A massive political storm broke out over sovereignty remarks in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly election 2023.

Ø  The twitter handle of Congress party of India mentioned that it will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka's reputation, sovereignty or integrity.

Ø  The BJP claimed that any call to protect the sovereignty of a member state of the Union of India amounts to a call for secession.

Ø  It has filed a complain against this statement to the Election Commission of India.

Ø  In its complaint, this political party invokes section 29A (5) of the Representation of People Act 1951.

Ø  This section states that an association or body registered under the Act shall adhere to the Constitution and uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. All registered political parties have to comply with these conditions.

What does the word ‘sovereignty’ mean?

Ø  Sovereignty is simply the idea of having supreme authority over a defined territory. It means the country has its own independent authority and is not under control of any external entity.

Ø  Western philosophers used the concept to describe the supremacy of the state — along with its institutions such as the government, the judiciary, and parliament — over the people being governed.

Ø  E.g., English philosopher Thomas Hobbes believed that in exchange for the protection offered by the government to its people, and its role in keeping society cohesive and at peace through its control over law and order, the state had a legitimate claim to sovereignty.

Word ‘sovereignty’ in India’s Constitution -

The word sovereignty appears in the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of India, as the first attribute of the independent republic of India.

Its placement as the first among the core principles of the republic underlines its importance in the Constitution.

How does the Constitution use the word ‘sovereignty’?

Ø  The word ‘sovereignty’ is invoked in the Indian Constitution to declare the ultimate sovereignty of the people of India and that the Constitution rests on their authority.

Ø  This is illustrated in the fact that India was totally independent(declared Republic) on January 26, 1950, while Pakistan continued to be a British Dominion till 1956, meaning it still had the British monarch as the Head of State.

Ø  Sovereignty is mentioned in the Constitution under Fundamental Duties. Article 51A(c) states that it is the duty of all citizens to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.

Ø  It is also mentioned in the oaths for positions like the Chief Justices, Union Ministers and Members of Parliament under the Third schedule.

What is the relationship of the Indian states with the sovereign Union?

Article 1(1) of the Constitution sets out the fundamental relationship between the states and the Centre: “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”

Dr Ambedkar explained this to mean that —

The Indian federation is not a result of an agreement by the units, and

The component units have no freedom to secede or break away from it.

In its structural composition, the Indian political system is described as “quasi-federal”. The political theorist K C Wheare described it as “a Unitary State with subsidiary federal features rather than a Federal State with subsidiary unitary features.”

The choice of a unitary bias that the Constitution makers made was possibly rooted in the turmoil of the Partition, and the difficulty in getting around 600 princely states to accede to India.

What provisions of the Constitution attest to the superior position of the Centre?

As per political experts, except in a few specified matters affecting the federal structure, the States need not even be consulted in the matter of amendment to the bulk of the Constitution.

The Governors in states, seen as representatives of the Union in the States, are appointed “during the pleasure” of the President.

The right to alter the boundaries of states and to create new states lies with Parliament alone.

The Constitution offers no guarantee to the States against their territorial integrity without their consent since it was not a result of an ‘agreement’ between the States

Recently, Saudi Prince and Prime Minister hosted a special meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of India, the U.S. and the UAE, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This meeting is being billed as another important Quad in West Asia.

The participating leaders discussed an ambitious infrastructure project that will counter China's efforts to expand its footprint through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Ø  Recently, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met his counterparts from the US, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Ø  The leaders discussed an ambitious proposal to link West Asian countries through rail — using Indian expertise — and connect the region to South Asia via sea lanes. The proposal is being pushed by the White House.

Ø  The participants discussed the broad contours of the massive joint project to build railway, maritime and road connectivity in the larger region.

Ø  This project aims to link the Indian subcontinent in South Asia with West Asia — which the US calls the Middle East.

Ø  In other words, the project would connect Gulf and Arab countries via a network of railways.

Ø  This network would also be connected to India via shipping lanes from ports in the region.

Background -

Ø  The new initiative came up during talks that were held over the last 18 months in another forum called I2U2.

Ø  Israel raised the idea of connecting the region through railways during the I2U2 meetings over the last year.

Ø  Part of the idea was to use India’s expertise on such big infrastructure projects.

About I2U2 -

Ø  I2U2 is a diplomatic group of the India, Israel, the UAE and the United States. The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has used the I2-U2 moniker for the four-member grouping.

Ø  The grouping was launched in October 2021 when the first virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of India, Israel, the US and the UAE took place.

Ø  The new grouping is described as an international forum for economic cooperation.

Ø  This grouping is already being termed as a New Quad’ or the ‘Middle-Eastern Quad’.

Objective – To generate synergies that go beyond government level cooperation.

Why India is keen to participate in the project?

Presence of China in the West Asian region —

Ø  Beijing has expanded its sphere of political influence in the West Asian region through what Delhi views as mission creep.

Ø  Mission creep is a term used to describe a situation where a mission or project expands gradually beyond its original goals, often without clear direction or oversight.

Ø  The breakthrough in ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran had caught India unaware.

Ø  This breakthrough was mediated by China and it gave Beijing a space in the West Asia region.

India’s interests in West Asia —

Ø  This project has potential implications for India’s interests in West Asia, which provides energy security.

Ø  Such connectivity will allow for faster movement of the crude and minimise India’s costs in the long term.

Ø  The connectivity boost will also help India’s eight million citizens who live and work in the Gulf region.

India as an infrastructure builder —

Ø  The project will help India build a brand as an infrastructure builder in the railways sector.

Ø  Boasting a strong rail network at home and buoyed by the success of creating such infrastructure in Sri Lanka, India has the confidence to do it overseas.

Ø  This will also have the effect of countering the Chinese Belt and Road project, which has burdened many countries in the region with infrastructure that has limited utility.

India’s connectivity to its western neighbours faces several challenges —

India feels that India’s connectivity to its western neighbours has been limited for long by Pakistan’s blocking of overland transit routes.

So, Delhi wants to use shipping routes to reach West Asian ports.

These include Chabahar and Bandar-e-Abbas (Iran), Duqm (Oman), Dubai (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Kuwait City

The Advertisement Monitoring Committee at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) flagged 32 fresh cases of food business operators (FBOs) making misleading claims and advertisements. They were found to be in contravention of the Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations, 2018.

What has been observed in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India?

Ø  FSSAI seeks that the advertisements and claims be truthful, unambiguous, meaningful, not misleading and help consumers to comprehend the information provided.

Ø  Claims must be scientifically substantiated by validated methods of characterising or quantifying the ingredient or substance that is the basis for the claim.

Ø  According to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), food advertising has been a “fairly violative sector”.

Ø  Recently, an uproar ensued after allegations were made against health drink Bournvita.

Some misleading words in the Food Advertising Ecosystem in India -

Natural — A food product can be referred to as ‘natural’ if it is a single food derived from a recognised natural source and has nothing added to it. Therefore, composite foods - a mixture of plant and processed constituents, can be called ‘made from natural ingredients’ instead of ‘natural’.

Fresh — It can be used for products which are not processed in any manner other than washing, peeling, chilling, trimming, cutting or irradiation by ionising radiation (not exceeding 1kGy to delay in ripening, killing of insects/pests, etc). The regulations forbid the ‘fresh’ reference if the processing endeavours to achieve an extension in the shelf-life of the product (may instead use ‘fresh frozen’).

Pure and original — ‘Pure’ is to be used for single-ingredient foods to which nothing has been added and which are devoid of all avoidable contamination. ‘Original’ is used to describe food products made to a formulation, with a traceable origin that has remained unchanged over time.

Nutritional claims — Nutritional claims may either be about the specific contents of a product or comparisons with some other foodstuff. Claims of equivalence such as “contains the same of (nutrient) as a (food)” or “as much (nutrient) as a (food)” may be used in the labelling.

According to the ASCI, most complaints of misleading Ads were related to the nutrition of a product, its benefits and the ingredient mix not being based on adequate evidence.

Regulations for tackling misleading ads and claims -

The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 —

It prohibits product claims suggesting suitability for prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of a disease, disorder or particular psychological condition unless specifically permitted under the Act.

Making deceptive claims or advertisements are punishable offences and may invite penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh apart from suspension/cancellation of licenses for repeated offences.

The Food Safety and Standards (Advertisements & Claims) Regulations 2018 — The focus of the regulation is to make the Companies accountable for their claims on food products and cater to the interest of customers.

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 — Under this, Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was set up as a regulatory body in relation to matters (such as wrong advertisements) affecting rights of consumers.

The Programme and Advertising Codes — These are prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 and underlines that advertisements must not give claims which are difficult to be proved.

Way forward -

FBOs must desist from making any unscientific and/or exaggerated claims and advertisements to promote their product sales to avoid enforcement actions and in larger consumer interest.

They must be in consonance with principles of Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and peerreviewed or published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.