CONTENTS
- Making India’s Democratic Digital Infrastructure Shock-Proof
- The Importance of Both Quad and BRICS
Making India’s Democratic Digital Infrastructure Shock-Proof
Context:
A bright light was shed on the world’s reliance on information technologies on July 19, when supermarkets, banks, hospitals, airports, and many other services experienced a simultaneous blackout due to a glitch in a commonly used software solution. News of the issue and the resulting downtime quickly spread through the same networks designed to facilitate communication between these systems, until the developers released a fix.
Relevance:
GS3-
- Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
- Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology
- Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nano-technology, Bio-technology and issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights
- Challenges to Internal Security through Communication Networks
Mains Question:
India must ensure its democratic digital infrastructure is not only developing at a fast pace but is also robust in its shock-proofing mechanism. Discuss in the context of a recent blackout due to a glitch in a commonly used software solution. (10 Marks, 150 Words).
Responsibilities Accompanying New Technology:
- While technological advancements are both inevitable and desirable, the accompanying responsibility to establish failsafes and emergency protocols often lacks appeal.
- These gaps are more pronounced in societies where new technologies are adopted primarily in sectors competing globally, leaving local market services behind.
- For instance, the glitch may have caused significant financial losses for an airline operator but would have been even more debilitating for cardiac facilities at a tertiary care center or a computer accessing a thermal power facility during peak demand.
- Such glitches are more common than people realize, often stemming from minor process or business-level failures.
Way Forward:
- The emphasis should instead be on the network interconnections that make these technologies useful and on implementing life-saving redundancies.
- Unfortunately, unlike most other technological fields, information technologies have yet to develop a mature awareness of their widespread social impact.
- This adjustment falls to the state, necessitating a ‘Digital India’ initiative that considers software solutions’ relationship with digital privacy and data sovereignty, while also addressing the challenges posed by income inequality and political marginalization in socially interconnected settings.
- For instance, public distrust in electronic voting machines, fueled by an incomplete understanding of software security among the political class, judiciary, and civil society, could be mitigated with open-source software and integrity testing methods that respect both physical and digital property rights.
- The July 19 outage offers a similar opportunity: to revamp the software that public sector institutions rely on for essential services and to incorporate redundancies, such as avoiding single-vendor policies, that maintain connections between these institutions and those in informal economies during a network-level outage.
Conclusion:
The state was previously obligated to develop democratic digital infrastructure. Now, aware of stronger interlinks among social, economic, and cultural realities, it is also obligated to ensure this infrastructure is resilient to shocks.
The Importance of Both Quad and BRICS
Context:
The Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Japan at the end of July, following a ten-month hiatus, occurs amidst a paralyzed United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with no reforms in sight, ongoing violations of international law in the Ukraine war and Israel’s assault on Gaza, the strengthening alliance of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, and the expanding Chinese influence not just in the Indo-Pacific but globally.
Relevance:
GS2-
- India and its Neighborhood- Relations
- Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- Important International Institutions, agencies and fora – their Structure, Mandate
Mains Question:
With India being the only country common to both Quad and BRICS and a founding member of both, it cannot afford to downplay one for the other. Discuss. (15 Marks, 250 Words).
India’s Dilemma:
- India, a member of multiple pluri-lateral groups across the geo-strategic divide, faces interesting and sometimes contrasting dilemmas in its engagement with the Quad and BRICS.
- India has enthusiastically embraced the Quad and its strategic objectives, and the U.S. President’s support since 2021 has boosted the Quad at the highest level.
- India’s presidency of the UNSC in August 2021 highlighted its commitment to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, demonstrated by a high-level virtual event on ‘Enhancing Maritime Security’ presided over by the Indian Prime Minister and attended by the Russian President, among others.
India’s Role in the Quad:
- While the Quad has always aimed to address geopolitical security concerns regarding China, India’s vision extends beyond this narrow focus to encompass a broader redefinition of the security and techno-economic landscape in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The Quad is now working on reorienting global supply chains for critical technologies and addressing areas of direct strategic relevance to the region, including digital, telecom, health, power, and semiconductors.
- This shift highlights that development inherently carries a security dimension that cannot be ignored. India has benefited from strengthened bilateral relations with Quad partners, especially the U.S.
- However, the formation of AUKUS by the U.S., Australia, and the U.K., aimed at enhancing military capabilities, particularly Australia’s with nuclear submarines, has put the securitization of the Indo-Pacific and the deterrence of China at the forefront.
- The Ukraine war and increased focus on NATO have led the West to view Asia through a military lens as well.
- While AUKUS may align with India’s geo-strategic interests, India’s reluctance to fully embrace a purely security-oriented vision for the Quad is seen as a drawback, despite the Indian External Affairs Minister’s clarification that the Quad is not an Asian NATO and that India is not a treaty ally like the other three members.
- India’s unique value in the Quad should be recognized. If the Quad partners aim merely to align India with their objectives without incorporating India’s perspective, they miss the opportunity to become more inclusive and enhance their overall impact in the region, which includes developing countries with diverse priorities, not all of which are military-focused.
India’s Independent Policy:
- India’s independent stance on maintaining close relations with Russia and advocating for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war, despite Western disapproval, does not detract from its commitment to strengthening the Quad.
- Some Quad members and European countries are also enhancing their bilateral engagements with China, highlighting their different bilateral and regional needs.
- Against this backdrop, India’s enthusiastic engagement with the Quad contrasts with its involvement in BRICS, which presents a different set of challenges.
- As a founding member of BRICS, India has shown varying levels of enthusiasm. At the 10th annual BRICS summit in 2018 in Johannesburg, the Indian Prime Minister reminded leaders that BRICS was established to reform the multilateral system and proposed his vision of “reformed multilateralism.”
- However, India’s participation in BRICS has fluctuated between enthusiastic and lukewarm. While initiatives like the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement have been groundbreaking, China’s attempts to use BRICS to promote its worldview and counter the West have made India cautious about giving BRICS a higher profile.
The Potential of BRICS:
- Consequently, India has been reluctant to expand BRICS. In 2018, President Putin also expressed reluctance to expand BRICS, quoting Nelson Mandela: “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
- However, after the Quad and the Ukraine situation, Russia recognized BRICS’ potential in pushing back against the West and supported China’s stance.
- With the change in leadership in Brazil, India now stands as the sole member to resist China’s dominance in BRICS.
Conclusion:
India decided to accept BRICS’s expansion rather than oppose it, and now many more countries are reportedly waiting to join. Even with strong bilateral relations with all new members, India must ensure this translates into support within BRICS. To achieve this, India cannot afford to be ambivalent about BRICS. To counter moves that take BRICS in an undesired direction, India needs to be more engaged, not less. As the only country common to both the Quad and BRICS, India cannot afford to prioritize one over the other.
