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TOPIC: GS 2 Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

India must directly engage with Taliban 2.0

What is the news?

  • With the US withdrawal, the Taliban is taking over territories after territories under its control in Afghanistan.
  • Expecting a full blown civil war after the withdrawal, India has closed its consulates and has evacuated the diplomats. India has been hesitant to engage with Taliban.
  • Argues that India should openly engage with Taliban, which will be a dominant player in Afghanistan and will be important for India& security on the western front.

Why engage with Taliban?

  • Indian assets and investments in Afghanistan are at stake.
  • India has already been engaging with Taliban through backchannel. Example – India had sent non – official delegation of retired diplomats to Moscow where Taliban was present.
  • EAM joined the inaugural session of the intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha.
  • MEA had said that, it was in touch with all stakeholders in pursuance of India long-term commitment towards development and reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Why India is engaging indirectly?

  • If India engages with Taliban, Afghan President might look towards China and SCO.
  • India is skeptical that new Taliban has changed.
  • There is little clarity about Talibans intention in the long run.
  • If India engages directly with Taliban, Pakistan might play a negative role in Kashmir.

Why India should engage directly?

  • Taliban will have a significant presence in Afghanistan in near future.
  • Unlike 1996, a large number of players in the international community are going to recognise/negotiate/do business with the Taliban.
  • Taliban is looking for regional and global partners for recognition and legitimacy.
  • Taliban engaging with Pak deep state will not be in best of India interest.
  • To secure the investments and assets worth $3 billion, India should engage with all parties in Afghanistan.
  • If India does not engage now Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China will emerge as the shapers of Afghanistan’s political and geopolitical destiny, which for sure will be detrimental to Indian interests.

Way Forward

  • Things are moving on right track on the western front. Backchannel talks with Pakistan and a consequent ceasefire on the Line of Control, political dialogue with the mainstream Kashmiri leadership.
  • In such a scenario engagement with Taliban can provide strategic weight.
  • India’s engagement with the Taliban may or may not achieve much, but non-engagement will definitely hurt Indian interests.

Mains question

How engagement to with Tailban have geopolitical emphasis in India’s Diplomacy ?

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/no-present-threat-of-taliban-entering-kashmir-officials/article35511237.ece

PRELIMS PUNCHERS

  1. Mudras

Important aspect represents different events in Buddha’s life. Its Significance – each of the five transcendental Buddha’s is assigned one of these mudras, and they are invariably depicted in visual arts.

Dharma chakra mudra Wheel of Dharma  Symbolizes – First sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath. Bhumisparsha  Touching the earth Symbolizes – Buddha’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree. Dhyana mudra Identification with the mystic fire that consumes all impurities.  Three Jewels of Buddhism – Buddha himself, the Good Law and the Sangha. Abhaya Mudra Symbolizes – protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/buddha-more-relevant-during-covid-19-pandemic-pm-modi/article35505474.ece

  1. Alzheimer’s

It is disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. Dementia is a general term for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.

Affect the quality of life, costs the life. Early diagnosis is important – slow down the progress of the disease.  Diagnosis and treatment not well developed. But our traditional medicines and plant sources might have the answers. Ex: a study in the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Compound called beta-sitosterol or BSS reduces anxiety and synergises. A plant source – used in traditional Indian medicine.

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/just-a-fraction-of-an-estimated-5-million-indians-with-dementia-and-alzheimers-are-diagnosed-do-we-need-a-new-policy-to-ensure-their-well-being/article33147938.ece

  1. Hagia Sophia / Ayasofya

It Unique monument in world architecture due to its magnificence and functionality. Belongs to the Byzantine era principally. Later improvised in Christian period and Ottoman era. It Was a Christian place of worship for 916 years.  First building of Hagia Sophia church established during the reign of Constantius I (324 – 337 AD). It was a basilica or a Christian church with a wooden roof – Burned down during a revolt. Built for the second time in 415 AD

Turkish architects  Turkish pottery, calligraphy. Tombs of several Ottoman Sultans in Hagia Sophia. Minarets are also erected. Columns, marble and colourful stone – brought to Istanbul from various ancient cities to build the new building of Hagia Sophia.  Oldest mosaics are gold gilded with geometrical and floral designs. Figural mosaics with images of Jesus Christ, Virgine Maria etc. Later, converted into a mosque for 481 years: By Ottoman Sultan – Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/children/the-hagia-sophia-in-istanbul-turkey-is-an-architectural-marvel/article32209469.ece

  1. The Gharial

It is also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. The gharial probably evolved in the northern Indian subcontinent. Fossil gharial remains were excavated in Pliocene deposits in the Sivalik Hills and the Narmada River valley. It currently inhabits rivers in the plains of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. It is the most thoroughly aquatic crocodilian, and leaves the water only for basking and building nests on moist sandbanks.

Conservation programmes initiated in India and Nepal focused on reintroducing captive-bred gharials since the early 1980s.It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2007.The oldest known depictions of the gharial are about 4,000 years old and were found in the Indus Valley. Hindus regard it as the vehicle of the river deity Gaṅgā. Local people living near rivers attributed mystical and healing powers to the gharial, and used some of its body parts as ingredients of indigenous medicine.

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/gharial-hatchlings-seen-in-natural-habitats-after-years-in-odisha/article34629342.ece

PRELIMS PUNCHERS

  1. Abhaya Mudra Symbolizes which of the following
  2. Protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear
  3. First sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath
  4. Identification with the mystic fire that consumes all impurities
  5. Buddha himself, the Good Law and the Sangha

Answer : A

Important aspect represents different events in Buddha’s life. Its Significance – each of the five transcendental Buddha’s is assigned one of these mudras, and they are invariably depicted in visual arts.

Dharma chakra mudra Wheel of Dharma  Symbolizes – First sermon after his Enlightenment in the Deer Park at Sarnath. Bhumisparsha  Touching the earth Symbolizes – Buddha’s enlightenment under the bodhi tree. Dhyana mudra Identification with the mystic fire that consumes all impurities.  Three Jewels of Buddhism – Buddha himself, the Good Law and the Sangha. Abhaya Mudra Symbolizes – protection, peace, and the dispelling of fear

  1. 2. Consider the following with regard Hagia Sophia / Ayasofya
  2. Belongs to the Byzantine era principally
  3. It consists of Arabic architecture

Select the correct statement using code given below.

(a). 1only       (b) 2 only

(c).Both       (d). None of above

Answer: A

It Unique monument in world architecture due to its magnificence and functionality. Belongs to the Byzantine era principally. Later improvised in Christian period and Ottoman era. It Was a Christian place of worship for 916 years.  First building of Hagia Sophia church established during the reign of Constantius I (324 – 337 AD). It was a basilica or a Christian church with a wooden roof – Burned down during a revolt. Built for the second time in 415 AD

Turkish architects  Turkish pottery, calligraphy. Tombs of several Ottoman Sultans in Hagia Sophia. Minarets are also erected. Columns, marble and colourful stone – brought to Istanbul from various ancient cities to build the new building of Hagia Sophia.  Oldest mosaics are gold gilded with geometrical and floral designs. Figural mosaics with images of Jesus Christ, Virgine Maria etc. Later, converted into a mosque for 481 years: By Ottoman Sultan – Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.