Department Of South And Central Asian Studies
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Item India�s Neighbourhood Vaccine Diplomacy During COVID-19 Pandemic: Humanitarian and Geopolitical Perspectives(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-02-18T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Singh, Sandeep; Singh, Balinder; Chattu, Vijay KumarIn recent years, India has established itself as the world�s �pharmacy hub�, and this claim was proven once again when it delivered COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens, neighbouring nations and across the globe. Following the philosophy of humanitarianism through the principle of �Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam�, India has decided to provide the COVID-19 health assistance to its immediate neighbouring countries. India�s immediate neighbourhood refers to the countries that are geographically adjacent to it. In addition, India�s vaccine diplomacy has exposed geopolitical fault lines in South Asia as China�s vaccine diplomacy aims to outpace India in the region. Against this background, the main objective of this paper is to explain and examine India�s vaccine diplomacy as an instrument of its �Neighbourhood First� policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that India�s health-focused approach has proved effective and aligned with its national interests. This review demonstrates that India�s health diplomacy has had an impact on medical and humanitarian assistance reciprocation at the regional and international levels. As a result of this strategy, during the second wave of the pandemic, India received medical devices and vaccines from other countries in dealing with COVID-19. � The Author(s) 2022.Item COVID-19 and Global Distributive Justice: �Health Diplomacy� of India and South Africa for the TRIPS waiver(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2022-01-19T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Kaur, Jaspal; Mol, Rajni; Gauttam, Priya; Singh, BalinderThe second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic had left heart-wrenching impacts on all facets of life in general and the availability, accessibility, and affordability of medicines and vaccines in particular. Rather, the world has been divided into two groups regarding access to medicine and vaccines as haves and have-nots. The rich countries had pre-ordered the vaccines of COVID-19 along with the holding of the same. The pandemic situation was further worsened, given the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in practice and restrictions on sharing technology of vaccines, medicines, and life-saving equipment. In this context, India and South Africa have proposed the joint proposal and garnered support for waiving off TRIPS to ensure equity, accessibility, and affordability of vaccines and the same as public goods. In this review, we emphasize that global justice is one of the important elements of normative international theories, which focus on all the moral obligations from the world�s rich to the world�s poor. The paper also questions and argues that if the rich countries fail to go by the principles of global justice, can the Indian and South African (SA) patent diplomacy play a catalyst role in global justice? The review concludes with an emphasis on global solidarity, and the acceptance of joint India�South Africa�s �patent diplomacy� for TRIPS waiver would result in mass production and fair distribution, making the COVID-19 medicines and technologies available to everyone regardless of their poor�rich status. � The Author(s) 2022.Item The double whammy of pandemic and war: A systematic review of india�s education diplomacy to address educational inequities in afghanistan(MDPI, 2021-10-18T00:00:00) Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Sen, Rajinder Kumar; Singh, Balinder; Chattu, Vijay KumarHigher education is considered an important tool for the overall development of any country, and it holds true in the context of Afghanistan as well. At the same time, a good eco-environment in terms of political will, leaders� farsighted vision, a fair budget, good infrastructure, and a good teaching community are some of the basic requirements for higher education to move in the direction of new and higher horizons. However, due to the ongoing war during the last couple of decades, the country�s education system has become out of reach for a substantial part of the population due to poverty, lack of infrastructure, refugees and internally displaced, digital division, etc., critically affecting the education equity. This systematic review examines India�s education diplomacy in addressing the inequities in Afghanistan�s education system and making them more equitable. Education was further dilapidated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Afghanistan is caught between a war and a pandemic and suffers from a double whammy in losses. Subsequently, given their chilling effects, higher education becomes devoid of multiples equities, including education. However, because of their historical and geo-civilizational ties, India has focused on development diplomacy in general and education diplomacy (E.D) in particular to improve educational infrastructures. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item COVID-19 Vaccine, TRIPS, and Global Health Diplomacy: India's Role at the WTO Platform(Hindawi Limited, 2021-08-27T00:00:00) Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Jakovljevic, MihajloIn light of the devastation caused by COVID-19, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and vaccine research and development (R&D) have been occupying a prominent position in the field of global health diplomacy (GHD). Most countries, international organizations, and charitable organizations have been engaged in the R&D of COVID-19 vaccines to ensure timely affordability and accessibility to all countries. Concomitantly, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides some provisions and enforcements regarding copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical indications, and industrial designs. Given these safeguards, it is considered that intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become major barriers to the affordability and accessibility of vaccines/medicines/technology, particularly to the developing/least developed countries. Realizing the gravity of the pandemic impact, as well as its huge population and size, India has elevated this issue in its global health diplomacy by submitting a joint proposal with South Africa to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a temporary waiver of IPRs to ensure timely affordability and accessibility of COVID-19 medical products to all countries. However, the issue of the temporary waive off had become a geopolitical issue. Countries that used to claim per se as strong advocates of human rights, egalitarianism, and healthy democracy have opposed this proposal. In this contrasting milieu, this paper is aimed at examining how the TRIPS has become a barrier for developing countries' development and distribution of vaccines/technology; secondly, how India strategizes its role in the WTO in pursuant of its global health diplomacy? We conclude that the IPRs regime should not become a barrier to the accessibility/affordability of essential drugs and vaccines. To ensure access, India needs to get more engaged in GHD with all the involved global stakeholders to get strong support for their joint proposal. The developed countries that rejected/resisted the proposal can rethink their full support. � 2021 Vijay Kumar Chattu et al.Item India�s Health Diplomacy as a Soft Power Tool towards Africa: Humanitarian and Geopolitical Analysis(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2021-09-17T00:00:00) Mol, Rajani; Singh, Bawa; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Kaur, Jaspal; Singh, BalinderIndia and Africa have been sharing a multidimensional relationship of cooperation and friendship since the ancient civilizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new possibilities and opportunities for India to leverage its soft power diplomacy towards Africa. The paper�s main focus is to analyze how India has made soft power part of its foreign policy and examine India�s relationship with the African continent through health diplomacy. A literature search was done in major databases, such as Web of Science, Medicine/PubMed, Scopus, OVID, and Google Scholar search engine to gather relevant information. Through humanitarian assistance and geopolitical influence, India had won the support and heart of Africans. Besides, India has become a global healthcare provider in the African continent through its global health diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy. India has achieved impressive gains through its soft power diplomacy and has become a compassionate and benevolent actor in the African continent. � The Author(s) 2021.Item Public health policy of India and COVID-19: Diagnosis and prognosis of the combating response(MDPI AG, 2021-03-22T00:00:00) Gauttam, Priya; Patel, Nitesh; Singh, Bawa; Kaur, Jaspal; Chattu, Vijay Kumar; Jakovljevic, Mihajlo(1) Background: Society and public policy have been remained interwoven since the inception of the modern state. Public health policy has been one of the important elements of the public administration of the Government of India (GOI). In order to universalize healthcare facilities for all, the GOI has formulated and implemented the national health policy (NHP). The latest NHP (2017) has been focused on the �Health in All� approach. On the other hand, the ongoing pandemic COVID-19 had left critical impacts on India�s health, healthcare system, and human security. The paper�s main focus is to critically examine the existing healthcare facilities and the GOI�s response to combat the COVID-19 apropos the NHP 2017. The paper suggests policy options that can be adopted to prevent the further expansion of the pandemic and prepare the country for future health emergency-like situations. (2) Methods: Extensive literature search was done in various databases, such as Scopus, Web of Science, Medline/PubMed, and google scholar search engines to gather relevant information in the Indian context. (3) Results: Notwithstanding the several combatting steps on a war-footing level, COVID-19 has placed an extra burden over the already overstretched healthcare infrastructure. Consequently, infected cases and deaths have been growing exponentially, making India stand in second place among the top ten COVID-19-infected countries. (4) Conclusions: India needs to expand the public healthcare system and enhance the expenditure as per the set goals in NHP-17 and WHO standards. The private healthcare system has not been proved reliable during the emergency. Only the public health system is suitable for the country wherein the population�s substantial size is rural and poor. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item Eurasia in India‘s Energy Diplomacy: Exploring the Emerging Equations in the 21st Century(Central University of Punjab, 2019) Singh, Sandeep; Singh, BawaEnergy is considered as a geopolitical commodity of political leverage/vulnerability. Also, it has been considered as a major part of diplomacy of every individual country, promoting economic prosperity or political stability. In context of Eurasia, which is known for its great amount of energy resources in the world, has become fundamentally one of the most important and geopolitical determinant of external power‘s engagements. The study argues that recent geo-economic-political developments in post-2013, and ups-downs (Russian-Ukraine Gas Wars in 2006 and 2009, diversifications of Eurasian energy supplies especially gas, and threatening relations between Europe and Russia etc.) in the Eurasian region have been posing geo-economic and geopolitical challenges to many states within the region. The Energy producers in the Eurasian region particularly Russia and CARs have started moving from the west to the East for energy supply. In addition, Asian demand for energy resources have been diversified particularly India and China are becoming big energy consumers. These changes have brought some of the serious and complex issues before India‘s domestic and foreign policies. It is also seen as a window of opportunities and possibilities of complementarities on the other hand. India as a major energy importer and it's manufacturing-oriented programmes are likely to fasten its energy demands, and Eurasia can provide an incredible opportunity to meet its energy requirements in this connection. Therefore, an attempt has been made to provide a transcontinental study of Eurasian energy as a thrust area for the present research positioning Eurasian region in Indian energy diplomacy, and determining the contours of energy diplomacy. Although, there are many researches about India‘s policy towards the Eurasian region, and few of them focussed on energy trade, and trade in other goods including political relations. But, how energy is a significant factor in India‘s diplomacy towards the Eurasian region in the present geopolitical realities has not been thoroughly investigated. In this backdrop, the present research has been approached by setting three onjectives. Fisrtly, it investigates India‘s position in the changing global energy scenario. To achieve the objective, the study exmines India‘s domestic energy policy and finds that India‘s future of domestic energy production remains clouded given the underinvestment, outdated infrastructure and under-explored basins of the country. It iv leads India to import energy. Secondly, the study has uncovered India‘s diplomatic engagements with the Eurasian region by the way of mapping its quest for energy. It concludes that India‘s energy diplomacy has a wider scope in the Eurasian region to enhance regional integration provided that the same should properly be undertaken by the stakeholder. The third objective investigates India geopolitical space in the Eurasian region. It concludes that the growing role of energy complex zone and transit countries have challenged great powers hierarchy in the region and shaped the new energy geopolitical order. The study explores that how India would create its geopolitical space in the new energeopolitical order. Thus, the research is seen as a contribution to uncover India‘s growing diplomatic space in Eurasian geopolitics from different perspectives by offering different analytical and theoretical insights from the previous studies.Item China in the Indian Ocean: Navigating India’s Challenges and Reciprocation(Central University of Punjab, 2018) Lone, Mansoor Ahmad; Singh, BawaThe Indian Ocean has remained a strategic maritime space since ages, serving as an important link among various regions of the globe regarding trade, social contacts, and cultural exchanges. The region was mostly peaceful during the pre-Vasco da Gama era, but the advent of Europeans set the stage for tough competition characterized by loot, plunder, and even wars. This foul environment kept on thriving and had prevailed till the end of the Second World War. Thereafter, the region appeared in a new refashioned scene where the USA emerged as a sole superpower of the world immediately after the collapse of its rival and competitor-USSR in 1991. The next dramatic turn arrived by the end of 20th century when the two Asian giants China and India, appeared on the global scene with swift growing economies, advancement in scientific knowledge and skilled workforce. With the onset of the 21st century, the IOR witnessed the growing attention of these big powers especially China and the USA along with the regional power India, with increasing competition because of the growing geopolitical and geo-economic significance of the region. Since the economy of these countries became heavily dependent on the energy imports mainly arriving from the Middle East and Africa and carried away through the Sea Lanes of Communications spanning the Indian Ocean from west to east, the security and safe arrival of these imports through the Indian Ocean has been treated as a chief necessity if the economy is to survive, sustain and grow. Further, the regions vast reserves of natural resource wealth both living and non-living further attracted the attention of these countries towards the region. This resulted in the ever-increasing involvement of these powers in the region. China iv having geographical constraints to easily access the Indian Ocean, started to wean India’s neighbours to make its foothold strong in the region while the USA directly joined hands with India to contain China’s expansion in the region. China expedited the process of securing greater cooperation with the littoral nations of the region, secured a goodwill place by employing different tools of maritime strategy like big investments for developing the infrastructure of these countries, increase in trade, political and diplomatic engagements, and military exchanges. China has been developing and operating many ports in the Indian Ocean countries like in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Maldives, Seychelles, Djibouti, Tanzania, Kenya. It is this increasing involvement of China where India finds herself at odds in some security perspectives. The study is an attempt to analyze the dynamics of Chinese involvement in the IOR, the possible concerns for India and India’s preparedness in response to such moves of China.Item INDIA AND CENTRAL ASIAN REPUBLICS ECONOMIC COOPERATION: AN ANALYSIS OF PROBLEMS AND POTENTIALS(Central University of Punjab, 2018) Kaur, Amandeep; Singh, BawaIndia and Central Asia have been enjoying long historical and civilizational relations since the recorded history. Due to the prominent historical links, both regions have been sharing great economic engagements as well. After coming under the imperial powers, these historical relations had been weakened and even if one says, the same had come to an end, would not be an exaggeration. With the disintegration of the former USSR, both the regions have started rediscovering each other. However, the relations between both the regions have been remained untapped and unrealized to the potentials given the internal and external dynamics. With the introduction of liberalization, globalization and privatization, Indian economy has been emerged as a potential economy. of India, it is a very peculiar situation. On the one hand, the Indian economy has growing at the faster pace but at the same time, its domestic energy is not coinciding. Moreover, India has been remained depended on Middle East Asian countries. Given, turbulence in the region, now India has been started looking towards the other regions as well. In this background, given geopolitical environment and substantial gap between production and consumption, India has been started reorienting towards the Central Asian Republics. Therefore, the present study India and Central Asia. For the first objective, Indo-CARs Economic Cooperation, the researcher has analysed the trade trends and patterns between India and CARs. The data has been taken from UNCOMTRADE database since 2000 to 2015 and have used SITC 02- digit code for all 99 commodities. It has also calculated the Hirschman Concentration also employed the gravity model to find the potential economic cooperation between both Indo-CARs. The second objective of this thesis is energy economics between India and CARs. Under this study, the researcher has examined the energy economics of India-CARs by using the empirical data from various energy database sources regarding crude oil and natural gas production/consumption as well imports and prices. The trade potential index has been measured to assess either the Central Asia will be a next future energy partner of India or not. In order to examine the third objective-geopolitical perspective, the scholar has made comparative study of China, Russia, and the U.S. with the region in terms of trade and energy cooperation and their implications for India. As far as the trends and patterns of economic cooperation is concerned, it has been found out that the trade between both the region is at the lowest ebb. The total trade between India and CARs is less than US$ 1 billion. Kazakhstan is the major trading partner of India among the CARs. The energy economics has pointed out that the total imports of oil and petroleum product by India is stood at the quantum of US$ 274 million. The comparative prices of the CARs are higher (Kazakhstan US$ 50p/b & Turkmenistan US$ 57p/b) than the other energy destinations. Thus, it is clearly indicated that CARs has not yet been a favorable energy supplier of India. However, it can be a significant energy provider of India by reducing the monopoly power of OPEC countries and other Middle East countries with competitive oil prices. The present study has also pointed out that China, Russia, and the - economic engagements with the region which have affected India energy interests in the region by introducing and implementing the various economic and energy projects. Along with the geopolitical challenges, it has also been found out that lack of connectivity and less liberalized economic policies on part of CARs are the major hurdle to realize the full potential of the economic and energy cooperation. Given these challenges, India and CARs have not been able to realize the full potential of economic and energy cooperation. However, India has been investing its investment in the direction of connectivity like INSTC and Chabahar projects. India and Central Asia have demographic dividends, large untapped markets, and institutionalized structural reforms are being putting in place. Therefore, it is anticipated that there is a huge potential for economic and energy cooperation between India and CARs.Item Indo-US Convergence of Agenda in the new Indo-Pacific Regional Security Architecture(Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd, 2020) Kumar, S; Verma, S.S; Shah, S.H.Strengthened Indo-US proximity has become a notable factor in the regional security architecture of the Indo-Pacific region, and also it raises ongoing concerns about its robustness. This article analyses the geostrategic, geoeconomic, security-related and defence-connected Indo-US relations in the region over the last two decades, highlighting the growing multidimensional convergence of US and Indian interests in the Indo-Pacific regional security architecture. In the final part, this article also sketches the future implications of Indo-US proximity and seeks to identify potential risks. -2020 SAGE Publications.