The Hindu Editorials Notes (04 September 2019) For UPSC IAS Exam

 

GS-2 Mains

Question – Analyse the Kulbhushan Jadav case and the role of the ICJ.(250 words)

Context – Pakistan has granted consular access to Kulbhushan after ICJ orders in July.

The background of the case:

• Kulbhushan Jadhav is a retired Indian Navy officer.
• The Pakistani military court sentenced Jadhav on charges of “espionage and terrorism” after a closed trial in April 2017. 
• Pakistan’s claims that they arrested Jadav from Pakistan’s Balochistan province on March 3, 2016, on charges of spying. But India had said that the retired Indian Navy officer was kidnapped from Iran, where he was running a business.
• Pakistan has been repeatedly denying India any access to talk to Kulbhushan.
• So, India moved the ICJ in May 8, 2017 for the “egregious violation” of the provisions of the Vienna Convention by Pakistan by repeatedly denying New Delhi consular access to Jadhav.

What is consular access and what is the vienna convention?

• A consul, (who is not a diplomat) is a representative of a foreign state in a host country, who works for the interests of his countrymen in that country.
• The vienna convention is not one single treaty. It is a group of treaties that were signed between 1857 to 2015 in Vienna. For example, there is vienna convention on money (1857), vienna convention on civil liability for nuclear damage (1963), vienna convention on consular relations (1963) and so on.
• India has demanded consular access to Jadav under the rules of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.
• Article 36 of the Vienna Convention states that foreign nationals who are arrested or detained in the host country must be given notice without delay of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest.

Importance of consular access to Jadav for India:

• Jadav was awarded a death sentence after a secret trial. There is every possibility that the trial was a sham. If India gets consular access to Jadhav, it can demolish the Pakistani case by advising Jadhav on the various aspects of the case. 
• Consular access might also mean that Jadhav’s own views would get heard. Pakistan had extracted a video confession from Jadhav under force. It could pull off such stunts only by denying consular access to India.
• If Pakistan gives India consular access to Jadhav India can help Jadhav and his family extend their legal fight. 
• India will also get access to Jadhav’s real version of events leading to his arrest. This information can help India expose Pakistan.

How could India take this case to the ICJ despite Pakistan’s refusal?

• ICJ sometimes called the World Court is the principal judicial organ of the UN.
•  It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
• Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York (United States of America).
• The Court’s role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.
• Though the ICJ mostly hears cases where both the parties agree to submit their dispute before the ICJ, but in this case even though Pakistan did not want the ICJ to interfere, India could still take the case to the ICJ because both India and Pakistan are signatories of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963.
• According to a jurisdictional clause of the ICJ either party can take a case to the ICJ if  “the states are parties to a treaty containing a provision whereby, in the event of a dispute of a given type or disagreement over the interpretation or application of the treaty, one of them may refer the dispute to the Court”. The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations has this provision.

The importance of ICJ intervention:

• The trial of Jadav was held secretly and that raises concerns that it was a sham and a massive pressure was built on Jadav to admit to the charges.
• Pakistan was refusing India any kind of interference in the case and had pronounced a death sentence on him.
• So India took the case to the ICJ and India sought three broad reliefs: suspension of the death sentence, annul the decision of the Pakistan Military Court sentencing Jadav to death, and ‘restitutio in interregnum’ i.e. send Jadav back to India.
• India won the first demand. Also, the ICJ verdict clearly accepted India’s contention that Pakistan was in material breach of the Vienna Convention on the rights to consular access to India.
• The Court also holds that the protection of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention 1963 (consular access) is available even to those accused of espionage.
• So, Pakistan must grant India consular access to Jadav. It is by this judgement that India finally sent its consular to Jadav.

Way ahead:

• India must continue its efforts to safely bring Jadav back to our country.

 

No. 2.

 

GS-2 Mains

Question- Analyse the implications of the frequent suspension of cross border trade between India and Pakistan.(200 words)

Context – Pakistan’s decision to suspend trade relations with India.

The present situation:

• In February, India withdrew the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan. Subsequently, it imposed 200% customs duty on all Pakistani goods coming into India.
• After the Balakot airstrikes, again in February, India and Pakistan closed their airspace, with Pakistan keeping the ban in place for nearly five months.
• In April, India suspended trade across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir citing misuse of the trade route by Pakistan-based elements.
• And more recently, post the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, Pakistan cut off diplomatic and economic ties with India – expelling the Indian envoy, partially shutting airspace and suspending bilateral trade.
• So, as we can see it has led to led to the announcement of retaliatory unilateral decisions by both sides, one after the other.

Analysis: 

• All this has taken a heavy toll on bilateral trade relations between both the countries. In 2018-19, bilateral trade between India and Pakistan was valued at $2.5 billion but at present this has declined sharply.
• The article argues that unlike national economies, border economies owe their existence to cross-border economic opportunities. These economies generally experience a sudden boom-bust cycle on account of political changes, trade bans, price and exchange rate and tax fluctuations.

For example- 

• Indian side: Amritsar is land-locked, is not a metropolis and traditionally has no significant industry. Its major economic activity is largely dependent on border trade with Pakistan. Hence, any decision on India-Pakistan trade has a direct impact on the local economy and the people of Amritsar. Since February, according to estimates on ground, 5,000 families have been directly affected in Amritsar because of breadwinner dependence on bilateral trade.
• The customs house agents (CHAs), freight forwarders, labour force, truck operators, dhaba owners, fuel stations, and other service providers are closing shop and going out of business.
• Pakistan side: With Pakistan deciding to completely suspend bilateral trade, exports of cotton from India to Pakistan are expected to be affected the most, eventually hurting Pakistan’s textiles. It will now have to source pricier cotton from alternative markets in the United States, Australia, Egypt or Central Asia. There is a high possibility that Indian cotton, along with other products, will be routed through third countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Conclusion:

• So, while the overall economic activity of both the countries may very well manage to stay afloat despite the suspension of economic ties, it is the local economies that will suffer the most. There has been a loss in business, rise in prices, lack of alternative sources of livelihood, as well as an expected increase in bank defaults.

Way ahead:

• Governments on both sides need to think about either providing alternate sources of livelihood to the people residing in bordering areas or to resolve the trade relations at the earliest.
• Poverty pushes people to take to illegal activities. This has to be kept in mind too.