability by approaching the IMF and the West, even as they try not to antagonise China.

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