Decoupling not on Europe’s agenda, Li visit shows

By:
On:
In: Asia

MUNICH: Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s European tour last week made clear that Europe is not about to decouple from China. If anything, Sino-European cooperation will deepen on technology and, critically, on development issues in the Global South

Li is not only China’s second-ranking official but also Xi Jinping’s closest political associate since the time when the two worked together in Zhejiang Province, more than two decades ago. As Shanghai party chief, he expedited the Tesla Motors mega-factory that helped make China the world’s top auto exporter.

His visit included meetings with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and top German industrial leaders, as well as the up-and-coming prime minister of the state of Bavaria, and finished with an address to a Paris conference on development financing convened by President Emmanuel Macron.

President Macron with Li Qiang. Photo: CGTN

Li called for a “global development partnership” to provide more resources to developing countries, and for “liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment” to “inject fresh growth impetus into developing countries,” rather than “trade protectionism and decoupling and severing supply and industrial chains in any form,” according to a Chinese government statement.

The 27 leaders of the European Community meanwhile will “resort to a soft tone on China” at their June 28-29 EU Council summit in Brussels, according to a draft resolution leaked to Politico.

“Despite their different political and economic systems, the European Union and China have a shared interest in pursuing constructive and stable relations, anchored in respect for the rules-based international order, balanced engagement and reciprocity,” the draft reads, adding that Europe “does not intend to decouple or to turn inwards” or adopt policies “to harm China, nor to thwart China’s economic progress and development.”

The draft language echoes Scholz’s comments to the German Bundestag.

China’s exports to the Global South have doubled since 2020 and now exceed its total exports to developed markets for the first time. China is also the largest lender to developing countries. As central banks in developed markets tighten credit conditions in response to inflation, bank lending in dollars and euros to developing countries has shrunk. Many countries of the Global South are turning to China’s renminbi for trade and development financing as a substitute.

China’s exports of digital and physical infrastructure to the developing world have enabled the Global South to increase its exports to developed markets. According to a forthcoming World Bank analysis, China’s exports of intermediate goods to East Asia-Pacific countries have risen in tandem with the exports of EAP countries to developed markets. That is the virtuous cycle of globalization of which Li Qiang spoke in his Paris address.

China’s role in building infrastructure in the Global South is important for Europe’s exporters, but European governments have a more urgent reason to cooperate with China. Immigration from the world’s poorest economies from Africa to South Asia is Europe’s most sensitive political issue. Without stabilizing the economies of the poorest countries, Europe can’t stop a tidal wave of migrants from seeking refuge on its shores. China is the only economy with sufficient resources and technology – especially in digital infrastructure – to make a difference in the Global South.

After Li departed for Paris, Scholz told the German Bundestag that he is striving for “a geopolitical Europe” – that is, a Europe that plays an independent geopolitical role – together with French President Macron.

Scholz also announced a November conference of the Group of 20 Compact with Africa in Berlin, to “strengthen economic cooperation with our neighboring continent.” In addition, the EU is scheduled to hold a summit meeting with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in July.

The German Chancellor added that before Li Qiang’s visit, he had held intensive exchanges with other European leaders in preparation for the European Council’s discussion of EU-China policy in the coming week. In this context, he stressed China’s role in food security, in helping heavily indebted states, in investing in future technologies, in the fight against poverty, and in the fight against climate change.

Li Qiang’s visit marked the first formal government consultation between Germany and China since 2018. Consultations of this kind are reserved for Germany’s closest partners, and the visit’s protocol was a clear indication that the German chancellor seems to have little interest in dismantling relations with China

Washington has urged Europe to “de-risk” its economic relationship with China – a euphemism for decoupling – but the facts on the ground point toward a deepening economic relationship with China

With its economy in recession, Germany’s economic relationship with China has taken on additional importance. China is Germany’s most important trading partner. Much more than other European countries, Germany has built up its trade relations with China over the last 20 years. The exchange of goods between China and Germany amounted to almost EUR 300 billion in 2022 – well ahead of the volume of EUR 249 billion exchanged with the United States. Conversely, Germany is also China’s most important trading partner in Europe.

Germany’s automakers—the country’s largest industry—sell nearly 40 percent of the 14.2 million cars they make annually in China,

Li Qiang with BMW boss Oliver Zipse. Photo: Xinhua

China also supplies indispensable intermediate products on which German chemical and electronics manufacturers depend. In addition, China has a quasi-monopoly on rare earths. These are required for batteries, solar modules or electric cars.

Germany’s business community, understandably, has expressed frustration with the hostility towards China of leaders of the Green Party and its ministers in the coalition government. Volker Treier, head of foreign trade at the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), recently said: “The business community is very angry about this ambiguous communication on the China strategy, given the importance of China for our economy.”

Li Qiang’s visit marked a departure from a confrontational tone that had been set by Green Party German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in recent months. Baerbock’s trip to China in April raised political debates in Germany, with her critical remarks on issues such as Russia, Taiwan, and human rights drawing strong reactions from Chinese officials. Foreign Minister Qin Gang retorted, “We don’t need condescending lectures.” Baerbock characterized her trip as “shocking in parts” and claimed that China had become more aggressive internationally and repressive domestically, viewing it as a rival rather than a partner.

As the senior cabinet member for the Green Party, the second largest party in Berlin’s three-way coalition, Baerbock’s influence has waned along with support for the Greens, who won 22% of the national vote in last year’s federal elections but are now polling at just 13.5% of the voters.

By contrast, Li Qiang’s meeting with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder in Munich underscores the political dynamics within Germany, where the governing parties face increasing pressure. Söder, a potential beneficiary of an early end to the governing coalition, previously aspired to the chancellorship in 2021. He organized for Li to meet with the heads of Siemens and BMW, leading German firms based in Bavaria, and arranged a gala dinner in the Munich Residence in Li’s honor.

Li Qiang with Bavarian Prime Minister Söder, Photo: bayern.de

Influential voices inside Scholz’s Social Democratic Party are urging more cooperation with China. The Seeheimer Circle, an official think tank inside the SPD, released a paper last April on Germany’s relationship with China calling for a “multi-dimensional” – that is, open – policy towards the Asian giant.

Within the center-left SPD, the Seeheimer group emphasizes the interests of industry and labor; it forms part of the personal support base of Chancellor Scholz. The Seeheim Circle has gained in importance within the SPD in recent months. It is known within the center-left SPD as a conservative group more interested in economic policy.

An “abrupt end to trade relations with China” would be “an economic disaster,” the paper argued, rejecting an “anti-China strategy.”

Before Li’s arrival, the German government rejected de facto a call from the European Commission to exclude Chinese companies like Huawei and ZTE from Germany’s telecommunications architecture.

In March, Germany’s Economics Ministry, controlled by the Green Party, warned of risks to the network from a future Chinese retrofit, but the Interior Ministry, under the aegis of the Social Democrats, announced only that it was monitoring the situation. Germany’s largest mobile phone provider Deutsche Telekom categorically rejected the charge that Chinese providers represented a security rest, stating that it had tested its networks exhaustively for such vulnerabilities.

Diego Fassnacht is an international economist and an investment advisor to individual clients and institutions. Prior to his work in finance, he served on the governing council (Deutschlandrat) of the youth organization (JU) of the main German opposition party, the CDU.

Continue Reading

Mystery of ‘missing’ Indus Valley ruling class

By:
On:
In: Asia

A little over a century ago, British and Indian archeologists began excavating the remains of what they soon realized was a previously unknown civilization in the Indus Valley.

Straddling parts of Pakistan and India and reaching into Afghanistan, the culture these explorers unearthed had existed at the same time as those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, and covered a much larger area.

It was also astonishingly advanced: sophisticated and complex, boasting large, carefully laid out cities, a relatively affluent population, writing, plumbing and baths, wide trade connections, and even standardized weights and measures.

What kind of a society was the Indus Valley Civilization, as it came to be known? Who lived there and how did they organize themselves? Archeologists and other experts ask these questions to this day, but the first explorers were already noticing some unique features.

In Mesopotamia and Egypt, “much money and thought were lavished on the building of magnificent temples for the gods and on palaces and tombs of kings,” observed Sir John Marshall, who supervised the excavation of two of the five main cities, Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, “but the rest of the people seemingly had to content themselves with insignificant dwellings of mud.”

In the Indus Valley, “the picture is reversed, and the finest structures were those erected for the convenience of the citizens. Temples, palaces and tombs there may of course have been, but if so, they are either still undiscovered or so like other edifices as not to be readily distinguishable from them.”

Egalitarian society

In its heyday, from about 2600 to 1900 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization created what may have been the world’s most egalitarian early complex society, defying long-held presumptions about the relationship between urbanization and inequality in the past.

Its large cities were expansive, planned, and boasted large-scale architecture, including roomy residential houses, and smaller settlements in the surrounding areas appeared to support a similar culture with a similar standard of living.

The most tantalizing feature of the ancient Indus Valley remains is what they appear to lack: any trace of a ruling class or managerial elite.

This defies the longtime theoretical assumption that any complex society must have stratified social relations: that collective action, urbanization, and economic specialization only develop in a very unequal culture that takes direction from the top, and that all social trajectories evolve toward a common and universal outcome, the state.

Yet here was a stable, prosperous civilization that appeared to remain that way for centuries without a state, without priest-kings or merchant oligarchs, and without a rigid caste system or warrior class. How did they manage it?

Unfortunately, in the early decades of exploration and research, archeologists tended to assume that lack of evidence of a top-down, hierarchical society in the Indus Valley remains meant only that they had not yet been found.

Some have argued that lack of evidence of inequality only indicates that the region’s ruling class was very clever at disguising the boundaries between itself and other social strata.

Pointing to the fact that Indus Valley burial sites contain no monumental tombs, some researchers suggest that the rulers may have been cremated or deposited in rivers, as was the practice in other imperial cultures.

But cremation is not archeologically invisible; the remains of other cultures often include evidence of it.

More recently, archeologists have been willing to go back to the original explorers’ observations and use the evidence directly in front of them to develop theories about ancient life in the Indus Valley Civilization.

Improved data

Archeological data from South Asia have improved greatly, and there is much more information. Numerous Indus sites are now known to archeologists that decades ago were not, and the environmental contexts that enabled urbanization in the region – climate, natural resources – are now much clearer.

Archeologists have also honed a strong set of tools for identifying inequality and class divisions: from mortuary data, palace assemblages, aggrandizing monuments, written records, and soon, possibly, from household data.

Yet in a century of research, archeologists have found no evidence of a ruling class in the Indus Valley that is comparable to those recovered in other early complex societies.

In the late 1990s, Indus archeologists started to consider a new concept that seemed to fit the facts better. Heterarchy asserts that complex political organization, including cities, can emerge through the interaction of many different, unranked social groups, rather than from top-down decisions by an elite: that cooperation, not domination, can produce collective action.

It is now widely argued that multiple social groups contributed to the construction of Indus cities and the economic activities that took place in them, and that none seemed to dominate the others.

Bolstering this argument, no evidence exists that any group of Indus producers was excluded from the use of scarce materials that craftspeople had to obtain from long distances away, or that particular groups limited access to those materials to seize a higher position for themselves in Indus society.

One of the most distinctive and technically dazzling products of the Indus culture are stamped seals engraved with imagery and text; more than 2,500 have been found at Mohenjo-daro alone. But the seals were produced by many different groups of artisans in many locations, and there is no evidence that a ruling class controlled production.

Technological styles tended to cross-cut different groups of artisans, indicating a great deal of openness and knowledge sharing.

Indus city-dwellers built large- and small-scale public buildings; the Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro is a massive structure that contained a large paved bath assembled from tightly fitted baked bricks, waterproofed with bitumen and supplied with pipes and drains that would have allowed control over water flow and temperature.

At Mohenjo-daro, non-residential structures were built atop brick platforms that were as substantial as the structures erected on top of them, and would have required a great deal of coordinated action. It has been calculated that just one of the foundation platforms would have required 4 million days of labor, or 10,000 builders working for more than a year.

Public buildings

Yet at both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, these large non-residential structures were relatively accessible, suggesting that they were “public,” as opposed to palaces or administrative centers restricted to a privileged class.

Some of these may have served as specialized spaces for exchange, negotiation, and interaction among different groups clustered in neighborhoods or along important streets and roads.

These spaces may have helped the city-dwellers maintain a high degree of consensus on planning and policy and ensured that no one group was able to accumulate wealth at the expense of the rest.

The Indus Valley remains have yet to yield all of their riches. The Indus script has yet to be deciphered, and we still don’t know why the civilization started to decline in the 2nd millennium BC.

One of the most positive recent developments has been a dramatic increase in data and interest in the civilization’s small-scale settlements, which may shed light on the question whether these settlements were qualitatively different from one another or from the cities – and how far Indus egalitarianism extended across its broader landscape.

What we have already found, however, suggests that egalitarianism may have been a boon to collective action: that distinct social groups may have been more willing to invest in collective action if the benefits were not restricted to a subset of elites. That suggests that heterarchy may act as a kind of brake on coercive power among social groups, and across society as a whole.

If this is the case, and after a century of research on the Indus civilization, archeologists have not found evidence for a ruling class comparable to what has been recovered in other early complex societies, then it’s time to address the Indus Valley’s egalitarianism.

Urbanization, collective action, and technological innovation are not driven by the agendas of an exclusionary ruling class, the evidence suggests, and can occur in their total absence.

The Indus Valley was egalitarian not because it lacked complexity, but rather because a ruling class is not a prerequisite for social complexity. It challenges us to rethink the fundamental connections between collective action and inequality.

The priest-king is dead – or, in this case, most likely never existed.

This article was produced by Human Bridges, a project of the Independent Media Institute, which provided it to Asia Times.

Continue Reading

How CPEC went off the rails in Pakistan

By:
On:
In: Asia

Back in 2015, there was immense optimism surrounding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with expectations that it would elevate Pakistan’s global standing and position it as a leading force in South Asia. However, what was initially hailed as a well-intentioned effort to strengthen the bilateral relationship has become one of the primary factors contributing to Pakistan’s economic decline.

While there were a few significant Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in Pakistan prior to CPEC, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) ushered in a new era for Pakistan’s struggling public-sector projects and its chronically weak power and transportation industries. These sectors had long relied on government subsidies, leading to budget deficits.

After China announced its intention to support Pakistan and promote its ambitious Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, CPEC quickly emerged as the flagship project of the BRI.

Introduced in May 2013 during Chinese premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Pakistan, the economic corridor was lauded for its design, addressing Pakistan’s infrastructure gaps, establishing industrial zones, and creating trade routes to China through the strategically located Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.

The project initially required a substantial investment of US$46 billion, which quickly escalated to $62 billion in pledges, accounting for around 20% of Pakistan’s GDP. It encompassed several significant Early Harvest Projects (EHPs) in a country in dire need of international investment.

From a geopolitical standpoint, India has been a vocal opponent of the BRI since its inception in 2013. India viewed one of the key components of CPEC as a violation of its territorial integrity and sovereignty, particularly in relation to its claims on Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

The initiative was seen as part of China’s broader strategy to encircle India and gain influence in the region. Concerns also arose regarding China’s easy access to Pakistani ports and the potential establishment of a naval base, raising significant security apprehensions for India.

India opted to oppose the BRI and focused on its own connectivity initiatives, such as the International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chabahar port in Iran, although it lacked a comprehensive strategy to enhance regional connectivity.

Initially, the introduction of the CPEC project brought hope and relief to the people of Pakistan, who had been grappling with persistent power and energy issues. Widespread blackouts caused by severe power shortages had paralyzed economic activities and cast bustling market areas into darkness.

The energy crisis stemmed from exorbitant energy rates charged by independent power producers (IPPs), neglected power plants, deteriorating transmission lines, and years of populist government policies.

For more than three decades, citizens endured daily electricity outages of about 10 hours in urban areas and up to 22 hours in rural regions. These power cuts disrupted revenue-generating markets, industries, educational institutions, health-care facilities, and social activities.

Figure 1: Division of CPEC Projects

Source: Planning Commission of Pakistan

China’s initial focus on constructing new coal-fired power plants within the framework of CPEC was initially seen as a positive step. However, in late 2021, China shifted its stance to align with the objectives of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), committing to avoid developing coal-fired power plants overseas and striving for carbon neutrality.

This change had dire consequences for Pakistan’s coal-dependent power sector, as ongoing CPEC projects aimed at expanding the country’s power-generation capacity by 20 gigawatts were halted or shelved.

The economic viability of CPEC projects, along with Pakistan’s ongoing financial distress and its involvement in the “war on terror,” further complicated the situation. Rumors of impropriety on the Chinese side added to the challenges, leading to project delays and an increasing burden of unproductive debt.

While Pakistan’s unsustainable external debt and economic difficulties predated the CPEC agreement, the initiative exacerbated the country’s widening current account deficits and depleted foreign-exchange reserves. Despite recommendations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan imported significant volumes of materials for the projects before seeking a $6.3 billion bailout from the intergovernmental body.

The foundation of CPEC, heavily reliant on Chinese equity holdings in Pakistan’s infrastructure projects, has made Pakistan liable for 80% of the investments related to the corridor. This has raised concerns that the former flagship initiative of the BRI is flawed and a costly misstep for China.

China has consistently refused to defer or restructure pending debt repayments, fearing that it would set a precedent for other debtor nations and result in a collapse of bad loans. However, it is in China’s interest to assist Pakistan in maintaining its image as a reliable ally to the developing world.

Given these circumstances, it is crucial for economies in the region, particularly BRI countries like Pakistan, to monitor closely and manage the share of China’s debt in their total external debt.

Pakistan’s involvement in CPEC has led to impractical projects heavily reliant on foreign loans, exacerbating the country’s economic difficulties. Soaring trade deficits and low levels of foreign direct investment have been caused by excessive reliance on external borrowing without addressing underlying macroeconomic challenges.

Therefore, Pakistan needs to prioritize credit diversification and debt restructuring to regain control of its external sector and tackle the pressing macroeconomic issues at hand.

A more detailed article by this author can be found here: Debt ad Infinitum: Pakistan’s Macroeconomic Catastrophe.

Continue Reading

Modi in US: Why Washington is rolling out the red carpet for Indian PM

By:
On:
In: Asia
U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi participate in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on September 24, 2021 in Washington, DC.Getty Images
By Vikas Pandey
BBC News, Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US has assumed huge significance amid global economic and geopolitical headwinds.

The White House is pulling out all the stops to welcome Mr Modi – it’s a state visit, the highest level of diplomatic protocol the US accords to visiting leaders. Mr Modi will be given a ceremonial welcome at the White House on Thursday before he holds direct talks with President Joe Biden.

Then there is the state dinner, a meeting with CEOs, an address to the joint session of the Congress and speeches to Indian-Americans, which have been highlights of Mr Modi’s past US visits.

But behind the carefully crafted ceremonies lie discussions that have the potential to not only infuse new energy into India-US relations but also have an impact on the global order.

The Indo-Pacific is where the US possibly needs India’s influence more than anywhere else right now.

The US has long viewed India as a counterbalance to China’s growing influence in the region, but Delhi has never been fully comfortable with owning the tag.

It may still be reluctant to do so but China continues to be one of the main catalysts driving India-US relations.

But India has not shied away from taking decisions that irk China. It held a military drill with US forces last year in Uttarakhand state, which shares a Himalayan border with China. Delhi has also continued to actively participate in the Quad – which also includes the US, Australia and Japan – despite angry reactions from Beijing.

Indian diplomacy has been getting more assertive about saying that this is the country’s moment on the global stage. It has good reason – India is one of the few economic bright spots in the world right now.Geopolitics is also in its favour – most countries want a manufacturing alternative to China, and India also has a huge market with a burgeoning middle class. This makes it a good option for countries and global firms pursuing a China plus one policy.

Tanvi Madan, director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, says that what matters to the US is what India does and not what it publicly says about China.

“At the end of the day, whether or not India has publicly embraced the tag, it is very clear that Indian governments have seen the US relationship as helpful as they deal with China,” she said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a meeting with US President Joe Biden (not pictured) during the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Getty Images

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think-tank in Washington, added that the two countries had now started “seeing eye to eye on the broader Indo-Pacific theatre”.

“We are starting to see the US recognise the importance of western components of the Indian Ocean region. For many years, India’s main concern, for good reason, was the Indian Ocean region. Whereas for the US, it was the Pacific and the South China Sea. They will look at maritime security for the region now,” he said.

The joint statement may not mention China directly but it will be high on the agenda as the two leaders discuss ways to consolidate their presence in the Indo-Pacific.

But while they agree on China, the two countries have had differing approaches to the Ukraine war.

Delhi has not directly criticised Russia, which analysts say is largely due to its huge dependency on Russian defence imports and its “time-tested ties” with Moscow.

India relies on Moscow for nearly 50% of its defence needs, but that’s not the only reason. India has always taken pride in following its policy of non-alignment – or strategic autonomy, as it has been called in recent years. It doesn’t want to be confined to a specific power centre in the global order, which irked Washington diplomats in the early months of the invasion.

But the US has softened its stance in recent months – it has even overlooked India’s continuous purchase of crude oil from Russia.

India too has gone a step forward by publicly calling for an end to the war.

Ms Madan added that the different responses to the invasion weren’t a deal-breaker in India-US relations.

“When there is strategic convergence, the two countries are incentivised to manage their differences. Maybe not eliminate them, but manage their differences. And I think that has happened with their differing stands on Russia,” she said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (C) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose for a group photo prior to their trilateral meeting at the G20 Osaka Summit 2019 on June 28, 2019 in Osaka, Japan. Vladimir Putin has arrived in Japan to participate in the G20 Osaka Summit and to meet U.S.President Donald Trump. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Meanwhile, other key areas of discussion include technology, defence and global supply chain management.

The two countries have signed what they call the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. The deal will allow US and Indian firms and universities in different sectors, including IT, space, defence, artificial intelligence, education and healthcare, to work together.

The leaders may also announce more co-operation in technology, especially in semi-conductor manufacturing where China is the biggest player.

Defence is another area that has emerged as a key point of convergence.

India is the world’s biggest arms importer and Russia still accounts for a major chunk of it at 45%, data analysed between 2017 and 2022 suggests. But the headline here is that Moscow’s share used to be 65% until 2016 – that’s where the US sees an opportunity.

Washington’s share has grown but it’s still just 11%, behind France’s 29%. So some big-ticket defence deals are inevitable – they are likely to announce India’s purchase of the battle-tested MQ-9A “Reaper” drones and a deal between GE and Indian state-run firms to manufacture fighter jet engines in India.

Mr Kugelman says defence co-operation between the two nations “has come a long way”.

“If you look at the recent track record, one could argue that the treatment the US gives India is not dissimilar from what it gives to many of its allies,” he said.

President Joe Biden (R) gestures with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the two leaders met in a hallway as Biden was going to a European Commission on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian island of Bali, on November 15, 2022.

Getty Images

While defence and technology will most likely see some big announcements, the same can’t be expected in trade.

The US is now India’s top trading partner at $130bn, but analysts say there is still huge untapped potential. The two countries have had major differences over tariffs and export controls.India has signed a free trade agreement with Australia and Dubai and is discussing similar deals with others including Canada, the UK and the EU.No such deal is on the cards this visit but the leaders may discuss or at least lay the ground for solving trade-related issues in the future.

Mr Kugelman said the differences were not discarded but set aside in the interests of more mutually beneficial areas of co-operation.

But he added that trade between Indian and US firms has flourished in recent years despite inter-government differences.

It may not be the top priority but trade will certainly feature when the two leaders discuss global supply chain issues owing to the pandemic and China’s monopoly.

“Trade used to be a sore subject but I think the two sides are approaching trade policy differently today. But you can’t look at global supply chain issues without eventually discussing trade,” Ms Madan said.

The timing of the visit is also interesting as both countries will hold elections next year and the two leaders will be looking at sellable headlines for their domestic audiences.

So some big headline-making deals are inevitable. But then, US-India relations have always been complex – with decades of mistrust followed by rebuilding of trust and then occasional flare-ups.

But Mr Biden seems determined to make India-US relations shine even though some in his country have questioned India’s record on human rights under Mr Modi.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s recent statement says a lot about the status of the relationship: “We know that India and the United States are big, complicated countries. We certainly have work to do to advance transparency, to promote market access, to strengthen our democracies, to unleash the full potential of our people. But the trajectory of this partnership is unmistakable and it is filled with promise.”

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Presentational grey line

Read more India stories from the BBC:

Presentational grey line

Related Topics

More on this story

Continue Reading

India’s northern state swelters in extreme heat, doctors advise people over 60 to stay indoors

By:
On:
In: Asia

India Meteorological Department data shows Ballia reported a maximum temperature of 42.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, which is 4.7 degrees Celsius above normal. The scorching summer has sparked power outages across the state, leaving people with no running water, fans, or air conditioners. Many have staged protests. Uttar Pradesh ChiefContinue Reading

Lancet study: More than 100 million people in India diabetic

By:
On:
In: Asia
A nurse collects a blood sample using a glucometer at a free diabetic health check-up campGetty Images

A new study published in Lancet has found that 101 million people in India – 11.4% of the country’s population – are living with diabetes.

The study commissioned by the health ministry also found that 136 million people – or 15.3% of the people – were living with pre-diabetes.

Diabetes is a disorder in which the pancreas is unable to produce insulin.

It is characterised by uncontrolled high blood glucose levels and it can be controlled by injecting insulin.

The latest study, published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, is considered to be the first to comprehensively cover every state to assess the country’s burden of non-communicable diseases.

Researchers said they found that the prevalence of diabetes in India’s population was much higher than previously estimated. The WHO had estimated 77 million people suffering from diabetes, and nearly 25 million were pre-diabetics, at a higher risk of developing diabetes in near future.

“It is a ticking time bomb,” Dr RM Anjana, lead author of the study and managing director at Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, told The Indian Express newspaper.

“If you have pre-diabetes, conversion to diabetes is very, very fast in our population; more than 60% of people with pre-diabetes end up converting to diabetes in the next five years,” she said.

Indian patients suffering diabetes and supporters participate in "Beat Diabetes," a 5kms walkathon aimed at spreading awareness about diabetes in Bangalore on November 21, 2010

AFP

The decade-long study was conducted by the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and involved 113,000 participants over the age of 20 from every state in India.

Data collected in 2008 was extrapolated for 2021 using demographics in the latest National Family Health Survey, the most comprehensive household survey of health and social indicators by the government.

The highest prevalence of diabetes was observed in Goa (26.4%), Puducherry (26.3%) and Kerala (25.5%).

The study warned of a sharp rise in diabetes in states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh where the prevalence was lower.

Also diabetes was more frequent in urban than rural areas, the study found.

Diabetes affects about one in 11 adults worldwide and increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and limb amputation.

It is normally split into type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 diabetes is a disease of the immune system. It errantly attacks the body’s insulin factories (beta-cells) so there is not enough of the hormone to control blood sugar levels.

Type 2 diabetes is largely seen as a disease of poor lifestyle as body fat can affect the way the insulin works.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Presentational grey line

Read more India stories from the BBC:

Related Topics

Continue Reading

The divisive debate over California’s anti-caste bill

By:
On:
In: Asia
Senator Aisha WahabPrem Pariyar

A bill introduced to make caste discrimination illegal in California is set to come up for discussion in the state assembly this week. Savita Patel, a California-based independent journalist, speaks to those supporting and opposing the bill becoming a law.

Sukhjinder Kaur*, a nurse at a hospital in California, works long and tiring hours serving patients. But whenever it’s break time, things become oppressive.

She is a Dalit (a community that is placed at the bottom of India’s deeply discriminatory caste hierarchy) and says she often faces casteist insults from her South Asian colleagues.

Dalit rights activists say scores of caste-oppressed Californians face housing, educational, professional, and social discrimination.

In March, Senator Aisha Wahab, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, authored and introduced the SB-403 bill – legislation that seeks to add caste as a protected category in the state’s anti-discrimination laws alongside gender, race, religion and disability.

The bill was passed by the state’s senate in May with a 34-1 vote. If it goes through in the state assembly, California will become the first US state to ban caste discrimination.

“Nurses from upper castes pass slurs about chamars [a pejorative term for Dalits] being dirty and polluting,” says Ms Kaur, who is among those who are in favour of the law.

In February, Seattle became the first city in the US – and outside South Asia – to outlaw caste discrimination, generating momentum for the legislation in California. It is being propelled by the same broad multi-faith, inter-caste, multi-racial coalition of over 40 American and international Dalit and human rights activists and organisations, led by California-based Equality Labs.

California has a large South Asian diaspora and is home to some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

Anti-caste bill

Renu Singh

The state is home to more than half of the 500,000-plus Sikh population in the US and gurudwaras (Sikh temples) in California have been mobilising momentum to outlaw caste discrimination.

Two of the community’s largest advocacy groups – The Sikh Coalition and Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund – support the bill. Among Sikhs, it is the Ravidasia community – the largest Dalit community in the state with approximately 15,000-20,000 members – which is advocating for the bill at grassroots level.

Renu Singh, who follows the Ravidasia tradition and is also a women’s rights activist, has been urging women to speak about their own experiences of caste discrimination and those they see around them so that lawmakers understand the gravity of the issue.

Data from an Equality Lab study shows that one in four caste-oppressed people from the South Asian American diaspora have faced physical and verbal violence; one in three has faced discrimination in education, and two out of three have experienced workplace discrimination.

It was the first extensive study of caste distribution and its effects in the US and had over 1,500 respondents. The findings, published in 2018, say that those from “lower castes” fear retaliation and worry about being “outed” and hence “hide their caste”.

However, a significant section of the Indian diaspora rejects caste discrimination claims.

Deepak Aldrin, a San Francisco-based Dalit activist is not in favour of the bill. “I’ve lived here for 35 years. No Hindu has ever asked me what caste I belong to,” he says.

The bill is meeting strong opposition from many Indian-American individuals, religious and professional groups, who argue that even though it does not specifically name their religion, it will “discriminate against Hindus, their places of worship and even make them less hiring worthy”.

They say the existing laws in California are sufficient to address any discrimination and are mobilising the community to urge their lawmakers to disallow the legislation to proceed.

Anti-caste bill

Renu Singh

Many businesses and Hindu temples under HinduPACT – an American Hindu grassroots advocacy initiative – have appealed to California lawmakers to reject the bill. Its convenor Ajay Shah says that the legislation is “deeply flawed, ill-intentioned and targets children and youth from the Indian subcontinent and those who follow the Hindu dharma [Hinduism].”

Suhag Shukla, co-founder and executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, says this bill is already creating an “undesirable” awareness about caste. She says she has been “hearing inappropriate queries from workers, especially in tech, who are being asked about their caste by non-South Asians”. She says if this becomes a pattern, it can be grounds for ethnicity-based harassment.

The foundation has sued the state in a federal court for an “unconstitutional definition of caste” and has also challenged the addition of caste to its non-discrimination policy, saying that it “singles out one community for ethnic profiling and additional policing”.

Those opposing the bill say they are also perplexed as to how the state plans to identify an individual’s caste since it’s a very complex issue, .

The bill, Ms Wahab explains, does not include details for identifying caste, similar to other protected categories.

“There is no language on how caste will be determined. This is simply an anti-discrimination bill. When somebody takes a matter up to the courts, that is usually when subject matter experts are engaged, the type of discrimination potentially that has taken place [is investigated].”

Ms Wahab says she has received “death threats” after proposing the bill. She now faces a recall campaign and a possible re-election. She adds that the “visceral reaction” to the bill is “disheartening” and has urged Californians to read the bill.

“Whether you’re upper caste or lower caste, it does not matter, it will protect you as well,” she says.

*Some names have been changed to protect identity.

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Presentational grey line

Read more India stories from the BBC:

Presentational grey line

Related Topics

Continue Reading

India train crash: More than 200 dead after Odisha incident

By:
On:
In: Asia

This film is no playable.

You must help JavaScript in your website in order to view this film.

by George Wright, Jaroslav Lukiv, andamp
NBC News

According to authorities, at least 207 citizens are now known to have died and 900 injured in a numerous train collision in the eastern Odisha state of India.

According to Odisha’s deputy director Pradeep Jena, more than 200 ambulances were dispatched to the scene in the Balasore area.

It is believed that one customer train derailed before colliding with another late on Friday on the nearby trail.

It is the worst coach accident in India this decade. According to authorities, more deaths are anticipated.

The Coromandel Express and the Howrah Superfast Express were the two companies involved, according to Indian Railways.

According to Sudhanshu Sarangi, the fire department’s manager general in Odisha, 207 systems have been found so far.

More than 100 more physicians had been mobilized, according to Mr. Jena earlier.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his distress over the event and his concern for the grieving families.

He tweeted,” Save operations are underway at the scene of the accident, and all aid is being provided to those affected.”

However, Amit Shah, the home minister, described the incident as” greatly agonizing.”

” 10 to 15 individuals fell on me when the incident happened, and all went wild ,” according to one female victim. At the base of the heap was me.

My hands and the back of my neck were both injured. The victim told India’s ANI media agency that when I exited the train bogie, I noticed that someone had lost their hand, a leg, and that their face was distorted.

At around 19:00 local time( 13:30 GMT ), it is thought that several carriages from the Shalimar – Chennai Coromandel Express derailed, with some of them ending up on the opposing track.

The overturned vehicles are therefore believed to have been struck by a different station, the Howrah Superfast Express, which was traveling from Yesvantpur.

A products coach that was stationed at the location, according to American officials, was also involved in the incident. They didn’t give any more information.

Some of the passengers who were still alive were seen rushing in to aid in the evacuation of those trapped inside the aircraft.

Additionally, regional bus firms assisted in transporting injured travelers.

Anbarasan Ethirajan, a provincial writer for BBC South Asia, claims that despite successive governments spending hundreds of millions of dollars to boost the infrastructure, accidents still occur frequently on India’s one of the largest teach networks in the world.

At least 800 people were killed when an crowded passenger train was blown off the lines and into a valley in Bihar position in 1981, causing the worst train accident in India.

Map

Banner saying 'Get in touch'

Are you nearby? Did you see what happened? Send a message to haveyoursay @ bbc.co. uk.

If you’d like to speak with a BBC blogger, kindly involve your phone number. Additionally, you may contact us using the following methods:

    Snapchat: 44 7756 165803

  • Tweet: @ BBC_ HaveYourSay
  • Add images or videos.
  • Please examine our private notice, terms and conditions, and plan.
You must visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment if you are reading this page and are unable to see the form. Alternatively, you can email us at HaveYourSay @ bbc.co. uk. Any distribution should be accompanied by your name, period, and location.

Related Subjects

More information about this tale

Continue Reading

A life for children’s rights

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

Children make up a third of the world’s population. One might wonder what would happen if they had self-representation in global politics.

“A society that welcomes the voices of children will certainly be a bit noisier. As if adults weren’t noisy enough,” joked child rights advocate Amihan V. Abueva. “But maybe with some louder noise from the younger ones, we could find more sense and better solutions.” 

From the Philippines, Abueva has been a pioneer in her field for more than three decades. This week marked International Children’s Rights Day on 1 June, which the Southeast Asia Globe commemorated by walking through her pivotal work across the region and world in an extensive interview. 

A key member and former president of the Bangkok-based child protection network ECPAT International, Abueva played a major advocacy role for stopping child prostitution in the global sex tourism of Southeast Asia. 

Beyond that, Abueva has long been a vocal proponent of the right of children to participate in society, especially in policy-making about child welfare. She previously served as the Philippines’ government representative to the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and has worked to encourage input from youths and children.

Abueva was born in the Philippines and raised during the authoritarian regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. In those years, she overcame several obstacles to become a rights defender, but the real turning point in her work as a children’s advocate wasn’t until after the end of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986. 

Soon after the restoration of democracy, she gave birth to a child.

“Then it was when I became a breastfeeding advocate and got more serious about children’s rights,” Abueva said. “I have never left.”

That was 1988. The next year, the UN adopted the first children’s rights international treaty, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Abueva, who started her activism in the Marcos years, and her team successfully lobbied the Philippine Senate until it signed and ratified the treaty in 1990.

The UNCRC is now the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history, adopted by 196 nations, including all Southeast Asia countries. 

Although that was a big milestone for the region, Abueva felt it wasn’t enough. 

Through the years, while overseeing research on prostitution and tourism, she felt “it was really important to talk to the children themselves about it”.

In 1996, she embarked on a campaign to involve children in the first World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm. The event included representation from 122 governments and civil society organisations from around the world.

“I had a real uphill battle,” she said. “I insisted that children should be participating at the same level as adults, and I won.” 

The planning committee accepted her plea and 16 children from the Philippines, Sweden, Brazil and Ghana participated in the congress. 

That was just the beginning. From 2000 to 2008, hundreds of children from more than 20 countries were involved in international meetings. As children’s participation grew quickly, ECPAT worked along with other international organisations to facilitate the process and train adult participants to safely and effectively interact with the youths. 

“Many people work for children, but they don’t know how to work with children,” she said. 

Amihan V. Abueva at an event in the Philippines. (Photo submitted)

Abueva wants to see even more child participation across all levels of governance, from domestic to international.

“When you help children to grow and develop critical thinking, they can become leaders for themselves,” she said. “It is our responsibility to accompany them. Especially in our society, which is not kind towards those who think critically.”

What does child participation mean in the context of Southeast Asia?
A concept we are seeing emerging now is children as human rights defenders. But, of course, it’s difficult in a region where even adult human rights defenders are at risk. 

By using the term “human rights defenders”, children could find protection in already-existing international legislative standards. But the problem is how the state allows those rights. We have to help children to value peace and solidarity and so to help each other rather than become military-led. 

Recognition of the children’s right to participate in Southeast Asia has been progressing at different levels. Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, are more involved in child participation across the region, while others, such as Laos and Vietnam, are still trying to catch up. In Myanmar, we also have a big problem now. The military junta really endangers lots of children. We are still working with some groups there, but they have to be really careful. We are still trying to find safe ways for them to participate, for instance, through consultations with the UN. 

Civil society organisations, government agencies and inter-governmental bodies have strengthened collaborative work to create safe spaces for children to express their views on matters affecting their lives. But aside from the various efforts of creating safe spaces for children, child participation is not just children receiving kits or food during an activity, it is not just children watching magic shows, or having activities to commemorate children’s month. 

Meaningful child participation brings in children even at the planning stage, where children can raise what they think is the best way for them to celebrate the children’s month, what programs, projects or activities are appropriate or are needed by them and their peers, and how the activities should be implemented that will ensure child-friendly approaches and tools. Another important aspect of meaningful child participation is getting the children’s feedback on the activities and how they can be further improved in the future. 

Allowing children to speak and make decisions, even as simple as letting them decide the colour of shirt to wear, helps them develop important life skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, and communicating.

What programs and activities are available for children to participate in key decisions at a community or national level?
At the national level, civil society groups are advocating for more meaningful child participation in existing or current mechanisms. 

For example, in the Philippines, the local government units are mandated to create a Local Council for the Protection of Children at the village, city or municipality and province levels. Children representatives are among the members of the council. Consultations with children are being conducted at the village level. The team is also in charge of promoting and ensuring a safe environment for children and overseeing the government’s action on the topic. 

Across the region, efforts to organise children and youth groups are also multiplying because we have to remember that children are not just passive recipients of services, victims, or survivors, but they are also active agents of change.

In issues like climate change, children are already taking action in simple ways that are also relevant in their own community. In the UNCRC monitoring and reporting, children are actively participating in preparing the reports submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

At the regional level, there is the ASEAN Children’s Forum (ACF), which is conducted every two years. During this regional meeting, children talk about issues that affect their lives and their peers. We also conduct a regional childrens’ meeting annually. We gather children from the communities where our member organisations work. In addition, we conduct consultations with children for our strategic plan. 

In 2019, we organised the Asian Children’s Summit for the first time. It was a way to try to bridge the whole of Asia. So we had children from East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The kids discussed four main themes, namely the right to help the environment, digital safety, children and the in the context of migration and violence against children and we asked them to develop what they wanted to say about this. 

That event especially demonstrated that children have so many ideas and that we need everybody to be working together. 

We value children’s voices in our work and we learn a lot from them and because of this, we are able to do our work better.

What are some of the main challenges in this field?
First, the participation rights of children need to be fully understood by all stakeholders. It is not just simply listening to children when they talk. Article 12 of the UNCRC talks about “giving due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of children”. It is active listening for adults and taking action based on the views of children. At the same time, adults have the responsibility to explain to children why some of their views could not be considered.

Meaningful child participation can be consultative, collaborative or child-led. These three approaches are equally important. 

Another problematic thing in Asia is that there is the process behind the [ASEAN Children’s Forum], which is organised by the ministers for social welfare and development and regional working groups. The ones who really get the work done here are senior officials in the end, which is not really the point of a children’s forum, is it? 

We [children’s rights practitioners] don’t know who actually listens to what the children said and what they do with the children’s opinions afterwards. There’s been an attempt to revise the terms of reference, but I’m not sure whether that’s already been changed or not.

Another major issue now is that children are the first ones to lose their voice when civic space shrinks and states impose stronger restrictions. That is what’s happening in Myanmar. But in the Philippines, things are also not going too well for children. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, two teenage girls broke the curfew rules and two policemen caught them and took them to the beach. They sexually molested one and raped the other. Following the event, one of the girls went to report the case to the police in a neighbouring town but in addition to being denied police protection, on the way home she was ambushed and shot dead. 

Our work is to explain to the kids that when you are abused go to the police and report the violence. But cases like this really break everybody’s trust. If even the authorities don’t respect children, we are in big trouble.

Our role as child rights defenders is to ensure that the children’s voices are heard as loudly as possible.

What are your hopes for the future of children’s rights in Southeast Asia?
One day, a girl from Pakistan and her Indian friend came to me and said: “Grandma Ami, when you talk about our right to a healthy environment, don’t think only in terms of physical health, you have to also talk about mental health.”

And I was really taken aback because it was 2019. At that time, there wasn’t that much being said about the mental health of children. This was pre-pandemic. I really thought they had a point. Mental health was and is a big problem and I realised that thanks to two children speaking up to me.

This is exactly what I hope for the future; that adults value children’s opinions. When we embrace their participation, we need to value them for what they are now and for what they will be in the future. 

Children’s rights are everybody’s business.

Continue Reading