Editorial

Discussion
25-March-2024
25-March-2024

On
Governors
’ actions

India-Bhutan
ties
Pakistan may ‘seriously • GS PAPER II
examine’ resuming
• India and its neighbourhood relations.
trade with India
Pakistan may ‘seriously examine’ resuming trade with India

● Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ishaq Dar

said on Saturday (March 23) that the country
will “seriously examine” the question of
resuming trade with India.
● Bilateral trade between India and Pakistan
has been halted since 2019.
Pakistan may ‘seriously examine’ resuming trade with India

● Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported on Dar’s

press conference in London, where he said all
stakeholders would sit together, citing his
recent discussions with Pakistani traders.
● He said, “Everyone’s appeal was the same —
that our imports, which are still ongoing,
arrive via Dubai or Singapore, [resulting in]
extra freight, extra transhipment,
transportation costs, etc.”
● Why has trade with Pakistan been largely
stopped for nearly five years? What goods did
India export to Pakistan, and what might
explain the possibility of a change? We
explain.
Why was India-Pakistan trade paused?

● Pakistan suspended bilateral trade with India

in August 2019, after the Indian government
abrogated Article 370 of the Indian
Constitution.
● The now-scrapped article gave a special status
to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir,
following its accession with India in 1947.

● “As a party to this international dispute,

Pakistan will exercise all possible options to
counter the illegal steps,” said Pakistan’s
Foreign Office at the time, referring to its
claims on the region.
Why was India-Pakistan trade paused?

● However, as The Indian Express reported

previously, “an underlying reason for
suspending trade was the 200 per cent tariff
imposed by New Delhi on Pakistani imports
earlier that year after India revoked
Pakistan’s Most Favoured Nation (MFN)
status”.
Why was India-Pakistan trade paused?

● India took this step in the aftermath of the

Pulwama terrorist attack the same year.
● On February 14, 2019, a terrorist from the
Pakistani group Jaish-e-Muhammad rammed
an explosives-laden car into a convoy of the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at
Lethpora, a village in Pulwama, on the
Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. It led to
the deaths of 40 personnel.
Why was India-Pakistan trade paused?

● India withdrew Pakistan’s MFN status within

24 hours of the attack.
● Part of the World Trade Organisation’s
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), 1994, the idea here is that all member
countries of the WTO should accord MFN status
to all other member countries.
● This would ensure free and open trade and
that all members treat each other equally as
trade partners.
What was the composition of India-Pakistan trade?

● Despite having MFN status since 1996, Pakistan

maintained a Negative List of 1,209 products
that were not allowed to be imported from
India.
● Only 138 products were allowed to be imported
from India through the Wagah-Attari border
land route.

● Still, India maintained a significant trade

surplus over Pakistan, meaning the total value
of goods and services it exported to Pakistan
was much larger than the value of goods and
services it imported from Pakistan.
What was the composition of India-Pakistan trade?

● Even this number was not very significant

compared to the status of trade with other
countries.
● In FY17, India-Pakistan trade was a mere $2.29
billion, or about 0.35% of India’s overall trade.

● In 2018-19, cotton ($550.33 million) and organic

chemicals ($457.75 million) accounted for
around half of Pakistan’s imports from India.
● Other major Pakistani imports from India that
year included plastic ($131.19 million),
tanning/dyeing extracts ($114.48 million), and
machinery, and mechanical appliances ($94.88
million).
What was the composition of India-Pakistan trade?

● Meanwhile, India’s imports from Pakistan in

2018-9 included mineral fuels and oils ($131.29
million), edible fruits and nuts ($103.27 million),
salt, sulphur, stone and plastering materials
($92.84 million), ores, slag and ash ($17.18
million) and raw hides and leather ($16.27
million).
What was the fallout?

● After the ban, Pakistan’s imports of these five

products fell drastically between April 2020 and
January 2021, while cotton imports stopped
altogether.
● The only increase was in pharmaceutical products,
as Pakistan looked to ensure sufficient supplies of
medicines during the Covid-19 pandemic.

● Earlier this year, the government said some

amount of trade with Pakistan is being conducted
through land and sea routes but all business
through the land border has been stopped by the
neighbouring country “unilaterally”.
What was the fallout?

● Previously, whatever trade had happened,

everything was done through the Wagah-Attari
border and Karachi port, according to Union
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry
Anupriya Patel.
Has anything changed since then?

● This is not the first time that Pakistan has spoken

of resuming trade..
● In 2021, Pakistan’s Economic Coordination
Council, a top decision-making body, allowed the
import of cotton and yarn from India.
● A low domestic yield and the high cost of imports
from the likes of Brazil and the United States
were believed to be the reasons behind the
change of stance.

● However, it again took a U-turn, with then Prime

Minister Imran Khan saying trade could not
continue given the circumstances of that time.
Why might Pakistan be reconsidering trade with India?

● Although Dar did not equivocally speak about the resumption of

trade, several factors may be behind a softening in Pakistan’s stand.
● For one, there has been a change of face, if not regime, since Imran
Khan following elections held earlier this year.
● While the Pakistani military remains firmly in control, a new
government indicates the possibility of a new policy.

● It could also be done given the context of Pakistan’s economy, which

has been in dire condition.
● Devastating floods in 2022, high inflation, and political instability
alongside structural issues, have led to multiple crises related to
meeting the food and energy needs of the population.
Why might Pakistan be reconsidering trade with India?

● The country has had to frequently approach the International

Monetary Fund (IMF) or friendly countries like Saudi Arabia and
China for billions of dollars in loans.
● With the pause in trade with India, Importing goods from faraway
countries further depletes its low foreign exchange reserves.

● Some Indian traders, particularly in Punjab, have also expressed the

hope for trade to continue.
● Rajinder Singh Marwaha, Chairman World Sikh Chamber of
Commerce told The Indian Express that trade through the Integrated
Check Post (ICP) at Attari would also help reach Central Asian
markets.
● He added that trading with Pakistan currently involves going through
Iran or Dubai, adding to costs.
Questionable
conduct: On
Governors’ actions
• GS PAPER II
• Indian Constitution:
Historical underpinnings,
Evolution, Features,
Amendments, Significant
provisions and Basic
structure.
Questionable conduct: On Governors’ actions

● The conduct of the Tamil Nadu Governor,

R.N. Ravi, has been constitutionally
questionable for quite some time now.
● In the latest instance, his refusal to allow the
re-induction of K. Ponmudy into the Tamil
Nadu Cabinet has been exposed as
unwarranted.
● Following some strident criticism from the
Supreme Court, Mr. Ravi administered the
oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Ponmudy,
whose conviction in a corruption case was
recently stayed by the Court, resulting in his
eligibility to be a Member of the Legislative
Assembly being restored.
Questionable conduct: On Governors’ actions

● Mr. Ravi had taken the legally untenable

stand that it would be against “constitutional
morality” to re-induct Mr. Ponmudy based
on the stay of conviction.
● In the Governor’s interpretation, the order of
the two-judge Bench, staying the conviction
recorded by the Madras High Court, was only
by way of interim relief, and that it meant
that the conviction was “existent, but made
non-operative” and did not amount to its
being set aside.
Questionable conduct: On Governors’ actions

● The interpretation was quite questionable, as

the legal consequences that flow from a
criminal conviction in a corruption case — loss
of eligibility for being a legislator and,
therefore, for being a Minister — stand
suspended as soon as the conviction is stayed.
● Parliament and the State legislatures restore
the membership of those convicted as soon as
the conviction is stayed, even if their seats
had been declared vacant.
● The Governor’s confusion of “morality” and
principles of good governance with legality
seemed deliberate.
Questionable conduct: On Governors’ actions

● As Mr. Ravi’s propensity to find new ways to get

under the skin of the DMK regime becomes more
apparent, two things stand out: his reluctance to
accept the limitations of his office and the Union
government’s failure to act on the increasing
instances of its Governors being pulled up by the
Court.
● On an earlier occasion, the Court had noted that he
had disposed of Bills pending with him only after his
prolonged inaction was questioned by the Court.
● In the latest instance, he gave enough cause for the
Court to ask, “If the Governor does not follow the
Constitution, what does the State do except come to
a constitutional court?”
Questionable conduct: On Governors’ actions

● Things have come to such a pass that only a

vocal court can discipline them.
● Given the plurality of litigation concerning the
conduct of Governors, it is disconcerting that
the Centre does not see any scope for remedial
measures, when it ought to be its duty to
replace Governors who are pathologically
averse to following the Constitution.
● The only explanation is that their conduct is
driven, not by constitutional norms, but by the
political assignment given to them by those
appointing them.
Unbreakable: On
India-Bhutan ties
• GS PAPER II
• India and its
neighbourhood relations.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to

Bhutan last week, while productive, was
largely symbolic.
● Bhutan’s Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s
lengthy bilateral with Mr. Modi a week earlier
in Delhi, obviated the need for such a second
back-to-back visit.
● The announcement of India’s doubling of
support for Bhutan’s Five Year Plan, from
₹5,000 crore to ₹10,000 crore, was significant,
but has been under discussion, and could have
been made later, post the elections as well.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● The highlight of the visit, of Bhutan’s King

conferring Bhutan’s highest civilian award on
Mr. Modi, had been announced in 2021 for
India’s support during the COVID-19
pandemic, and also need not have been done
right now.
● The fact that Mr. Modi went ahead with the
visit, despite India’s electoral Model Code of
Conduct in place, his campaign schedule, and
inclement weather in Bhutan nearly derailing
the programme, indicates how important it
was.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● The symbolic messaging was three-fold:

● first, that India is fully committed to Bhutan’s
development, particularly the upcoming Gelephu
Mindfulness City, a project likely to benefit from
India’s increase in financial support to its
neighbour.
● Second, Bhutan is an integral part of India’s
infrastructure initiatives for road, rail, integrated
check points, and also for energy exchanges on
India’s grid, both of which are pushing sub-regional
trade and travel among India, Bangladesh, Bhutan
and Nepal.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● Third, that India is mindful of Bhutan’s

increased engagement with China, for the
boundary agreement they hope to forge soon,
but that it does not intend to give Beijing space
in areas of engagement such as trade and
investment, where China has made inroads
with India’s other close neighbours.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● As a result, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra may

have feigned disinterest when he brushed aside a
question on the China-Bhutan boundary talks, but
they are important.
● China-Bhutan talks about the possible swap of
land at Doklam to Bhutan’s west are, in fact, seen
as a threat to India’s Siliguri Corridor, whereas
China’s claim to areas on Bhutan’s east could
imperil India’s border connectivity projects in
Arunachal Pradesh.
● Recent reports, which the Ministry of External
Affairs has not denied, indicate that Bhutan may
have even asked India to go slow on those projects
until its boundary talks with China are complete.
Unbreakable: On India-Bhutan ties

● As a result, the most important message from

Mr. Modi’s sojourn was one of a united front at
a time of change.
● Accepting his award, Mr. Modi called India-
Bhutan ties “unbreakable”.
● India and Bhutan will need to emphasise that
lock-step even more in the days ahead to
retain the permanence of their ties in the face
of economic and social turmoil within their
countries, as well as the challenge in the
neighbourhood.
● Evaluate the implications of resuming trade relations between India
and Pakistan, considering the political, economic, and security
dimensions.

● Critically examine the necessity for redefining the role and functions
of the Governor in the context of evolving political dynamics in India,
while acknowledging the original constitutional intent behind the
establishment of this position.