Australian Prime Minister’s visit to India
The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, paid a State Visit to India. This was Albanese’s first visit to India in his current role. During the visit, PM Modi and PM Albanese held the Annual Summit to discuss areas of cooperation under the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2020.
During this visit, PM Albanese and PM Modi participated in the 1st India-Australia Annual Summit. This was the first Annual Summit between India and Australia at the level of the Leaders. The summit mechanism itself was established as an outcome of the 2nd Virtual Summit that was held in March 2022.
Other highlights of this visit -
- Cricket Diplomacy — PM Modi and PM Albanese went to the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, where India and Australia were playing the fourth test match of the BorderGavaskar series.
Business Delegation —
- The Australian prime minister brought with him a huge delegation of business leaders.
- This assumes significance as the business relations between the two countries have not taken off fully.
- Australian businesses have mainly concentrated on China, which buys about a third of Australia’s exports.
- Despite concerns about China, Australia’s economy is closely tied to that country.
- Australia is now trying to wean its economy away from China.
- First foreign leader to visit INS Vikrant — During the current visit, PM Albanese became the first foreign leader to visit INS Vikrant, India’s locally built aircraft carrier. While visiting INS Vikrant, Albanese said: For Australia, India is a top security partner.
Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) —
- India and Australia discussed the finalisation of a CECA.
- CECA is aimed at upgrading an interim trade deal finalised last year in the form of Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA).
- The entry into force of ECTA (entered into force December 2022) eliminated tariffs on more than 85% of Australian exports to India.
- The two also decided to move ahead with negotiations on a migration and mobility pact to benefit students and professionals.
- India and Australia recently finalised a mechanism for recognising each other’s educational qualifications.
- In this context, the mobility agreement will benefit students, workers and professionals.
- India was invited to join the Talisman Sabre exercises — Australia invited India to join the Talisman Sabre exercises later this year, a major operation for the Australian Defence Force.
- General Rawat Australia-India Young Defence Officers’ Exchange Programme — As part of General Rawat Australia-India Young Defence Officers’ Exchange Programme, a 15-member Australian contingent, visited the Agra-based Military establishment. This programme was instituted in honour of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Bipin Rawat.
New U.K. policy for refugees
The Conservative government of the U.K. is proposing to adopt a new, stricter policy to deal with asylum seekers who arrive on the island via boat. While the Illegal Migration Bill (IMB) is yet to be passed by the U.K. Parliament, once that happens it will have retrospective applicability from March 7, 2023.
What is the political context for the Bill?
- Policies to regulate immigration, specifically of undocumented workers and asylum seekers, have always been a sensitive political issue in the U.K.
- With the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments fuelling some aspects of the Brexit campaign, the U.K. Conservative Party has been a strong advocate for tighter immigration policies.
- Brexit became a reality on January 31, 2020.
- This is purportedly aimed at protecting U.K. jobs or shifting the focus to skilled workers arriving through legal routes.
Why U.K. is bringing the migration bill now?
- Recently, all major developed countries including U.K. has witnessed rise in numbers of asylum seekers. This is due to —
- The recent years of the pandemic and the economic distress it has caused across developing countries;
- The displacement of certain communities in countries such as Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq;
- Displacement caused by Russia – Ukraine war.
- Also, this step was taken to fulfil a promise made in January 2023 by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to “stop the boats”.
- The so-called small boat arrivals comprised approximately 45% of the total asylum applications made in 2022, which was close to 89,000.
What measures does the Bill propose?
- The Bill, when passed into law by the U.K. Parliament, will —
- Require that the Home Secretary detain and remove those arriving in the U.K. illegally, either to Rwanda or another “safe” third country;
- Would deny migrants the right to bail or judicial review for the first 28 days of their immigration detention;
- Block such migrants from returning to the U.K. or seeking British citizenship going forward.
- The Bill would also seek to set a cap on the number of refugees who will be permitted to settle in the U.K. through “safe and legal routes”.
- This, at the moment, only applies to people from Afghanistan and Ukraine, or British National status holders in Hong Kong.
What are the criticisms of this bill?
- Incompatible with international law —
- Recently, the U.K.’s Home Secretary admitted that there was a more than 50% chance that the new bill is incompatible with international law.
- This is more evident in the concept of non-refoulement - that refugees should not be returned to a country where they face threats to life and liberty.
- This concept is encapsulated in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as well as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
- U.K. is a signatory of both the conventions.
- Criticised by UNHCR — The proposed plan to deport to origin or remove asylum seekers arriving in the U.K. by boat to a third country has been sharply criticised by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
- Extinguishes the right to seek refugee protection in the UK —
- If adopted, the new bill would deny the right to seek refugee protection to people arriving irregularly in the UK, such as those risking their lives to cross the English Channel in small boats.
- The effect of this Bill (in this form) would be to deny a fair hearing and to deny protection to many genuine refugees in need of safety and asylum.
India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline
Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh will jointly inaugurate the maiden cross-border oil pipeline between the two countries.
About the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline -
- IBFPL will carry diesel from Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery Ltd's (NRL) marketing terminal at Siliguri in West Bengal to the Parbatipur depot of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
- IBFPL is about 130 kilometers long, out of which 126.5 kilometer pipeline is in Bangladesh and 5 kilometers in India.
- The pipeline has a capacity of one million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA).
- The total project cost for the construction of the IBFPL is Rs 377.08 crore.
- The project is built under grant assistance from the government of India.
Coffee Production
Recent research said that coffee production across the world is threatened by synchronous crop failures, characterised by broad, simultaneous yield losses in various countries at the same time.
About Coffee production -
- The vast majority of the world’s coffee comprises two species — Coffea Arabica (Arabica) and Coffea Canephora (Robusta). Coffee, especially Arabica, is considered a sensitive crop, vulnerable to climate variability and change.
- Climatic conditions required for coffee production —
- It requires a hot and humid climate for its growth.
- Temperatures ranging between 15°C and 28 °C
- Rainfall — 150 to 250 cm.
- Soil — Well-drained, loamy soil containing a good deal of humus and minerals like iron and calcium are ideal for coffee cultivation.
- It is generally grown under shady trees.
- Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of the berries.
- It is grown on hill slopes at elevations from 600 to 1,600 metres above sea level.
- In India coffee is largely cultivated in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, among which, Karnataka produces the most with over 70% of the total output.
