Nontraditional Security Concerns in India: Issues and Challenges 9789811637346, 9789811637353, 9811637342

Table of contents :
Foreword
Contents
List of Contributors
List of Tables
1 Introduction
Security: Defining the Concept
Non-traditional Security: A New Paradigm of Security
Rising Security Concerns in India: Challenges and Prospects
References
Part I Preparing for the Emerging Threats of Terrorism
2 Changing Dimensions of Global Terror in the Twenty-First Century: India’s Strategy and Response
Post-Cold War Transition: Global Impact and Perception
Globalization and the Rise of International Terrorism
Security in Post-9/11: The Rise of ‘War on Terror’
Global Terrorism and Security Challenges in India
Regional Challenges, Terrorism, and Arm Proliferation
Maritime Security Threats, Terrorism, and Piracy
Security Challenges and Illicit Drug Trafficking
India’s Security Policy in the Twenty-First Century
Conclusion
References
3 Growing Threat of Bioterrorism in India: Conflict, Consequences and Challenges
Introduction
Bioterrorism: Nature and Definition
A Brief Overview About Biological Agents
Instances of Biological Warfare in the Past
Biological Weapons Convention 1972 and Its Aftermath
Bioterrorism in India
What Next—A Way Forward?
Risk Assessment, Surveillance and Management
COVID-19 Pandemic and Bioterrorism
Conclusion
References
4 Cyber Terrorism: A Growing Threat to India’s Cyber Security
Introduction
Concept
Cybercrime
Cyberspace: Easy Prey for Terrorism
Impact of Cyber Terrorism
India’s Counter Cyber Terrorism Initiatives
International Cyber Security Cooperation
Future Prospects: A Solution for Cyber Security Research
Conclusion
References
Part II Exploring the Human Security Dimensions
5 Contextualising Human Security Through the Nation–Individual Relationship: An Indian Perspective
Introduction
Situating Human Security as a National Security Issue
Nation and Individual: Issues and Paradigms in Human Security
Dimensions of Human Security and Role of the Nation-State
Economic Security
Economic Expectations of an Individual from the State
Decolonisation and Economic Development
Food Security and the Role of the Nation-State
Environmental Security
Terrorism as an Attack on the Modern State and the Individual
Efforts of India in Ensuring Human Security
Political Ideologies and Their Impact on Human Security
Conclusion
References
6 Public Health and National Security: An Indian Perspective
Introduction
Public Health and National Security: A Conceptual Discourse
Public Health and National Security in India
Historical Background
Experiences from the Past
The Emerging Health Challenges to National Security in India
Addressing the Challenges: Major Initiatives
The Fight Against Covid-19
Concluding Observations
References
7 Human Trafficking: A Non-traditional Security Threat to India
Introduction
Human Trafficking: An Overview
A Debate on Human Trafficking
Discourse on Non-Traditional Security Threats and Human Security
Non-Traditional Security Threats
Human Security
Human Trafficking as a Major Non-Traditional Security Threat to India
Leading Factors of Human Trafficking
Counter Measures Against Human Trafficking in India
Constitutional and State Legislative Provisions
Civil Society and NGOs Programmes
Conclusion
References
8 Food Security in India: Opportunity and Challenges
Introduction
What Is Food Security?
What Is Food Insecurity?
Reason for Food Security
Relation Between Food Security and Human Security
Environmental Degradation and Food Security
National Policies for Food Security
Public Distribution System
Mission for Millions
Food for All
National Food Security Act 2013
Intergovernmental Concerns
Impact of Covid-19 on Food Security
Way Forward
Conclusion
References
Part III Advancing Economic and Maritime Security
9 Cooperatives and Agriculture: A Case for Economic Security in India
Choice of Sector
Ideological Basis of Cooperatives
Choice of Organizational Pattern
Priority to Various Developments Inputs
Responsibility of Cooperatives
Economic Benefits
Social Benefits
Cooperatives and Welfare
Cooperatives and Inequality
Cooperatives and the State
Cooperatives and Women
Cooperatives as Global Experience
Conclusion
References
10 India’s Maritime Security: Opportunities and Challenges
Introduction
India’s Maritime Security After Independence
India’s Strategic Position
Security Challenges in Indian Ocean
Maritime Issues Between India and China
Tackling Pakistan
Issues with Sri Lanka
Opportunities and Implications
Conclusion
References
11 Water Security in India: Exploring the Challenges and Prospects
Introduction
Conceptualizing Water Security
Water Security and India: A Relevant Concept
Water Pollution
Water Scarcity in India
Unequal Distribution and Availability
Non-Revenue Water
Policies Toward Water Management
National Water Policy 1987
National Water Policy 2002
National Water Policy 2012
National Water Policy and Public–Private Partnership
Water Security: NDA Government’s Initiative Toward Water Sector
Swajal Scheme
National River Linking Project
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Recommendations
Conclusion
References
Part IV Geographical Contours
12 Securitization of Climate Change: A Case Study of India
Introduction
Climate Change and Security: Conceptual Understanding
Securitization: Theoretical Explorations
Securitizing Climate Change
Conclusion
References
13 Energy Security in India: Inevitability vs Availability
Understanding Energy Security Within the Non-Traditional Security Framework
Need for Sustained Source of Energy
India’s Energy Mix
Crude Oil and Petroleum Products
India’s Coal Sector
India’s Electricity and Power Generation Sector
Natural Gas Sector
Renewable Energy Sector
Solar Energy Sector
Challenges in the Solar Energy Sector
Nuclear Power in India
India’s Energy Security and Geopolitics
USA-Iran Conflicts and India’s Energy Security
USA’s New Found Oil Capacities
Conclusion
References
14 The Evolving Dynamics of National, Regional, and Global Security: A Postscript
Overview of the Argument
The Multiple Dimensions of State and Human Security
Synthesizing the Anti-Thesis of Multiple Dimensions of Security: A Daunting Challenge?
References
Index

Citation preview

Nontraditional Security Concerns in India Issues and Challenges Edited by Shantesh Kumar Singh · Shri Prakash Singh

Nontraditional Security Concerns in India

Shantesh Kumar Singh · Shri Prakash Singh Editors

Nontraditional Security Concerns in India Issues and Challenges

Editors Shantesh Kumar Singh Department of Political Science Central University of Haryana Mahendergarh, Haryana, India

Shri Prakash Singh Department of Political Science University of Delhi New Delhi, Delhi, India

ISBN 978-981-16-3734-6 ISBN 978-981-16-3735-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: kenkuza_shutterstock.com This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore

Foreword

Non-traditional security threats have been in existence for decades, however these threats were never discussed or seen as major threats within state actors. Conventional types of ruling and controlling of masses and re-directing resources were seen to be the practices of the last couple of decades. Scholars in the twentieth century were also more prone to focus on traditional threats such as balance of power, peace and stability and conflict between state actors. Little has been studied or researched in the non-traditional field. Non-traditional security threats and the emergence of non-state actors coupled with non-conventional challenges spans all across the globe today. These threats which include terrorism, religious conflicts, human trafficking, transnational crimes, the cyber domain as well as economic crisis, are becoming an “everyday crisis” globally. The book entitled “Non-traditional Security Concerns in India: Problems and Prospects”, jointly edited by Dr. Shantesh Kumar Singh and Prof. Shri Prakash Singh looks into the challenges and policies that are driving India’s policy makers into understanding the “new-old” threats that have become a major concern in India as India goes through the relevance of a multi-facet paradigm of security. India faces a variety of multi-faceted threats in the non-traditional spectrum. It can be an eye-opening for the international community to learn

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and understand from one nation on how it can and should address multifacets of threats in a single nation and that the international community only handles fragmented non-traditional security treats in their discourse. The book is a must read for policy makers, the academics, scholars, researchers in non-traditional security threats, security professionals, nongovernment organizations and world leaders to better understand the threats which in the book are exposed and discussed offering a 360 degrees view on threats faced by India today. It also discusses the role and opportunity offered by Indian diaspora, which can be seen as a strategic asset for the nation. Andrin Raj

Andrin Raj, Director, Nordic Counter Terrorism Network, Helsinki, Finland. He is also Southeast Asia Regional Director for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals (IACSP)-Center for Security Studies, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Contents

1

Introduction Shantesh Kumar Singh and Shri Prakash Singh

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Part I Preparing for the Emerging Threats of Terrorism 2

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4

Changing Dimensions of Global Terror in the Twenty-First Century: India’s Strategy and Response Vimal Nayan Pandey Growing Threat of Bioterrorism in India: Conflict, Consequences and Challenges Monika Gupta and Navneet Kumar

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Cyber Terrorism: A Growing Threat to India’s Cyber Security Shalini Prasad and Abhay Kumar

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Part II 5

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Exploring the Human Security Dimensions

Contextualising Human Security Through the Nation–Individual Relationship: An Indian Perspective Subh Kirti and Abhishek Kumar

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CONTENTS

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Public Health and National Security: An Indian Perspective Shantesh Kumar Singh and Haseeb Cheerathadayan

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Human Trafficking: A Non-traditional Security Threat to India Dolly Mishra and Saurabh Sharma

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Food Security in India: Opportunity and Challenges Bhavya Pandey

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Part III Advancing Economic and Maritime Security 9

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Cooperatives and Agriculture: A Case for Economic Security in India Pankaj Kumar Soni

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India’s Maritime Security: Opportunities and Challenges Zeba Rayee

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Water Security in India: Exploring the Challenges and Prospects Sandeep Kaur and Priya Gauttam

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Part IV Geographical Contours 12

Securitization of Climate Change: A Case Study of India Sudheer Singh Verma

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Energy Security in India: Inevitability vs Availability Bhaskar Jyoti

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The Evolving Dynamics of National, Regional, and Global Security: A Postscript Obijiofor Aginam

Index

235 253

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List of Contributors

Obijiofor Aginam International Institute for Global Health, United Nations University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Haseeb Cheerathadayan School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India Priya Gauttam Department of South and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India Monika Gupta Centre for European Studies, School of International Relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Bhaskar Jyoti Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi, India Sandeep Kaur Department of Political Science, Khalsa College Amritsar, Amritsar, India Subh Kirti School of International Studies, Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India Abhay Kumar Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India Abhishek Kumar School of International Studies, Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India

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LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

Navneet Kumar Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, India Dolly Mishra School of Internal Security and Police Administration (SISPA), Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar, India Bhavya Pandey School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India Vimal Nayan Pandey Department of Political Science, Dyal Singh Evening College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Shalini Prasad Department of Political Science, TR Girls Degree College, Aligarh, India Zeba Rayee Assistant Professor, Zakir Hussain Delhi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India Saurabh Sharma Centre for International Politics, School of International Politics, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India Shantesh Kumar Singh Department of Political University of Haryana, Mahendergarh, India

Science,

Central

Shri Prakash Singh Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, Delhi, India Pankaj Kumar Soni Department of Economics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India Sudheer Singh Verma Department of South and Central Asian Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India

List of Tables

Table 3.1 Table 12.1

Biological agents along with the diseases they cause List of States affected by Drought

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction Shantesh Kumar Singh and Shri Prakash Singh

Security: Defining the Concept With the rapid advancement in science and technology, there has been major transformation in the manner in which nation does perceive their security and strategic concerns. Conventionally, security was “used to justify suspending civil liberties, making war, and massively reallocating resources during the last fifty years” (Baldwin 1997, p. 9). It guides government priorities and policies and reflects how one understands their collective selves in relation to others (Ritchie 2011, pp. 356–357). In W. B. Gallie’s terms, security is “essentially a contested concept” (Gallie 1962, p. 121). Arnold Wolfers in the 1950s related national security with national interest, designed to promote the needs of the state and not of an individual or sub-national group (Wolfers 1952, p. 484).

S. K. Singh (B) Department of Political Science, Central University of Haryana, Mahendragarh, India e-mail: [email protected] S. P. Singh Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_1

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Kenneth Waltz propounded that security perceived by the state is the result of each great power’s will to survive in the anarchic system. By anarchic he meant the absence of central authority to regulate international relations (Waltz 1991, p. 30). Stephen Walt considered security to be the study of the threat, use, and control of military force (Walt 1991, pp. 21– 22). Like Walt, many scholars defined security from a narrow perspective. Marc Levy asserted on the protection of national values against foreign states, bringing the definition of security with security of the state (Levy 1995, p. 37). Richard Ulman defined national security as “A threat to national security is an action or sequence of events that (1) threaten drastically and over a relatively brief span of time to degrade the quality of life for the inhabitants of a state, or (2) threatens significantly to narrow the range of policy choices available to the government of a state or to private non-governmental entities (persons, groups, corporations) within a state” (Ullman 1983, p. 135). Mieczyslaw Malec defined security as “a real, or perceived, state when there are no threats, or when existing threats do not pose a danger to the considered object” (Mieczyslaw Malec 2003, p. 9). Barry Buzan states that security cannot be isolated for treatment at any single level. He states that security at the individual level is closely related to security at the level of the state and the international system (Buzan 1991, p. 2).

Non-traditional Security: A New Paradigm of Security Today’s definition of security encompasses a much broader spectrum that acknowledges political, economic, environmental, social and human among others that impact the concept of security. The emergence of non-state actors and non-conventional challenges that nations face are myriad, which include terrorist networks, drug cartels and maritime piracy networks, intra-state conflicts, refugee crisis, migration, environmental degradation and climate change, altering demographics, threat to global commons, cyber security and many other factors. It seems that almost all issues can be included in the “big basket” of non-traditional security, once they are regarded as serious enough. The appropriation of the security label attached to these threats has been a significant development. It is significant in that there is increasingly a tendency by number of actors— governments, policy communities and civil society to designate and treat

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a growing list of national and transnational issues as security concerns (Caballero-Anthony 2010a, b). Non-traditional security issues have been important catalysts for the strengthening, expansion and development of new modes of security cooperation across the Indo-Pacific. States in the region are gradually altering their strategic considerations to accommodate a host of previously suppressed, un-recognized or emerging sources of insecurity. For many states in Asia, the greatest threats to stability are not military incursions but instead stem from economic, political, social or environmental factors (environmental degradation, irregular migration, pandemic diseases, financial instability, transnational crime, etc.) (Zimmerman 2014, p. 152). It has been argued that such non-traditional security challenges have also compelled states to open up multilateral dialogue platforms on a host of security issues (Caballero-Anthony 2010a, b). With changing strategic depth, the need and scope of understanding non-traditional security issues in India remains imminent. With the advent of better economic policies and a diplomacy emphasizing realism, it is not geopolitically contained in South Asia, and is expected to play a dominant role with the global players as well as in the Indo-Pacific. This book assesses the implications of all the rising security concerns for India’s regional and global power aspirations. In the last few years, major changes were witnessed in India’s economic, social and political policy frameworks. India, being a rising power, has started debating and deliberating its own arguments on various global issues with major powers of the world. For example, India has raised its voice to bring reforms in WTO, UNSC and other multilateral organizations. India has been one of the most vocal supporters of allaying climate threat. It has emerged as one of the imminent leaders of Pacific island countries which are at highest risk of threats posed by climate change. At the same time, it has started motivating and pushing the globe to come up with some result-oriented plans to ensure human security of individuals across the world. Undoubtedly, Indian policy makers have been tasked to analyze both positive and negative outcomes of rising security issues, before bringing any changes in its policies and the way of functioning. Similar to the various security threats perceived by growing nations, India too needs to address crucial non-traditional security concerns that hamper inclusive development for all citizens and possibly derail development gains that have thus far been achieved in India. It has been stated that in essence non-traditional security is an ecology comprising of several facets that operate in a rapidly

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changing world. All facets of this ecology, whether it be food security or water challenges are all intrinsically interconnected as they do not occur in isolation and deficits in one facet manifest themselves in another (Dan Glickman 2017, “India’s Non-Traditional Security Concerns”).

Rising Security Concerns in India: Challenges and Prospects This volume focuses on the non-traditional security issues in India, a theme that yet has not been dealt by scholars in detail. The articles have made an attempt to assess the implications of the rising security concerns for India’s regional and global power aspirations. It has tried to bring out the emerging opportunities and challenges to rising security concerns of India and its implications for the future. This book assesses the implications of all the rising security concerns for India’s regional and global power aspirations. Further it emphasizes how India has witnessed major changes in economic, social and political policy frameworks in last few years. It would explain how Indian policy makers have been tasked to analyze both positive and negative outcomes of rising security issues, before bringing any changes in its policies and the way of functioning. This book would be able to shed light on the emerging opportunities and challenges to rising security concerns of India and its implications for the future. The book has covered dominantly rising security issues in India, i.e., terrorism, human/health security, individual security, economic security, cyber security, climate security, maritime security and non-traditional security threat faced by diaspora, etc. The book encompasses twelve chapters spread across four thematic sections. Part I “Preparing for the Emerging Threats of Terrorism”, presents a different set of threats, which India is witnessing in the twentyfirst century. In Chap. 2, “Changing Dimensions of Global Terror in the Twenty-First Century: India’s Strategy and Response”, Vimal Nayan Pandey elaborates, it was assumed that the end of Cold War along with the wind of globalization would bring an era of unprecedented peace and stability. Perhaps, these changes brought lots of opportunities with it, although it was not completely immune from new challenges, as since then, the world has witnessed the emergence of entirely new categories of security challenges. In fact, globalization eases the events at far corners of the earth are now affecting each other as the key trends are interacting as never before. However, the early years of post-Cold War period

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symbolizes as a breeding ground for the new emerging threats that the world now facing in the twenty-first century. He argues, If the twentieth century was characterized by the “Terror of Wars”, given importance to three major wars, i.e., World War I, II and Cold War, thus in that sense the twenty-first century must be known for the “War on Terror”. Against this changing global reality, internationalization of terrorism transmitted rapidly due to globalization and communication revolution. In this article, Vimal, is intended to analyze to what extent terror challenges global and regional security in the twenty-first century, besides, it would also underline major deviations in the nature of terrorism in this century and India’s policy in order to tackle these challenges. In Chap. 3, “Growing Threat of Bioterrorism in India: Conflict, Consequences and Challenges”, Monika Gupta and Navneet Kumar, explored how bioterrorism, a newly emerging non-traditional security threat would be considered as dangerous as any other threat to humanity in the years to come. Bioterrorism refers to the intentional use of biological agents such as the bacteria, viruses, microbes, toxins, etc., as weapons in warfare to cause widespread destruction and chaos. An attack by any of these biological agents will affect a larger population and its repercussions are going to stay for decades. There are various factors that increase the possibility of a bioterrorist attack in the future like the easily and readily available biological agents, easy transmission of these agents via food, air and water, they do not incur huge costs and have the potential to affect a larger population. In the above context, authors intend to focus on citing some instances of a bioterrorist attack in the past while not forgetting its increasing possibility in the future. The chapter shall also focus on the historic Biological Weapons Convention, 1972 and the period that follows. The chapter shall also make reference to Bioterrorism in India and how important it is for India to be alert owing to dangerous enemies surrounding its territory. Finally, they analyze the risk assessment, surveillance and management that come along with dealing the bioterrorist attack in the future and at the same time preventing it from happening. Thus, they argue, Bioterrorism is a new form of non-traditional security threat having immense potential to cause destruction and posing a significant threat to nation’s security and its population. It’s time for nation-states to be more alert and should be aware about how to deal with any bioterrorist attack in their respective boundaries.

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In Chap. 4, “Cyber Terrorism: A Growing Threat to India’s Cyber Security”, Shalini Prasad and Abhay Kumar draws attention to cyber threats, which endanger the safety of modern states, organizations and international relations. It explains the concept of cyberterrorism and what are the various threats and challenges posed by cyberterrorism specifically for India’s national security? It further examines the various initiatives undertaken by the Indian government to counter cyber terrorism at the national and international level. In first part of this paper, Shalini aims to understand the concepts and meaning of cyberterrorism and delineate its meaning from other terms like cybercrime, cyber-attacks, etc. Further, she identifies the people involved in these types of activities and what are the motives and intentions to carry out cyber terrorist’s attacks. Her present study also investigates the adverse impact of cyber terrorism on the national security of India. Shalini also describes the kinds of threats and challenges that India’s cyber space has been facing or is likely to face in the future. She tried to dig out the options about how cyber terrorism might become a bigger menace in the future which could threaten India’s security. Part II “Exploring the Human Security Dimensions”, begins with Chap. 5, “Contextualising Human Security Through the Nation–Individual Relationship: An Indian Perspective”. Subh Kirti and Abhishek Kumar articulate, how the individual has gained prominence in the contemporary era as the focal point of social constructivist analysis of global politics. The relationship between nation and individual has transcended from the state-led analysis of international relations to a wider plateau of concepts mostly related to human rights. However, the discourses on security in both traditional as well as the non-conventional sense have dispersed away from the limited paradigms of the nation state. This divergence has to be seen in the backdrop of the varied capabilities of individual states. The central argument of their paper is that the nation state remains the prime variable if not a determinant in securing human rights. They argue, human security gains its strength from the fact that the state apparatus now recognizes it as a broad based, dynamic, holistic and inclusive concept. Almost all modern states recognize that non-citizens whether residents, migrants or refugees do have some rights as every human shall have some basic rights. They stated that the nation state has synthesized into an entity which is both capable and willing to provide a secure environment to its citizens and never in the history of the modern state were so many options

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available for the state to serve the individual. However, the threat of lack of inclusion, a lack of global consensus on agenda setting and principles governing the treatment of those in distress are the biggest challenges faced by human security today. A dichotomy between being nationalist and populist is also necessary. Both authors attempt to synthesize this relationship and explore the various dimension of theoretical explanations and practical dimensions to explore a clear vision of future for both the nation and the individual. In Chap. 6 “Public Health and National Security: An Indian Perspective” Shantesh Kumar Singh and Haseeb Cheerathadayan analyze how health forms an important aspect in the understanding of the human security and the threats emanating from it, gaining more and more importance in the framework of national security under the ambit of non-traditional threats during twenty-first century. They point out WHO’s statement on the subject, how, historically, health has occupied the lower echelons of national priorities. Over the past decade, however, national policy makers have increasingly recognized the deleterious impacts that health crises may have on national interests. They argue, despite the shortcomings of colonial era health system India was able to gradually create a network of Public Health facilities across the country. Being a tropical country, India is vulnerable to various communicable and non-communicable diseases due to its geographical peculiarities. India has been able to control various epidemics, including Polio and Malaria to an extent. In this chapter they attempted to understand the various aspects of Indian national security in relation to the health challenges India facing in twenty-first century. While the initial part of the chapter focuses on health and national security in a broader spectrum, the later part tries to specifically look into the health issues in India and how they are important national security threats which require greater attention. In Chap. 7 “Human Trafficking: A Non-traditional Security Threat to India”, Dolly Mishra and Saurabh Sharma have explored the emerging issue of Human trafficking, which is a major concern for human security in the present scenario. Often, it is referred to as “modern day slavery”; it has been one of the fastest growing criminal industries in the world. As per the global crime record, it is the third largest form of organized crime against humanity and has become one of the most common non-traditional security threats. The present international system has developed the idea of security from traditional to non-traditional. They

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argue, human trafficking threatens the security and dignity of trafficked victims. Economically poor states are most vulnerable for trafficking, where people do not have proper livelihoods and are not able to provide basic amenities to their children. They analyze, how open borders, as a result of globalization, have accelerated the free movement of goods and services. The free movement of goods and services along borders are the major requirement for fostering better relations among nations. However, along with legal trading of goods and services, illegal trading as well as human trafficking also takes place. The gradual rise of non-traditional security threats has the capacity to destroy the economic development and relation among nations of south Asian countries. This chapter examines how human trafficking raises as a major non-traditional security threat in India. They analyze the different discourses of human security and explore the leading factors of human trafficking. The chapter has also emphasized on counter measures against human trafficking specifically focusing on non-governmental organizations particularly in border areas of Northeastern region of India. In Chap. 8, “Food Security in India: Opportunity and Challenges”, the author Bhavya Pandey argued how the food happens to be on the basic need that a human body requires for its survival. She explained that the food security is a multidimensional concept impacting various social-economic, developmental, human rights, global and environmental experiences. Food security extends beyond production and availability of grains. Post-independence India’s one-third population was under absolute poverty and malnourishment was a major challenge. India has witnessed a paradigm shift in its understanding of food security—from large scale availability of grains through the green revolution to continuous availability of food in the households through the public distribution schemes (PDS) and Targeted PDS and also measuring the energy intake of the individuals and assessing their malnutrition. India has also advocated the “right to food” campaign and a National Food Security Act, 2013 which was a right-based approach to provide subsidized food. Bhavya further defined the Rome Declaration on food security which included three interrelated ideas of availability, accessibility and absorption. The two concepts of food security to human security are interconnected, as the right to adequate food is a fundamental human right. Human security is a people-centric approach. The availability of food is an essential element of human development, whose deprivation would turn the concept of development meaningless. Poverty, hunger, malnutrition

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and food security are very closely related. Therefore, food happens to be the primary element for human security and economic development. In order to attain adequate food security, India has to overcome additional challenges of climate change and focus on small farmers. In this chapter Bhavya critically explores measures taken by India to provide food security to its people in the present-day problems. The chapter is divided in to four parts which deal with the conceptual review of food security, the intertwine concept of food and human security, the environmental impact of food security and the various measures taken by the government and intergovernmental organizations. Part III “Advancing Economic and Maritime Security”, deals with two important aspects of India’s national security. In Chap. 9, “Cooperatives and Agriculture: A Case for Economic Security in India”, Pankaj Kumar Soni addresses the question of economic security which he says has to be defined with a new character for the new aspects of its theoretical content in connection with the institutional transformations at present juncture. This question became essential for the condition of its transformation in the context of new directions of trends and patterns which determine institutional participation in economic modernization. He argues, agriculture security is one of the essential aspects of economic security. The notion of agricultural security is an important step to solve problems of economic security which would consequently ensure inclusive growth. In the context of new challenges and threats to economic security and sustainable development of the regions, it is essential to know the linkage between agricultural security and economic security. This paper reflects the institutional feature of cooperatives as the mechanism for the economic security which is necessitated by the State in addition to agricultural security. He opines that how the emergence of cooperative movement with its different dimensions may be summarized as a consequence of the new character associated with the economy. The main factors of economic security and its institutional set up are discussed briefly in the context of the cooperatives. The problems of economic security of underdeveloped economies like India and its main debate of sustainable development are not attached to the parameter indicated by cooperatives. This paper excellently tries to address the shortfalls of above said problem of economic security. In Chap. 10, “India’s Maritime Security: Opportunities and Challenges” Zeba Rayee explored how India’s role in global maritime security architecture has long been assessed as a potential superpower. She argues,

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there are number of reasons for its inability to transfer capability as reality. First, India has always been trapped to its neighborhood whether it is concerned with territorial dispute or sea disputes. Second, India has not been able to align or realign its orientations in post-Cold War era with the USA, neither it has been able to manage its differences with China which is another major hegemon in Indian Ocean Region. However, the alternative paradigms of alliances have emerged with the presence of countries like Japan, Australia, India and USA which are showing interest in the region. Zeba, in her paper, argues that India needs to handle its position and geographical proximity diplomatically and realistically, so that it can gain sometime for internal capacity building and external maneuverability in the IOR, where India follows the principle of peaceful co-existence. This principle was being agreed by the Panchsheel Agreement. She explores many major challenges which India is facing in the IOR like piracy, terrorism, human trafficking, illegal migration, rivalry and disputes with neighboring countries, etc., although there are much more opportunities and benefits than challenges. So, it depends on India how it capitalizes its benefits in the IOR. She argues, India has a distinct advantage as a legitimate territorial and oceanic power when it comes to following the international guidelines, treaties and laws. This chapter argues that to be a major regional player and substantial game changer India needs to balance between its selfinterest and capability, as capability expectation gap has not worked for its advantage till now. However, India has taken many major initiatives to increase its involvement in the region and tried to create a consensusbased platform for discussion debate and deliberation. In Chap. 11, “Water Security in India: Exploring the Challenges and Prospects”, both authors Sandeep Kaur and Priya Gauttam have explained the crisis of water security in India. Further, they argued that the water security has become a concern for all countries around the world. All human beings are highly dependent on water to carry out their life sustaining activities that involve drinking water, food production, economic development and sanitation, etc. Therefore, water security from the household to the global level, ensures that every citizen has access to enough safe water at reasonable costs to lead a clean, healthy and productive life while ensuring that the natural environment is preserved and enhanced. Although water is a renewable resource, it has become a scarce resource of the world due to excessive consumption.

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Both, Sandeep and Priya have explored how the water security is more difficult to achieve for countries with large populations. India is also one of them. India has more than eighteen percent of the world’s population, but it only has four percent of the world’s renewable water. Along with India’s economic development, water-dependent areas like industries, agriculture, urban areas and population are also growing at an unprecedented rate. Also, India is facing various water-related problems such as water pollution, water scarcity, groundwater depletion, unequal distribution and unavailability, etc. To tackle these problems, the Government of India has taken some steps through formulation of national water policies. This chapter will discuss in detail about water-related issues and policies toward water management. The chapter concludes that it is necessary to make a water policy which recognizes and addresses the challenges that the country faces and is going to face in the next century. The idea of sustainable use of water is necessary for India to meet the water demand of its people and also for economic development. Part VI “Geographical Contours”, this section attempts to explore the rising geographical threats to India’s national security. In Chap. 12, “Securitisation of Climate Change: A Case Study of India”, Sudheer Singh Verma explores the debate of climate change and environmental degradation. He argues, humans are living in fears of risk of instability and conflicts that are arising from interaction of climate change, environmental degradation and social, economic, demographic and political factors. Actors—individual, community and Mass media (as an institutional actor) are involved in the process of securitization of occurred/occurring disastrous natural phenomenon induced by changes in the Earth’s ecosystem through recalling memories in the mind of members of a society. He argues, for instance, the occurred heavy rains, floods and droughts over different parts of India caused by variability in the pattern of weather induced by climate change is liked to human activities, which are emitting greenhouse gases into atmosphere. Thus, humans now consider climate change as a very severe problem when it is likely to have direct threats to human security. Sudheer has attempted to illustrate natural events by shedding lights on the social, demographic, economic and political impacts. The chapter also has attempted to explain securitization process of climate change through understanding theory of securitization considering examples from India.

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In Chap. 13, “Energy Security in India: Inevitability vs Availability” author Bhaskar Jyoti has argued that how India is experiencing energy crisis in addressing the demand of it. Further he has tried to look into that how energy has become the essential indicator of the human development, therefore, all developed and developing countries are trying to ensure as much electricity as possible to its citizens. Energy security is a crucial challenge which decides and reshapes strategic relationships among global communities. The non-traditional notions of security favor a holistic and multidisciplinary and diverse approach to fulfill growing energy demands. The needs of the rising energy demands cannot be addressed with the traditional security approach. The Humane face of security comes as the central core concern in this approach. This approach argues that threats to human civilization have become prominent with the dynamics of shifting global economic power centers especially in the postCold War era. These discourses and debates include the concerns which were negated by the traditional notions of border security. Hence, it is important to shift our focus on these broad-based non-traditional security issues. Many countries including India are socio-politically vulnerable to global fuel prices and volatility in the supply market. Government’s inaction in dealing with the needs might also cause social unrest. Bhaskar further added that the energy security is essentially a nontraditional security threat. He argued that securing the sustainable sources of energy would ensure a peaceful living and harmonious society. The USA abandoned the membership of Paris treaty on the pretext that it can’t compromise with the living standard of its people by promising consumption and emission cut. In this backdrop India has to ensure energy availability to its citizen on one hand and reduce emission and consumption losses on the other to avail sustainable energy to its citizens. According to Asian Development Bank, India needs investments of around $2.3 trillion in the energy security sector by 2035. The Comprehensive Investment policies can lead to inflow of much needed investment in the sector with the private sector and also the foreign investments. In this chapter Bhaskar has discussed the Energy concerns of India in detail. The chapter would highlight various initiatives and incentives taken and given to public and private enterprises to ensure sustainable energy security to the citizens of the country. The first part of the chapter would conceptualize energy security as one of the non-traditional security threats in India and further it would elaborate upon India’s dependence upon

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various traditional and non-traditional sources for realizing its energy requirements. Finally, in Chap. 14, entitled “The Evolving Dynamics of National, Regional, and Global Security: A Postscript”, Obijiofor Aginam summarizes the key points of the book. He also makes his concluding arguments on the rising security concerns. He argues how non-conventional security issues are becoming pivotal in international politics, not only for India but also for the whole world. He suggests work together for devising counter measures against such threats.

References Baldwin, David (1997) The concept of security. Review of International Studies, 23(5), 9. Buzan, Barry (1991) People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era (2nd ed.) (pp. 21–26). Leicestershire: Harvester Wheatsheaf. Caballero-Anthony, M. (2010a) Non-traditional Security in Asia: The Many Faces of Securitisation. London: Ashgate. Caballero-Anthony, M. (2010b) Non-traditional security issues in Asia: Imperatives for deepening regional security cooperation. In D. Ball & K. C. Guan (Eds.), Assessing Track 2 Diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific Region: A CSCAP Reader (pp. 202–218). Singapore: S Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Dan Glickman (2017) India’s Non-Traditional Security Concerns, Aspen Institute, Discussion Paper No. 2, p. 11. Gallie, W.B. (1962) Philosophy and the Historical Understanding. London: Chatto & Windus. Levy, Marc A. (1995) Is the Environment a National Security Issue? International Security, 20(2), 37. Malec, Mieczyslaw (2003) Security Perception: Within and Beyond the Traditional Approach. Thesis, Naval Postgraduate College, Monterey, California. Ritchie, Nick (2011) Rethinking security: A critical analysis of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944–), 87 (2), 356–357. Ullman, Richard H. (1983) Redefining Security. International Security, 8(1), 135. Walt, Stephen M. (1991) The resistance of security studies, Marshon Series: Research programs and debates. International Studies Quarterly, 35, 211– 239.

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Waltz, Kenneth N. (1991) America as model for the world? A foreign policy perspective. PS: Political Science and Politics, 24(4), 30. Wolfers, Arnold (1952) National security as an ambiguous symbol. Political Science Quarterly, 67 (4), 484. Zimmerman, Erin (2014) Security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific: Nontraditional security as a catalyst. Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 10(2), 152.

PART I

Preparing for the Emerging Threats of Terrorism

CHAPTER 2

Changing Dimensions of Global Terror in the Twenty-First Century: India’s Strategy and Response Vimal Nayan Pandey

Historically, international security was defined in terms of military power projection by the sovereign nations. However, the growing importance of economics, led the international theorists to examine the nature of anarchic global politics in an increasing economic interdependence among various states. Liberals believe the emergence of multilateral institutions and organizations would promote international cooperation among nations, conversely would ease anarchy. The realists, on the other hand, assumed international anarchic situation couldn’t resolve just by promoting economic cooperation and maintaining interdependence as state politics involves power accumulation in order to ensure security. Neo-liberals and Neo-realists, however, were convinced over the possibility of economic cooperation under international anarchic situation.

V. N. Pandey (B) Department of Political Science, Dyal Singh Evening College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_2

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Definitely the advent of globalization has now impacted revelation and it is the single most important phenomenon of the twenty-first century, illustrating the global security situations and other aspects of human affairs (Echevarria 2003).

Post-Cold War Transition: Global Impact and Perception Following the Cold war, the world was moving rapidly to realize the commonalities in terms of economic aspirations and technological progress. This was the ultimate merriment in every sphere of intra and interstate relations; it was political as well as socio-economic homogenization of world population. On the political front, democracy was being considered as the ultimate and legitimate way of conducting political affairs. On the economic front, the new standards set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) were being accepted as an inevitable finale for regulating interstate businesses. Whereas on the social front, the global popular culture determined by western multinational corporations was being well taken and now shaping the standard of living and tastes of global consumers (Khan 2001). In that sense, globalization has enhanced the process of interstate activities and global engagements that are creating ever closer relations, enhance interdependence, better opportunity, and more accessibility for all. Globalization eased the process of liberalization and interstate movements of labour, ideas, capital, technology, and profits by the dilution of state sovereignty. In fact, it is basically facilitated trans-border transactions with minimal government interference. At the same time, the process of globalization also erodes the very sense of the state’s security too. Moreover, humanitarian concerns are well taken into the agendas of international summits and conferences. While considering the evolution of India’s security policy, it is important to focus on the factors responsible for the security policy changes. On the one hand, India was going through the phase of economic transformation by liberalizing its economic policy in order to accommodate with the global economy, and on the other hand, the whole world was going through a process of transition because of globalization.

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Globalization and the Rise of International Terrorism The world in the twenty-first century has been facing irregular security threats, particularly from non-state actors characterized by a continued incident of terrorist attacks and criminal warfare all over the world. Militia factions and armed gangs are everywhere, for instance, the USA, which was considered as the safest place in the world till 2001, came under attack on 9/11. Remarkably, after 9/11, security threats as a result of terrorism, drug trafficking, oil bunkering and sea piracy become more prominent as these issues are directly associated with the continued existence of states itself. In addition, organized criminal activities, particularly smuggling in weapons and fiscal crimes are ever more intrepid but critical. These are not one-off occurrence, rather a vicious cycle has created. Weak state’s asymmetrical threat dynamics create black-marketing coupled with state corruptions; weaken democratization process; arouse civil conflicts, push state collapse, and form sanctuary for terrorists and allow more criminals to operate (Sage 2010). Although most recent writings on the issue emphasize on the global extent and manifestation of terrorism, regional and sub-regional terror, and even a state-sponsored terror are being a long-standing feature of the current world politics. Though, the event of 9/11 has arrived as a turning point in the recent history of international politics, which was not happening in isolation, repetition of a propensity was apparent for last several years. Previously, the terror was being acknowledged in connection with wars of independence, counterinsurgency operations, and the combat zone of the Cold War, but the attack of 9/11 took terrorism to a new height. That is why, the contemporary effort is to understand its impact and possible threats of terrorism is a major global concern (Cilliers 2006). Jakkie Cilliers (2003), however, substantiated the resurrection of terrorism in 1990s as a secret alliance to oppose and resist against Soviet expansion in Central and South Asia, particularly in Afghanistan. The USA’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained their former allies, encompassing diverse factions of secret anti-Soviet Muslim army in Afghanistan. Following the departure of the CIA after the Soviet Union moved back in 1989, their former allies get isolated and deceived. The contagion carried by recurring veterans from the war extend rapidly, particularly in the Middle-East, South Asia, and Northern Africa. These groups of fundamentalist were spread all over the region, and initially

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funded by countries, like Saudi Arabia, and later by largess from Osama bin Laden and other private sponsors. They offered an impetus to the terrorist movement that was previously a violent extremist primarily oriented towards domestic issues. The homecoming veterans participated in the combat against the Soviet presence in Afghanistan, revitalized these local extremists and reoriented their focus externally. The ripple effect of the conflicts was further encouraged the occurrence of terrorist attacks in both Asia and Africa in the 1990s and beyond. During 1990s, a new set of terrorists had been replaced by the previous years of revolutionary terrorists (Botha 2003). The key distinction was that the new danger comes from a loose grouping of people with similar thinking and attitude, resorted to terror as a way to hit against their adversaries, whereas earlier of 1980s was a disciplined group with close-knit. Even today’s international terrorism maintained some of the similarities of those of former eras, but with some key distinctions. The tightly knit groups of specialized terrorists are gone often in the pay of foreign powers, the characteristic that gave birth to the term state-sponsored terror (Cilliers 2006).

Security in Post-9/11: The Rise of ‘War on Terror’ Following the horrific event of 9/11, there has been much debate among academics about qualitative changes in the composition and processes of the international society. Ken Booth and Tim Dunne (2002: IX) also identify a number of fundamental changes and emphasis that the ‘war on terror’ can be a crucial factor in deciding the fate of the struggle for global order. Accordingly, the occurrence of 9/11 has distorted the very discourse of international relations and global politics. The geopolitics and security concern have now once again become a primary issue; and the past outlook and attitude of twentieth century are shaping and reshaping our thinking about global politics. Globalization has undoubtedly improved the role of politics both in determining authority and rationale behind the actual conduct of conflicts (Echevarria 2003). But today, almost all states experience a great sense of insecurity out of increasing acts of terrorism, sea piracy, ethnic violence, trans-national crime, etc. Governments are increasingly cooperating on the international front to monitor the flow of men, money, and messages across the borders. These measures show that the priority has been given to the security at any cost rather than

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profit, which is being sacrificed in order to ensure safety. This is, therefore, Khan (2001) argued if this state of affairs continues, would hamper the process of globalization and the very instruments which facilitate and accelerate it, would be blunted.

Global Terrorism and Security Challenges in India It is a historical as well as a geographical fact that India is the core of the Asian Sub-continent which cannot be denied. This is also equally true that since independence India has faced enormous security challenges. India’s regional power status along with porous and disputed borders, sharing with their neighbours are the main reason of continued security dilemma in the region. In order to balance this asymmetry, India’s neighbours are largely relying to ally with extra-regional powers or applying non-traditional means to keep India in a defensive position. For instance, Pakistan’s support for cross-border terrorist activities in Kashmir is a part of this strategy, has to peril normal life since the 1980s. The process of globalization, in fact, has resulted in lessening the border control, conversely raised various security problems that attain dangerous dimensions. As Mishra (2005) mentioned, since 1990 crossborder terrorism has claimed over 34,000 lives in India. The apparition of terrorism is one such phenomenon gone global fast after the advent of globalization. In post 9/11 period, however, terrorism has taken a centre stage in the security discourse. In the South Asian region, two of the India’s immediate neighbours, China and Pakistan, contain nuclear weapons and continue to have border disputes with India. Despite an enormous progress in commercial relations with China, disagreement over some issues continues, particularly on territorial disputes and China’s military assistance to Pakistan (especially in nuclear and missile fields), keep the two countries wary of each other (Beri 2007). The global trends indicate that traditional conflicts on territorial gain are over as the rationale for such wars, no longer exists due to certain global systemic changes. In addition, the presence of nuclear weapons among them with their tremendous destructive capability has limited the possibility of any war. Likewise, India’s concern is also to focus on nontraditional security issues as traditional threats such as war and aggression, are no longer relevant. While the threat of war may have reduced but can’t be ruled out completely following tensions over territorial claims

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between India and China at Doklam and then recently in Galwan. Moreover, the concern remains over the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the possibility of their falling in the hand of non-state actors. The possibility of arms proliferation along with the intimidation caused by the rise of fundamentalism in Bangladesh, cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, and the inclination of the Nepal government led by NCP (Nepal Communist Party) towards Communist China, and Maoist fractions in India, has made the situation even much worse. However, the major threats to India’s security comes from terrorism and related issues, for instance, arms proliferation, drug trafficking and sea piracy are now considered as a major source of finance for terrorist groups, poses potential threats to global stability. Regional Challenges, Terrorism, and Arm Proliferation Most scholars all over the world convinced that the presence and the risks related to the proliferation of WMD, particularly nuclear weapons, are the greatest possible threats to world peace. This is how, the global security environment in the twenty-first century puts an extraordinary challenge to avert the spread, stockpiling, and elimination of such weapons and technology. There are reports indicating armed syndicates, terrorist organizations, and some rogue states, eagerly trying to acquire materials and technology required to make a nuclear weapon. If they get succeeded in their attempt may cause a great setback to international security and posed an increased challenge to current international non-proliferation efforts. Out of the two most important categories of nuclear threats as underlined by Broodryk and Stott (2011), security risk concerning transfer of nuclear materials through black market sales, illicit trafficking, or smuggling to state and non-state actors are the biggest challenge. In the decade 1990, there was a steady rise in such cases clearly evident. Another category outlined by them involves concern over attacks on existing nuclear establishments. Although, given importance to the highly sophisticated security arrangement involved, any such attack by armed non-state actors seemed rarely plausible. However, any such attacks on nuclear facilities by one state on another state during military operations cannot be denied, as in the case when in Sept. 2007 Israel allegedly destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. On the contrary, the major threat to international security is coming from the possession of nuclear material and technology by

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non-state actors for the purpose of making a nuclear weapon or radiological dispersal device (Findlay 2010). The possibility of such diffusion of nuclear materials was evident in 2004, when Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan publically confessed and confirmed about the presence of a global proliferation network, involved in sharing nuclear technology, expertise, and designs with a number of countries including Iran, North Korea, and Libya. The presence and successful operation of this network over the last two decades, not only escaped the international nuclear export control regime, but also exposed the Faultline in the regime designed to prevent illicit trade (Fitzpatrick 2007). Brad Freden (2004) underlined three major security challenges of contemporary time on a global scale, i.e. international terrorism, failed states, and the proliferation of WMD. The possibility of WMD, nuclear or biological or chemical weapon, falls in the hand of any rogue states or armed non-state organizations represent the biggest challenge that the world is facing today. He argued that some of the states being a hotbed and considered as a safe-haven for terrorists, already possess WMD and are eager to acquire greater capability. He argued that some states, including those that have supported and continue to support terrorism, already possess WMD, as an instrument of coercion and intimidation. These are not a weapon of last resort for them, but a weapon to deter adversary from responding to aggression. Moreover, he agreed that such terror organization is seeking greater destruction capability with the intent to widen casualty counts in order to coerce the government to conform their illegitimate demands. For many years, ensuring the safety of radioactive material and associated technologies are realized to be needed, and that is why, it is also on the priority of the international agenda. The finding of global nuclear proliferation network exposed the conception that the nuclear weapon technology is dominated by few industrialized developed countries (Fitzpatrick 2007). The fact about A.Q. Kahn’s network and the evidences came out after the attack of 9/11, has suggested some al-Qaeda affiliated factions interested in obtaining or developing nuclear or radiological explosive device, put nuclear security on priority for many states too (Mowatt-Larssen 2010). Despite the international calls and efforts to control proliferation and reduction of nuclear arsenal, there is a dominant perception that it is going to persist and keep influencing the security policies in many countries. Over the last few decades, all such efforts got failed in comparison

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with earlier successful attempts during the Cold War. The communities in the West initially believe in decreasing security relevance because of nuclear presence, rather advance national security as perceived by the nuclear states, their allies and aspirant states, willing to achieve nuclear technology. Nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and strategic defence have now become the core of security policy formulation considerably different from that of the Cold War era. In this context, it is imperative to understand the role of nuclear weapons in insuring the state’s security; strategies adopted for their deployment; its implications on the broader international security environment; regional stability, and conflict resolution. Significantly, the Asian security environment is going through grave security risk, due to the presence of five of the seven declared nuclear weapon states: the USA, Russia, China, India, and Pakistan; one undeclared nuclear state: Israel; two aspirant states: North Korea and Iran; and a number of states that rely on the American nuclear umbrella for their security, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia (Alagappa 2009). Certainly, most of the weak nation finds no other feasible option to attain their national and security objectives, for them nuclear weapon remain the ‘coin of the realm’. As Perkovich (1998) mentioned John Mearsheimer’s observation about a country which lives in a remarkably dangerous area of the world would go to a large extent in order to ensure their own protection by adopting any means. Thus, until the fundamental security interest of the states could be guaranteed, the WMD remains seen as a weapon of resort and response against an adversary with superior capability. India is not a signatory to the NPT and refusing to sign it in current form, as India viewed it as partial and non-comprehensive. For many years, India followed a policy of nuclear ambiguity, tested its first nuclear explosion in 1974. By the late 1990s, India’s approach has become one of overt weaponization, in response to the perceived threats from Pakistan and China (Sidiropoulos 2011). India’s geopolitical position bordered by two anxious nuclear neighbours, forced it to become a reluctant nuclear power with their own deterrent capability. Therefore, India’s decision to go for a nuclear weapon was more compulsion rather than choice (Roy 2002). Since the adoption of the NPT in 1967, the non-proliferation regime has accomplished something beyond expectations as a large number of countries have joined the list. Moreover, a number of countries

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abandoned their nuclear programs in the decade 1980s and 1990s including Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Kazakhstan, South Africa, South Korea, and Ukraine. However, there is an apprehension that if nuclear non-proliferation regimes get failed, in maintaining global norm against nuclear spread, might reverse this positive growth (Perkovich 1998). The current international nuclear security framework provides a considerable number of measures ranging from national regulations, actions to voluntary codes of conduct and international binding legal dealings. However, the broad array of these elements may potentially lead to an over complication of the execution process. Maritime Security Threats, Terrorism, and Piracy India is a significant player in the Indian Ocean, having extensive coast of about 7,600 kms, and an EEZ of over 2 million km2 . India aspires to play an omnipotent role in the IOR. India’s centrality in the region claims prominence among the other regional powers. Unlike other important regional navies like Australia and South Africa, India’s naval strength stretches through both east and west coast of the mainland through the islands: Lakshadweep & Minicoy and Andaman & Nicobar, further enhance the significance. However, the Indian Maritime doctrine clearly indicates the emerging security threats in the region, for instance, the piracy has been on the rise since last two decades. The act of piracy in & around Indonesian, Bay of Bengal, and Somalian waters are considered as world’s most affected regions where the distressing incidence of violence utilizing sophisticated weapons are very common (Indian Maritime Doctrine 2004). The repeated occurrence of maritime terrors, such as hijacking of commercial vessels on the high seas by various terrorist groups is more alarming, some of these groups have their own merchant fleet (Beri 2007). The geopolitical position of the Indian Ocean has enabled it to acquire the importance of being an integral link between the eastern and the western parts of the globe. This is evident from the fact that most of the important world trade routes pass through the Indian Ocean. Since early, the Indian Ocean was regarded as an arena of power politics. Even during the colonial era and thereafter Cold War period, was the evidence for this claim. Britain’s departure from the region, and its substitution by new extra-regional elements in the form of the USA, then USSR, and now China, marked a significant change in the security environment of

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the region. Other IOR countries, having suffered from a long colonial domination, were weak and sharply divided on ideological, political, and territorial issues. The absence of any local maritime powers in part offered opportunities to the super-powers to deploy their navies. In the post-Cold War era, the geopolitical and the geostrategic significance of the Indian Ocean has emerged for a large number of regional littorals as well as non-littoral states. Availability of enormous energy resources, in terms of both reserves and production capacity, further makes the region more important. Besides, globalization further enhanced the potential for regional economic development. At the same time, the Indian Ocean is also witnessed to developing power rivalries, power transitions, and growing asymmetric conflicts. Increasing incidence of maritime piracy, sea crime, sea hijacking, etc., worsen the situation and threaten the security of free movement of the commercial fleet on the high seas. In fact, the act of piracy is not new and was occurring since the ships are being gone to the sea. But the twentieth-century piracy gets more hostile when associating it with other forms of organized crime. Thus, the Geneva Convention on Open Seas is defining a mechanism to counter piracy considering it as a public task (Mednikarov and Kolev 2006). In the post-Cold War period, piracies continue to become a major occurrence throughout the world. The dissolution of the bipolar political model and the changes in value system led to the moral collapse in some social groups in the Eastern Europe. This led to initiate the continued process of transformation and reorganization of intelligence services and armed forces, leaving a great number of highly skilled and trained personnel jobless. Moral collapse along with economic breakdown provided an impetus to these qualified and skilled personnel to get attached with the criminal contingent. The perfection, working style, and organizational tactics, applied by the Somalia pirates during operation, supports the notion that many among them might belong to former coastguard or professional seamen (Mednikarov and Kolev 2006). These criminal contingents pose a security threat to the Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs) and the commercial fleets on the high seas. In the contemporary globalized world, any disruption in the free flow of trade is a considerable threat to the littoral economies in particular, and for the world economy in general. This is because of the fact that the majority of the commercial activities and energy lifelines are seaborn. Considerably, around 80% of international trade and services move

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through seas, making the countries depend on maritime routes for their commercial exchange in this globalized era (Vreÿ 2009). Accordingly, any disturbance in traffic flow of the existing choke point in the region could have serious consequences. Such turbulence in free trade movement may have serious consequences. Somalia, in fact, has emerged as a piracy hotspot. In the absence of any government or central authority in Somalia, after the fall of Said Barre regime in 1991, led the country to famine, civil war, and political instability. As a result of an instability in the region, providing a breeding ground for the emergence of piracy and sea crime led it to become a dominant global piracy hotspot. Until recently, the region in and around the South-East Asia was being largely known for maritime piracy, and that is why, the safety of the trade routes passing through the Malacca Strait (bordering Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia) and the South China Sea, was the major concern for the global community. But since 2007, the rise in the number of pirate attacks largely concentrated in the African water near the coast of Nigeria, Somalia, and other African states, surpassing Asia particularly in terms of such incidence (Nincic 2009). In this regard, Potgieter (2009) precisely discussing on the lack of persistent maritime security as a major threat to the African continent, their growth and development, their maritime interests and available resources in & around EEZ. Moreover, the contesting political environment in the countries on the Western Coast of African continent, such as the Gulf of Guinea, has equally made armed robbery and piracy a key concern. Still in contrast to Asia Somalian piracy, especially in terms of frequency of happening, ransom involved and the number of casualties is far more distressing (Middleton 2011). These rises of insecurity at an alarming rate, intimidated not only the freedom of SLOCs, but also the global free flow of trade in goods and services across the world. The period 2008–09 would be considered important because a large number of piracy attacks were reported during this period, out of total 300 attacks on ships in 2008, 111 incidents took place in the region of the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden (Wilson 2009). The surge in piracy in 2008, gained worldwide attention and threatened the vital interests of the global community, compelled them to get engaged actively to find out the long lasting solution to the problem. India is a more significant player in the IOR both in terms of the fastest emerging economy as well as holding key strategic controlling position. Since the bulk of trade is sea-born, it is natural that India is sensitive

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towards the safety of the SLOCs and existing choke points in the region (Ghosh 2004). Despite growing awareness of the danger and a continued effort on various levels to evolve a counter mechanism, the menace of piracy keeps on rising (Middleton 2011). India is being interested in tackling such problems which are a threat to their international trade through the Indian Ocean. Threats of mining, hijacking, gunrunning, drug smuggling, and human trafficking are the offshoots of piracy. Therefore, piracy needs to be tackled by a mixture of both strategic and tactical measures. Tactical measures include international policing of piracy prone high seas, issuing a real-time warning, tracking pirated ships and detaining pirates in harbours, and direct action at sea against pirates (Gilbert 1998). The other major problems in this field are the lack of appropriate law enforcement mechanism and safeguarding the maritime order. Although, the increase in maritime crime has unlocked the door for maritime cooperation, but the opportunity has yet to comprehend. Thus, the problem continues to exist as the challenges in preserving maritime order persist. Security Challenges and Illicit Drug Trafficking In addition to the above, over the last few decades IOR has emerged as an important transit for drug trafficking (Beri 2007). India is enclosed between the two of the world’s largest Narco producing and exporting regions in the Asian continent, popularly known as Golden Crescent, encircling Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, and Golden Triangle, comprising Myanmar-Thailand-Laos. There are enough reports suggesting that the region becomes a major source of narcotic trafficking, such as illicit heroin and opium. At present South Asia utilizes as a transit for these illicit drugs rather than a market. This has a potential security risk for South Asian region as a whole, and of India in particular (Biswas 2008). Likely, money laundering is another important challenge deeply linked with these criminal groups, originally serving a social purpose of the poor migrant labourers working in West Asia, well known for their extremely dangerous and influential hawala network. These networks first came to light when their financial and funding relationship with major global terror organizations get exposed. Thus, there is a greater international cooperation and planned coordination required in fighting these powerful networks.

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India’s Security Policy in the Twenty-First Century In this era of insecurity, India’s defence policies have also been undergoing a gradual change in the last two decades in order to modernize its military, seeks strategic partnership with the USA & other powers, and expands its influence in the IOR, Asia and beyond. This transformation also brings a change in policy orientation emphasizing more on the open policy for security, rather a closed policy of the past, ensuring bilateral and multilateral defence engagement with major powers. It is true to some extent that economically, India is still struggling and has to go a long way to be recognized as a developed nation. However, unlike India’s neighbour Pakistan is being a source of nuclear proliferation and state-sponsored terrorism, politically emergent India has always been regarded as a responsible nuclear power. Its long-held democratic record, federal multi-ethnic society, built on an equitable and prosperous demography, and its continued battle against cross-border terrorism have found good will among the global community. Following 9/11, India’s attempt to improve its long-troubled relationship with the USA by offering overflight rights and bases was well acknowledged. This has again brought a significant transformation in India’s foreign policy to get engaged with the USA while balancing its relations with Russia and other powers. This is how the strategic interest and the policy has transformed over the decade from non-alignment and noncommitment to poly-alignment. This engagement can be emphasized by four specific and interrelated actions. Firstly, to achieve recognition as an influential power in the IOR and securing conformity among partners in the region to ensure its capabilities and goals through modernizing its army, navy, and airforce in order to counter potential threats in the region, and to fulfil its humanitarian responsibilities by participating in UN peace missions. Secondly, to establish ‘strategic partnerships’ with global and regional leaders in order to seek modern weaponry system and technology along with a licence in order to ensure domestic production of such systems. Thirdly, to ensure its ties with smaller third world countries globally so that they could provide their support to India in major global institutions and to harness their potential markets for its own emerging defence industry. And lastly, to strengthen its position as a leader of the south by representing and raising their issues to fetch more and more benefit for the global south.

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Considerably, India’s political success as the world’s largest democracy and a vibrant economic rise has been reshaping its global status recognition. Earlier India’s foreign policy preferences were constrained by the Cold War politics that governed its political, socio-economic, and security relations with regional and other countries. But the post-Cold War shift in the power equation among the nations has also given way to India’s rise. A steadily performing economy in post-liberalization and 1998s nuclear testing has changed both India’s perceptions as well as world’s perception towards India (Bava 2007).

Conclusion India occupies a strategic position in its respective sub-continent and promotes unity among developing countries. The diverse nature of its population, speaking numerous languages and professing many faiths, past colonial experience and long years of freedom struggle, compels it to be concerned towards its approaches towards the international issues. It has a strong international profile, and there is considerable goodwill towards its regional and global presence attracted worldwide interests and support. Besides, its well accepted role and recognition in the regional settings, India is now in the twenty-first century has also been equally appreciated and cooperated by other global big powers. Despite vigorous economic and political relations, the security factors have been playing a multifaceted and bewildering role as the region is grappling with the regular security challenge that comes from its neighbours such as China and Pakistan. Thus, India’s security policies towards military modernization, maritime security, and nuclear programs are nothing but reflecting its regional and global security concerns. Remarkably, India’s answer to the current regional and global challenges is to approach more and more friendly countries in order to balance its earlier policy of non-alignment and unilateralism with today’s policy of poly-alignment and multilateralism. This can be evident from India’s defence-specific agreement to find new technologies, which have increased with the number of countries since 2000. India’s bilateral and multilateral exercises are also a growing attribute of India’s defence engagements in order to transform its military capability suited best for new security challenges of the twenty-first century. In Post-Cold War, India’s foreign policy is being guided by the objective to overcome current security challenges. With their valuable

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experiences and shared security challenges with other countries, India has been trying to build reasonable, affluent, and safe future by strengthening multilateral structures. This attempt is to bring all like minded states together against the menace of rising global terrorism and other related security challenges, as no one country is able to tackle it in isolation.

References Alagappa, Muthiah. 2009. Nuclear Weapons Reinforce Security and Stability in 21st Century Asia, Global Asia, Vol. 4, No. 1, can be accessed on http://glo balasia.org/articles/issue9/iss9_17.html Ann, Markusen, Sean DiGivanna and Michael C. Leary. 2003. From Defence to Development?: International Perspectives on Realizing the Peace Dividend, London, and New York: Taylor and Francis Group. Bava, Ummu Salma. 2007. New Powers for Global Change? India’s Role in the Emerging World Order, Dialogue on Globalization, FES Briefing Paper 4. Beri, Ruchita. 2007. Traditional and Non-Traditional Threats in a Changing Global Order: An Indian Perspective, Centre for Policy Studies, Policy: Issues & Actors, Vol. 20, No. 2, p. 3. Biswas, Aparajita. 2008. Small Arms and Drug Trafficking in the Indian Ocean Region, can be accessed on http://www.mu.ac.in/arts/social_science/ african_studies/biswaswp.pdf Booth, K, and T. Dunne. 2002. World in Collision: Terrorism and the Future of Global Order, Palgrave: London. Booth, Ken and Peter Vale. 1995. Security in Southern Africa: After Apartheid, beyond Realism, International Affairs, Vol. 71, No. 2, pp. 285–304 (p. 286). Botha, A. 2003. Background: Terrorism in Africa, paper presented at the ISS Terrorism Seminar, 18–19th September 2003, Colosseum Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa, pp. 5–6. Broodryk, Amelia, and Noel Stott. Securing Africa’s Nuclear Resources (compiled), International Institute for Security Studies, South Africa. Chalk, Peter. 2010. Piracy Off the Horn of Africa: Scope, Dimensions, Causes and Responses, Brown Journal of World Affairs, Vol. xvi, No. ii, pp. 89–108. Cilliers, Jakkie. 1999. An Emerging South African Foreign Policy Identity?, Occasional Paper no 39, ISS: Pretoria. Cilliers, Jakkie. 2003. Terrorism and Africa, African Security Review, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 91–103 (p. 94). Cilliers, Jakkie. 2006. Africa, Root Causes and the ‘war on terror’, African Security Review, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 58–71 (p. 59). Daniel Flemes. 2007. Emerging Middle Powers Soft Balancing Strategy: State and Perspectives of the IBSA Dialogue Forum, Giga Working Papers no. 57.

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Dlamini, Kuseni. 2004. Ten Years of Foreign Policy in the New South Africa, in SA Yearbook of International Affairs 2003/04, Johannesburg: SAIIA, 2004, pp.1–2. Echevarria, Antulio J. 2003. Globalization, and the Nature of War, Strategic Studies Institute, can be accessed on http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute. army.mil/pdffiles/pub215.pdf Findlay, Trevor. 2010. The Future of Nuclear Energy to 2030 and its Implications for Safety, Security and Nonproliferation: Part 3-Nuclear Security, Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Fitzpatrick, M. 2007. Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and The Rise of Proliferation Networks. An IISS Strategic Dossier, the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Flanagan, Stephen J., Ellen L. Frost and Richard L. Kugler. 2001. Challenges of the Global Century: Report of the Project on Globalization and National Security, National Defense University: Washington DC. Freden, Brad. 2004. The Changing Nature of Global Security and Ensuing Challenges to National Armed Forces in Southeast Europe, paper presented in 9th Workshop of the PFP Consortium Study Group “Regional Stability in South East Europe”, titled “Transforming National Armed Forces in South East Europe from the Social to the Military Challenge”, hosted by ISIS and G. S. Rakovsky Defence and Staff College (RDSC), Bulgaria. Gelbert, Robert. 1998. Drug Trafficking in Southern Africa, in Robert I. Rotberg and Greg Mills (eds) War and Peace in Southern Africa: Crime Drug, Armies, and Trade, Washington: Brookings Institution, p. 172. Ghosh, P. K. 2004. Maritime Security Challenges in South Asia and the Indian Ocean: Response Strategies, paper presented at the Center for Strategic and International Studies—American Pacific Sealanes Security Institute conference on Maritime Security in Asia. January 18–20, 2004, Honolulu, Hawaii. Government of India. 2004. Indian Maritime Doctrine, New Delhi: Integrated Defence Headquarters, Ministry of Defence. Hedrick, Brian K. 2009. India’s Strategic Defense Transformation: Expanding Global Relationships, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, can be accessed on http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/ pub950.pdf International Institute for Security Studies, ‘Nuclear Black Markets: Pakistan, A.Q. Khan and the rise of proliferation networks’. A Net Assessment. May 2007. Khan, Muqtedar. 2001. Terrorism and Globalization, can be assessed on http:// www.glocaleye.org/terglo.htm Klare, Michael T., Yogesh Chandrani. 1998. World Security: Challenges for a New Century, New York: St. Martin’s Press, p. vii.

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Kornegay, Francis A. 2006. IBSA: Toward a ‘Gondwanan’ Strategic Vision, Policy Studies Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 11–14. Larssen, Rolf Mowatt. 2010. Al Qaeda Weapons of Mass Destruction Threat: Hype or Reality? Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School: Belfer. Mednikarov, Bojan and Kiril Kolev. 2006. Terrorism on the Sea, Piracy, and Maritime Security, Information & Security: An International Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 102–114 (p. 104–05) Middleton, Roger. 2011. Trends in Piracy: A Global Problem with Somalia at the Core, in Global Challenge, Regional Responses: Forging a Common Approach to Maritime Piracy, Dubai: Dubai School of Government, p. 21. Misra, Ashutosh. 2005. The Problem of Kashmir and the Problem in Kashmir: Divergence Demands Convergence, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 16–43 (p. 22). Nincic, D. 2009. Maritime Piracy in Africa: The Humanitarian Dimension, African Security Review, Vol. 18, No. 3, p. 1. Perkovich, George. 1998. Nuclear Proliferation, Foreign Policy, No. 112, pp. 12– 23 (p. 16). Potgieter, T. 2009. The Lack of Maritime Security in the Horn of Africa: Scope and effect. Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol. xxxi, No. 1, p. 66. Roy, Mihir. Maritime Security in South West Asia, Society for Indian Ocean Studies, can be accessed on http://www.iips.org/Roy-paper.pdf Sage, Andre Le. 2010. Africa’s Irregular Security Threats: Challenges for U.S. Engagement, Strategic Forum, No. 255. Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth. 2011. India and South Africa as Partners for Development in Africa? Chatham House Briefing Paper. Sidiropoulos, Elizabeth. 2012. India, South Africa and Africa in Changing Global Landscape, Report of a conference held on 9–10 June 2011 at the South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg. Vreÿ, F. 2009. Globalisation and Maritime Economics: Securing the Maritime Landscape. Strategy Insights, Vol. 17, No. 9, p. 1. Wilson, B. 2009. Effectively Confronting a Regional Threat: Somali Piracy. Conflict Trends 1:1.

CHAPTER 3

Growing Threat of Bioterrorism in India: Conflict, Consequences and Challenges Monika Gupta and Navneet Kumar

Introduction Today, the intensity of the non-traditional security threats is at its peak. The entire world is engulfed within the purview of these serious and dangerous non-traditional security threats. Before moving into the technicalities of “Bioterrorism” as one of the most contemporary nontraditional security threat, let’s understand the basic nature of nontraditional security threats. Non-traditional threats to security imply a significant diversion from the earlier most common threat that a nation faces i.e. military form of threat and taking the form of something that is more dangerous. Today, non-traditional security encompasses many other dimensions like human security, environmental security, societal security

M. Gupta (B) Centre for European Studies, School of International Relations, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India N. Kumar Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_3

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and economic security and they encompass many other factors that may hinder the security of the nation except the military power (Srikanth 2014). Thus, amongst all these factors, the phenomenon of “Bioterrorism” which unlike the standard military hard power is much more dangerous not only for a nation’s security but also for its population. Pertaining to the discussion on “Bioterrorism”, this chapter exclusively tends to answer questions like what is bioterrorism, what are its consequences, how does it impact the security of the international community, why should the problem of bioterrorism needs to be taken seriously and what negative impacts it can bring along if not curbed properly? This chapter will also discuss historical events when bioterrorist attack has taken place, examples of biological weapons, classification of biological weapons, the convention for biological weapons, the risk factors in future, and the prevention strategies. This chapter also includes some other relevant facts which are important for the understanding of this concept. However, the interesting aspect of this chapter will be analysing the concept of “bioterrorism” from a scientific point of view which would not only provide it a new dimension but will also help in understanding the concept more widely and efficiently. Today, in 2020, when the entire world witnesses unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes all the way more important to relate if this Coronavirus is a Bioweapon and studies are already under progress in order to derive some conclusive analysis and there are different theories springing up in the light of the same, highlighting the virus’s relation with the biological weapons. The last section of this chapter intends to briefly touch upon this area which is still in the nascent stage of study and involves various theoretical perspectives.

Bioterrorism: Nature and Definition Bioterrorism refers to the intentional use of biological agents such as microbes, toxins, bacteria, virus and parasites, etc. as weapons in warfare or against enemies to fulfil any personal or political agenda. These biological agents can either be in their natural form or artificially engineered form whichever is suitable in a given condition (Newman 2018). Bioterrorist activities need not necessarily be always directed towards any nation but can also be against any individual from any individual, towards animals and plants, etc. The impact that these bioterrorist activities bring along is hazardous and lethal. However, there have been various instances of

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the small bioterrorist attacks in many parts of the world but its intensity has been increasing with the passage of time. Till now, the world hasn’t heard of any huge bioterrorist attack that apparently affected a nation and its security but with its ever-increasing usage, the time is not that far (CDC-Bioterrorism). Bioterrorism is also known as “Germ warfare”. It covers extreme terrorism causing mass casualties to small-scale events which can cause civil unrest, disruption, disease, disabilities and death. It is the intentional negative use of viruses, bacteria or other harmful germs to sicken or kill the people, livestock or crops. Through the use of these biological agents, the larger goal of the terrorists is the propagation of their social and political purposes by injuring or killing the civilians, plants and animals that in turn cause widespread destruction (Hooker). The governments of different countries are trying hard to detect a bioterrorist attack but the perfect systems are still not in place. However, various warning signs act as clues for a bioterrorist attack to have taken place. For instance, the medical community is asked to be more alert to look out for some rare disease or symptoms which are not prevalent in that area. Other plausible signs of a bioterrorist attack are a large number of people dying in a particular geographical area, particularly a small one, multiple deaths of animals of different species or there is an outbreak of various diseases in a specific locale. In a situation of a bioterrorist attack, the worst part lies in the transmission of disease from one human to another. Under such circumstances, the role of the public health officials becomes very important along with the role of the local media in preventing fear and panicking in the concerned area (Lathrop 2001).

A Brief Overview About Biological Agents As mentioned above, biological agents include bacteria, parasites, viruses, etc. that are naturally available but at the same time, can also be altered or mutated in different ways as per the demands and requirements. For instance, these agents can be modified to cause a particular disease in severe form or can be made resistant to some specific medicines or for that matter, their ability to spread in the environment could also be enhanced. Thus, we can comprehend that these biological agents are very hazardous if the intentions behind their usage and application are dangerous (Klein 2012).

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It is strange to think why terrorists or for that matter any person with harmful intentions would use biological agents to spread terror or destruction in the world at large? The answer to the question lies in the fact that these biological agents are very easy to spread. For instance via food, air or water. Also, they are challenging to detect in the short time as after being injected into any medium, they do not cause immediate illness and instead takes several hours or days for showing the symptoms, as a result of which, the culprit can quickly get away without being caught. Some of the biological agents which can terrorize are communicable like smallpox virus while others are non-communicable like anthrax (Preston 2002). Other factors that increase the usage of these biological agents for spreading terror are that, they are easily and readily available, they are way cheaper, they can be easily spread, and they have enough potential to cause widespread fear and panic for a much longer time as compared to the other forms of damage. In simple words, if one explains how these biological agents are used to cause terror, it is as follows. For spreading terror and fear amongst a larger population and questioning the security of the concerned place, these culprits contaminate one of the biological agents say virus in either the food or water or even in the air, so that when the targeted population eats, drink or inhale the contaminated substance, it may lead to illness, death and other severe health hazards amongst the larger population or state which in turn makes the situation for any country panicking and full of fear. It is also dangerous because the outcomes of bioterrorism cannot be dealt with quick hand and therefore the casualties caused by biological agents will be far more and severe as compared to other forms of terror. And this is precisely how biological agents become biological weapons for carrying out a bioterrorist attack (NCBI 1999). Apart from all these disasters that these biological agents or weapons bring and despite how advantageous they are for the terror causing group or person, biological agents have some serious limitations like— it is really difficult to employ a bio-weapon in a way that it only affects the enemy and not the culprits. Also, genetic engineering may potentiate the biological agent which involves manipulation of genes with the help of biotechnology (Joy 2007). Table 3.1 shows a list of some of the biological agents along with the diseases they cause: Also, a more systematic and scientific division of biological agents that can be used as a biological weapon to carry out a bioterrorist attack is

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Table 3.1 Biological agents along with the diseases they cause

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Biological agent

Disease caused

Bacillus anthracis Clostridium botulinum toxin Yersinia pestis Variola major Epsilon toxin of Clostridium perfringens Coxiellaburnetii Vibrio cholerae Influenza virus Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Anthrax Botulism Plague Smallpox Food poisoning

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Q fever Cholera Influenza MDR TB and XDR TB

given by Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They have divided and ranked these biological agents into three categories (Fig. 3.1):

Fig. 3.1 Diagrammatic representation of the categories of bioweapons and their examples

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Category A: The agents belonging to this category can be easily disseminated. The disease caused by them are having higher mortality rate which can cause public panic and social disruption on a very large scale. They are highly dangerous for the national security of any country. Category A includes Francisella tularensis bacterium which can cause tularemia or “rabbit fever”, anthrax by Bacillus anthracis, smallpox caused by viruses, etc. Category B: The agents of this category are less easily disseminated as compared to category A and have a lower mortality rate. For instance, the diseases caused by agents under this category are Brucellosis, Food and water safety threats, Q fever, Ricin, etc. Category C: This category includes emerging pathogens which could be engineered in laboratories for mass dissemination in the future. These agents are readily available and could be easily produced and disseminated. Because of the artificial engineering, these agents can have the potential for high morbidity and mortality rates and thus can impact health severely. The agents in this category are Nipah Virus, Hantavirus, SARS, H1N1 and HIV/AIDS.

Instances of Biological Warfare in the Past This part deals with those phases in history that has either lead to the development of biological weapons by countries or deals with periods when nations across the world experimented with the biological weapons to make them more refined or those significant incidences of the past when a bioterrorist attack was actually carried out. This part shall proceed with the discussion in chronological order. Although there have been no cases of major biological warfare in the past many years, the small occurrences of bioterrorist attacks have cautioned the world for the years to come. Below are some of the examples that refer about the same: (a) A brief reference to the use of biological weapons during the Middle Ages and the colonial period: Any contagious disease or any biological agents were considered to have substantial potential to weaken the enemy, particularly its army, during the times of war and emergency. For instance, in the fourth century BC, the great Greek historian Herodotus talks about Scythian archers who used to infect their arrows by dipping it in some of the mixture, which is believed to be containing snake venom. During the early

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colonial times, when the American continent was under the European colonizers, smallpox was one of the most effective biological weapons used during times of war or against the enemy. It was used several times against the Native Americans, for instance via the blankets that were offered to them by the British was from a smallpox hospital (Robertson and Robertson 1995). (b) During World War I: It was during the World War I when reports circulated that Germans have shipped horses and cattle inoculated with disease-causing bacteria-Bacillus anthracis and Pseudomonas pseudomallei to the United States and other places. There were other serious allegations about Germans trying to spread cholera in Italy and plague in Russia. However, the Germans rejected these allegations and denied any form of their involvement in biological warfare. The same was also declared by a committee formed in 1924 of the League of Nations who did not find any signs of biological warfare but found signs of chemical warfare to have taken place. It was in the aftermath of these incidents that on 17 June 1925, “Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare”, commonly called the Geneva Protocol of 1925, was signed. There was a total of 108 countries including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council who signed the Geneva Protocol at that time. However, there was one serious drawback of the Geneva Protocol that it did not mention or talk about “verifications” or “compliance” clause, as a result of which, many countries began to develop biological weapons immediately after it was ratified. To be noted here, the United States did not endorse the Geneva Protocol until 1975 (SIPRI 1971). (c) During World War II: Before the period leading up to the Second World War till the end of the war, some ambitious biological warfare research programs were undertaken. Many countries were part and parcel of this extensive biological warfare research program but Japan was amongst the top few countries involved extensively in the construction of biological weapons. The Japanese program engaged around 3000 scientists, five satellite camps and approximately 150 buildings in Pingfan which were carrying out such extensive research in biological warfare techniques. It is believed that around 10,000 prisoners died as a result of the

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Japanese experimental program which infected people in the years from 1932 to 1945. The people died by coming under direct contact of the biological agents causing diseases like gas gangrene, anthrax, cholera, dysentery and plague. All this is related to the experiments that were conducted by the Japanese on the prisoners in the camps of “Unit 731”. After these experiments, the Japanese later used Plague as a biological weapon by feeding the laboratory fleas with the rats infected by the plague. And then later, on many occasions, these infected fleas were dropped down on the Chinese cities via aircraft to spread plague epidemics in the Chinese cities. During all these biological warfare techniques, Japan, however, failed to train its army against the hazardous impacts of biological weapons and as a result, it lost many soldiers in the field. Subsequently, the “field trials” were terminated in the year 1942 (Christopher et al. 1997). (d) Instances of Biological warfare in the period following World War II: By the late 1960s, the United States had come up with this whole idea of a biological arsenal that had various biological pathogens, toxins, fungal plant pathogens that could be directly induced in the crop leading to crop failure and famine. In 1947, in the United Kingdom, there was the establishment of a Microbiological Research Department which was further expanded in 1951. Britain also conducted various experiments to refine its use of biological weapons in the areas of Bahamas, Isles of Lewis, Scottish waters, etc. Apart from these, several other allegations prevailed in the post-World War II period like, Great Britain used Biological Weapons in Oman in 1957, China alleged the United States of a cholera epidemic in Hong Kong in 1961, etc. It was during the Cold War period only that the historic Biological Weapons Convention was signed in the year 1972 which shall be dealt with in detail in the next section (Carter 1992).

Biological Weapons Convention 1972 and Its Aftermath Biological Weapons Convention is regarded to be one of the historical and significant conventions in the field of Biological Warfare. It was during the late 1960s that a wave of concern began to rise amongst the academicians

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and experts who became vocal regarding the unpredictability, indiscriminate nature, hazardous risks associated with the biological weapons and at the same time, the lack of proper mechanisms of control and prevention in the case of any incident. By this time, it was realized that the Geneva Convention of 1925 had failed miserably and there was a need for a strict and more relevant protocol that could prevent the usage and proliferation of biological weapons by countries across the world (SIPRI 1973). It was in the July of 1969, when Great Britain for the first time submitted a proposal to the United Nations Committee, expressing its concern for a mechanism that would prohibit the proliferation of biological weapons. Later, the Soviet Union also came up with a similar proposal after which the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a report citing the consequences of the biological weapons. Finally in the year 1972, “Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction”, came up. It was also called the BWC or the Biological Weapons Convention. The BWC treaty prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of pathogens or toxins in a way that can’t be justified for peaceful purposes. Under this BWC treaty, transfer of technology about the development of biological weapons to any other country is also prohibited. All those who were part of the BWC were required to destroy their stockpiles, delivery systems and production systems within nine months of ratifying the treaty. Around 103 countries signed the BWC and it was approved in April 1972 and came into effect in March 1975. But like the 1925 Geneva Convention, BWC also has significant flaws in terms of firm and strict guidelines required for inspection and adherence to the protocol. All those who violated the BWC terms and conditions, their reports were to be sent to the United Nations Security Council for further action which meant no fair decision to come because of the permanent member’s power to veto anything that didn’t suit their interests (Goldblat 1997). Thus, it’s clear that Biological Weapons Convention did not have a significant impact in the world in terms of preventing biological warfare or proliferation of biological weapons. Therefore, it becomes interesting to know about how the events unfolded in the period that began just after the implementation of the Biological Weapons Convention. Here is the list of some of the significant bioterrorist attacks that happened in the aftermath of the BWC 1972:

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(a) Killing of a Bulgarian Exile in 1978: In the year 1978, a Bulgarian exile named Georgi Markov was murdered in London, England. His killing was referred to as the “Umbrella killing” because the weapon that was used to kill him was an umbrella disguised as a weapon that discharged a tiny little pellet into the Markov’s leg while he was waiting for a bus at the bus stop. The very same day, Markov became ill and died just after three days. Through later investigation, it was found that this pellet contained some serious toxin and the attack was carried out by the Bulgarian secret service, for which the technology was provided by the Soviet Union (US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases 2001). (b) 1984 Rajneeshee salmonella attack: In 1984, followers of the Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh, an Indian guru in the United States, in order to control the local elections, infected salsa bars at around ten restaurants in the small town of The Dalles, Oregon. The salsa bars were infected with Salmonella typhimurium which is a pathogenic gram-negative bacterium. It is considered to be the first of the documented cases of a bioterrorist attack in the United States. This incident resulted in the sickening of around 750 people with no deaths being recorded (Thuras 2014). (c) 2001 Anthrax Attacks in the United States: This incident occurred in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre. It began on the 18th of September 2001 and lasted for several weeks after that. In this attack, five letters were mailed carrying anthrax bacterium to the offices of two senators and various news agencies. The two letters that were sent to the senators had a fine, white powder form of anthrax which was since then declared as weapons-grade anthrax. However, there were no mass casualties but around five people died, 22 people developed anthrax infections and 11 out of whom had life-threatening varieties (Ezepchuk 2012).

Bioterrorism in India As per the recent media reports, India has awakened to the threat emanating from biological weapons. The extent of this awakening is that the spread of any infectious disease in India is looked at with suspicion that it might be a bioterrorist attack. In an extremely hostile environment

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in which India lives surrounded by neighbors like Pakistan and China, it becomes really important for India to be alert for any form of attack, especially a biological one, which is very difficult to identify. Also, the close links of some of the terrorist groups within India with terror outfits like al-Qaeda in Pakistan have increased the possibility of biological warfare in the years to come. But with all these threats existing within India and in its vicinity, India lacks proper mechanisms to deal with any such biological crisis, if at all it happens in the future (Sharma 2001). Whenever any form of disaster strikes India, the Indian Army is called to deal with it and the civilians are not capable enough to deal with such emergency situations. There are more than ten diseases that are currently gripping Indian public health which shows India is under serious health crisis and a bioterrorist attack under such circumstances will be like adding fuel to the fire. In order to deal with such situations, what India needs is a Biological Defence Infrastructure that will cover both the defense sector as well as the health sector in India. Presently, in India, we don’t have a team of doctors who are ready to tackle the situation of a nuclear attack, let alone a bioterrorist one. The entire concept of “emergency medicine” is yet to be developed in India, unlike the West which has well-established proper mechanisms to deal with and avert situations and can prevent panic and fear like conditions to exist (Abrol 2016). It’s high time for India to realize that if it can boast of having WMDs or Weapons of Mass Destruction for any terror attack on its territory, it should definitely be prepared to deal with the situation in which it is accidentally or intentionally being attacked by the WMDs in the future and should have enough potential to save the life of its civilians, animals and plants. It is true that India has not faced any bioterrorist attack till date but the possibilities cannot be wholly ruled out especially when India had certain instances where either a biological agent was used or found, or it was mistakenly found associated with any particular thing or object (Nanjappa 2013). Some of these incidents are as follows. There was this postal letters thing that happened in India in 2001 after it was carried out in the United States in which, powder-laced letters were received by the then Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister’s Office although later these letters were found to be anthrax negative. In 2010, a threatening letter was issued from a terrorist group Indian Mujahideen to launch a biological war in the state of Assam if their demands were not accepted. They demanded to release the jihadi leaders that were in the Guwahati jail, to end operations

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against these jihadi leaders and at the same time, to stop all developmental programs that were carried in the state of Assam. It was just a threatening letter and nothing happened. Under the tenure of the last Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a draft plan was initiated on behalf of the National Disaster Management Authority to counter the threat of the biological disaster, but its formal format is still awaited. India is in a severe need of many such programs that would help to combat any bioterrorist attack that can take place in the future (BMJ 2001).

What Next---A Way Forward? After understanding Bioterrorism from a closer perspective, one thing that comes out is that in the years to come, Bioterrorism might grow as a significant non-traditional security threat not just in India but worldwide. It needs to be taken seriously by the peace-loving and democratic countries of the world. Since bioterrorist attack is very difficult to predict and equally difficult is the fact that one cannot easily identify the culprit involved, such attacks come along with some major challenges to be faced and to be dealt with. Since such acts of bioterrorist activity are cheaper in costs, it gives more chances to the culprits to carry such attacks with much ease. At the same time, the target population that is affected by such bioterrorist activities is huge. Thus, looking at the severity of the consequences involved, it becomes important to put a check and control from its very base. This primarily involves prohibiting any country that is either experimenting or already has such technology that can cause widespread destruction due to biological agents to immediately stop and destroy such mechanisms at the place. This will at least help such technologies not spread from one country to another. Another significant challenge for the countries around the world is to address the severity of a bioterrorist attack in their own countries through various mechanisms like conferences, workshops, seminars, via changes in the policy formulation, etc. Once this is done, all countries should come together at a common global platform to discuss and find out ways to curb the fear and rise of any bioterrorist attack in the years to come. Once dealing with this form of attack, the goal should be far-sighted, comprehensive and target based. Since the world has not witnessed any

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major bioterrorist attack, the need of the hour is to deal with the problem in a way of nipping it in the bud itself. The only way forward is consciousness and alertness. Since such forms of the attack spread easily, targeting many, it is important to make our surroundings conscious. Presently, we have challenges that can still be controlled but once it’s neglected at this stage, the repercussions of bioterrorism could be huge and devastating and then the challenges ahead would be uncontrollable and almost difficult to deal with. In this context, below are some of the ways in which any bioterrorist attack can be dealt with in the most efficient way.

Risk Assessment, Surveillance and Management Risk assessment can now be made on the basis of certain assumptions that can lead to a bioterrorism attack and these assumptions are as follows. First, terrorists or criminals have access to the biological agent. Second, the ones behind the attacks have the necessary knowledge about the technology for the manufacture and storage of these biological agents. Third, the terrorists are aware of ways of how to use these agents as weapons for dissemination and finally the existence of an organizational leadership which will tell about the actual intent behind the use of these biological agents (Grundmann 2014). Similarly, the monitoring of the use of biological agents is challenging because the onset of symptoms caused by the biological agents is delayed for hours, days or maybe weeks which make it difficult to identify the person behind the attacks. In this aspect, if one talks about surveillance, both in the rural and the urban areas, a bioterrorist attack requires sophisticated investigations. The investigations will look into facts like the presence of an unusually high rate of infections and deaths in a specific area or amongst a particular population, a sudden rise of a similar symptom amongst a common population. Also, other factors like densely populated areas will be more prone to a bioterrorist attack than the less populated ones because of the high exposure rate and easier dissemination. These entire surveillance systems come under the control of the health departments of the concerned countries (Grundmann 2014). Preparedness for the biological agents should be a priority at the regional, national and international levels. Coordination of resources and proper management should be the thing to be focused on first. In case

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of a biological attack, safety measures like adequate vaccinations, additional testing, epidemiological support and immediate medical assistance should be easily and readily available. It should be ensured that in case of an emergency, stockpiles of vaccines are available and support systems are strong enough to provide services within 24 hours of an attack or whenever it is identified. It is to be noted that while vaccines serve as a preventive mechanism, antibiotics play a dual role of prevention, as well as treatment and therefore antibiotics, should also be made to be readily available whenever the situation demands. Therefore, prevention of a bioterrorist attack in the first place and then necessary mechanism to prevent the spread in the case of a biological attack, are two things that should be at the centre of a government’s health and defence policies and only then it would be easier to wipe out the extreme fear and panic amongst the civilians in case of such attacks (Ziskin and Harris 2007). COVID-19 Pandemic and Bioterrorism The year 2020 has brought forth many uncertainties and unprecedented times for the entire world. It is speculated that the “Coronavirus”, a virus responsible for the worldwide destruction of human lives is an attempt on behalf of China to master the political world affairs and counter the hegemony of the United States as a global leader. Popularly, referred to as the “Wuhan Virus”, it is too early to confirm these allegations but the West has completely blamed China for the purposeful spread of this virus in the world. It is speculated that the SARS-Cov-2 Virus responsible for COVID-19 was prepared in the laboratory of Wuhan Institute of Virology and has simultaneously given birth to many conspiracy theories alongside. China, however, has denied all these allegations and any deliberate attempt of spreading the virus (Kortepeter 2020). The important point however is that if in the months to come, it is proved that this was a deliberate attempt by China to control international affairs, it would be considered as the biggest attempt of bioterrorism that has threatened millions of lives not just physically but mentally, emotionally, socially, financially and in many different ways. Considering the other side, even if this is proved as not an intentional act of China, the world now is aware of how deadly can the consequences be of a bioterrorist attack. The world today is more cautious and aware that there is an urgent need to address this non-traditional security threat

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which seems more deadly and dangerous than the traditional security threats.

Conclusion After an elaborate discussion on bioterrorism as an emerging nontraditional security threat, one comes to the fact that biological weapons are unique in their own way, owing to their invisibility and delayed effects. Major biological warfare in the future has the full potential to affect a large number of populations thereby creating utmost panic and fear and hence they are really dangerous. Not only this, but even a small biological attack can create huge psychological impact as others may be more threatened seeing the outcome of the small attack (Riedel 2004). The risk of biological warfare is increasing with every passing day and hence the need of the hour is that the medical community and the general public should be made more aware and adequate control measures should be in places to be used under emergency situations. Apart from this, there are two prevention techniques that can be done. The primary prevention involves that the entire world community should come together and should reject the very basic development of the biological weapons. Secondary prevention involves early detection that a biological attack has taken place and its prompt treatment. Ultimately, the role of the medical community becomes important in this entire fight towards curbing and preventing any biological warfare in the future. Lastly, with all the technical and scientific precautions in place, it’s important that “bioterrorism” as a non-traditional security threat, should be made aware to the general public, its consequences and impact needs to be handled carefully and discussed at public forums so that it reaches out to many and as a result, its consequences can be effectively curbed if any such bioterrorist attack happens in the future. It’s a deadly form of terrorism and before it takes the shape of a dangerous weapon by the terrorists, it has to be curbed and prevented from its very roots.

References Abrol, Sumeet (2016), “Countering bioterrorism threat to India: Employing global best practices and technology as force multiplier”, India Quarterly, 72 (2): 146–162.

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BMJ (2001), “India wakes up to threat of bioterrorism”, British Medical Journal, 323: 714, [Online: web], Accessed on 11 February 2018. http:// www.bmj.com/rapid-response/2011/10/28/bioterrorism-india-it-threatamp-how-respond. Carter, GB (1992), “Biological warfare and biological defence in the United Kingdom 1940–1979”, Royal United Service Institute Journal, 137: 67–74 CDC Bioterrorism, “Bioterrorism” centres for disease control and prevention, [Online: web], Accessed on 1 February 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/health communication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/Bioterrorism.html. Christopher GW, Cieslak TJ, Pavlin JA, Eitzem EM (1997), “Biological warfare: A historical perspective”, JAMA, 278: 412–417. Ezepchuk, YV (2012), “The bioterrorist attacks on America”, Journal of Bioterrorism & Biodefense, 3: 115. GoldBlat, Jozef (1997), “The biological weapons convention: An overview”, International Committee of the Red Cross, 30 June 1997, [Online: web]. Accessed on 17 May 2018. https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/docume nts/article/other/57jnpa.htm. Grundmann, O (2014), “The current state of bioterrorist attack surveillance and preparedness in the US”, Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 7: 177– 187, [Online: web], Accessed on 12 February 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4199656/. Hooker, Edmund, “Bioterrorism”, Newsletters, [Online: web], Accessed on 31 January 2018. https://www.medicinenet.com/bioterrorism/article.htm. Joy, Bill (2007), “Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us: How 21st Century Technologies Threaten to Make Humans an Endangered Species ”, Random House, 31 March 2007. Klein, MR (2012), “Classification of biological agents”, RIVM Letter Report, [Online: web], Accessed on 7 April 2018. https://www.rivm.nl/bibliotheek/ rapporten/205084002.pdf. Kortepeter, Mark (2020), “A defense expert explores whether the COVID-19 Coronavirus makes a Good Bioweapon”, Forbes, 21 August 2020, [Online: web], Accessed on 19 October 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/corona virusfrontlines/2020/08/21/a-defense-expert-explores-whether-the-covid19-coronavirus-makes-a-good-bioweapon/?sh=2a297f977ece. Lathrop, Peggy (2001), “Preparing for bioterrorism”, National Center for Biotechnology Information, [Online: web], Accessed on 8 May 2018. https:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1305820/#. Nanjappa, Vicky (2013), “India faces real threat of biological warfare”, rediff.com, 1 January 2013, [Online: web], Accessed on 12 February 2018. http://www.rediff.com/news/report/india-faces-real-threat-of-biolog ical-warfare/20130101.htm.

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NCBI (1999), “Detection and measurement of biological agents”, National Center for Biotechnology Information, [Online: web], Accessed on 4 May 2018 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230679/#. Newman, Tim (2018), “Bioterrorism: Should we be worried?” Medical News Today, 28 February 2018, [Online: web], Accessed on 4 April 2018. https:// www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321030.php Preston, Richard (2002), “The Demon in the Freezer”, Ballantine Books, New York, ISBN 9780345466631. Riedel, Stefan (2004), “Biological warfare and bioterrorism: A historical review”, Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 17(4): 400–406, [Online: web], Accessed on 4 February 2018. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC1200679/. Robertson AG, Robertson LJ (1995), “From asps to allegations: Biological warfare in history”, Mil Med, 160: 369–373. Sharma, Rohit (2001), “India wakes up to threat of bioterrorism”, BMJ: British Medical Journal, 323 (7315): 714. SIPRI-Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1971), “The problem of chemical and biological warfare”, Vol I: The Rise of CB Weapons, Humanities Press, New York. SIPRI-Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1973), “The problem of chemical and biological warfare”, Vol III: CBW and the Law of War, Humanities Press, New York. Srikanth, Divya (2014), “Non-traditional security threats in the 21st century: A review”, International Journal of Development and Conflict, 4: 60–68. Thuras, Dylan (2014), “The secret’s in the Sauce: Bioterror at the Salsa Bar”, SLATE, 9 January 2014, [Online: web], Accessed on 10 February 2018. http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2014/01/09/the_largest_biot error_attack_in_us_history_began_at_taco_time_in_the_dalles.html. US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (2001), “Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook”, 4th edition, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD. Ziskin, LZ, Harris, DA (2007), “State health policy for terrorism preparedness”, American Journal of Public Health, 97 (9): 1583–1588.

CHAPTER 4

Cyber Terrorism: A Growing Threat to India’s Cyber Security Shalini Prasad and Abhay Kumar

Introduction Terrorism is a consistent phenomenon for India. India is prone to various forms of terrorism for years but with the passage of time, there are significant changes in the nature of terrorism. Conventional uses of terrorism have gradually acquired a new direction which is more destructive and deadlier in nature. With the new age of information technology, the terrorists have acquired knowledge to develop the noxious combination of weapons and information technology. This alarming situation if not adequately protected in coming time, is disastrous to loss of lives and life. Electronic infrastructure has become a tool for the terrorist’s activities which involves recruitment, training, planning, resource and data transfer, and intelligence sharing between and among the terrorist groups

S. Prasad Department of Political Science, TR Girls Degree College, Aligarh, India A. Kumar (B) Department of Political Science, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_4

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(Hansen & Helen Nissenbaum 2009). The consequences of usage of information technology for terrorism will rather turn out to be almost irreversible and catastrophic which is aimed towards achieving social and political objectives (Dalal 2008). In short, nowadays, the deadly form of terrorism is emerging widely known as “Cyber Terrorism”. People are more connected in today’s world, by communications and information technologies than ever before. It has brought closeness and compactness in people’s lives. Telecommunication systems and computers play a vital role impacting by transmitting voice and data digitally across transnational borders. It implies free communications of thoughts, ideas, which instilled a great sense of freedom and openness to the people to understand their political processes. The availability of resources and information and information systems technologies have made our lives more efficient. But with the new advancements, it too produces a negative impact which the people are facing in today’s lives. With the advent of twenty-first century, the nature of threats has also changed where the crucial security threats that a state faced are no longer conventional forces or the armies of other states. The whole game of offence and defence attacks has shifted its gambit on cybercrimes or in larger version cyber terrorism (Srikanth 2014). Cyber terrorism is a different form of violence, which brings together the cybernetic space and the terrorist activity (Vili´c 2017). It enables the terrorist’s ability to regulate, interrupt or change the command and monitoring functions performed by the computer systems which threaten local as well as national security. From 2001 to 2015, India has witnessed more than fifty-seven terror attacks in which information technology has been used (ibid., 2017). India’s Cyber Security Chief, Gulshan Rai told in the Parliament’s finance standing committee in July 2017, that “cyber threats had evolved swiftly from viruses and ‘nuisance’ attacks in the early 2000s to sophisticated malware and advanced denial of service, and could pose the risk of severely destructive attacks by 2020” (Kumar 2017). The growing numbers of offensive attacks in the cyberspace indicate that terrorism is no longer only limited to the conventional methods of suicide bombings and explosives which creates mass level of destruction and resulting in one of the pertinent issues for India’s national security. The twenty-first century has witnessed several technological advancements, predominantly with concern to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution, which have facilitated the emergence of new form of threats like cyber terrorism, cyber-espionage and shifted

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the war from land, air and sea to one room using cyber technology (Mcardle & Cheetham 2014). It possesses notable challenges to the society and the state that are unlikely to decrease in the coming decades. Due to its dynamic and complex nature it is very much difficult to address and implement policy and practice which could take adequate measures to combat its growing threat (Koops 2016). The emergence of cyber terrorism has posed serious threats to India’s cybersecurity and to the larger extent India’s national security (Col. Raghav 2015). Therefore, there is a need to study the problem and investigate threats and challenges of cyber terrorism in the Indian perspectives. The cybersecurity architecture in India has evolved over the years and how much they are capable of defending India’s security. The policies and strategies initiated and implemented to be critically analysed and their ability to counter cyber threats. If a country is enabled to shut down the internet networks and regulate the inflow-outflow of information from coming in its borders then the state is declared to have strong defensive system (quoted in Valeriano & Maness 2014). Since we depend so much on digital services and with the growing menace of cyber terrorism it is imperative that, a strong defensive capability has to be established. So, there is a rationale to identify these threats and analyse the policy level and as well as at implementation level to strengthen a strong counterterrorism strategy to defend India’s security.

Concept The current threats can be disaggregated into terms like cybercrime and cyber terrorism, in relation to the perpetrators and their motives. Specifically in India, the difference between the terms “cyber-crime, and cyber terrorism are themselves somewhat is unclear, partly because of inadequacy in domestic legal frameworks governing the use of cyberspace and partially because of the lack of consensus on standards necessary to define these paradigms” (Singh & Krupakar 2014). The official definition of cyber terrorism as accepted globally by the scholars from the National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC) of the United States, defines cyber terrorism as a “criminal act committed with computers resulting in violence, death and or destruction, creating terror in order to cause pressure on the government to change its policy”

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(quoted in Bogdanosk 2017). Barry C. Collin of the Institute for Security and Intelligence used the term for the first time in the 1980s and discussed this changing nature of terrorism as “transcendence from the physical to the virtual realm” and “the convergence of these two worlds”, which “move ahead with blinding speed into the computerisation of every task and process that we face” (Vili´c 2017). As defined Cyber terrorism is the premeditated, politically motivated attacks against information, computer systems, computer programs, and data which result in violence against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents. The possibilities created for cyber terrorism through the use of technology via the internet are vast. Government computer networks, financial networks, power plants, etc. are all possible targets as terrorism may identify these as the most appropriate features to corrupt or disarm in order to cause havoc. (Curran et al. 2008)

The threat emanated by cyber terrorism has derived the consideration of the scholars, security experts, politicians, print and social media, the information technology (IT) industry, has popularised a situation in which trained cyber terrorists digitally intrude the computers that control the basic infrastructure, creating confusion and threatening not only millions of lives but the security of nation too (Captain Chhabra 2016). The third edition of the “Global Terrorism Index 2015” ranked India as the sixth nation most affected by terrorism out of one hundred sixty two nations. For more than fifty years, India has been attacked more than fifty seven times in which cyber technology was used prominently in the 26/11 Mumbai and the Pathankot strike where critical information was circulated with the help of creating fake Facebook profile (Jain & Soumya 2017). India has persistently been targeted by an unusually diverse range of violent terrorist groups, which have increasingly exploited the opportunities provided by ICTs (Datta 2016).

Cybercrime Cyber-attacks generally comprise focused forms of invasions into computer networks to sneak or modify information or damage the system. Viruses named as Malicious Code and worms, that travel from one

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computer to another computer disrupting their functionality and operations which further restrict the services and destroy the networks with fake communications to make it non-functional. It has to be noted that the reasons for an attack can vary widely like attackers range from hackers bent on proving their skills to others in the hacking community, to criminals stealing credit card numbers, to extortion rings, to foreign intelligence services stealing military or economic secrets, to terrorists or foreign armies wanting to cause widespread damage to the western countries. (Knop 2008)

The major difference between cybercrime and cyber terrorism is that the former is about causing fear and harm to anyone to gain self-centred interests, known or unknown while latter is a misconduct executed through the use of information knowledge to achieve political or social gains (Janczewski & Colarik 2007). When an individual manipulates the medical database of hospital by changing the medication of a reputed company, for example, of Fortune 100 with what he or she is dangerously averse to and also removes the warning from hospital digital record. The nurse unknowingly of this mischievous act administers the drug resulting in, the death of the patient. So, the act itself clearly answers the question which lies not in the process of the event, but rather in the intention that pushed the individual’s actions. If it were deliberately done, for example, as a result of bad relations between any of the two people, then it would be killed using the technology of a cyberspace terming it as cybercrime. If the actor performs or is ready to commit additional types of such acts, to fulfil their demands or to attain social and political objectives then it could be widened as the term as cyber terrorism (ibid., 2007). Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is another example of cybercrime attack. A DDoS attack overburdens the computer server and makes a computer resource such as a website unreachable to its real users. It makes a computer means [such as a website] inaccessible to its regular users. Michael Calce code name as “Mafiaboy” in February 2000, attacked or launched a series of denial-of-services-attacks with the efficiency that it shut down commercial websites run by big companies like CNN, Yahoo, Amazon.com, and eBay (Pierre & Hopper 2000). In order to simplify, the term cybercrime may be defined as an act committed by using information technology and the internet to disgrace a person’s individuality or intrude its privacy by stalking its target or disrupt

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the operations with its wicked intentions (Reddy & Reddy 2014). Cybercrime also involves stealing of intellectual property by violation of patent and copyright laws, leaking trade secrets, or may include spying to make unofficial copies of confidential data (Dayson 2002). On the other hand, cyber terrorism means the attacks or harms different from those caused by specific types of crime (such as death, physical injury, or dismantling of property), but they are perpetrated for various reasons. It is usually planned to directly or indirectly demoralise a civilian population. It is a matter of how terrorists are easily accessing the computer technology to terrorise a civilian population and disbalance society’s ability to withstand internal order (Brenner 2007). Computer technology plays an essential role in the terrorist act, which separates it essentially from the conventional terrorism. It is used by destroying the civilian population psychologically (Brenner & Goodman 2002). Another example of cybercrime is “Hacking” which is an activity conducted online and openly seeks to divulge, manipulate, or otherwise exploit the weakness in computer operating systems and disordering the software. Unlike terrorists, hackers are not intended to achieve political objectives (Kenney 2015). Hackers have four main ways to interrupt computer-generated blockades, attacks on e-mail, computer thefts and creating computer viruses and worms. Swarming is another act which occurs when a large number of people simultaneously access a website, resulting its fall down. “Swarming can also amplify the effects of the hackers second weapon: e-mail bombing campaigns (bombarding targets with thousands of messages at once, also known as ping attacks” (Weimann 2004). So, the marginal difference between cyber terrorism and common internet crimes like identity theft and money fraud involves the use of technology to divert or destroy systems and infrastructure, causing injury or death of some sections of the people or any institutions. Cyber terrorists in order to accomplish their goals, target the computer-based systems that control basic infrastructure of any state like air traffic control, electric power grids, telecommunications networks, financial dealings and most dangerously military command systems (Duic & Ivanjko 2017). Overall, the destruction is much higher in cyber terrorism.

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Cyberspace: Easy Prey for Terrorism The most common and palpable reasons for the cyberspace being popular among the terrorist as compared to conventional warfare are due to its cost saving system. It is pointedly cheaper, but the variety and number of probable targets and probable victims attacked remains very much large in number as compared to conventional warfare (Thomas et al. 2014). The internet has become very much common in use, due to its easy availability, accessibility and circulation. It is much demanding to recruit and mobilise new followers for terrorist activities, to collect information and facilities regardless of the part of the place where they are physically located (Sukhmani 2016). Internet is also very much viable source of money transfer through wider areas and money transfer via internet is much faster and easier. It is also much feasible to generate sources of finance and to build connections for the execution of any actions. Terrorists also spread false rumours and conduct illegal activities with the help of cyberspace. In 1998 United States has identified more than half of the organisations that had been developed a website. In 1999 all had at least one internet appearance, and within the span of ten years, five thousand terrorist incidents were recorded over the websites (Vili´c 2017). Weimann (2004), also explains several reasons why terrorists used social media for publicity, preparation and execution of their activities in addition to the recruitment of new members: First as already mentioned above the internet is very cheap because there is a need for only one personal computer and an online connection. More than that it is also not essential to purchase weapons as only one malicious programme or virus is enough to shut down the whole system. Secondly, the manner in which conducting the attack hides the identity of the attackers who use false names. It is very difficult to spot them at a time where there are no physical borders between different countries due to sharing of same cyber space. Third, the number of potential victims is impossible to regulate as the enactment of planned terroristic actions takes less physical training and more. Fourth, cyber terrorism can affect greater number of people than the conventional terrorist attacks due to the above factors (Weimann 2004). Social media can now also be used as a modern, strong and massive weapon to spread and propagate hatred feelings among the people. For instance, the internet network can be used in one of the triple ways: “as a weapon, as a medium and as a goal for itself” (Babi´c 2015). It serves as an important tool for a communication among the activists to address the

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public to spread its terroristic ideology. The fastest way to spread terror and panic is “through mass media and technology” (Babi´c 2015). Terrorists use social network sites as a psychological weapon to spread misinformation, advocating fear and panic, intimidating and creating fear of lives among the public (Babi´c 2015). Terrorists establish comprehensive control over the contents of messages that are circulated in the electronic media or on social networks, developing one more method of building connections and exchange of information for the terrorist activities (Ogun 2015). Internet and social networks are also used for funding a terrorist organisation as there is evidence of numerous terrorist groups seeking direct financial contributions from its site visitors and from its members supporters. The money can be paid directly to specific bank accounts, or to organisations. Other than the usage of the internet is to train, recruit, spread hatred and seek financial support, to conduct their terrorist activities. There is also emerging threat of major cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure or an attack using a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). The US government officials have repetitively cautioned that terrorists might launch cyberattacks against critical infrastructure destroying basic structure, daily life of the people causing a catastrophic event resulting in heavy destruction of men and money or inflicting economic chaos (Westby 2007). Attacks that are conducted via the internet are much easier to be launched from any part of the world. It is not required to be present physically to inflict any attack. Internet connections that are needed for the initialisation of the attack are widely available or can be started from most of today’s smart mobile phones. In the course of the attack, it can be launched quickly with rarely any need for long-term preparations. Instead, the dangers occurred to the captured victims are much large. Thus, worms and viruses created for computer can spread at the fastest possible pace without the need for any further involvement on the part of the attacker. The attacks which are committed through the internet are mostly unidentified and undetectable (Brunst 2008). Above analysis clearly states that use of ICT is more dangerous, highly undetectable and easily available.

Impact of Cyber Terrorism Privacy Violation: Cyber terrorism, has generated the problem of privacy violation. In recent times, privacy violation has attained a constitutional

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status, both in the domain of civil as well as criminal consequences under the respective laws. In modern times and invention leading through invasions upon people’s privacy can subject a person to mental pain and harassment, which is much larger than what a physical injury could give (Dalal 2008). Cyber terror can be used for obliterating valuable government secrets and also misleading the data of common people. Government owned computer network may contain highly confidential information concerning defence and other national security issues which government is unwilling to share with the media or to the public (Colarik 2006). It is to be noted that the primary aim of all cyber terrorist is to breakdown the communication system, which includes a viable e-governance base. Thus, with the combination of virus attacks and hacking techniques, the e-governance base of the government can breakdown. The impact would be more deadly and terrible as compared to other physical damages, which were caused by the traditional terrorist methods. Similarly, for the terrorists the main target is to illegitimately obtain information, highly protected from public study by the government in the interest of the national security of the nation. Thus, a strong e-governance base with the latest defence measures and systems is the dire need of any government. As already mentioned above, the cyber terrorists may also use the method of Distributed Denial of Services (DDOS) to overstrain the government and its agencies electronic bases. This is made possible by first infecting several unprotected computers by injecting virus attacks and then taking control of the computer. Once control is obtained, they can be operated from any globe by the terrorists. These infected computers are used to send information in huge number that the server of the victim collapses. Further, due to this unnecessary internet traffic jamming, the legitimate traffic is disturbed from reaching the government and its software agencies. This results in immense financial and strategic loss to the government and its agencies. It must be also pointed that many inactivated computers can be used to simultaneously attack a single host, which makes its electronic presence unnoticeable to the government machineries (Colarik 2006). Cyber terrorism has emerged as a real and indisputable menace, causing not only disorder but real destruction. It is widely debated that the goal of terrorism is the use of violence to provoke fear, dread and terror in a general public. Cyber terrorism has proved to engender massive violence and immense fear among the wider audience (Mavropalias 2011).

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India’s Counter Cyber Terrorism Initiatives The Indian government has acknowledged the growth and menace of the cyber terrorism. With the passage of time, it has initiated several counter measures to combat cyber terrorism. Earlier “cyber terrorism” was missing from the language of the Indian law. Section 69 of the Information Technology Act was the only strict governmental measure to counter the use of encryption by terrorists. This act authorises the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) to direct any government agency to seize any information communicated through any computer network. But after the 26/11 attack on Mumbai, the Government of India introduced strong steps to strengthen the cyber space, including the prohibition of terrorist activities using information technology by bringing changes in the existing Indian Information Technology Act, 2000. Whoever, (A) where a attacker intented to threat the security or sovereignty of the nation or tries to generate or engender terror in the minds of the people or by (i) denying of access to any authorised person to use computer resource; or (ii) initiate any mean which may likely to cause death or physical injuries of the people. In addition to this causing harm or destruction to the property understanding that the damage could harm or disrupt the supplies or services crucial to the life of the common people or unfavorably affect the critical information infrastructure specified under section 70, or (iii) purposefully and in a planned manner accesses a computer network without proper permission of authority or surpass the authority the computer to attain any declassified data or computer database restricted for the public information. (iv) “Whoever commits or conspires to commit cyber terrorism shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to imprisonment for life section 29A of the Code with Section 2(1) (t) of the Information Technology Act provides that “electronic record means data, record, or data generated,

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image or sound stored, received or sent in an electronic form or microfilm (Uzair Iqbal 2013)”. The 2006 amendment bill added the term e-governance, e-commerce, e-transactions and safeguard of individual data. Further, 2008 amendment provided a more explanatory definition including key terms like “attacks on computers and computer networks with critical information infrastructure, death or physical destruction, etc.”. “Article 69 of the Information Technology Act (2011) has since authorised the state to ‘direct any agency of the appropriate government to intercept, monitor or decrypt any information transmitted, received or stored through any computer resource” (Singh & Krupkara 2014). India’s national cybersecurity policy provides a summary of the actions essential to successfully secure data, information and communication systems, and networks. They also offer understanding of the government’s strategy for protecting cyberspace and how the government machineries work collaboratively in public and private to protect the state’s undisclosed information. In this regard further in December 2008, Indian Parliament passed a major amendment to the IT Act which for the first time officially mentioned cybersecurity, defining key terms and acknowledging the rise of cyber-attack threats, and vulnerabilities in India (Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs 2008. It introduced punishments for cybercrime and cyber terrorism, made the latter punishable by death, and obliged regulating internet providers such as internet cafes to retain data (Reich 2012). The new legislation initially remained under the government’s radar (Datta 2015). Terrorist groups also used ICTs to exploit internal political instabilities in India. In August 2012, following a violent escalation of the communal conflict between indigenous Bodo tribe members and Muslim population settled in India’s north-eastern region of Assam, intimidated cautions of violence against migrant workers and students of north-eastern India were disseminated across the country via social media sites and text messages, creating sense of fear and a mass exodus of an estimated 30,000 people in Bangalore and Chennai alone. Indian officials blamed terrorist groups based in Pakistan and Bangladesh, including Harkat-ul-Jihad-alIslami and Jamiat-e-lslami, for constructing and spreading incendiary and hate-mongering disinformation (Yardley 2012).

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India revamps its Cyber Security Policy after the incident of Edward Snowden the whistle blower who leaked National Security Agency’s documents (Verma & Sharma 2014). This leak exposed the vulnerabilities of the cyber space before the world. The Department of Information Technology (DIT) released the National Cyber Security Policy in 2013, setting high goals and covering the plethora of measures from capacity building to a proper management for emergency response. The government adopted the policy for governmental as well as non-governmental bodies to realise the impact of the rapid growth of the internet used to disorder critical information infrastructure. It is very much necessary to create a suitable cybersecurity ecosystem and an emergent need to protect against cyber-attacks that has propelled the Government of India (GoI). This policy aims to guarantee secure and robust cyberspace for citizens, business and the overall most important government apparatus. Its mission visualises a multipronged long-term strategy to “protect information as well as information infrastructure, reduce vulnerabilities, build capabilities to prevent and respond to cyber threats and minimise damage from cyber incidents” (Ebert 2018). The National Cyber Security Policy (NCSP) offers a fourteen-point plan to establish a secure cyber-environment and reliable plan. It implies a overall focus on the three parameters: product, process and the personnel that form the elementary structure of any cybersecurity system. It is adhered to promote best global practices in information security (IS) which complies through standards and guidelines of the ISO/IEC (International Organisation for Standardisation/International Electrotechnical Commission). The organisation was established in 2001 and considered one of the best-known standards for providing necessities for an Information Security Management System (ISMS). “It includes penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, formal risk assessments and risk management processes, as well as a cyber-crisis management plan for all entities within the government and its critical sectors” (Sidhu 2017). But the policy was surrounded with different flaws due to its inability to consider the emergence of new technologies like cloud computing and overall it is neither binding nor enforceable. In order to combat cyber terrorism, the Indian government has created various organisations. National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a responsible body for e-governance and assist the government at all the three levels: Centre, State and District (Anand 2015).

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Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-in), was formed in 2004, under the Department of Information Technology (DIT). The main aim was to assist the law enforcing agencies.1 This team works to maintain the security and protection of the India’s cyber space through, as specified in its mandate, “enhancing the security communications and information infrastructure, through proactive action and effective collaboration aimed at security incident prevention and response and security assurance” (Jain & Soumya 2017). In this context, the GoI has taken the policy recommendations of the NCSP seriously. Gulshan Rai is appointed as the national cybersecurity coordinator by the government (NCSC) (2015)2 ; He works under the Prime Minister’s Office. Shortly after the government approved setting up the National Cyber Coordination Centre, a multiagency body to centrally analyse internet traffic data and to coordinate and share information among the various intelligence gathering agencies (Sukumar 2016). The NCSP suggested to create a nodal agency to synchronise all issues and problems associated with cybersecurity. National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) was another organisation set up to take effective measures on critical infrastructure and key resources in 2011. The most important duty is to safeguard and protect the important information infrastructure and the networks that form the pillars of any country, especially threats emanating from variant sources, for example, hackers, terrorists operating at domestic and at an international level (Sirohi 2015). The NCIIPC acts as an apex agency for all actions to safeguard Critical Information infrastructure (CII), defined in the IT Act (2000) as “the computer resource, the incapacitation or destruction of which, shall have debilitating impact on national security, economy, public health, or safety”. There is an immediate urge for these reforms due to increase in the volume and scale of cyber-attacks on secret and confidential defence forces infrastructure. There is a proposal before the Ministry of Defence to create an enthusiastic tri-service command with the Indian Air Force, army and navy for cybersecurity but it is still pending before the government. Government must understand the nature of the threat and start

1 Cert-In founded on in 2004 based on the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team publishes an annual report on cybersecurity incidents. 2 Gulshan Rai former head of the Cert at the DeitY became the first Coordinator.

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boosting cyber competences so that the defence forces could strike both offensive-defensive measures to abate cyber acts and protect vital national interests of the country (Sidhu 2017). These institutional initiatives have contributed to the evolution of cybersecurity, regime in India. The regime’s first layer currently consists of agencies entrusted with specific cybersecurity operations, comprising of the NTRO, including the NCIIPC and the National Institute for Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD) the National Information Board, and the National Intelligence Grid, among others. The second layer fulfils governance functions and comprises of the Ministries of Communications, Electronics and IT, Defence, External Affairs, and Home Affairs, whose ICT-related work is coordinated by a joint working group. A third layer includes non-governmental stakeholders such as critical information infrastructure operators, the private sector and academia. Governmental institutions have recently engaged more actively with thirdlayer actors on cybersecurity to incorporate their expertise, experience and resources, including through a joint working group chaired by the deputy national security advisor as well as public–private partnerships between government, private sector and law enforcement agencies (Kshetri 2015).

International Cyber Security Cooperation India has also engaged bilaterally and multilaterally to shape cybersecurity policies and norms. At the multilateral level, it submitted a proposal to the United Nation (UN), General Assembly, to create the UN committee for internet-related policies but, domestic resistance against a strong role of the state forced New Delhi to back down (Mukerji 2017). India embraced an international agreement that existing international law including the UN Charter does apply to cyberspace conveyed in the UN group of governmental expert’s consensus reports of 2013 and 2015 (Ebert & Maurer 2013). At the bilateral level, India–US Cyber Security Cooperation was started years back in 2002 by setting up of India–US Cyber Security Forum. The motivation on the US side was to safeguard the interests of the US companies who were outsourcing to India. On the Indian side, the main importance was on capacity building, research and development. The forum provided the opportunity to initiate some programmes in this direction, e.g. the establishment of a CERT and the facilitation of discussions on cybersecurity. Though the forum saw possibilities for cooperation

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in the areas like law enforcement, in research and development, military, technology, and in intelligence sharing, but most of the emphasis from the US perspective was cooperation on building up capacities in areas such as data protection in which it had more interests to play. The Cyber Security Forum became defunct in 2006 after it was alleged that a US embassy staffer had used the proximity afforded by the forum to recruit employees of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) which was the coordinating agency on the Indian side to pass on sensitive information (Cherian 2011). In 2014 they both directly joined to impede the use of cyberspace by terrorists, criminals and also users of the internet for unlawful purposes. In August 2015 Cyber Dialogue and Modi’s visit to the US in June 2016, both governments outlined the guidelines for a future Framework for the US–India Cyber Relationship. Apart from this India established a bilateral cybersecurity mechanism with Japan to acquire technology against cybercrime and agreed with Israel a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions on joint cybersecurity research (Choudhury 2016).

Future Prospects: A Solution for Cyber Security Research Cyber terrorism, is a major threat and designated as an international crime in today’s world. Firstly, there is a dire need for an international coordination and universal jurisdiction which is applicable for the attacks related to cyber terrorism through coordination of international community and respective sovereign states. Treaty regimes and customary international law are effective measures to construct a robust system of universal jurisdiction. Multilateral cooperation among the states is extremely important to combat these criminal impacts. At present, Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime is the only treaty against cybercrime at the global level (Wilske & Schiller 1997) but, this Convention has neither been signed nor been ratified by the states. Secondly, there is a need for an apex or central body to inspect the cybersecurity mechanisms of the state. It should look over for policy formulation, budget allocation and implementation of the cybersecurity measures all over the country. Most probably it might not have any enforcement powers, so, it might be brought under the supervision of

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the Ministry of Home Affairs from Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Jain & Soumya 2017). Thirdly the government and the cyber system experts need to remain highly alert to conduct defensive measures against warnings they receive for cyber-attacks at any point of time. There must be provision of systematic and routine risk assessment of critical information infrastructures at regular basis and proper risk management should be given priority. Fourthly there is a need for proper growth of cyber warfare and encryption policy. E-governance and online services are to be protected more stringently. Fifthly a cybersecurity agency can be created which acts as a bridge between government agencies and civil agencies to improve the country’s resilience against serious electronic attacks, and enhance the security of the nation. There is a need for active defence measures such as finding the source or origins of attacks and imposing serious risk and penalty, and counter attacks (Beggs & Butler 2004). Sixthly, there should be adequate funding in the field of cybersecurity encouraging private sector to contribute in such funding. Both the Central and the State Governments can play their own decisive role effectively by making various rules and regulations dealing with cyber terrorism as per need of time. Judiciary can play its role by adopting a stringent approach and imposing harsh punishments to people found guilty in cybercrimes. Academicians and scholars might support by providing their expert advice on technical, psychological and ethical issues. Media is an important tool for disseminating information related to safety measures in dealing with cyber terrorism throughout the world. There is a need to be in proper engagement with the public in a conversation to make them aware and vigilant about such threats. Literacy and awareness regarding internet need to be improved and advanced at individual level so that people can maintain cybersecurity at their own level (Jain & Soumya 2017). Overall an inclusive analysis should be initiated by the government to primacy its concerns among all its stakeholder groups. There is a need for greater participation and strong analysis and then outline a strong policy and objectives regarding this matter. A multi-stakeholder approach must be adopted which promises greater efficiency, flexibility, fair, transparent and democratic architecture in the international regulatory framework for governing the internet rather than adopting traditional approaches which

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favoured centralisation, where sovereign states just act as an exclusive group of actors.

Conclusion The end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century has brought a rising wave of new pattern of terrorism. These attacks are not only prompting the IT domain, but the most plausible attacks now are collateral effects (i.e., destruction of a building, with the result of death of people and loss of property with the usage of IT facilities). Up until now, the country has not faced any serious cyber-attacks which could destroy the integrity of the nation but the probability of such attacks continues to be on the rise with the everyday innovation in science and technology. Undoubtedly, the success of India’s cybersecurity policy will have a significant impact on the global normative and institutional cybersecurity architecture as the global digital economy dependence on the Indian IT and software industry is likely to increase in the near future. A need for robust policy and initiative is required at national as well as at international level. The achievements of India’s cybersecurity policy will provide a significant impact at the global cybersecurity architecture. India has to play a decisive role in articulating a robust cybersecurity framework where India will balance the need to reduce cyber threats and commit to form a open and global cyberspace.

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PART II

Exploring the Human Security Dimensions

CHAPTER 5

Contextualising Human Security Through the Nation–Individual Relationship: An Indian Perspective Subh Kirti and Abhishek Kumar

Introduction This paper outlines the challenges faced by the global south in the human security realm, the central argument is that, the state remains the principal provider of security to the individuals, even when globalisation has led to the rise of non-state actors. The Central argument is supported by the auxiliary hypothesis that: Human security shall be seen as a determinant deciding the relationship between a state and its citizens, this relationship is a product of their sociological, historical, political and economic legacy, which is not the same across the globe, and this factor must be taken in consideration while analysing contemporary human security issues in the global south. For example, the Chinese pupil shares a definite and unique relationship with their government and the Indian history and

S. Kirti · A. Kumar (B) School of International Studies, Centre for European Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_5

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the colonial struggle results in a different kind of state–individual relationship. In most of the human security literature, these factors do not find a place. However, in International Relations, social constructivism provides a theoretical base for such analysis. This paper is divided in four segments. First segment discusses the evolution of the state as an institution and the transition of the nation state–individual relations. The second section establishes the prevailing paradigms in the human security debate, outlining the issues and paradigms in the abovementioned relations. The third section outlines three most important aspects of human security, generally in the global south and particularly in India. They are: economic security, food security and terrorism. The third section is followed by a critical analysis of political ideologies as a challenge or opportunity in realisation of human rights. The state is a lighthouse for the sea of challenges faced by human security. It is intrinsically intuitive for the individual to look for mechanisms established by the state system for almost all services in the contemporary era. However, in the era where discourse on the fourth generation of human rights is gaining ground, the role of non-state actors cannot be ignored. Interestingly, when we philosophise the modern-day nationstate, citizenship becomes the prime criteria for claiming security from both traditional and non-traditional threats. This evident criteria nevertheless, is not all-inclusive. To comprehend the dimensions of human security and the Nation State’s role in assuring it, it is evident to analyse the relationship between a nation-state and the individual. ‘Natives live in national parks, refugees in make shift relief camps, both antecede the State as Humans’. Since the advent of the modern nation-state (Westphalian state system) states rather than individuals have been the prism through which security has been looked at. It was only in the post-war era that ‘Human’ and ‘Security’ came to a bond for good. Quite obviously, the incidents and circumstances following the Washington consensus and the inability of neoliberal order to provide an equitable world are the prime reasons for this convergence to take place. However, it was not the first time when the ‘individual agency’ has attempted to define the discourse on security. Kautilya, writing in the third-fourth century B.C argued that state and its apparatus is merely fulfilling a duty towards the obligation to serve a group of individuals. This was later philosophised by the Greek philosophers as communities called the Greek city-states. However, the prime

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focus of ancient philosophy was not the individual per se, they nevertheless acknowledged that the governing apparatus has some duties towards the individual.

Situating Human Security as a National Security Issue The first images of national security for an observer are the military aspects and territorial security. However, it is also a fact that human security in non-military dimensions, including economic security, energy security, environmental security, food security, cyber security, etc., has been integrated to the new concept of security. Additionally, certain aspects of non-traditional security require convergence of both individual and state security, a few of them can be named as national security risks like action by violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, and multinational corporations, and also the effects of natural disasters. The (National Defence College of India, 1996) defines National security as an ‘appropriate and aggressive blend of political resilience and maturity, human resources, economic structure and capacity, technological competence, industrial base and availability of natural resources and finally the military might’. The point of departure from the state-dominated definition of human security stemmed from the human development report. It was only then, that the securitisation debate expanded its reach and extent. Divergent scholarly ideas of scholars such as Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, Jaap de Wilde and others have argued that national security depends on political security. The new impetus to diversify the debate on security can be observed through the ideas of scholars such as Paul Rogers (2019) among others, Rogers argues that the equitability of the international order is equally vital. For assuring equity in international affairs and to assure political security at the global and regional level global governance and international law plays a vital role. Certain international laws and conventions such as the Vienna convention (1961), Geneva Convention (1939–1945) on war and customary international laws cardinally shaped the effectiveness of international political institutions, diplomacy and negotiation between nations and other security actors. Until the postwar conferences and as late as decolonisation in Africa the inclusion of other dissatisfied groups in international institutions remained a distant dream and the impetus to govern the global order and human right issues remained the sole privilege of the great powers. It was, however, the

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United Nations general assembly which gave the global south a platform for enriching the discourse on both global governance and human security issues. The United Nations lists seven types of human security challenges: economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security and political security. The Commission on Human Security in its final report Human Security Now, defines human security as: To protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfilment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms – freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people’s strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that together give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood, and dignity. (CHS: 2003: 4)

Human security gains its strength from the fact that the state apparatus now recognises it as a broad-based, dynamic, holistic and inclusive concept. Almost all modern states recognise that non-citizens, whether residents, migrants or refugees do have some rights as every human, shall have some basic rights. Human security brought to the light a convergence between development and security. King and Murray (2002: 589) have described the birth of the concept as a ‘unifying event’—they emphasised this converging ability in the form of an enabling platform to broaden security issues without the traditional strains of narrowed, statecentric definitions of security that have previously hindered multi-party cooperation. However, in the practical aspects of assuring human security states cannot be claimed to be a restricting element only. As a matter of fact, most of the nation states in the modern day international order have recognised the role of international conventions and institutions as intervening variables. Others have also argued a holistic approach to human security definition, arguing that the Post-Cold War world presents such a plethora of security problems, where the sources of threats vary widely both within and across states, that a flexible, broad definition of human security is the only viable option ‘Not only does a holistic approach draw different specialisms together in the quest to understand better the interconnections between diverse aspects of human insecurity’, writes Ewan, ‘it may also bolster co-operation between international agencies in the

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fields of security, development and human rights’ (Ewan, 2007: 184; Uvin et al., 2004 in Cooperation in the International System: An Interdisciplinary Investigation at the Intersection of International Relations and International Law Kalyani Unkule [2020].

Nation and Individual: Issues and Paradigms in Human Security The individual attains consciousness through various means in life, it can be through family, education, prevailing social values, religion or even self-awareness. In the last two centuries, the idea that nation is an inclusive, as well as a differentiating method of social organisation, has dominated a significant share of human consciousness. Majority of literature on nation and nationalism is focused on the evolution of nationalism in the west. Although, there are radical differences in the practice of nationalism within the west itself, a more cardinal shift in the theoretical understanding of nation and nationalism stems from the ‘new world’. The phrase ‘new’ can be used for all those states who attained a national consciousness after the end of the Second World War. They are situated in both global north as well as the global south. Benedict Anderson’s ‘Imagined Communities’ is seen as a quintessential reading to comprehend the basic tenants of nation and nationalism. However, as Hobsbawm in his work ‘Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality’ has pointed out that Anderson by no means meant that nations are fake rather he argues that a community without direct contact because of large numbers, has to be imagined to some degree as there is no face to face contact among its members. Two important historical events help us understand Anderson better. The first was, violent coups in Indonesia under the Suharto regime and the second is the surge in the voting percentage of nationalist political parties throughout the world. Earlier, Nationalism surfaced in France because of the failure of dirigisme, which was, one of the ideas to contain the dissatisfaction in society. The French nationalism did not only unify the masses but also put forth ideas and arrangements for an egalitarian society. When the unit of analysis for development is individual security from both fear and want. Even in the most economically prosperous countries, individuals face challenges in the forms of patches of poverty, the crisis of multiculturalism, exclusion from powerful interest groups, etc.

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The nation is a relatively fresh concept. A nation today is not an independent entity which is over-reliant on sovereignty for its existence. Rather, it has metamorphosed in a force capable of social organisation. However, there are prevailing disparities in the concept of nationalism and its practices in the real world. The individual–nation state relationship is a dynamic and complex agreement. Since the beginning of this century, nation and nationalism has made a tectonic shift from the European experience of nationalism. This shift demands a fresh look because the nation today is very different from the pre-war era. The nation and the individual are in a sentimental yet substantial relation. Sentimental connect of an individual to the nation germinates claims of political nature. These are most evident when a group of people develop a sense of belonging to a particular culture, territory or symbols. Nations evolve and transform the social classification and at the same time, a group of individuals also define what national values, symbols and agendas they consider pro-national or against it. Additionally, in times where the individual is alienated or discriminated he/she claims this emotional entitlement. For example, the refugee crisis has aligned populism with nationalism. Nation-states refuse or at least deflate the influx of refugees entering a particular territory. The substantial part of relationship leads to social and material claims. The fear of losing jobs, land and material benefits of nation-state promised to the natives is a classic example. Hence, the concept of national security has now transformed into a larger set of promises and commitments on the part of both the state and individual. National security refers to the security of a nation-state, including its citizens, economy and institutions, and is regarded as a duty of government. Both these facets are mutually dependent as a nation claims to provide emotional and material security and in return expects the individual to follow a particular culture, respect national symbols and fulfil national duties when called for. The abovementioned discussion explains how the nation and the individual are in a mutually dependent relationship. And that, there can be differences in the understanding of a nation, it is still imperative to comprehend human rights through Robert cox’s ‘State–Society Model’. A sense of commonness and common belongingness empowers the state to bridge the economic, social and political gap between the ‘Have’s’ and ‘Have not’s’ in the society. People too, tend to attach their aspirations better, when the state is receptive of citizen’s demands. This factor is described in detail below.

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Dimensions of Human Security and Role of the Nation-State Human security brings together the ‘human elements’ of security, rights and development. As the United Nations trust fund for human security (2008) defines it: ‘it is an interdisciplinary concept that displays characteristics like people-centric, multi-sectoral, comprehensive, context-specific and prevention-oriented’.

Economic Security The mixed economic model followed by developing countries, has been accommodative of dynamic challenges and has faced global economic challenges with prudence. The Chinese economic model has capitalised on infrastructural development and facilitated manufacturing as the main pillar of its economy. At the same time, India has faced a multitude of economic challenges with fiscal consolidation, enhanced public spending on public infrastructure and the information technology revolution. Being a diverse country, the Indian democracy had social disparities to be met. So, providing economic security in a challenging scenario needed political sanction of the pupil in India. The advent of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation brought along stark disparities in economic stature of rich and poor. The government, as it became more capable, delivered services such as right to food and now Universal healthcare scheme (Ayushman Bharat). However, providing economic security remains the biggest challenge for Indian policy makers. The solution to this problem lies in comprehending people’s aspirations in a young country and creating opportunities for sustainable employment, discussed below. It is important to contextualise economic security as a global phenomenon to successfully develop solutions. The recent report by the Credit Suisse Research Institute has pointed out that global wealth has increased by six percentage points in the last decade. Even in the period of economic slowdown and negative growth rates in many developed economies, the increase in global wealth raises serious questions. The same report points out that global wealth is far from being equitable. The same report points out that half of the global wealth is owned by one per cent of the population. Developing countries like India and China have considerable wealth poverty. India for example has 92% of its population

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with total wealth less than ten thousand dollars. Similarly, the Gini coefficient points out that where one group of countries comprising thirteen per cent of world’s population receives 45% of world’s PPP, the other group having 42% of world’s population receives a meagre 9% of world’s PPP income. Economic disparity is a global reality. Developing countries are naturally vulnerable to it as they lack the technology and investment to FastTrack economic development. However, innovative solutions such as diversifying investment, encouraging public spending and state-led initiates such as Make in India seem promising yet underutilised.

Economic Expectations of an Individual from the State The impact of economic vulnerability is detrimental to an individual. This vulnerability spirals to emotional instability, alienation and withering away of the sense of entitlement. Though welfare-ism and social security programmes provide respite from the situation but being dependent on the state in itself is a sign of the lack of ‘agency’. Economic wellbeing has become completely dependent on the fiscal policies of the state. Neoliberal initiatives have unevenly reduced this gap and in the lack of consensus on principles governing global economic governance make this a perennial challenge. Economic security, according to the ICRC, is defined as an individual’s, household’s or community’s ability to meet their basic needs in a sustainable and dignified manner. This varies depending on an individual’s physical requirements, the surrounding environment and cultural norms. Food, basic shelter, clothes and sanitation, as well as related expenditure, qualify as essential necessities; vital assets required to make a living, as well as costs linked with health care and education, also qualify (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2015).

Decolonisation and Economic Development Post-colonial economic development has not been able to bridge the gap between development and economic growth. There are a number of factors responsible for this ironical divide. The prime hindrance is the exclusive nature of development, where only a group of individuals own most of the assets of the society. However, the mixed economy model has shown that an active role of the state can deliver positive outcomes.

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Especially in the case of combating income inequality within a nationstate. Two particularly interesting examples are China and India. Both these countries still have a lot of economic disparities but nevertheless, initiatives by a strong state have made sure that right to work, right to education, right to food does not become exclusive privileges of the economically well off. A case in point is the Indian government’s policy to increase the reach of the banking system to every family. India is also focusing on delivering services like the ‘Sauni’ project for drought-hit areas, Digital India campaign, cleanliness drive which is called ‘Swatch Bharat Abhiyan’. The developing countries face dual challenges at the economic front. On the one hand they have to provide basic social infrastructure for which economic growth is mandatory. On the other hand, these countries have to raise their concerns at the global economic institutions like the World Bank, WTO and the IMF. There is little doubt that the prime reason for individual insecurity is global inequality. This spills over in different forms. As the United Nations reports have repeatedly pointed out that those left behind in the quest for economic prosperity have a sense of alienation, which takes form in the increasing social crimes, radicalisation of the youth, cyber bullying, etc.

Food Security and the Role of the Nation-State Optimal Food production and its fair distribution is the key to combat the epidemic of global hunger. However, it has a circular relationship with the food production income. As it ensures the basic income to farmers through which they will attain self-sufficiency both in the forms of occupational satisfaction as well as economic prosperity. However, the nation-states role in ensuring food security and farmer wellbeing has become cardinal. Without climate-resilient agriculture, international cooperation in farm technology, equitable access to GM crop and associated technologies this aim can never be secured. Various mechanisms like the green box in WTO and non-tariff barriers are leaving farmers in the developing world with no choice but to depend on domestic consumption. The state also has to make sure that the burden of infrastructural disincentives, supply-side inefficiency, climate change and shrinking food export markets do not prove detrimental for farmers as an interest group and farming as a profession as well. Consequently, the Indian government has shown commitment on its part in following district-based crop

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selection, conservation of traditional farming techniques, seed banks, etc. India ranks 74 out of 113 major countries in terms of food security index. Nevertheless, India has been able to meet 100% of its food requirement, it lags behind in quality of food and nutrition. The protein intake is significantly low at 20%, presenting a need to distribute protein rich food products such as eggs, meat, fish, chicken, etc., at affordable prices through public distribution system the National Food Security Act, was enacted by the parliament in 2013. This act ensured to provide food grains to seventy five per cent of Indians at a significantly subsidised rate. The government is working with a stakeholder approach which benefits farmers as well as consumers. However, for the full utilisation of this act, an aware citizenry empowered through technology is the need of the hour. Some states are performing better than other, hinting towards the level of awareness of state governments and awareness among people in respective areas. The United Nations opines that exclusion errors from the list of beneficiaries are another big challenge for providing food security in India. Various attempts by the government to stop leakages in the subsidy regime, like neem coated urea, Aadhar linked direct benefit transfer (DBT) promising changes happening in India. Similarly, other developing countries like Brazil have successfully implemented the ‘Zero Hunger’ project and proved that state’s role in ensuring food security can change adverse situations. However, in the lack of synergistic linkage for the agriculture sector in the form of new markets and diversified income these challenges will remain a significant challenge for human security in the recent future. Making farming a viable economic activity in the developing world will not only generate employment and increase youth’s inclination towards it, but it will also at the same time reduce the burden on urban infrastructures as livelihood options will be available next to home. Nevertheless, the narrow national interest is hurting food security, countries shall pursue a framework for action for agriculture where farmers as a group can survive across the global north and global south.

Environmental Security The environmental security is one of the latest editions in the components of human security. After the industrial revolution, unregulated economic development by the states and anthropocentric (humancentred) approach damaged the environment to such level that it now

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became extremely challenging to nation-states to provide clean and harmless environment to the individuals. Moreover, globalisation has also speeded up damage to environment and has made the task of nation-state more challenging. The environmental challenges such as air, water and soil pollution, climate change, ozone depletion, ocean acidification, lowering biodiversity, environmental degradation, are harming environmental security to the core. But what is more challenging is the inadequate collective efforts by the nation-states to deal with such challenges. However, international conscience on the environment security has grown since 1960s and human security agenda has been developed that deeply consists of environmental security. Stockholm Convention, Earth Summit or Rio Summit, Vienna Convention, Rio+20, Paris Agreement are some of the global initiatives to ensure environmental security worldwide. But still adequate collective efforts are far away from the reality. Additionally, there is huge North–South divide on the serious issue of environment security and responsibility which is a large impediment in ensuring environmental security. Moreover, the role of society and individual can not be undermined in the assuring environmental security. The approaches like conservationism and preservationism to nature which are deeply embedded in the values of forest dwelling communities could play a pivotal role at the individual level. On the other hand, the promotion of the idea of inter-generational equity and intra-generation equity at societal level may register extraordinary results.

Terrorism as an Attack on the Modern State and the Individual The quest for colonies and then the oil adventures of the West led to a world where inequality among nations and communities did unthinkable damage to society. These sovereign adventures had to be negotiated from time to time through the Westphalian system (1648), Concert of Europe (1814–1914), then the Post War Conferences at Yalta (1945), Potsdam (1945) San Francisco (1951) among other such occasions. However, after the decolonisation in Africa and disintegration of the USSR new issues gained prominence. Cold war adventurism, increased transportation and communication facilities gave terrorism a global character. However, state-sponsored terrorism in its both incarnations, i.e. directed towards

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other states and directed towards a particular race, religion, region, etc., stands as the greatest challenge for a global framework for combating terrorism. The fact that countries cannot even agree on a holistic definition of terrorism at the UN showcases the disparities in willingness and interpretation of this grave threat to human rights. As Luban famously philosophised human rights as ‘the demand of all humanity on all humanity’, such mindsets are needed to combat this menace. Philosophically, global inequality is the main reason behind all forms of extremism such as terrorism but it will never be possible to eradicate global inequality until commonly agreed values lead to common principles of global governance. Frantz Fanon famously wrote, ‘fervour is the weapon of choice of the impotent’. States cannot wait for the inequalities to vanish, protecting humans from terror attacks and more importantly, living terrorised lives needs a multidimensional approach. Rise of cyber terrorism, the ISIS, Al-Qaeda and associated organisations, increasing radicalisation of youth, the crisis of multiculturalism in Europe and a plethora of issues points towards taxing times ahead. Combating these impediments needs a sense of respect of plurality internally and enlightened national interest as a foreign policy tool. Wolfgang Benedek argued on the similar subject by stating that primary function of the state is protection, but this protection needs to be provided in such a way that the security of the citizens is in the foreground. Additionally, Post-conflict situations are often characterised by states who do not have enough capabilities as they are in the consolidation and reform phase. Benedek argues that ‘security sector reform is of crucial importance, because in post-war situations the security sector is often linked with organized crime and therefore rather a threat to citizens than a provider of protection’. A destructive tendency in the consolidation phase is the mixture of populism and repression, like civil society groups or media, which is nothing but negating the agreements between the citizens and the state. Such events and policies prove counterproductive for human rights as in the case of Sri Lanka. However, these populist policies take place in subtle forms especially during electoral campaigns and whenever a political group, political party or government feels unsure about the vigour of their efforts towards assuring human rights to citizens. Democratisation has slowly been replaced by Democratic Globalism where a particular kind of liberal democracy is promoted by the powerful states as well as international financial institutions. The acts of self-determination and humanitarian intervention are off balance.

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These raise serious questions about the 60 million displaced humans globally. The efforts for their humane treatment are not able to counter the tendency of radicalisation. The nation-state by default is cautious and apprehended for internal security but at the same time, ‘human interests’ seeking basic natural rights shall be accommodated. In the absence of which, terrorists can be bombed by the ‘mother of all bombs’ but terrorism as a threat to human security and as an attack on the idea of the modern state will never be defeated.

Efforts of India in Ensuring Human Security India has made strenuous efforts to ensure all dimensions of human security such as political security, economic security, environment security, food security, health security and energy security. To assure political security to its citizens, India maintains world’s fourth largest defence forces and spends a high defence budget. Additionally, India has successfully dealt with intra-state conflicts like Naxalite problem, proliferation of drugs and trafficking, successionists movements in different parts of the country especially in north-east and Jammu and Kashmir. The economic aspect of human security has always been crucial as it impacts the day-to-day functioning of the people. To guarantee economic security, recently Indian parliament has enacted the legislation of ‘Code on Wages Bill 2019’ to fix minimum wages of workers, 176 rupees per day. Moreover, the government has unveiled Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana for the inclusion of every family into financial system, it has started Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to assure a house for every family by 2022, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana to provide skill development and to ensure employment to rural unemployed, government has implemented the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). Although, to provide food to hungry men, is considered Sevadharma in India. Number of temples and Gurudwaras provide food as Prasad, free of cost. Nevertheless, it does not suffice, so government has endeavoured to ensure food security to needy ones through ‘The National Food Security Act, 2013’. This act incorporates Mid-day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services and Public Distribution System (PDS). Under this act, 75% of rural population and 50% of urban population is authorised to receive subsidised food grain through Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) at minimum price.

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The environment security is the need of the hour as environmental challenges are ready to engulf entire planet due to incessant damage made by human activities after industrial revolution. To secure environment security, government has made it mandatory to take environment clearance from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Challenge, in all large development projects. Furthermore, government has established National Green Tribunal for the timely redressal of environment related disputes. As well known, environment security is an important dimension of human security hence, it is the prime responsibility of the government to provide safe and clean environment. The government is tirelessly working on multiple projects to reduce air, water and land pollution. The present government has initiated Namami Gange programme to clean country’s longest river, it is also determined to reduce the level of pollution in other rivers, lakes and different water bodies. To reduce air pollution in various cities, government has taken numerous steps such as shutting down coal power stations, inaugurating metro trains in several cities and introducing CNG and electronic vehicles. In addition, the government has set the ambitious goal to increase the forest cover in the country to 33%. To cover health security for all citizens, government has launched Universal Health Scheme, Ayushman Bharat in 2018. This scheme has aimed to cover 100 million households and approximately 500 million people who account almost 40% of the whole population. The private and government hospitals are working all together to provide health security to all people. To ensure energy security, government has targeted to increase the production of electricity to 175 gigawatts. Further, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana has provision to provide concessional LPG connection to 5 crore families living below poverty line.

Political Ideologies and Their Impact on Human Security The cold war era and the tussle for global resources led humanity to choose sides with particular ideologies, namely socialism or capitalism. Both the blocs manifested in a range of commitments to the principles of either communism or capitalism depending upon their intensity. For example, China choose communism and amalgamated its understanding of rule of law and historical leanings, on the other hand, Soviet Russia

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attempted to establish a socialist society based on their political beliefs and commitments to the ideas of charismatic leaders. However, human rights in both situations were never the priority of the state and its apparatus. At the other extreme welfare became the buzz word as the neo-liberal philosophy was not comfortable with the progress and acceptance of socialism worldwide. However, two decades into the twenty-first century it has become quite clear that overemphasis on political ideologies and resultant economic planning in either case have not been able to assure equality in status and existence of human beings. What is the problem then? The writer argues that the problem lies with the elitism, and lack of respect for human rights germinating from the quest of power. Challenges such as the refugee crisis, violence in the developing world, identity crisis in Europe and America, patches of poverty world over are a result of hypocritical ignorance of the hegemons globally as well as locally. The nation-state works more like a power fetching apparatus and less like a device to ensure welfare. An important example is the American war on Vietnam, which generated popular opinion against the war on people and their choices. What then can be the solution? The preamble to the United Nations Charter (1948) puts forward the idea of equating human dignity with national sovereignty. It mentions to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples. However, these ideas find it hard to be realised in a realistic world. Nevertheless, they clearly mention that commitment towards human rights can never be overshadowed by great power politics and the quest for power in all society. To conclude we can argue that the tools to deal with problems facing the individuals at all levels are realised but not exercised.

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Conclusion Nation-states have already discerned the fact that the most important function of a ‘secure’ environment for ‘humans’ is the fact that it assures survival, it is for this survival that humane treatment in war, mutual cooperation on transnational issues such as pharmaceutical pricing, electricity and other energy demands, climate change, hunger, poverty among a number of other issues is needed. But does this give the state a sovereign right over deciding the agendas on human security? This pertinent question requires inputs from the diffusion of power at the level of the state–society complex and also at the level of dissemination of power in the postmodern sense. A wider audience through the internet and ICT technologies have made states more responsive to these changes. The fact that military threat to an existential level has reduced and new challenges in a non-traditional manner have surfaced like never before, makes it inevitable for the state to assimilate new technologies, ideas and knowledge for remaining the prime actor at both the national and international level. The nation-state has synthesised into an entity which is both capable and willing to provide a secure environment to its citizens and never in the history of the modern state were so many options available for the state to serve the individual. However, the threat of lack of inclusion, a lack of global consensus on agenda setting and principles governing the treatment of those in distress are the biggest challenges faced by human security today. A dichotomy between being nationalist and populist is also necessary. For example, in the last decade protectionism because of economic slowdown has increased. It becomes a problem when electoral campaigns target certain groups like refugees, when majoritarian governments ignore democratic governance and when the quest for power over the nation-state seeks legitimacy through inhuman means. Mahatma Gandhi’s idea of means being equally important as ends shall be the driving force for nation-states. The nation being a community shall not be based on exclusion but on respect for pluralism. International norms, principles, organisations, etc., can have limited influence on internal issues of a state. Hence, it is of great importance to building consensus on intervening variables which could stop populism to define nationalism. As it is not just a threat to human rights but a detrimental threat to the idea of the modern nation-state. The sustainable development goals aim at ‘transforming our world’ by bringing together all the stakeholders.

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This call for sustainable development goals incorporates poverty, hunger, health education, climate change, gender, equality, energy, environment, social justice, water and sanitation. Such efforts can play a significant role in bridging the gap between policy and people. States can seek a better understanding of the needs of the individual, realign their policy framework and recalibrate existing mechanisms to perform better.

References A Guide for ensuring inclusion and equity in education: UNESCO. Assistant Director-General for Education, 2010-2018 (Qian Tang). Accessed on https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000248254 Allen, R., Crasnow, R., & Beale, A. (2007). Employment law and human rights. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ardill, N. (2011). Human rights and older clients, Elder Law Journal 1(1), pp. 53–60. Beatson, J. et al. (2008). Human rights: judicial protection in the United Kingdom. London: Sweet and Maxwell Ltd. Brems, E., de Beco, G., & Vandenhole, W. (2013). National human rights institutions and economic, social and cultural rights. Cambridge: Intersentia. Commission on Human Security (CHS). (2003). Human security now. New York. Accessed on https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ 91BAEEDBA50C6907C1256D19006A9353-chs-security-may03.pdf. Equality and Human Rights Commission. (2008). Ours to own: understanding human rights. Manchester: Equality and Human Rights Commission. Equality and Human Rights Commission. (2009). Human rights inquiry: report of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Manchester: Equality and Human Rights Comission. Gearty, C. (2006). Can human rights survive? The Hamlyn lectures 2005. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Horowitz, D. (2000). Ethnic groups in conflict. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Inter American Institute of Human Rights. Accessed on https://www.iidh.ed. cr/multic/default_12.aspx?contenidoid=ea75e2b1-9265-4296-9d8c-3391de 83fb42&Portal=IIDHSeguridadEN. International Committee of the Red Cross. (2015). http://icrc.org/en/doc ument/introduction-economic-security. Just, W., & Human Rights Author(s) (Winter, 1980). David Luban Source: Philosophy and Public Affairs, 9(2), pp. 160–181, Wiley. King, G., & Murray, C.J.L. (2002). Rethinking human security. Political Science Quarterly, 116, pp. 585–610. Accessed on https://tinyurl.com/y5uggveh.

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National Defence College Ministry of Defence, Government of India. (1996). Accessed on https://ndc.nic.in/Course/course/course-brief. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for United Nations. (2011). National Human Rights Institutions: History, principles, rules and responsibilities. Geneva: OHCHR. Rogers, P. (2019). A pioneer in critical security analysis and public engagement. Springer. Reid, K. (2012). A practitioner’s guide to the European Convention on Human Rights. 4th ed. London: Sweet and Maxwell Ltd. Riddell, S., & Watson, N. (2011). Equality and Human Rights in Britain: principles and challenge, Social Policy and Society 10(2), April. Scottish Human Rights Commission. (2013). Scotland’s national action plan for human rights 2013–2017 . Edinburgh: Scottish Human Rights Commission. Speed, L. (2011). Older people and human rights in home care: a report of two surveys. Manchester: Equality and Human Rights Commission. Stone, R. (2012). Textbook on civil liberties and human rights. 9th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Wadham, J. et al. (2011). Blackstone’s guide to the Human Rights Act 1998. 6th revised ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

CHAPTER 6

Public Health and National Security: An Indian Perspective Shantesh Kumar Singh and Haseeb Cheerathadayan

Introduction Political stability and economic development are the primary focus areas of every government and receive the highest priority, sometimes underscoring even national security concerns. National security, as understood in the traditional sense, is a term used for all precautionary measures taken by a country to protect its people and boundaries towards threats from other enemy nations or transnational entities. These threats necessitate both diplomatic and military means to combat it (Chapman and Zilinskas, 2007). Non-traditional security threats, on the other hand, are usually those which are perpetuated by non-state actors. “One can classify

S. K. Singh (B) Department of Political Science, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh, India e-mail: [email protected] H. Cheerathadayan School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_6

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non-traditional security threats into six comprehensive categories: organized crime across nations (transnational), terrorism at international level, energy security, environmental security, illicit migration, and human security” (Jha, 2017). In the initial years, security experts didn’t consider them to be a major concern; often treating them as peripheral issues with their own implications. But with globalization, security experts were forced to rethink on their security implications. At the starting of the twenty-first century, the world began to be connected as never before, through a technology-driven global network of socio-economic, political and economic parameters. This led to increased connectivity with faster and easier communication, and the creation of free trade areas that have enhanced trade and traffic between countries in diverse corners of the world. Though globalization may promise a new and brighter future, for many, it represents a threat that needs to be countered and challenged. Health has become a crucial component of the global docket since the last few decades, with international security policy experts recognizing health as an increasingly important security issue (McInnes and Lee, 2006). Globalization poses a major challenge as it leads to enhanced “microbial traffic” which effects global health, especially the spread of infectious diseases. Microbial risks have been rapidly getting globalized, but necessary concurrent protective health activities were not taking the same pace. The second edition of International Health Regulations (IHR) which came to effect in 2007 talks about many significant measures to control the global spread of infectious disease (WHO, 2007). IHR stipulate that states must undertake surveillance measures and report to the WHO on any “public health emergency of international concern that may cause international disease spread” (IOM, 2010). “Health itself is a power; a fundamental capacity for the development or maintenance of all other capacities” (Cecchine and Moore, 2006). This view recognizes the power of health and how it is extended from the individual to the state when brought under the ambit of national security. Investments in health are a must for a country’s healthy population, economic growth and to improve values of humanity and leadership at moral position in a global scenario of promising and challenging health needs (Howson et al., 1998).

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Public Health and National Security: A Conceptual Discourse According to the World Health Organization, in the past, health had not received the attention it deserved, often being accorded low national priorities. However, in the present century, and especially over the past decade, health has been attracting worldwide attention by increasingly being associated with national security as a non-traditional threat. National policymakers, realizing that health-related issues may compromise national interests, have included particular health issues in the state’s programmes, particularly if they have impacts on foreign affairs and conceptualized as national security threats (Katz and Singer, 2007). Experience has shown that diseases of epidemic nature can cause political unrest, destabilization of the state, civil anarchy or long-term repercussions on a country or region’s economy, proving that changes in status of health, either chronic or acute, can cause direct and sometimes indirect impact on a nation’s security (Price-Smith, 2002). It would appear that only when health problems possess capacity to emerge as threats to individual, national, regional and international security, that they receive the required attention from authorities. The relentless efforts made by health professionals to educate government officials of security significance of some disease-associated events, both occurring natural, for example: pandemic influenza, or in the form of intended use of harmful agents, for example: bioterrorism, has helped to recognize implications of health on national security (Fidler, 2003; McInnes and Lee, 2006). In short, poor health negatively impacts the economic and social structures of the state (McInnes and Lee, 2006). According to the US National Intelligence Council, 2007, if government fails to provide basic health services against any disease it results in reduced confidence in the government. Not having sound health provisions leads to social disorder and increases the inequalities. Thus, it portrays a government as “inefficient” irrespective of the availability of resources (McInnes and Lee, 2006). “Poor health may also contribute to economic decline, fuelling discontent, and by forcing increased government spending on health as a percentage of GDP; reducing productivity due to worker absenteeism and the loss of skilled personnel; reducing investment (internal and external) because of a lack of business confidence; and by raising insurance costs for health provisions” (McInnes and Lee, 2006; Ostergard, 2002).

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Declaring a health issue such as HIV/AIDS and pandemic influenza as a security threat can muster immediate political attention and economic support from the government, leading to better allocation of resources, desired prioritization and greater public awareness. Nevertheless, seeing a health issue as a security threat should not be an end in itself. It is quite possible that such a declaration may result in it being included as part of law enforcement programmes rather than treating it as a public health problem. In such an eventuality, attention would be diverted to assigning responsibility and putting in place sanctions to control the threat, rather than addressing and identifying, through traditional health parameters, the risk factors and behaviour patterns that are fundamental to the threat. Chan et al. (2008) consider that “globally, bioterrorism, pandemics and emerging diseases are considered as direct threat to global and national security” (Chan et al., 2008). Describing these security-related attributes of health risks as emerging within the last two decades, particularly during the 1990s, Davies notes that “awareness of the threat that infectious disease outbreaks could pose to their citizens’ health and to their countries’ economic and political stability encouraged western governments to develop responses in national security terms” (Davies, 2008). According to Fidler and Drager, “Health challenges now feature in national security strategies, appear regularly on the agenda of meetings of leading economic powers, affect the bilateral and regional political relationships between developed and developing countries, and influence strategies for United Nations reform. Although health has long been a foreign policy concern, such prominence is historically unprecedented” (Fidler and Drager, 2006). Many writers and reports have emphasized the strong association between health and security in the United States. Perhaps the first efforts to bring health into the ambit of security were initiated as far back as the 1980s and the initial years of 1990s with the broadening of security studies. This path was fastened by 9/11 and following concerns over bioterrorism. Nevertheless, its origins can be traced to the efforts to create a new security structure in relation to the Cold War (McInnes and Lee, 2006). According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (2000), “National security and public health experts agree that infectious diseases pose

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a substantial direct and indirect threat to US interests”. As stated by a former US Ambassador, national interests are affected by infectious disease in four ways: 1. Challenging productivity of the economy and health; 2. Challenging political stability and development of economy abroad; 3. Challenges of bioterrorism; and. 4. Need of active preparedness to protect population within the state and abroad (Sherman, 1998). Reinforcing the link between infectious disease and security, Brower and Chalk assert: “Disease can affect individuals and also weaken public confidence in a government’s ability to respond; they have an adverse economic impact, undermine a state’s social order, catalyse regional instability, and pose a strategic threat through bioterrorism or bio-warfare” (Brower and Chalk, 2003). But according to Fidler, the nexus between public health and national security has a broader framework including natural diseases than a narrow concept of biological weapons only (Fidler, 2003). A growing body of evidence suggests that infectious diseases may ultimately threaten both human and national concepts of security. Public health security consists of policy areas in which national security and public health concerns overlap. Asian countries follow different norms and practices in tackling health security in its diverse forms. Asia is a unique geo-biological region in the sense it attracts lifestyle diseases from the developed world and infectious diseases from the developing world. With increasing interconnectivity within the region, responding to health-related security threats in a timely manner has become a challenging task for governments. Thus, the efforts of states in a region to control and prevent infectious disease and their interactions with other states globally and international institutions and organizations in this regard are an important topic for study (Yuk-Ping, and Thomas, 2010). Approaching health as a security concern has its own disadvantages. A stigma is often attached to any assistance that is provided because international health programmes are generally perceived as tools of diplomacy used by countries to further their self-interests. Linking security to health programmes can be detrimental to public health concerns as well as

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foreign policy as it undermines the enormous opportunities for cooperation and assistance among nations. Therefore, this approach needs careful and cautious handling. Since COVID-19 deaths are not from a bomb or a missile, the daily rise in the number of fatalities reminds us that infectious diseases remain a major killer and can easily kill more people than a war (C Murphy et al., 2020). While harping on the security implications of the ravaging coronavirus, the United Nations’ Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, correctly observes that the disease could lead to opportunistic terror attacks, social/political unrest and violence and erosion of trust in public institutions (Davidson, 2020). While the war against COVID19 appears to be uncertain, one thing is certain: it will change a lot of national security attitudes. …. There are reasons to suppose that, in the medium term, a significant fallout of the continuing crisis could be states withdrawing into themselves while pursuing an isolationist policy. Furthermore, there is a significant risk that radical forces (such as extreme right-wing movements, left-wing extremist groups, terrorist organizations and authoritarian regimes) may take advantage of the situation. Without a doubt, the Coronavirus pandemic is humanity’s greatest problem in the twenty-first century. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for combatants to agree to cease-fires, for adversaries to agree to peace, for cooperation across and within borders and for creating trust where none exists. National security, international politics and economic preferences all need to adjust holistically to the rising panorama of complex security risks as a result of the metamorphic emergence and spread of COVID-19 (Rajat Kumar Kujur, 2020).

Public Health and National Security in India Historical Background Independent India’s first democratically elected government made a concerted effort to increase the living standard of the people. A major stimulus was provided to health care by including it as a cardinal part of socio-economic growth. In the past six decades, public health services and infrastructure have experienced exceptional changes. There was a huge extension in the scale and nature of public health care based on recommendations by several expert committees like the Bhore Committee,

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which was set up in 1943 and its proposals accepted by the Indian government in 1952, the Mudaliyar Committee, 1959, etc. (Duggal, 1991). It is observed that with regards to health and related economy, demography and epidemiology, India is in a phase of transition (Narain, 2016). India has seen exceptional economic development in terms of GDP in the past decade (International Monitory Fund, 2015). Unfortunately, this progress has not reduced the disparities between the rich and the poor which has far-reaching consequences on social and health indicators. Evidences portray that the income inequality among various socio-economic sections is connected to weak health outcomes (Pickett and Wilkinson, 2009). While the Government tries to bridge economic inequalities through social security and financial inclusion programmes, special focus is needed on reducing health disparities among the population to realize the emerging Indian dream. The country is expected to benefit from the demographic changes underway, contributing to a substantially increased labour force. However, this would enhance the capabilities of the nation only if the labour force stays healthy; if not, they are going to create an additional economic burden and a human security threat to the nation. Currently India faces triple burden of infectious diseases, lifestyle and non-communicable diseases and new pandemics and epidemics (Narain, 2016). With the federal and state division of health care and financing, the health infrastructure in India is overstressed. The government thus has an added responsibility to increase its capacity and quality of health care to meet the health challenges faced by its population. Actions to make the government’s efforts effective in shaping the health system have been enhanced by the recently adopted National Health Policy, 2017. Experiences from the Past Health problems considered as a threat to security is mostly addressed via programmes and policies formulated by the government considering their laws and policies than keeping public health in focus. As happened in the case of HIV/AIDS and the influenza pandemic, identifying them as a security concern, attracted the immediate attention of the government and policymakers, leading to greater political support, necessary prioritization and increase in resources through more funding. However, people associated with health care must resist the temptation to consider health

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issues as a security or economic threat, despite the higher visibility that it might attract. “If they don’t, the result may be that a disproportionate emphasis is placed on assigning responsibility and levying sanctions to control the threat, as opposed to more traditional health models that identify and ameliorate risk factors and behaviours that contribute to the threat” (Katz and Singer, 2007). Public health emergencies can challenge a country’s security in many ways. Four such challenges mentioned by Chapman and Zilinskas (2007) are: (1) the enormous pressure exerted on a country’s economy both at the micro and macro levels, (2) social disruption, (3) governments becoming destabilized by a health crisis and (4) national defence forces being severely affected. All four factors mentioned above have had an impact on India in the past. Fidler (2003) talks of four important causes that led to public health being linked to national security in the 1990s: (1) HIV/AIDS disease in the third world countries, (2) spread of infectious diseases, (3) increase in use of biological weapons and (4) anxiety about biological weapons being procured and used by terrorists. In India too, the rise and spread of infectious diseases have been recognized as a major challenge to national security. Taking an example from the past, Indian national newsweekly The week, in 1994 reported the outbreak of pneumonic plague in Surat as a biological weapon test by the United States. While such accusations are not really based on scientific observations, this occurrence shows that some outbreaks are not linked to terrorism (Chyba, 1999). One of the measures put into place by the Indian government to counter the plague in Surat was the enforcement of trade and travel embargoes which consequently led to economic losses amounting to US$ 1.7 billion. The World Health Organization identified two distinct features from the 1994 plague experience in India. First being the economic security of the state from a disease outbreak in keeping with WHO guidelines which stipulate measures to control the long run impacts of the outbreak; secondly, in contradiction to the first, the new measures being brought in have the potential to create panic such as that which ensued in India (Davies, 2008). In 2002, Susan Peterson mentioned that there exists a well-founded healthcare infrastructure in India. The Indian government acted at the earliest to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, creating the National AIDS Control Organization in 1986. Nicholas Eberstadt rightly predicted that the

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disease spread in Russia, China and India along with the Eurasian pandemic will impact economic lives of billions and can cause a change in balance of power globally (Fidler, 2003). While in more recent times, the Indian government acted swiftly during the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 and instructed port health officers to screen all international passengers and crews coming into India, with the stipulation that every passenger suspected of having a flu-like illness should be isolated for further clinical medical examination. These actions were focussed to tackle the issue of spread of the influenza A H1N1 epidemic (Bakari and Frumense, 2013). The Nipah virus (NiV) encephalitis (also known as swine flu) was first reported in Sungai Nipah village in Malaysia in 1999, spreading among pig farmers and people living in close proximity with pigs. In 2015, swine flu claimed around an unconfirmed 2,000 lives in India, while in 2017, more than 12,000 cases of swine flu was registered. In 2018, it is said to have claimed more than 45 lives in the state of Kerala (CDC, 2014). The swine flu keeps resurfacing almost every year. In 2016, more than a million cases of malaria were registered with 331 deaths reported (Sharma, 2017). Across many parts of the world, threats from bioterrorist attacks are increasing. A dozen of countries including Iran, Syria, Iraq, North Korea and Libya are known today to possess or suspected of possessing the capability to produce biological and chemical weapons. Terrorists, particularly Al Qaeda, have threatened to use biological weapons against the United States. Many of the Soviet scientist, who has the capability to produce biological weapons and are unemployed are believed to be available to the highest private bidder for the same purpose (Frist, 2002). Concerns over biological weapons use (termed bioterrorism) had begun to emerge as early as the mid-1990s, in aftermath of the disintegration of Soviet Union (Christopher et al., 1997). After 9/11, most of the focus on connection between health and security was shifted towards biological weapons used by rogue states or terrorists (CIA, 2003). Most of these countries, such as Syria, Iraq, North Korea, etc., do not fall in the immediate neighbourhood of India. Therefore, the threats emanating from bioterrorism were not so serious a consideration for India’s security. But the 26/11 attack on Mumbai by Pakistani terrorists proved the threats were real and that terrorist elements are waiting for any small breach in the security network to infiltrate and attack the country. The unholy link between the Taliban and the fundamentalist groups in Pakistan has created a virtual rogue state at India’s borders. These

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disturbing trends do have the potential to create troubles for India’s security. As a result of these new threats, any infectious diseases outbreak in India in the future has the potential of being treated as a bioterrorist attack, though it is reassuring to know that the Indian government has acknowledged the reality of bioterrorist attacks and are taking effective measures to combat it.

The Emerging Health Challenges to National Security in India 1. Infectious Diseases Infectious diseases have no consideration of the boundaries of a nation. The formation of the World Health Organization in 1948 was the outcome of international cooperation attempting to contain the spread of such cases among the nations and regions globally (McInnes and Lee, 2006). One of the major health problems faced by the country will be infectious diseases in India in the near future. This, for sure, can create a major threat to health security at national and international levels (Dikid et al., 2013). Besides endemic diseases, communicable disease has also a greater potential to question public health, demanding an extreme level of preparedness to identify and respond to them (Narain, 2016). There has also been an alarming spread of vector-borne diseases such as acute encephalitis and dengue, along with antimicrobial resistance (McInnes and Lee, 2006). The spread of acute and potentially epidemic infections from the developing world, such as Ebola, West Nile virus and monkey pox, has also heightened concerns within the security community over risks to the health and economic well-being of citizens and community (Ibid.). The swine flu in the Southeast Asia region has become a threat to global health security. The May 2018 swine flu epidemic in Kerala, where over 17 people were killed in 7 days, highlighted the importance of the “One Health” approach. The symptoms often do not reveal themselves at the time of presentation which creates challenges to outbreak detection, and timely control measures and responses. Presently no specific drugs or vaccines are available for NiV infection although this is a priority disease on the World Health Organization’s agenda (Chattu, 2017).

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Recent outbreak of COVID-19 has become the biggest infectious disease threat to the country’s health and security infrastructure. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of India has created awareness about the recent outbreak and has taken necessary actions to control the spread of COVID-19. The central and state governments are taking several measures and formulating several wartime protocols to achieve this goal. Moreover, the Indian government implemented a 55-day lockdown throughout the country that started on March 25, 2020, to reduce the transmission of the virus (U Kumar et al., 2020). While the dedication of the state and central governments to control the disease is commendable from every aspect, the question which lies ahead of us is that how the country is going to handle the disease in near future as the infectious incidents graph is fluctuating in different states and regions of the country. 2. Non-Communicable Diseases The leading reason for increased deaths in the country is Non-communicable diseases or NCDs (Jain et al., 2015). Heart and cardiovascular disease, chronic pulmonary disease cancer and diabetes cause about eighty per cent of all deaths in the country. Tobacco use, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activities are the main reason for these (Narain, 2016). Social and economic reasons along with factors such as unregulated and unplanned urbanization, globalization, environmental changes and changes in lifestyle influence the epidemiological transition (Narain, 2016). Despite the government giving a public health infrastructure, the access to healthcare facilities for the poor is grossly inadequate, mainly on account of income inequalities in society. The marginalized sections are not only more susceptible to communicable and non-communicable diseases; they have very low resource capability to counter the afflictions arising from these diseases. In case of any family member falling sick, the out of pocket expenditure on health care causes immense economic hardships for the poor, often driving them into poverty; since immediate assistance through the government-assisted healthcare system is complicated, arbitrary and often inadequate. 3. Women and Child Health India was ranked 112th out of 190 countries in the World Health Organization’s global healthcare profile for the year 2000. WHO

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highlighted three major health concerns for India that are yet to be effectively addressed. The first and major concern is the poor health and high mortality rate among children. Of children under five, 43.5% are underweight (the highest percentage in the world) and 6.6% die before their fifth birthday (which is very high compared to the United States’ rate of 0.8%) (Columbia University, 2017). Poor sanitation is the other concern. Nearly thirty percentage of the population only has access to improved sanitation facilities, with figures falling below 20% in rural areas. The final concern is the prevalence of disease. Despite consistent efforts by the government, MMR (the maternal mortality ratio) and IMR (infant mortality rate) have not improved significantly. “The IMR, with a value of 81 in 1990, has got reduced to 41.4 per 1,000 live births in 2013” (WHO, 2015). Nevertheless, it is much higher in comparison to global average of 33.6 per 1,000 live births calculated for the same period (World Health Organization, 2015). As per the sample registration system (SRS) report of October 2015, the IMR is now 40 per 1,000 live births (GOI, 2014). The decrease in mortality rates is low in comparison to India’s neighbours, who are economically and socially weaker. The Indian National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) reports that women and young people are more susceptible to the HIV pandemic in India, with an accompanying increase in vertical transmission and paediatric HIV (NACO, 2001). A 212% of the total HIV/AIDS cases in 1999 were women in India, according to the document of USAID/INDIA-HIV/AIDS (2000) (Stones and Pallikadavath, 2003). This creates concern as they belong to reproductive age group and has the potential to pass the disease to their partners and children (USAIDS/INDIA-HIV/AIDS, 2000). It indicates that the women carriers of HIV easily lead to horizontal and vertical spread of the disease (Stones and Pallikadavath, 2003). As the mother’s health is detrimental to the overall well-being and development of the society, spread of HIV among women showcases a serious threat to the overall security of the population and, in effect, the security of the country. 4. Immunization and Insufficient Health Care People are more vulnerable to the entirely preventable diseases due to the low coverage of immunization. This big issue in one of

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the primary public health indicators is due to a lack of adequate government funding, and it has a significant impact on the population, particularly in rural areas. According to the data provided by the Economic Research Foundation (ERF), while IMR may directly not be linked to the government spending on health, the immunization programmes are directly related to it. Based on data from government sources, many scholars argue that liberalization and globalization have had a great impact on health status of population in the country. While the private sector health facilities have grown at a relatively rapid pace year after year, the poor have been marginalized, with concessions and subsidies offered by the government not reaching them. It is increasingly being observed that women, the focal point of the country’s reproductive and child healthcare services, are switching to private hospitals and doctors once they get their first treatment in a public healthcare facility. This public–private dichotomy is creating a challenge for policymakers and needs to be given serious attention in order to provide improved health care to the entire population. As for the ageing population, there are insufficient government facilities to take care of them or their health needs. The aged are anyway considered a liability to the country as they are no longer productive.

Addressing the Challenges: Major Initiatives There is a need to re-examine distribution of resources to help build new and improved paradigms of health and social development for all, with significant narrowing of disparities, across the globe. However, achieving them would need a sincere self-analysis of our present actions future plans (Benatar et al., 2009). Earlier, Benatar and colleagues had suggested that the primary reason for shift in approach to human security and health was the widening disparities in health and that recognition of global instability serves as engine for change (Benatar et al., 2003). In the light of these opinions, the government of India has initiated several pilot projects and programmes with diverse objectives to address the emerging health challenges facing the country, with special emphasis on national security.

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1. India is a signatory to WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005. One of the important initiatives of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) under IHR was the introduction of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP), launched with World Bank assistance in November 2004, to detect, track and respond to endemic communicable diseases. The IDSP later included non-communicable diseases. A Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) was also set up and integrated with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi (Direct Response, 2013). Thereafter, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) was designated as the national focal point for IHR while state-level and district-level focal points are being identified. Global Health Strategies (GHS), India, is responsible for the administrative and technical management of Airport Health Organizations (APHOs), Port Health Organizations (PHOs), Land Border Quarantine Centres (LBQCs) and Yellow Fever Quarantine Centres (YFQCs), which are health surveillance units at international points of entry. National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) is the main body to deal with the IHR and at the same time similar actions have been taken at state and district level. The main focus of IHR is to increase the capability of National Surveillance system. To establish infrastructural and human capacity at district and state level, government of India has provided a fund of Rs 4.08 billion (Rs 408 crores) to “Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSA)”. Many medical staffs, health workers and laboratories have received guidance and training to detect rapidly and respond adequately to the disease outbreak all over India. For example, the ASHA workers in our country can play a vital role in providing information on significant events at the local level to the authorities. It is also very important to understand that improved capabilities of diagnostic laboratories are cardinal in indicating and surveillance of new pathogens. To achieve this goal, the establishment of two biosafety level (BSL)-3 laboratories has been done at NICD, Delhi, and National Institute of virology, Pune. As having sound networking between these laboratories is very significant, Information and technology have been harnessed so that communication could be established in a bottom-up manner.

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“In collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organization the National Informatics Centre and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, districts are being connected electronically through satellite and the terrestrial network for transmission of surveillance data, videoconferencing and distance learning. Another important obligation of the IHR (2005) is to provide routine inspection and control activities at international airports, ports and ground crossings” (National Medical Journal of India, 2007) 2. The Government of India has been actively engaged with the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA, in implementing IHR. It has signed an agreement with the CDC to monitor the progress of IHR against emerging and re-emerging diseases. The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the nodal agency for disease control and prevention in India, was established in the year of 1963. Since then, NCDC has been working closely with multilateral and bilateral organizations against life-threatening diseases. Recently, India received help from the US CDC under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) project (NCDC, 2017). The major activities focussed are: i. Strengthening workforce—India Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) training; ii. Averting antimicrobial resistance; iii. Preclude diseases that could be transmitted by animals to human; iv. Providing guidance in “bio-risk managements” in laboratories; v. Making laboratories more capable for influenza and acute respiratory infection (ARI); vi. To set up laboratory Quality Management System (QMS) in IDSP laboratories and increasing capability for surveillance; vii. Consolidating viral hepatitis monitoring; viii. To build up centres for emergency operations and management; ix. To increase management capability for IHR in India (NCDC, 2017). Earlier Doctors from NCDC had been gathered together to evaluate potential eruption of diseases. It included suspected cases of “Pneumonic plague in Punjab in 2002, SARS outbreaks in 2004, meningitis outbreak in Delhi in 2005, and avian influenza in 2006”. Recent achievements:

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• First time detected JE virus in Culex vishnui mosquitoes from Saharanpur (UP) and Karnal (Haryana) (2007). • Participation of Central Plague Laboratory in EQAS programme for Plague with National Institute of Communicable Diseases, South Africa (2007). • National patent filed on the invention of desert cooler which prevents the breeding of Aedes aegypti, vector of Dengue and Chikungunya inside the cooler (2007). • Proposal for up-gradation of NICD to NCDC was approved (2007). • First time detected Dengue virus in Aedes aegypti and Ae. Albopictus mosquitoes from Delhi (2008). • First time detected JE virus in Culex vishnui mosquitoes from Baghpat (UP) (2008). • Pilot Projects of control of Leptospirosis and Prevention and Control of Human Rabies started under XI Five Year Plan (2008). • First time identified the soil factors supporting the breeding of Leishmaniasis transmitting sand flies in India (2008). • Member of National Consortium of Laboratories, testing quality of diagnostic kits for HIV (2008). • 100 years Celebration. NICD re-designated as NCDC (2009). • Establishment of Centre for Non-communicable Disease, Centre for Environment and Occupational Health and Division of Climate Change at NCDC (2015). • India declared Yaws free (2016). • Notified as National Coordination Centre for AMR Containment (2017). • Completed National Level TOTs for Medical Officers from 29 states and 4 UTs to roll out Population Level Screening for Non-Communicable Disease (NCDC [open source], 2017). 3. In the last two decades, the government has implemented various health schemes to ensure health for all, i.e. the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in 2013, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Swachh Bharat Mission to end open defecation in 2014; the New Health Policy in 2015, and E-health initiatives as part of the Digital India Campaign, along with special attention on health

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equipment production. In 2018, the government launched the Ayushman Bharat Yojana which is the largest health coverage scheme in the world. The foremost aim of health initiatives is to strengthen the role of governments focusing more on vulnerable sections of the society through a multifaceted approach including investments, cross-sectional plans, using new technologies creation of knowledge base, etc. (Singh, 2018). National policymakers in India have finally taken cognizance of the fact that only a disease-free nation can address the national security concerns posed by health challenges. Under the National Health Mission, the government has launched several schemes like: I. Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) programme aims to address the main factors leading to mortality among women and children and also focusses if there is any delay in access and utilization of healthcare services and facilities. II. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) is a significant initiative towards early identification and early involvement for children, from toddler to 18 years to cover 4 ‘D’s viz. “Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Diseases, Development delays including disability”. Early identification and management of diseases involving deficiencies lead to added value in restraining these conditions to develop in much severe and debilitating stage. III. The Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram The main objective of the programme is the participation of adolescent and leadership, Equality and inclusion, Gender Equality and strategic associations with other sectors and stakeholders. The programme focusses and makes all the adolescents of India to understand their full capability by taking informed and accountable decisions regarding their health and well-being and by accessing the facilities and support they are required to do so. IV. A programme launched by the government of India named Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram aims to encourage the people to opt for institutional delivery rather than choosing delivery at home. The motive of this initiative is positive intervention of state in providing the benefits of JSSK to every pregnant woman who needs it.

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As the rate of deaths is increasing rapidly, mainly due to communicable and non-communicable diseases, the government has launched many programmes to assist people to fight against these diseases. V. National AIDS Control Organisation To provide every individual who is suffering from HIV and for a better access to quality health services this organization was established. VI. Revised National TB Control Programme is a state-run tuberculosis control initiative of Government of India with a vision of achieving a TB-free India. VII. National Leprosy Eradication Programme “was initiated by the government for Early detection through active surveillance by the trained health workers and to provide Appropriate medical rehabilitation and leprosy ulcer care services”. VIII. Mission Indradhanush is a programme launched by the government of India which focusses on the improvement of coverage of immunization in the country. IX. Since the problems related to mental disorders often remains ignorant and also the lack of qualified professionals in the field of mental health has led to several issues which remains unsolved. To address the same, Government of India has launched National Mental Health Program, so that the availability and accessibility of minimum mental health care for all in the foreseeable future can be ensured. X. Pulse Polio is a programme of immunization aimed to eliminate polio in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the poliovirus. XI. The Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) is aimed at creating tertiary health care facilities to eliminate regional imbalances and for building quality medical education. XII. In order to do away with income disparities there are various programmes, Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi being the primary one providing financial assistance to below poverty line people for treatment at government hospitals. XIII. National Tobacco Control Programme aims at creating knowledge of bad effects of tobacco.

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XIV. Integrated Child Development Service focusses at the nutrition and health status of children in the age group of 0–6 years, also on psychological, physical and social development of the child. XV. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana provides health insurance to below poverty line families in the unrecognized sector workers. (https://www.oxfamindia.org/blog/15-healthcare-schemes-indiayou-must-know-about). 4. Cyber security has become, of late, another vital issue of concern for countries across the globe. National security advisors in India are becoming increasingly concerned about the rising threat of cyber security vis-a-vis health data and intelligence inputs, especially so to meet the provisions set forth in the government’s flagship initiative, Digital India. The health component of the Digital India project promises to augment access to quality health care for all through the law of information, collaborating through the use of ICTs and provisioning timely and affordable health services (Tandon, 2015). By taking the help of hospital management information systems (HMIS), Digital India’s healthcare online registration system (ORS) promises ease appointments registrations. Under the scheme, every individual is given a Unique Health Identification (UHID) number which is linked to their Aadhaar number. This number is used while obtaining appointments as well as accessing their health records (Gupta, 2015). As a part of the Digital India programme, the Government of India also proposes to set up a National e-Health Authority (NeHA) with an electronic repository of every citizen’s health information in a comprehensive way (Government of India Concept Note). The government has also established some other mechanisms to regulate the health sector, i.e. hospital accreditation organizations recognized by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua)—the National Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH), Registry of Hospitals in Network of Insurance (ROHINI) and the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Standards.

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Recently, the Government of India introduced a bill called the “Digital Information Security in Healthcare Act” (DISHA) in Parliament to address issues raised by e-Health and m-Health (mobile health), and public health formations that use information and communications technology (ICTs) for both healthcare services and information. The Government of India is also planning to introduce a cloud computing system in health to protect the interests of both customers and service providers. The e-Health cloud would help in checking the spread of contagious diseases; mentioning the cause for its spread, the spreading pattern and infection areas. It will also support the government’s national security agenda (Parveen et al., 2013). Through multiple programmes of inspections and standardization, the government via its various agencies is creating a huge database with information starting from the health facilities to the patient’s status. This entire process of digitization in various sectors of health care helps to protect and promote the idea of health security.

The Fight Against Covid-19 First, the government of India is implementing precautionary measures to stem the spread of the virus. Conventional preventive and therapy measures can be used to improve immunity against COVID-19 (Vasudha, 2020). According to these rules, aged people are at a lower risk of suffering from viral infections, and this may enhance their life expectancy (Elfiky, 2020). The ICMR director has stated that convalescent plasma of completely healed COVID-19 patients will be used in future clinical trials to randomly assign them. Success with MERS and SARS can be attributed to convalescent plasma therapy, which has produced modest success (Teixeira da Silva, 2020); this is in use in a variety of hospitals throughout the country. For the specialized medical and pharmaceutical industries, India has access to production facilities, and the government has launched an expedited research and development programme to help with developing low-cost rapid diagnostic tests and vaccinations (Sinha, 2020). Additional research at the Serum Institute of India discovered a vaccine to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection (Varghese and Rijal, 2020). It is strongly

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recommended that we screen the red-zoned regions in order to prevent additional infection. Low-cost WISK (Walk-in Sample Kiosk) was introduced by medical college doctors in Kerala, India, which collects samples without direct exposure or touch (Koshy, 2020). The DRDO followed by using walk-in kiosks to collect COVID-19 samples and created the COVSACK which was made to resemble a clinical blood collection unit (45). SARS-CoV-2 can be detected using India’s existing diagnostic facility after the swab collection. This building is great for screening large numbers of people, or in red-zone situations where the usage of personal protective equipment kits is unnecessary (DRDO, 2020). As medical professionals in India and throughout the world have urged, India has endeavoured to widen its research facilities and concentrate on testing the mass population (Vaidyanathan, 2020).

Concluding Observations There is an immediate need to assess the way political and economic systems impact national health and the general quality of life of its citizens. One also needs to understand how geopolitics and global economic governance lead to extraction of resources from the poor by the rich. Moreover, existing economic rules that impair the provision of public goods essential for human prosperity, public health and welfare must be remodelled (Benatar, 1998; Pogge, 2000; Bakker and Gill, 2003). Though India has been able to considerably improve its health status and standards, it still remains low, compared to other developing countries that are economically weaker. Successive political reforms have conveniently bypassed the major requirements of public health services, like training citizens and local bodies to actively participate in health care. There was no sufficient debate in the public sphere or among the people regarding the poor quality of standards provided by public health services. The government must fill that role on behalf of the people and this can be done by providing increased funding and autonomy to public health programmes and institutions. Decentralization of healthcare governance would help in realizing the dream of a healthy population and a country free of security threats arising from health-related issues. India needs to put in place policies in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR) through collaborative actions by State players and WHO, to provide a legal framework for the detection, containment and even prevention of public health risks at the point of origin

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(Chattu, 2017). This can prevent them from spreading across borders. On a broader scale, approaches to potential global health security threats should be consistent, proactive and involve coordinated, multi-pronged, multilateral collaborative efforts that actively engage at the local, regional, national and global levels (Kalra et al., 2014; Wojda et al., 2015). A collaborative study was conducted by the French research organizations, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Institut Pasteur and the National Institute of Malaria Research in New Delhi, where it was found that New Delhi’s monitoring network functions most efficiently at the city’s core and that infectious diseases are far better managed there than in peripheral municipalities. More than 40% of the population of New Delhi have been infected by the dengue virus in their lifetime. Infectious diseases and urban and rural spaces are caught in a sort of “local globalization” that raise the need to question the concepts of borders, mobility and a spread of the specific urban model (Telle, 2018). There is a need for massive coordination, regionally as well as globally, to counter threats posed by diseases to national security. Unfortunately, in India, no representatives from health institutions/organizations have been assigned to the highest decision-making body, the National Security Council. While in the United States, EU, Japan and China, by drafting a national security policy, people working in the health sector have been assigned important roles. In India, experts from the health sector are called in only when an endemic or pandemic breaks out. So, in keeping with the adage, prevention is better than cure, there is a requirement to have a holistic approach to national security to keep the people and nation secure from the threat of emerging diseases. The United Nations, along with its associated organizations, have already identified specific targets and goals to counter health threats. But due to the lack of determination on the part of governments and decision-makers, such health goals and targets are rarely met. Public health is a globalizing factor that influences regions worldwide. In developed societies, due to the improved quality of life, immunity levels among people have fallen significantly, while in the developing economies, the level of tolerance and adaptability is higher, bringing the chances of containing such threats to the maximum. Developed polities need developing economies to sustain themselves. Therefore, they must take the initiative in strengthening regional and global institutions to enhance their respective national security levels. Considering the avenues and infrastructure that have been established in the process of globalization, knowledge

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banks can be created to better understand the nature of health issues and the development of effective responses to them.

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Planning Commission of India, “High Level Expert Group Report on Universal Health Coverage for India”, November 2011, Online Web Access : http:// planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/rep_uhc0812.pdf. Pogge, T., 2000. World Poverty and Human Rights. Cambridge: Polity. Price-Smith, A. T., 2002. The Health of Nations: Infectious Disease, Environmental Change, and Their Effects on National Security and Development. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Sharma, N. C., 2017. “Sudden Emergence of Infectious Diseases: Big Worry for India”, Live Mint, 2 August 2017, Online Web Access : https://www.livemint.com/Politics/R3Fu4VfrOqr5Btdeu9MSNI/Suddenemergence-of-infectious-diseases-a-big-worry-for-Indi.html. Sherman, W. R., 1998. “Department of State Counselor. Before the Open Forum on Emerging Infectious Diseases”, Department of State, Washington, DC, March 25, 1998, see https://cryptome.org/jya/dos032598.html Singh S. K., 2018. “Ayushman Bharat Scheme: A Major Step Towards Universal Health Coverage”, Employment News, Vol-17, 28 July 3, August 2018. Online Web Access: http://employmentnews.gov.in/newemp/MoreConte ntNew.aspx?n=Editorial&k=10183. Sinha, D. K., 2020. “COVID-19: Vaccine Development and Therapeutic Strategies”, IndiaBioscience. Online web access: https://indiabioscience.org/ columns/general-science/covid-19-vaccine-development-and-therapeutic-str ategies (accessed May 6, 2020). Stones, R. W., and Pallikadavath, S., 2003. “Women’s Reproductive Health Security and HIV/AIDS in India”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol-38, No-39, pp. 4173–4181. Tandon, P., 2015, “Why eHealth Is a Key Pillar of Digital India”, July 17, 2015, Online Web Access: http//www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articl eshow/48069561.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text& utm_campaign=cppst. Teixeira da Silva, J. A., 2020, “Convalescent Plasma: A Possible Treatment of COVID-19 in India”, Medical Journal Armed Forces India. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.04.006. Telle, O., 2018. “Emerging Infectious Diseases in India: The Scourge Could Boost Urban Development”, Available at: https://thewire.in/health/ emerging-infectious-diseases-in-india-the-scourge-could-boost-urban-develo pment (accessed on June 7 2018). Udhaya Kumar, S., Thirumal Kumar, D., Prabhu Christopher, B., and George Priya Doss, C., 2020. “The Rise and impact of COVID-19 in India,” May 2020, Frontiers in Medicine: Infectious Diseases- Prevention and Treatment, Online web access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ fmed.2020.00250/full.

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CHAPTER 7

Human Trafficking: A Non-traditional Security Threat to India Dolly Mishra and Saurabh Sharma

Introduction Human trafficking is a practice in which people are forcibly moved from their communities and states of origin, mostly through illegal immigration networks without legal permits or documents, to varied destinations. Usually, the victims of human trafficking end up in prostitution, forced labour, and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. The human trafficking process includes recruitment, movement, and trade of human beings (including the trade of body organs) around the world. The victims are deprived of their rights and freedom and treated as slaves. Human trafficking is recognized as the second largest criminal industry worldwide, and one of the fastest-growing forms of transnational organized crimes.

D. Mishra School of Internal Security and Police Administration (SISPA), Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar, India S. Sharma (B) Centre for International Politics, School of International Politics, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_7

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It is a serious global security concern, and no country is immune from this criminal enterprise. However, as observed by the United Nations Organization on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), this crime is largely unreported and unnoticed. According to the UN ‘Trafficking in Persons’ protocol, Article 3, every act that involves recruitment and transport or transfer of human beings or human body parts through deception, fraud, or force for the purpose of sex work, labour work, organ removal, or slavery, should be treated as criminal offence by domestic or national legislations. According to Siddharth Kara, human trafficking is associated with transnational organized crime and criminal networks making high profit at low risk. This chapter deals with human trafficking as a major security threat to India. This chapter is divided into five sections and different subsections. The first section of this chapter introduces human trafficking as a crime against humanity and defines human trafficking as a major security threat at national as well as global level. The second section presents historical background followed by a theoretical discourse on human trafficking. Further, non-traditional security threats and emergence of human trafficking as a non-traditional security threat to India have been probed. This chapter also examines different discourses about human security as well as brings out the leading factors of human trafficking, along with its major implications on human security. Subsequently, various countermeasures against human trafficking have been discussed, including constitutional provisions, state legislations, and NGO efforts. Finally, the chapter concludes with certain observation and findings. All human beings are born free and are entitled to an equal degree of dignity. Yet, the society witnesses many women and children being treated as commercial objects and subjected to labour exploitation and sexual indignities. Human trafficking leaves a crucial impact on trafficked victims. They suffer from physical, emotional, and mental trauma resulting from varied forms of ill-treatment in the hands of the traffickers and/or their ultimate captors. Victims are often subjected to persistent threats, sexual abuse, and slavery. In some cases, they are forced to undergo organ removal under life-threatening conditions, and this even results in traumatized death for some of them. It can be rightly stated that trafficking of human beings is a threat to safety, security, and health of every person of the nation. According to the UNODC ‘Trafficking in persons’ implies ‘the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, either by

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threating the victims or using force, deception fraud, abuse of its position or power to get the consent of the person for the purpose of exploitation’. This exploitation includes forced labour or services, any form of sexual exploitation, slavery or practices like bondage, serfdom, or the trade of human tissues. Human trafficking is a serious issue related to the security of people worldwide, especially children. A report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) states that almost 1.2 million of the trafficked people are below the age of 18 years. A recent study on the subject conveys that there has been a shift from earlier methods and funding avenues for human trafficking in the South Asian region. Earlier trafficking was restricted within national boundaries and to neighbouring countries. The purpose and funding were also limited in scope. In recent years, trafficking has become a major source for recruiting resources to carry out global criminal activities and hence, the demand for trafficked labour and the price offered are both quite high. South Asian region observes major cross-border human security problems as it is a source as well as a destination for human trafficking. Most of the victims here are forced into cheap labour, slavery, organ trade, and commercial sexual exploitation. In India, in the last few years, human trafficking has emerged as an important social concern. Many Indian states have become a source, transit, and destination for trafficking. Human trafficking is emerging as a major transnational crime and a non-traditional security threat for the citizens. In fact, India ranked second for the fourth consecutive year in the United Nations report on Trafficking in Person’s, 2017. Yet, there has been no official acknowledgement that human trafficking is an important security issue in India. Therefore, to bring this into security perspective, this study deals with human trafficking and human security in India.

Human Trafficking: An Overview The history of slavery can be understood from the Atlantic slave trade of the 1500s. Back then, forceful slave trade occurred from western Africa to European colonies and within the settlements in the Americas and the Caribbean. However, the history of human trafficking started even before that. It dates back thousands of years in places such as Iraq, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. In these nations, prisoners of wars used to be brought back from far off places post conquests to be employed as slaves and forced to work as servants and labourers in places far away from their

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homes. In the history of human civilization, there are many examples of societies and communities founded on an ideology of enslaving and exploiting people who were considered to be of lower stature, economically or demographically. In fact, the practice of slavery was considered morally acceptable among the ancient Greeks. This explains the great philosopher Aristotle’s thoughts on the issue when he said: ‘It is thus clear that, just as some are by nature free, so others are by nature slaves, and for these later the condition of bondage is both beneficial and just’ (p. 12). Ancient structures, such as the Egyptian pyramids or the Roman Colosseum, were based on slavery too. These would not have been constructed without the assurance of forced labour by thousands of slaves. Although the era of Trans-Atlantic slave trade ended in 1807 when Great Britain banned all kind of slave trade throughout its empire, modern-day slavery or ‘Human Trafficking’ persists in a similar format as conventional slavery but with additional forms of exploitation. Today, the purpose of trafficking includes bonded labour, forced prostitution, and sex slavery. The scale and scope of trafficking has also increased manifold as the demand for human resources has been increasing exponentially from various deep-pocketed organized crime syndicates who engage in large scale criminal activities. Thus, as against conventional victims who had to mostly endure laborious tasks and prostitution, modern-day victims are being exposed to various forms of physical, psychological, and emotional exploitation. There are various lobbies made up of different groups of people which are involved in human trafficking in different capacities. For example, some groups are involved in recruiting people who identify potential victims. They pass information about such victims to other groups who are trained in nabbing the victims and moving them to different locations. A third group then takes over to conduct the actual sale of the victims to ultimate buyers. A similar chain works to identify buyers and negotiate the deal. The organizational setup of the human traffickers is multi-layered involving numerous members. For traffickers, the practice is a well-ordered economic phenomenon. For every displacement and movement of victims, they profit directly or indirectly as trafficker or agent. There is a wide range of definitions provided by various organizations and scholars which defines human trafficking with various connotations. The UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines trafficking of human beings in Article 3 of the UN Protocol to

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Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000): “Trafficking in Persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring and receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery, servitude or the removal of organs (Aronowitz 2009: p. 1).

A Debate on Human Trafficking Being a fundamental form of human exploitation that has a strong historical presence, human trafficking has received broad theoretical and practical treatise. The term ‘human trafficking’ was first used in the midtwentieth century in phrases such as white slave trade and trafficking in women. Modern day human trafficking is defined as an illegal and unlawful activity that uses coercive power to conduct commercial sexual exploitation and cheap labour. Yet, there are various other incidences that eventually lead to trafficking but do not come under the definition of human trafficking. According to McCrery and Kneebone (2008), both human trafficking and human smuggling are illegal activities for exploitation and developing wealth and living standards. They argued that human smuggling and trafficking are the same practice. Human trafficking is a profit-making industry, and it is transnational in its scope. Basically, two or more parties are involved in it. According to Ebbe and Das, the more profit this business generates, the more likely the actors will ignore or break the existing law on human trafficking; it is true in the discourse of human trafficking. This is also related to the criminal economy of human trafficking. Bales Kavin noted that the process of economic globalization and the facilitation of trade between nationstates has facilitated cross-border movement of people which has led to an increase in human trafficking. Alison said that the transnational slave trade had various aspects which include bonded labour, forced marriage, and sex work. These aspects continue in the present scenario as a form of ‘modern-day slavery’ (Behnke 2015). According to ‘A Transnational

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Organized Crime Threat Assessment Report’ of 2009, human trafficking has increased due to the high demand in the commercial sex market all over the world. In Central or Western Europe, large number of people are trafficked from the rest of the world for sex tourism, transgender, prostitution, male prostitution, and commercial sexual services. Apart from sexual and bonded labour purposes, human trafficking also caters to the growing demand for transplantable organs of humans. The global demand includes USA and Europe. The victims are most often lured by the traffickers on the promise of well-paying jobs in foreign lands. The traffickers set up a convincing act of procuring their travel documents and permits on their behalf in exchange of money. The victims raise loans from various sources including moneylenders in the unorganized lending sector to pay for the exorbitant fees for recruitment, visas, travel, housing, food, and the related equipment and merchandise. Thus, even before they walk into the actual trafficking trap, these victims land themselves in a vicious cycle of debts and compulsions that leave little scope to escape the inevitable exploitation and abuse that follow. The exposure to continuous abuses and life-risks leads the victims to substance abuse such as drugs or alcohol. This, in turn, further diminishes their physical, mental, and socioeconomic well-being. A major fallout of human trafficking, according to The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Report on Health Risks and Consequences of Trafficking in Women and Adolescents, is the profound impact on the physical, reproductive, and mental health and well-being of the victims, especially the women. Hepburn and Simon (2013) have examined human trafficking scenarios in 24 countries. They discovered that each country has its own environmental, cultural, and geopolitical factors that create a unique set of anti-trafficking policies and obstacles. For instance, India has emerged as a major source, destination, and transit country of trafficking for various purposes. Most of the victims are trafficked within the country. However, cross-border inbound trafficking also takes place, particularly from Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Outbound trafficking of children and women are mostly to the Southeast Asian countries and Middle Eastern countries. Some trafficking is also for other parts of the world. The primary purpose is to supply human resources for cheap labour and commercial sexual exploitation.

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Discourse on Non-Traditional Security Threats and Human Security Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a global need to develop the concept of security and understand the difference between traditional and non-traditional security threats that can be faced by a country. While this need has been identified and accepted, the strategies and policies to mitigate non-traditional threats haven’t quite evolved as compared to the number of measures and policies adopted to counter the traditional security threats. Traditionally, a country gave maximum importance and attention to threat perceptions from the military and sovereignty angles. Other forms of threats did not attract as much attention to necessitate the formation of countermeasures or policies. Modern day (or non-traditional) threats such as human trafficking still rank much below military and sovereignty-related threats. Thus, the innovative features and possibilities of the emerging new (or non-traditional) security threats are often completely undetectable by the law enforcers familiar only with the tell-tale signs of traditional security threats. Even if such non-traditional threats attract attention of the legal authorities, effective mitigation is hampered by the lack of relevant policies and measures. The traditional security measures often fall short of effective applicability while countering non-traditional security issues. Non-Traditional Security Threats Scholars working on the issues of non-traditional threats point out that there is a need to view security issues from an individual’s perspective instead of a state or a country. According to them, besides ensuring military and sovereignty securities, a state or a country also needs to provide a safe and secure environment where human beings enjoy their rights and live safely. Security is a major need not only for the state but also for the welfare and benefit of the individuals. The various social, economic, and political issues related to individuals become a part of new security concerns as these could pose a threat to individuals as well as the nation. Due to the difference in the value system and ideology, every issue is not directly related to human life, although these can be considered as important security issues. But some of the issues have direct bearing on individuals such as transnational crimes, environmental degradation, terrorism, etc. These issues are broadly understood as non-traditional security threats in the international political system.

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According to Niklas Swanstrom, the end of the Cold War led to the widening of the concept of security and distinguishing between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ (Traditional to Non-Traditional) security threats. At that time, according to him, prevalence of ‘soft’ security threats were insignificant compared to ‘hard’ security issues. However, over time, these ‘soft’ security threats increased rapidly, particularly related to illicit drug trade. Considered to be the largest societal, political, and economic menace by every government in every country, illegal drug trade leads to widespread addiction of drug and drug-related ailments and crimes. Besides illegal drug trade, there are other ‘soft’ security threats that have equal potential to hurt the security of the state and society. Human trafficking is one such form of ‘soft’ security issue that is rapidly turning into a significant security threat to the state and the individual. Human Security In the contemporary political system, the most extensively cited definition of human security is given by the United Nations Development Report (UNDP 1994). According to the report, ‘human security implies for safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease, and repression. It also means protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life - whether in homes, in a job or communities’ (p. 24). Commission on Human Security (2003) defines human security as the safety of communities and people from internal violence. The commission on human security headed by Sadako Ogata and Amartya Sen defines human security as ‘the protection of vital core of all human lives in a way that enhances human freedoms and human fulfilment. It means protecting fundamental freedoms that are the essence of life and protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations’ (p. 4). The concept of ‘human security’ changed at a time when the world was undergoing a noticeable shift from a bipolar to a unipolar system at the end of the Cold War. The end of the Cold War not only resulted in the non-traditional security issues gaining prominence in international relations, but also set the stage for a comprehensive re-evaluation of the international concept of security. This has been also reflected in changing threat perception and attitudes to the nature of security. The end of the bipolar world system plays a major role in the growing prominence of ‘non-traditional’ or ‘unconventional’ security issues.

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The concepts of non-traditional security issues became more prominent after the publication of the Human Development Report in 1994 (UNDP 1994). Before the Cold War, territorial integrity and sovereignty were at the centre of security concerns for a state and military threat and protection of state sovereignty were at the core of national security. After the end of the Cold War, the concept of security underwent a change to include both traditional and non-traditional security threats. Factors such as globalization, environmental degradation, transnational crime, and international terrorism have opened new facets of security threats. The nature of threats is undergoing rapid changes, and that is necessitating the modern-day security discourses to include agenda beyond the state and military security. For instance, the former UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan addressed the double concept of ‘freedom from fear’ and ‘freedom from want’, recognizing that individual sovereignty should take priority over state sovereignty. Similarly, UNDP also recognized that without a human-centric approach, other objectives such as peace, human rights, control over environmental degradation, and reduced population growth will not be achieved. Therefore, human security is relevant everywhere, both in developing as well as developed nations. As given in the report of UNDP, the security of human beings can be said to have two main aspects. First ‘it means protection from such chronic fears like hunger, disease, and repression’. Second, ‘it means safety from abrupt and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily life’, whether in homes, in jobs, or communities. Presently, it is believed that sovereign nation-states offer security for the people. The traditional concept of ‘security’ can be defined as the relationship between state and individuals and assumed that the nationstate eliminates external threats by its military capability and the people as a nation enjoy their peace and freedom under constitutional order within its boundaries. Thus, the traditional concept of security, which had earlier prioritized the rebuilding of military capacity and police order, was reconsidered and changed. Emma Rothschild argues that the idea of security proposed in the 1990s had a ‘dizzy complexity’ and could be characterized by four attributes. Firstly, security expanded downward from the security of the nation to group and then to individual security. Secondly, security extended upward from nations to the biosphere. Thirdly, it also extends horizontally to diverse entities, such as nations, individuals, systems and in contexts, from military to political, economic

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to social and environmental to human security. Emma finally concludes that these extensions lead to human or individual security. The human security approach emphasizes on international stability, peace, and protection for people and communities. According to H. R. Friman and Reich, S., human security entails everything that is ‘empowering’ to human beings such as human rights (including economic social and cultural rights) access to health care and education, equal opportunities, and good governance. In the era of globalization, various new security challenges have emerged. Presently, international system conflict within states have become more significant than the conflict between states. Organized crime is a major threat to every developed and developing state. With the advent of a democratic state system, security should have been made human-centric. Therefore, with the end of the Cold War, the international and multilateral institutions made active participation in responding to the new emerging security challenges. India has had a strongly state-centric approach to security, which emphasized on the security of the regime along with national security. The state-centric approach particularly emphasized on India’s geographical location. However, the development and growth-oriented agenda of the government failed to address the core issue of human security adequately and hence, it has become one of the major problems in India today. The prominent scholar of human security, Bhattarai and Upreti stressed on some of the human security challenges that are found in India such as illegal or forced migration, human trafficking, environmental dangers, and health problem. He stated that the human security concerns do not replace but complement national security concerns. Although national security is essential, it is equally important to understand the human security threats to address national security more effectively. The world, its countries, persons, and atmosphere face novel threats and challenges from time to time. ‘Trafficking in persons’ has emerged as one such novel non-traditional security issues in this global era.

Human Trafficking as a Major Non-Traditional Security Threat to India Human trafficking violates the rights of a person to be free, healthy, and secure; it pushes a person to a life of bondage, slavery, endless torture, violence, cruelty, or degrading treatment. Therefore, human trafficking is a major concern for human security globally, including India. Modern day

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trafficking in human has seemingly turned into a source of low risk but high return business and therefore, has found many willing investors who have actually managed to turn this criminal activity into a well-organized profitable industry. Globally, human trafficking is the third largest earning source of illegal trade. There are at least one million child prostitutes in South Asia alone. Countries where population much exceeds employment opportunities witness heavy migration. Such countries are typically the sourcing point for the traffickers. The various genuine plausible reasons for population migration, different cross-border agreements between states and countries allowing multiple entry-exit points and transit routes, varied modes of travelling, and easy availability of skilled forgers and document fabricators provide hassle-free mobility for the traffickers to transfer their victims most of the times. The low detection and detention rate of traffickers and complicated cross-border extradition processes result in low conviction and penalty rates. As a result, human trafficking has been increasing unabated and at an alarming rate. During 1990s, India adopted Look East Policy. The policy was framed by the former Prime Minister Late Narasimha Rao with an objective to develop and adopt an orientation towards Southeast Asian nations in India’s Foreign Policy. The formulation of Look East Policy was mainly to build good relations with neighbouring countries and also intended to increase the development and growth of its states (mainly North-eastern states). The policy was meant to connect India more firmly with Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Asia Pacific regions by building a bridge for them, especially through the north-eastern Indian states. There are three broad objectives of India’s Look East Policy. First is to institutionalize linkages with ASEAN and its affiliates; secondly to strengthen bilateral relations with member states of ASEAN; thirdly, development and growth of the northeast region through economic trade and security. Primarily, India’s Look East Policy emphasizes on building economic ties with ASEAN countries. The Policy is primarily focused upon having good relations with these countries and enhancing the development of north-eastern states of India, particularly in trade and security. In 1997, ASEAN introduced securitization processes against transnational crimes. It referred transnational crime as a criminal matter in International Security debates. In the present scenario, transnational crime is a major security threat to national security and development. According to Ajailiu Niumai (2015) India’s Look East Policy has increased the opportunities and challenges for the northeast region and

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projected it as the region of the business hub of South Asia, because of its geographical location. After the Look East Policy, the movement of technology, goods, services, and human resources became easy from India’s northeast to ASEAN countries. In 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government introduced a modified version of ‘Look East Policy’ renamed as ‘Act East Policy’, and its major agenda was economic development and good relationship with Eastern countries. Undoubtedly, the ‘Act East Policy’ is helpful for the Indian foreign policy and to improve the relationship through trade and investment. After the ‘Act East Policy’ open border has increased the movements of goods and services. But, in the garb of goods and services trade, some people have also started the illegal movement of human beings. This illegal movement has also increased illegal activities such as trafficking, smuggling, arms dealing, etc. Therefore, ASEAN countries have focussed on the issue and negotiated to control transnational crime and securitization of human beings. As stated earlier, India is identified globally as a source, transit, and receipt of trafficked victims. Human trafficking mainly occurs in two major areas: intra-state trafficking and inter-state. The maximum cases of trafficking happen internally for commercial exploitation in the sex industry and to carry out the occupation of a bartender or domestic worker. Trafficking in persons for organ transplant also takes place in India. Many male children are exploited and forced to take jobs of domestic servitude; minor girls are also trafficked to other South Asian and Gulf countries. A large number of Nepalese and Indians are subjected to involuntary labour, domestic servitude, and slavery, most often in the Middle East and, to a lesser extent, within the country. They are also subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour in other Asian countries, including Malaysia, Hong Kong, and South Korea. Most of the human beings trafficked for bonded labour are forced to work in the agriculture industry, or brick kilns, or in the stone-breaking industry. Traffickers generally target vulnerable, uneducated people, especially from socially marginalized and excluded groups. Specifically, states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu rank the highest as the origin for human trafficking. Places such as Delhi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune, Hyderabad, Haryana, Gujarat, and Kolkata are susceptible to being the destination points for trafficking in India. Human trafficking not only violates fundamental human rights but also infringes on the victims’ freedom.

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There is a myriad range of factors that contribute to the cause of human trafficking. Trafficking in women and children is easy along the 1,740-mile-long open border between India and Nepal. Due to India’s open border with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Southeast Asian countries, there is certainly an increase in the illegal trade of human beings from origin countries to destination countries. The north-eastern region of India is more vulnerable to trafficking in persons. This region consists of the seven states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura. These states share the border with Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, and Bhutan. Assam is an important portal for the other six states of the northeast to connect with the rest of India and facilitate cross-border movement to bordering nations. Northeast plays a significant role in connecting with Southeast Asian countries. Due to sharing its border with other countries, the vulnerability and the scope of transnational crimes increase fourfold in this region. There has not been any comprehensive approach by policymakers and the planners of the region to overcome the gap of skill development, entrepreneurship, agriculture, developing trade, and industries to make the region self-reliant. To have a deeper insight into the region, a field visit was conducted in May 2017. Traveling in the region and conducting interviews with the victims and organizations working on the issue of women and child trafficking revealed various security lapses. The NGOs and civil society organization visited include IMPULSE, GOLD (Global Organization for Life Development), and NEDAN. These non-governmental and governmental NGOs organizations and foundations have been working to protect, prevent, and combat human trafficking in the north-eastern region as well as in India. In an interview, Ms. Hasina Kharbhih founder of IMPULSE said, human trafficking is a major problem in Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, and Tripura (Kharbhih 2017). A number of humans especially women and children are more vulnerable to human trafficking for child labour, organ trade, and commercial sexual exploitation. During the interview with the authorities of other organizations like GOLD and NEDAN, it was observed that most of the victims were rescued from the border areas of Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar. Mostly the victims are from rural Assam and tribal communities from Meghalaya and Manipur. They are highly vulnerable to be trafficked and coerced into commercial sectors, forced labour, domestic work, and even into acts of organ and skin trade. It has been the general observation that all organizations working in

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the region reported that due to the open and unmanned border, northeastern states are more vulnerable to cross-border trafficking. A number of women, girls, and children are trafficked from north-eastern states to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Goa, and Gujarat for cheap labour, commercial sexual exploitation, for being bar-dancers and beggars, etc. Most of the girls and children are also trafficked from Meghalaya, Assam, and Manipur to Bangladesh, and Myanmar as well as other Southeast Asian countries for organ trade, forced to work as a coal mine worker and exposed to sexual exploitation. The NEDAN foundation’s coordinator Mr. Roshaanlakar (2017) said that human trafficking is a serious threat to human security in Assam and northeast region. He and his team along with the state police have rescued maximum women and girls from border areas of Bhutan and metro cities of India, like Mumbai and Delhi. Traffickers try to send these girls to metro cities of India and even to its neighbouring countries. The selling and buying of human beings are a violation of their rights and threatens their dignity. Such illegal act comes under the category of transnational issues, a major concern as a non-traditional security threat to India. Nontraditional security reflects the changing nature of crises in the twenty-first century that are not only complex and inter-connected, but cannot be handled by any government alone. Such crimes are generally non-military in nature, transnational in scope, and can pose threats to the survival of humankind as a whole. In a way, human trafficking as a transnational organized crime has been one of the vital non-traditional security threats. The victims of human trafficking are deprived of their will and are forced into slavery-like condition or involuntary servitude. In India, human trafficking, especially of women and children, have been emerging as a major issue of non-traditional security threat. Women and children are vulnerable and easy targets for sexual and labour exploitation. Such exploitation also contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS or other sexually transmitted disease. Thus, the victims of trafficking are also exposed to health threats. Leading Factors of Human Trafficking There are numerous factors responsible for human trafficking. These are mainly examined in terms of push and pull factors. Push factors are associated with origin states or vulnerable source points and the pull factors are the ones that are associated with destination states or point. Both factors

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are interdependent. The push factors include social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors. Globalization, industrial development, technological development, the advancement of transportation and urbanization are some of the pull factors. Push Factors The factors that forcibly lead the victims to the traffickers are the push factors. These can be categorized as social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors. Social factors such as caste, class structures, social customs-norms, family clashes, dowry demand, domestic violence, social stigmas, lack of family support to children, break-down of family, traditional patriarchal systems, and gender-based discrimination make the victim all the more vulnerable. Examples of cultural factors are irrelevant social practices (community-based prostitution, Devdasi system, etc.). Economic factors include growing inequalities in wealth, unequal distribution of opportunities, lack of employment, and the growing rich and poor gap in the country. Poverty as an example of economic factor explains the vulnerability created in people that leads to human trafficking and other crimes. Unequal participation of people in the political realm, corruption, ethnic conflicts, terrorism, insurgencies, violence against human rights, etc., make for the political factors that create circumstances which lead to victimization of people. Environmental factors include natural calamities such as earthquake, famine drought, floods, etc. These cause major displacement of people from one place to another place. Such displacements due to natural calamities increase traffickers’ opportunities to lure people through fake livelihood promises. Thus, push factors render human beings vulnerable to human trafficking in various ways and turn the different states into source or origin of potential victims of trafficking. Pull Factors The factors that lure the victims to the traffickers are known as pull factors. The pull factors include globalization, industrialization, the advancement of transportation, urbanization, and technological development. These factors are major contributors to the development of some cities and states. However, these factors aren’t present across all cities, villages, towns, or states of India. Therefore, these factors ‘pull’ or attract people from underdeveloped areas to the developed ones in search of

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better employment opportunities. While the number of genuine employment opportunities often do not match the number of migrants, the surplus supply of idling and poverty-stricken human resources provides ample opportunities to the traffickers to pick their victims. The ‘pull’ factors, thus, have the potential to turn developed areas into major destinations for human trafficking. These also lead to increased illicit trade practices of human beings at destination points. Thus, it becomes evident that various developmental policies and measures undertaken for the welfare of the state and the nation turn into contributing factors for human trafficking. While the trafficked people include men, women, and children, often the victims of physical and sexual exploitation among the trafficked people are women and children since men are relatively tougher to coerce. Regardless of a victim’s profile, the impact of human trafficking create similar set of medical, financial, and social issues for all trafficked people since this criminal act violates the basic human rights of freedom and well-being. Implications of Human Trafficking India is a country where there is a high prevalence of trafficking and exploitation of women and children. Majority of such women and children are sexually exploited, making them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The brothel owners practice intimidation, exploitation, and physical violence to force the trafficked victims into acts of entertaining customers and clients. These acts of entertainment include forceful sexual activities between the trafficked victims and the clientele of the brothel owners. Most often these activities are performed without essential health or safety precautions in line with client preferences, and this leads to a high possibility and/or incidence of contracting STDs such as HIV or AIDS. As per a study carried out in West Bengal, India, there has been a two-fold increase in chances of HIV infection among female sex workers and their male partners owing to indiscriminate physical engagements and sexual exploitation. Various research results also indicate that, in some communities, up to 86% of sex workers are infected with HIV. The result of one study shows that, among Indian men, contact with commercial sex workers poses a 70% increased risk of HIV. Countries like India with large commercial sex industries and a significant trafficking problem have very high rates of HIV infected people.

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It is estimated that 90% of the 5-million HIV/AIDS affected people of South Asia are living in India. Physicians of Human Right report that ‘In India, 30 to 60% of prostitutes and up to 15% of all truck drivers are infected with HIV/AIDS. Research into HIV/AIDS and the sex industry in Mumbai, India has indicated that 70% of the sex workers in Mumbai are HIV positive’. In India, north-eastern states are also vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. Most of the infected people also happen to be the victims of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. The inevitable fallout of the human trafficking is the exposure to sexual exploitation which causes physical risks and mental trauma to the trafficked victims. These sufferings, in turn, lead many of the victims to attempt suicide in desperation. The demand for minors is high in the trafficking industry. Both clients and traffickers prefer minors as they are easy to intimidate, pose very little threat of physical retaliation, and are incapable of resisting while being trafficked or exploited. Thus, quite a number of minor victims end up contracting STDs as well which harm their health forever even if they are rescued at a later date. Human trafficking threatens all aspects of human development of any country by targeting economically vulnerable individuals, by abetting suicide by the desperate victims, by spreading the risk of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted disease, and by violating individual rights and individual security. Counter Measures Against Human Trafficking in India During the twentieth century, trafficking in persons increased in volume and took new forms. Globalization opened the gates of the participating nations to the global markets and created scope for introducing newer products and commodities feeding a plethora of different kinds of global demands. In the process, the human body also found new types of demands and usages apart from the traditional requirements for labour and flesh trade such as illegal organ trade. Consequently, human trafficking turned into a profitable business for various organized criminal groups. Traditionally, human trafficking had always been considered a serious security threat and a violation of human rights. In fact, in India, when the first criminal law was adopted in the 1860s, i.e., the Indian Penal Code, it defined and laid down the first criminal provision related to human

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trafficking. The India Penal Code (IPC) has 23 chapters. Chapter 16 of the IPC deals with offenses affecting the human body and life. There are various policy measures in India which regulate human trafficking. Constitutional and State Legislative Provisions Article 23 of the Indian Constitution prohibits trafficking and forced labour in any form. The applicable law, the Indian Penal Code of 1860 (IPC) addresses each of the offences such as kidnapping, procuration, selling of minors, buying of minors, or human body and importation of girls from one country/state/region to another country/state/region as substantive offenses. Section 363A of Indian Penal Code relates to kidnapping or maiming of a minor to beg; Section 366 A, deals with the procurement of minor girls for sexual exploitation; Section 366 B, relates to the importation of girls from a foreign country for sexual exploitation; etc. The Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956 also holds high relevance as it has been disseminated with the object to prevent and/or stop the trafficking of women and girls for prostitution as a means of living and deals exclusively with trafficking. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000 deals with the procurement of a child under the age of 18 years for exploitation (UNODC 2011). The Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act 1956 (ITPA) is the prominent law for combating and preventing human trafficking in India. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 was amended in 2013 under the guidance of IPC Section 370. The Act came into force with Section 370 and 370(A). This 2013 Criminal Law Amendment Act made some changes in IPC Section 370 and included Section 370(A). It includes comprehensive measures to counter human trafficking with special focus on children. This Act counters the menace of trafficking including any types of exploitation such as sexual exploitation, slavery, serfdom, forced labour, and organ removal. As such, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India has developed different measures for tackling the menace of human trafficking. These measures can be mainly categorized into two parts: Anti Trafficking Cell (ATC) and Anti Trafficking nodal cell. The nodal cell is a multichannelized cell that informs not only to the head office in Delhi but also to the other nodal cells spread across India. The nodal cells have been established at the state level. They gather all the information related to

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human trafficking. The work is mainly carried by the cooperation of state police, NGOs, and other local organization. Further, the progress and problem related to all the cases are channelized properly to the central government. This structure further creates a better intercommunication between all organizational cells and help them to keep updated on any issue happening in any part of the country. Civil Society and NGOs Programmes Apart from these policy measures, some of the substantial efforts have been made by civil society organizations and NGOs to prevent and combat human trafficking. Human trafficking is an illegal activity and requires substantial and powerful policies to control its effects. There are some active and substantial networks to fight against human trafficking in India such as Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (ATSEC), Anyay Rahit Zindgi (ARZ), and Gram Niyojan Kendra. These civil society organizations have played an important role in combating human trafficking, specifically for women and children in India. The above-stated networks have made substantial efforts at various levels and also supported the prevention of trafficking and protection of victims of human trafficking as well as assisted in prosecuting the traffickers by intensively working in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Goa. ATSC has worked against the sexual exploitation of children and is supported by various international agencies and intergovernmental organizations to combat human trafficking. ARZ, which is appointed by the Goa government as ‘nodal organization’, has worked against substance abuse and commercial sexual exploitation. It has been involved in combating human trafficking through MUKTI, ANKUR, and VOICE (3 major projects of ARZ) working against commercial sexual exploitation, prevention of delinquent sexual abuse and commercial sexual exploitation of juveniles. ARZ also acts as a resource centre for research, documentation, and audio-visual programme on trafficking of persons for commercial sexual exploitation. Gram Niyojan Kendra is an important anti-trafficking organization which deals with prevention from the trafficking of women for prostitution. It has dealt with social and economic development to combat the traditional practice of prostitution through education, awareness generation about trafficking activities, group formation, and creativity, linkages and networking, vocational training in entrepreneurship development,

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assistance in marketing and resource mobilization. In India, most of the NGOs are working to combat and reduce human trafficking through three major areas such as protection against trafficking, prevention from trafficking, and prosecution for trafficking. Despite this, India is a major source, transit, and destination state for human trafficking.

Conclusion Human trafficking threatens the dignity and security of trafficked victims. Most of the source states are economically weak, where people do not have proper livelihoods, cannot provide basic education to their children, and lack awareness about illegal activities. Globalization has also emerged as a major factor for trafficking along with all commodities that have high global demand; human beings as commodities have also found a worldwide market compared to the pre-globalization era. Exposure to the seemingly glamorous lifestyle of developed cities or states through various visual media has influenced the credulous mind of the illiterate and semi-literate young and adults of India. The lure of quick money and better lives have started leading the youth away from their oppressive and poverty-stricken areas to unknown cities. Highlighting the above fact is important because it presents how the mind-set has been changing not only in developed areas but also in the margin and underprivileged regions. It’s not that mere literacy or awareness can avoid trafficking and its related crimes, but it has to reflect in the perception of the common population in India. Due to the global impact, ethnic conflict, and insurgency the northeastern states of India are highly vulnerable to human trafficking. A number of people in this area are either urban or rural and are unaware of illegal activities. The traffickers use these opportunities and target mostly 8 to 20-years age group of young population. During the author’s visit to the rehabilitation centre of ‘Women and Child Development’ in Assam, it was observed that most of the victims have faced the problem of mental trauma. Maximum number of girls were victims of drug abuse which led to physical and psychological disorder and ultimately, untimely death. Therefore, in the global world, the problem of human trafficking leads to the insecurity of human beings. No doubt, the Constitution of India guarantees equal rights to men and women and every citizen. But these are often mere rhetoric when it comes to the question of practical implementation. To combat trafficking and thus to protect the security of human

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beings in India, particularly in north-eastern region, a strong political will of the government is vital for implementing anti-trafficking and security mandates. Human trafficking is a major issue of human security in the present scenario. Globally, there has been a favourable shift in perception of significance from only traditional to non-traditional (military to individualcentric) security. Human trafficking is one of the non-traditional organized transnational crime and is a threat to human life and dignity. Therefore, a transnational discourse is required to deal with this nontraditional security issue. A comprehensive approach is necessary to address the socio-economic and political aspects of human trafficking. It is necessary to deal with major contributing factors of trafficking, to implement strict punishment for traffickers, and ensure assistance to victims of trafficking. Lastly, victims of trafficking should not be treated as culprits, but should be empathized with and provided proper rehabilitation facilities. The Indian government in consultation with neighbouring countries need to formulate a long-term policy to counter human trafficking in the region.

References Aronowitz, A. Alexis. 2009. Human Trafficking Human Misery: The Global Trade in Human Beings. London, UK: Praeger Publishers: Bales, Kevin. 2005. Understanding Global Slavery: A Reader. London: University of California Press. Bhattarai, Upreti B. R. R., and Wagle, G. S. (Eds). 2013. Human Security in Nepal: Concepts, Issues and Challenges. Kathmandu: Nepal Institute for Policy Studies (NIPS) and South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR (North-South). Behera, Bhagaban. 2013. ‘Drug Trafficking as a Non-traditional Security Threat to the Central Asian States’. Jadavpur Journal of International Relations, 17 (2): 229–251. Behnke, Alison. 2015. Up For Sale: Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. Minneapolis, MA, USA: Lerner Publishing Group. Commission on Human Security (CHS). 2003. Human Security Now, Final Report of the Commission on Human Security. New York: United Nations. http://www.humansecuritycHumanSecurity.org/finalreport/index.htm. Cullen-DuPont, Kathryn. 2009. Global Issues: Human Trafficking. New York: InfoBase Publishing.

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Ebbe, Obi, N. I., and Dass, Dilip K. 2008. Global Trafficking in Women and Children. London and New York: Taylor and Francis. Emmers, Ralf. 2003. ‘ASEAN and the Securitization of Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia’. The Pacific Review, 16 (3): 419–438. Friman, H. R., and Reich, S. (Eds.). 2007. Human Trafficking, Human Security, and the Balkans. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. Gallagher, Anne. 2001. ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’. Human Right Quarterly, 23 (4), 1135–1141. Ganguly, Shreya, and Raunak, Sathpathy. 2011. ‘India Still Stuck in the Traffic’. Mighty Law. Available at http://www.mightylaws.in/551/india-stuck-traffick (accessed at 12 March 2018) Huda, S. 2006. ‘Sex Trafficking in South Asia’. International Journal of Gynecology, 94 (3), 374–381. India Country Report. 2008. To Prevent and Combat Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Women-World Congress III Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 2008). New Delhi, India. Institute for Security and Development Policy. 2011. ‘Traditional and Non-Traditional Security in Eurasia’. Available at www.isdp.eu/research/organized-crime…security-in-eurasia/521.html (accessed at 14 March 2018). International Development Law Organization (IDLO). 2010–2011. Preventing and Combating the Trafficking of Girls in India Using Legal Empowerment Strategies. Viale Vaticano: International Development Law Organization. International Labour Organization. 2006. Demand Side of Human Trafficking in Asia: Empirical Finding, Regional Project on Combating Child Trafficking for Labour and Sexual Exploitation (TICSA-II). Bangkok: International labour Office. Joffres, C., Mills, E., Joffres, M., Khanna, T., Walia, H., and Grund, D. 2008. ‘Sexual Slavery Without Borders: Trafficking for Commercial Sexual Exploitation in India’. International Journal for Equity in Health, 1–11. Kacker, Loveleen, Varadan, Srinivas, and Kumar, Pravesh. 2007. Study of Child Abuse: India 2007, New Delhi. Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. Kharbhih, Hasina. 2017. Personal Interview, Impulse Profounder, Northeast Region India, 10 May. Kumar, Chanchal. 2015. ‘Human Trafficking in the South Asian Region: SAARC’s Response and Initiatives’. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 1 (1): 14–31.

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Laczko, Frank, and Danailova-Trainor, Gergana. 2009. Trafficking in Persons and Human Development: Towards A More Integrated Policy Response. Washington, DC: United Nations Development Programme Human Development Reports. Lee, Shin-wha. 2004. Promoting Human Security: Ethical Normative and Educational Frameworks in East Asia, Republic of Korea. UNESCO: Korean National Commission. Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre. 2009. Human Development in south Asia 2009: Trade and Human Development in south Asia. New York: Oxford University Press. Mcsherry, Bernadette, and Kneebone, Susan. 2008. ‘Trafficking in Women and Forced Migration: Moving Victims across the Border of Crime into the Domain of Human Rights’. The International Journal of Human Rights, 12 (1): 67–87. May, Channing. 2017. Transnational Crime and the Developing World. Washington, DC: Global Financial Integrity. Merinews. 2009. Human Trafficking in India, Available at http://www.mer inews.com/article/humantrafficking-in-india/15776590.shtml (accessed at 17 August 2017). Ministry of External Affairs. 2016. ‘Report on Human Trafficking’, Government of India, 24 June. Available at http://www.mea.gov.in/human-traffi cking.htm ( accessed at 25 March 2018). Niumai, Ajailliu. 2015. Look East Policy and Trafficking Women in Manipur, Research Gate. Physicians for Human Rights. 2004. ‘Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking: Testimony Unholy Burk Halter’. U.S. Policy Director Physicians for Human Rights. House International Relations Committee. Subcommittee on terrorism, Nonproliferation and Human Rights. Raj Upreti, Bishnu, Bhattarai, Rajan and Sharma Wagle, Geja. 2013. Human Security in Nepal: Concepts, Issues and Challenges. Kathmandu: Nepal Institute for Policy Studies and South Asia Regional Coordination Office of NCCR (North-South). Roshaanlakar. 2017. Personal Interview, Nedan Foundation Coordinator, Northeast Region Assam, India, 20 May. Roy S., and Chaman, C. 2017. ‘Human Rights and Trafficking in Women and Children in India’. Journal of Historical Archaeology & Anthropological Sciences 1 (5): 1–27. Sajjanhar, Ashok. 2016. ‘Taking Stock of India’s ‘Act East Policy’. Observer Research Foundation, 142: 1–6. Sarmah, Gunindra Nath. 2015. ‘Look East Policy and North East India: Challenges and Opportunities’. International Journal in Management and Social Science, 4 (3): 2321–1784.

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Sen Mazumdar, Sayantani. E article from Global India Foundation. 2010. Available at http://www.globalindiafoundation.org/look%20east%20new.pdf (accessed at 18 December 2015). Silverman J. G., Raj A., Cheng, D. M., et al. 2011. ‘Sex Trafficking and Initiation-Related Violence, Alcohol Use, and HIV Risk Among HIV-Infected Female Sex Workers in Mumbai, India’. J Infect Dis, 204 (5): 1229–1234. Simon, James Rita, and Hepburn, Stephanie. 2013. Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight. New York: Columbia University Press. Swanstrom, Niklas (2007). ‘The Narcotics Trade: A Threat to Security? National and Transnational Implications’. Global Crime, 8:1, 1–25. Trafficking in Persons Report. 2012. ‘India (Tier 2) USDOS—US Department of State: Report on Human Trafficking March 2011 to February 2012’, March 2012. Available at http://www.ecoi.net/local_link/220011/327092_ en.html (accessed at 29 December 2017). Trafficking in Person Report. 2017. ‘United State of America’. Available at https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/271339.pdf (accessed at 12 March 2018). UN. GIFT (Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking). 2008. Human Trafficking: An Overview. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNESCO. 2008. Human Security: Approaches and Challenges. Paris: UNESCO, p. 11. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1994. Human Development Report 1994 New Dimensions of Human Security. New York: Oxford University Press. United State of America. 2007. Trafficking in Persons Report, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking Persons: U.S. department of State. UNODC. 2011. Responses to Human Trafficking in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, Legal and Policy Review. Available at http://www.unodc.org/ documents/humantrafficking/2011/Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_in_ Bangladesh_India_Nepal_and_Sri_Lanka.pdf. (accessed at 22 March 2018). UNODC. 2012. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2012. New York: United Nations Publication. UNODC. 2013. Current Status of Victim Service Providers and Criminal Justice Actors in India on Anti Human Trafficking. New Delhi: Regional Office for south Asia. UNODC. 2016. Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2016. Vienna, VA, USA: UNODC.

CHAPTER 8

Food Security in India: Opportunity and Challenges Bhavya Pandey

Introduction The food production in India is sufficient (food stock of 277.49 million tonnes projected in 2018) and the numerical value of its GDP has also doubled since 1991, but it remains abode to a large population of the world’s hungry poor (World Bank Report). At the same time India has a huge population of malnourished (below five years), which keeps it in the poor world ranking malnourished under five years. Almost half of the female population in the age group of 15 and 49 years are anaemic, and 30% of children are born underweight. However, around 3% of GDP of the Asian counties are exhausted due to the malnutrition and deteriorating health. This chapter will introduce the concept of food security and will be relating it to human security and climate change. It will highlight the impacts of the green revolution on agriculture and their linkages with food security. It will look at various challenges posed due to climate

B. Pandey (B) School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_8

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change on the food security and the various steps taken by the government and international organizations to ensure availability of food for the people. The various governmental measure such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), the ‘Right to Food’ campaign, the ‘Mid day meal’ scheme, and finally the National Food Security Act (Right to Food) will look at the various drawbacks the Indian is facing while providing food for its citizen. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) are also being implemented to alleviate poverty and provide women and child nutrition. The chapter will also deal with the impact of COVID-19 on food security. These policies and developments equip India with opportunities and challenges to enhance its food security. India, despite several challenges during the 1960s is able to provide food security for its enormous populations. With the improved per capita availability of food commodities India has visibly enhanced its national food requirements and is able to provide nutritional security. India is producing nearly 252 million tonnes of food grains (in 2015–2016), standing against all odd as vast geography, difficult terrain, deficient rainfall, floods. These schemes provide technological support and financial assistance to the small and marginal farmers. The ever increasing figures of the agricultural produce are primarily because of the preparedness of the government to face drought, floods, or any other natural calamities. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare provide technical assistance, credit facility, and agricultural inputs to increase the productivity. The Government of India supports farmers and agriculturalist through various social welfare schemes as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, e-NAM, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana, and Kisan Credit Card Yojana. What Is Food Security? The term food security was formally introduced with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. According to the UN declaration, the individual has the right to food which is the most significant prerequisite of a standard living (UN 1948). Also the emergence of Food and Agriculture Organization gave support to the concept of food security. However, the concept of food security had two major elements—food availability, accessibility, affordability, and food entitlement. Food availability means easy access of food items at local, national, and international levels. Food entitlement means the ability of the individual to provide for

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proper food to their household. Here the concept of entitlement is given by Amrtya Sen, who points out that people do not starve because of insufficiency of food items but because of insufficiency of resources (such as money) to secure it (Sen 1981). However the core understanding of food security is availability, accessibility, and affordability of food items to the food deficit region or household so that they are able to meet the targeted consumption level (Saad 1999). The World Bank defines Food Security as: ‘Access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life’. In the definition the word ‘access’ includes both the supply side (availability) and the demand side (entitlement). The Sub-Committee on Nutrition within the UN Administration Committee on Coordination (ACC/SCN 1991:80) in defining food security at the household level brings in further dimensions. ‘A household is food secure when it has access to the food needed for a healthy life for all its members (adequate in terms of quality, quantity, safety and culturally acceptable) and when it is not at undue risk of losing such access’. The term ‘Food Security’ means according to Food Agriculture Organization: i. The output production of food grains in any year regardless of the natural climatic conditions should be enough to meet the requirements of every citizen. ii. Every citizen should be able to afford basic minimum required food. The poor income people who sustain on basic economic activities should carry out various farm and nonfarm activities to multiple their incomes so as to access food from open markets. People who are residing in tribal, forest, hilly, desert, drought and flood-prone areas and those who have either live below poverty line or have no source of income should be eligible under the National Food Security Act. iii. A nutritious and balanced diet should be given so as to maintain and improve the health conditions of the citizens. This diet should contain adequate quantity of pulses, edible oils, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, fish, etc. iv. An integrated system should investigate the stability of the prices and production activity (FAO 1995).

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The Indian Constitution also extends food security to its people however there is no explicit provision as the right to food. Article 21 of the Constitution has been explained by the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission as the fundamental right to life, to live with human dignity, this further includes the right to food as a basic necessity. The Directive Principles of State Policy under Article 47 provides that ‘the State shall regard raising the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health’ as its primary duties. The major components of food security are crop production, grain procurement, Storage and distribution (Lenka 2017). What Is Food Insecurity? Food insecurity is defined as ‘lack of access to enough food’. Food insecurity is categorized as: 1. Chronic 2. Transitory Chronic food insecurity refers to inadequate diet for a prolonged period due to the inability to acquire food. It impacts the household that are unable to either buy or produce sufficient food for a long time period, this ultimately results in poverty (Saad 1999). Unlike chronic food insecurity, transitory means temporary, transitory food insecurity is a temporary decline in the availability of enough food in the household. Transitory food insecurity mostly occurs due to famines, which are result of—wars, floods, drought, crop failures, the loss of purchasing power by groups of households, and market failures including sometimes high food prices and grain hoarding. This disrupts the normal supply of food as well as the access of food by the population. However the impact of this disruption leading to famine is only visible on certain groups of people who are already vulnerable to it. These vulnerable groups consist of small scale subsistence farmers, landless agricultural laborer, and other workers who are affected by a drop in real income in famine regions, pastoralists, female-headed households, children, and the elderly. The idea of vulnerability is complex and its impact should be understood by the process rather than the event leading to it. The process leading to vulnerability, prepares people for natural disasters or economic

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crises, as Devereux (1993) states, ‘they cause vulnerability, which is the real problem in the eradication of famine’ (Saad 1999).

Reason for Food Security There are various social, political, economic and environmental challenges in India while ensuring food security. Rapidly increasing population, massive urbanization, rising income and changing dietary habits demands increased production of food grains. Studies suggest that by 2050, food grain requirement will go up by 50%. Following are some of the strong reasons for improving the situation of food security in India: 1. The agricultural production increased due to green revolution and modernization of technology and services. Looking at the figures production increased from 59.20 million tones in 1952–1953 to 253.16 million tonnes in 2015–2016 and yield from 580 kg/hectare to 2070 kg/hectare. But in the early 2000s the yield rate of food grains remains stagnant. A declining trend is seen in the average yields of rice, wheat, and pulses, it is a cause of concern as the period after green revolution. Annual rate of growth in GDP in agricultural and allied production reduced from 4.9% in 2007–2008 to −0.2% in 2014–2015. 2. The loopholes functioning of the PDS because of which households are not able to meet their food grain requirement is another concern with regard to food security. The PDS is not able to provide basic food and nutritional requirement of the household, the fair price shops are located at far off places making it all the more difficult. Comparing the performance of the PDS among states, variations are noted in their performance in meeting the household requirements. Tamil Nadu follows universal PDS system and the involvement of women-SHGs has ensured safety, transparency, and accessibility in the system along with reduction in transaction costs. To effectively implement the National Food Security Act the proper functioning of the PDS is must. 3. According to the National Food Security Act, the Central Government is given the responsibility to procure food grain and the State Government further distributes it. In the 1997, the system of

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Decentralized Procurement System (DCP) was introduced to overcome the centralized procurement hardships. The States through DCP were required to procure and distribute food grains to various PDS units. It was successfully implemented in Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh to procure food grains. 4. Huge quantity of wheat and rice that come in the market are procured in Punjab and Haryana. The other states face discrimination in requirements of various irrigation facilities, market infrastructure. These states require huge investment to facilitate procurement. Food and nutritional security would overcome this social and economic regional disparity and to strengthen the economy.

Relation Between Food Security and Human Security Human Security is the right of all people to live in freedom. The world is facing two major security challenges namely Food security and Human security. Food security is complex and is interlinked with many other global challenges such as undernourishment, economy, and climate change. Food security is intertwined with various other insecurities and connects it to political, economic, health, environmental, personal, and community levels (Kattumuri). Food security according to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the continued physical as well as economic access to food by each individual at all times which is sufficient, safe, and nutritious to fulfill their regular dietary requirements resulting in an active and healthy life. The three interconnected elements of food security are availability, access, and absorption (in terms of nutrition). Along with food security improvement nutrition is important as it increases the productivity level of the worker. Therefore, food security fulfills intrinsic as well as instrumental requirement (Dev and Sharma 2010). The concept of human security is defined as ‘the right of all people to live in freedom and dignity and free from poverty and despair’ and that ‘all individuals and in particular vulnerable people are entitled, are entitled to freedom from fear and freedom from want, with an equal opportunity to enjoy all their rights and fully develop their human potential’. The realization of adequate right to food under fundamental human rights is only possible by relating human security and food security. This

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requires that each and every individual has physical and economic access to food. Human security, by nature is ‘people centeric, comprehensive, context-specific and prevention oriented’, so that it can overcome the threats and risk that the human community and society faces (FAO 2016). Human security can be ensured when peace and development prevails, therefore, while securing food availability and nutritional guarantee we can contribute to higher goals such as degradation of the environment and thriving economic development. The thrust of human security approach people centered which requires individuals to develop. The whole idea is that the key for food security and nutritional well being can be achieved through human security. It is necessary to invest and develop strong rural systems of livelihoods and agricultural which will promote the sustainable use and management of natural resources as it would lead to nutritional security. However, food security links and supports the idea of human security. Across the world the conditions of volatile food prices, changing weather patterns due to natural hazards and the increasing competition over available natural resources is creating an insecure condition for the people. Food insecurity may also lead to various adverse effects that will further multiply threats for the human health, education, livelihoods, and individual productivity. All this is a hindrance in economic development of the nation and people tend to lose confidence in government institutions. The ‘preventionoriented approach’ holds true for interlinking human security and food security. Food security is also seen as a conflict prevention and mitigation tool. The human security approach is a comprehensive process and is multidimensional in order to prevent threats and vulnerabilities to peace, stability, and sustainable development. The volatility in food grain prices leads to unpredictability of the ‘economic pillar’ in the food security structure. The concept of affordability is based on and influenced price of food grain in the market. This affordability decides who all can secure the required nutritional food commodities which will directly impact the social structure and the human resource of the country. The affordability is influenced by the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (Mukesh 2017). Food security can benefit by assisting in education for women, access to resources, land, and property rights. Strengthening education and vocational training for women would result in economic independence leading to food security. Policies and investments aiding the participation of women in the labor market would be a boost. Despite various

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schemes and policies there are issues of intra-household gender disparity against women and girl child in terms of food security. In rural household, the female population is often found to be malnourished. The social orthodox norms, constricting domestic work, limited access to resources, poor opportunities of employment are some of the factors behind food insecurity of females in India. United Nations special report on Right to Food says that empowering women and achieving gender equality are the most cost-effective ways to ensure food security. According to the report, focusing on the social and economic development of the female section is the most inexpensive and effective tool to fight against hunger and malnutrition. The connection between food security, good nutrition, and gender is important to address. A gendered approach to food security enables a shift in gender-power relations and assure that everyone, regardless of their gender, will be benefitted and empowered by various development policies and practices to improve food security and nutrition.

Environmental Degradation and Food Security The challenges that arise due to the change in the global climatic conditions have a long-term impact on food security. The major impact of climate change could be summarized as the three F’s, namely food prices, fuel prices, and financial crisis. This section will look at various challenges posed by climate change and assesses its impact on agriculture and food security in India. India being a developing country is significantly an agrarian economy where agriculture is mostly dependent on the monsoon. Almost 55% of the Indian population is directly dependent of agriculture for their livelihood. Activities such as agriculture, fisheries, and forests are highly climate sensitive and any variation in the climatic conditions in turn alter patterns of food production, water supply, biodiversity, and livelihoods (GOI). As the agriculture is dependent on monsoon, similarly the market of agricultural commodities show variation in price and availability due to changing pattern of rainfall. Therefore, it is a cyclic process in which delay or early monsoon will impact the agriculture productivity which in turn would impact the food security and economy of the country. Agriculture being a climate-sensitive sector and the various other natural resources such as groundwater, soil are depleting rapidly due to socio-economic conditions. Thus, country like India which has a large population dependent on climate-sensitive sectors and low adaptive capacity will have to develop and implement adaptation strategies. Global

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warming has become a potential threat altering the normal weather conditions, which would severely affect lives of poor and marginal farmer whose livelihood in any form is dependent on agriculture. (Mitra Amit 2009). In India majority of the agrarian population resides in rural area whose livelihood mostly depend on the natural resources. The economic well being of the population is directly depending on proper and sustainable utilization of the natural resources available. Agriculture is the backbone of any developing country such as the Indian economy. The share of agriculture in the GPD of India is around 17% (GOI) which provides employment to 52% of the population and the well being of the poor people relies on the agricultural productivity. Growth in the agricultural sector will result in poverty eradication and would lead to employment generation. The agricultural sector is considered as a potential emitter of the green house gases that causes climate change due to land use patterns. The agricultural practices in India and huge consumption of fossil fuel and natural resources contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gas through practices such as rice production and the raising of livestock (FAO 2007). According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the three main causes of the increase in greenhouse gases observed over the past 250 years have been fossil fuels, land use, and agriculture (IPCC 2001). A steady rise has been noticed in the earth’s average temperature since the Industrial Revolution began, when energy requirement was fulfilled by burning fossil fuels. A complex interconnected relation can be seen between food security and climate change. Climate change is directly related to food security as it affects the ability of the country to feed its population. Any change in the parameters of climate such as temperature or humidity which impacts crops growth pattern as well as the quality of food produced. Due to climate change catastrophic events like floods and drought have indirect linkages which multiply the consequences of climate change resulting in crop loss and converting arable land into uncultivable land. Therefore, threatening the food security. The cultivation of wheat and rice in India is sensitive to increase in maximum and minimum temperature, respectively. Along with change in temperature, water shortage negatively impacts the production of wheat and rice (Chaudhry and Aggarwal 2007). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warns that as the average global temperature would increase the crop produce would reduce by 15–35% in Africa and western Asia and by 25–35% in the

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Middle East. In India the share of rain fed agricultural practices is fairly high, which is estimated around 79.44 m ha out of 140.3 m ha net cultivated area amounting to approximately 57%, contributing 44% to the total production of food grain. Besides using modern irrigation technologies nearly half of cultivable area majorly depends on rainfall. Two consecutive droughts that occurred in India 2014 and 2015 due to unseasonal rainfalls during the rabi season harvest highlights the impact of climate change on agriculture. As previously mentioned, here are some of the most noteworthy details: poor cropping intensity, high cultivation cost, poor adoption of current technologies, the uncertainty of yield, lower productivity, and growing farmer suicide. Such conditions call for efforts to upgrade agricultural practices in the rain fed regions of India as balancing water would improve food availability and the ecosystem. The agricultural share in the gross domestic product is low, still agriculture remains the prime source of livelihood for a considerable section of the population. The low agricultural output under such climatic conditions threatens not only food security but also lowers the pace of development in rural area and poverty reduction (Kishore et al. 2015). Growth in agricultural GDP has stagnated and there is major rural distress in large parts of the country. The agricultural sector in India is significantly contributing to the emission of greenhouse gases. The agricultural sector contributed around 17.6% of the net green house gas emission in 2007, which is 334.41 million tons of CO2. This data excludes the CO2 emitted by the energy consumption in agricultural activity (MOEF 2010). Along with this, methane (CH4) is emission from rice cultivation, Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emission from agricultural soils, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions from crop residue burning, energy use in agriculture and fisheries are the major contributors of GHG emissions. The green revolution took place during 1966–1985. Its success is credited to the extensive research in the crop variety, the infrastructure, the liberalization, and market development that took place then. Government invested heavily in the scientific study to genetically improve the major staple crops in India namely, wheat, rice, and maize. Under the green revolution the increase in the food crop productivity was a result of institutional mechanisms which brought about technological spillovers effects across regional and agro climatic boundaries. During the early 2000s the investment in scientific agricultural investment dropped drastically. There is need for innovation in agriculture in order to increase the productivity,

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as countries with low income and economy of lagging regions of developing countries continue to rely on agricultural productivity to reduce hunger and stimulate growth. In India, the poor regions which were still dependent on rain fed agriculture benefited least from the green revolution, here interregional disparity remains wide and poverty remains high. Technologies often bypassed the poor for a number of reasons. Inequitable distribution and insecure ownership of land and issues tenancy rights, the unavailability of credit (input) and proper markets facilities (output), discriminating policies for small holders and low awareness about subsidies facilities are major problems faced by small scale agriculturalist. The population of rural poor and unemployed people was high as they were not absorbed in the nonfarm sector of the economy due to its stagnant growth. Migration was another major concern as rural out migration occurred faster due to less favorable conditions in rural areas but the employment opportunities was low. Therefore through this only transfer of poverty took place rather than reduction of poverty in agricultural sector. Gender discrimination is also evident in determining the distribution of benefits from the green revolution. Women farmers and households headed by women are in a disadvantageous position compared to their male counterparts. In terms of technology transfer more attention is given to the male farmers. However women farmers are no less efficient compared to the male farmers but they are at a disadvantageous position when it comes to the access of benefits, resources, and technology. The idea behind green revolution was to increase the agricultural returns because of which they developed such high yielding variety seeds that could be used across geographical barriers benefiting the farmers and provide food for all. But the green revolution technologies were mainly adapted in regions which provided favorable conditions. The prevalent technologies did not respond to the production constraints faced by the farmers in the marginal environment such as drought or flooding. The yield gain for the farmers with the high yielding variety of wheat was 40% in well irrigated region and 10% in dry region, with minimal use of fertilizers, this difference kept farmers at a disadvantageous position. Adoption of high yielding varieties of rice and wheat was successfully achieved in well irrigated regions but regions of scarce rainfall were not benefited. In India the adoption was directly related to regions well supplied with water.

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The new investments in research and development to bring out more stress resistant varieties with increased feed grains demand has brought change in the agricultural production in marginal areas. Various drought and pest resistant varieties have provided farmer the option to take risk and increase productivity with enhanced technology. The upcoming technology of bio fuel is creating new opportunities for the farmers. The researchers should address the limitations of the green revolution and should come up with alternative solutions to overcome the problems faced by the farmers in marginal environment. The research and development in high yielding varieties should improve the crop genetically and look into various environmental, social consequences of strategic growth in agricultural productivity (Pingali 2012). As land is a limited natural resource any country posses, its degradation and decline is a serious risk to food security, also with increasing population, the availability of land is going down. With increasing population, development of infrastructure development, rapid urbanization, and setting up of industries the agricultural use of land is being diverted for other purposes. Land and air pollution pose serious threat to the degradation wastage of these limited resources. Water pollution and its scarcity are other factors leading to ground water depletion. Biodiversity is essential in sustaining the long-term productivity; however, their rate of extinction presents a disturbing picture as 60% of global food is provided by four major crops. A decline in the genetic diversity species is well visible. The degradation of the natural resources pose a threat to the increasing production of food grains which becomes a major challenge in ensuring food security in the country.

National Policies for Food Security Public Distribution System The Public Distribution System (PDS) was established to overcome the shortage of food and to protect the producers from fluctuating price (Tarozzi 2002). The purpose of PDS was to provide food security for all and poverty alleviation (DFPD 2010). The government launched PDS during 1960s to address the food shortage. Later the PDS evolved as a ‘universal scheme’, is accredited to be the world’s largest subsided food grain distribution network.

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The ‘fair price shops’ provide wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene to the targeted population of 330 million people who are facing nutritional risk. The PDS are collectively managed by the Central and state governments taking up responsibilities for the procurement for the framers, storage infrastructures, transportation, and allocation. The state government takes up the responsibility of identifying the below poverty line families and issuing cards, distribution of the food items through fair price shops and their supervision (Kattumari). The biggest challenge post green revolution period in India is not to increase food production or availability but it is related with the distribution of the surplus food grains. Despite increasing production of crops, equitable and regular access of food continues to pose a threat for the food security as inflating prices of various commodities and limited access geographically are noted. The understanding that economic growth would link nutritional outcome and translate in enhancing health and nutritional status of its people poses a challenge to food security. < Food Security in India: The Imperative and Its Challenges > The PDS are working to ensure the availability of essential food commodities to the people. Yet there are number of challenges for the PDS to overcome, as (1) Lack of efficiency. (2) Discrimination in the delivery services in rural as compared to the urban areas and uneven distribution of grains. (3) Instances of PDS leakages and corruption while identifying the poor by the State authorities and black marketing. (4) Replacing good quality grains with poor ones. (5) The problem of fake ration cards in the market restrains the availability of food grain in the open market. The PDS requires improvement and well implementation of various schemes under it. According to MS Swaminathan, agricultural economist proposes that food security in all its form would only be achieved with reform in the PDS, developing better storage infrastructure for the procured food grains along with sustained effort to increase agricultural productivity. Jean Dreze propounds a ‘quasi-universal system’ to track the food grains taken from PDS through food coupons which carries the unique identification number for the section to be included is widely used Tamil Nadu. (Sebastian 2009). Decentralized procurement and involving community ownership is another way to reduce corruption. Introduction of digital cameras in pricing stores and storage facilities is to ensure fair prices (Saxena 2010); An effective complaint resolution system is provided by providing a toll-free hotline, and banking and information technology are used to improve PDS operations. (Kattumuri 2011).

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Focused attention needs to be given to State Governments and UT Administration in matters related to the identification of beneficiary. It should be fair and transparent to avoid errors in inclusion and exclusion, delivery of food grains up to doorstep of fair price shops, computerization of TPDS operations, strengthening of the mechanism of Vigilance Committees at various levels and effective grievance redressal mechanism. To ensure minimal leakage and diversion free PDS such reforms measures are necessary. It also ensures that no needy person is denied benefits provided by the various measures of food security.

Mission for Millions In 2007, Government of India, to augment and sustain the production of food grains launched Mission for Millions. This strategic step taken up was to enhance food security in long term. Implemented as National Food Security Mission, it envisaged to increase the production of rice, wheat, and pulses to the tune of 10 million tonnes, 08 million tonnes, and 02 million tones, respectively during the 11th Five Year Plan period (2007–2012). The mission was implemented in 371 districts of 17 states with an outlay of Rs. 4882.48 crore (yojana.gov.in, 2017).

Food for All The vast geography of India and the huge economic disparity among its people is a challenge to ensure easy economic and physical access of food for all the members of the society. The vision of the Indian government under the ‘Food for All’ scheme was to provide food at affordable price to the weaker section of the society near to their household. To provide food to the ‘poorest of poor’ for whom the subsidized price was also not affordable the government launched ‘Antyoday Ann Yojna’ to ensure their food security. The ‘Antyoday Ann Yojana’ scheme was launched in 2000, its target was to reach families with income of less than 250 rupee. A special ‘Antyoday Card’ was issued to such families, who were then entitled to get 35 kg of food grains per month (wheat @ Rs. 2/- per kilo and rice @ Rs. 3/- per kilo) from the fair price shop. This scheme was also applauded for enhancing food security of the ‘poorest of poor’.

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National Food Security Act 2013 The Government enacted the National Food Security Act of 2013 to address the rising concerns of food security of the people. Through its enactment a paradigm shift toward a right based approach from the earlier welfare approach is visible in ensuring food security. Under this Act nearly 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population is entitled to receive subsidized food grain under Targeted Public Distribution System. This act ensures food security to nearly two-thirds of the population, who receive food grains at highly subsidized. There Act gives special attention to the pregnant women and lactating mothers and children (upto 14 years of age) by providing them nutritional support through nutritious meals. Maternity benefit in form of cash will also be given to the pregnant women, who will receive cash amount of Rs. 6,000, this amount will act as a compensation for her wage and would help her in supplementing her nutrition. The gendered role of the women demands her to provide care to the family to ensure food security. The ration cards issued under the Act empowers women, as the eldest woman of the household is given the status of head of the household. The complete process of managing food grains from procurement, storage, transport, and distribution of the food grains is highly dominated by the government, as the nodal agency carrying out these operations is Food Council of India (FCI). The operation FCI is to build a buffer stock so as to meet emergency situations, to stabilize open market purchase and sale, and ensure food security through the sale of subsidized grain. The government procures majorly wheat and rice at certain fixed minimum support price (MSP) under the Central pool and then the State government distributes the grains through PDS. In some States, direct procurement takes place for decentralized management and distribution. There are also various operational and financial challenges in the functioning of national food security Act (Kalkoti 2017). The government has taken up various agricultural policies and programs, which address issues of climate smart agriculture. The aim of the government is not to develop climate resilience crops but still they are spending around 15% of the total agricultural expenditure toward enhancing crop variety. The government also heavily spends on micro-irrigation, developing watershed management and conservation of agricultural production under National Food Security Mission (NFSM),

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National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Rasthrya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), crop insurance, neem coated urea, and weather advisory systems.

Intergovernmental Concerns The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) coined the term Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) in its background document prepared for the 2010 Hague Conference on Food Security, Agriculture and Climate Change (FAO 2013). It is an integrative approach to overcome the challenges of food security which are majorly due to climate change. Poverty is interlinked with hunger and both go together, hunger is the immediate and the most damaging outcome of poverty. India being a populated country has always been trapped in vicious cycle of poverty. The World Food Summit was organized by the governments of various countries in 1996 in Rome as they realized the importance of food security of the masses. In 2000, during the UN Millennium Summit, 189 countries signed the Millennium Declaration having eight Goals. The first and the foremost Millennium Development Goal was to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty throughout the world.

Impact of Covid-19 on Food Security The current COVID-19 situation has adversely affected all the four components of food security In India. The pandemic has disturbed the internal and external availability of food items conditions brought about by both outer perspectives, for example, food accessibility, costs and sellers and personal aspect, including topographical access, reasonableness, convenience, and desirability (United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition 2020, p. 1). The dangers to food security are at the nation level: as the Covid emergency unfurls, interruptions in homegrown food supply chains, different stuns influencing food creation, and loss of livelihoods and settlements are creating pressures. In spite of stable worldwide food costs, various nations are encountering differing levels of inflation in food items at the retail level, reflecting stockpile interruptions because of COVID-19 and money devaluation. Higher retail costs, along with decreased salaries, mean families have to limit the amount and nature of their food utilization, which will impact health, wellbeing, and nutrition.

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The four pillars on which the concept of food security is based should be fulfilled. The pandemic has had risky ramifications for food security, especially of poor and vulnerable sections of the society. This was exhibited by 100 million of migrant laborers, who had to walk miles with empty stomachs. Indeed, even the government could not predict such a pandemic condition. During the lockdown period access to food was denied due to loss of livelihood, decline in wages, and the socio-economic disparity in the society. The food store network (FSC) was burdened as they were interrupted due to restriction on movement, transportation facility, and ceiling of state borders. FSCs were excluded from lockdown, still only 6% of the inventory networks were able to coordinate. Subsequently, the function of PDS was basic in guaranteeing fair access to food. The territorial disparity in the accessibility of food grains and pulses were also a reason for the skewed access. The stable availability and accessibility of food supply was severely impacted due to global economic slowdown, reduced incomes, declining purchasing power, restricted movement and unavailability of labor and almost halting imports and exports. The concept of food nationalism resurfaced due to pandemic. Presently 67% of the population is being given free and subsidized food grains under the National Food Security Act. The appropriate utilization of food is affected by the absorptive limit of individuals, which is determined by income earned and health standards that are antagonistically influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ability of the individuals to purchase nutritious food products declined. Expensive non-grain food products and a decrease in purchasing power constrained the vulnerable individuals to emphasize more on calories than healthy energy. Due to lockdown limitations schools and universities were closed, there were rising concerns about the poor as extra effort has to be taken by the striving family units with more mouths to take care of and no support of mid-day meals. In March, the Indian Supreme Court took suo moto cognisance and gave direction to state governments requesting to know how the young population will manage following school terminations. Regardless of not satisfying the first target of guaranteeing hot, nutritious food, various states, including West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, have started to deliver uncooked rice and potatoes to their

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recipients. Lessons Learned: COVID-19 and Future Social Protection/Food Security Programs. Policymakers will have various lessons from COVID-19 outbreak, which has showcased India’s lopsided social security schemes. Juanid Ahmad, Country Director at the World Bank, accepts that ‘it’s the ideal opportunity for India to totally change its social security scheme and new framework and provide benefit to its migrant laborers’ (Sharma 2020). The idea of ‘safety net’ has been narrowly defined by various ongoing projects of social insurance, where ‘institutions are imagined as playing some degree of prescriptive and restricted part to cover up the market failure’ (MacKinnon 2002, p. 25). India’s social security programs are highly dependent on money transfer, in order for it to be effective governments must have precise data of the poor. In India a very small percentage pays taxes and there are proofs that focus toward the rejections, exclusions, payment failure, which have prompted serious difficulty for weaker and vulnerable section of the society (Dhingra 2020). To be fruitful in the long haul, post-lockdown estimates must receive an extraordinary methodology, to address the cause of poverty and vulnerability. As the consumption patterns have changed and are moving toward staples which are cheaper the producers are being impacted. Presently India is not facing food insecurity due to shortage of production still there is disruption in the supply and price rise is visible in various farm inputs such as fertilizer and seeds and shortage of labor due migration of farm laborers. The women’s self-help group functioning under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission co-financed by the World Bank, were prepared to meet deficiencies in masks and sanitizers, run community kitchens and to provide food supplies, give food and help to vulnerable and marginalized families, offer services in rural areas and spread information about COVID-19 among rural population. Due to the ongoing situation of COVID-19 pandemic various steps have been taken by the government to avert loss of human life and the livelihood of the migrant worker. The consideration for poor people and most weak populaces was maybe the most laborious undertaking. Under the various social security programs and agendas such as the direct benefit transfers such as cash transfers under PM Kissan, more liberal financing under MGNREGA; advance disbursement Social Security Pensions; direct

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cash grants to construction workers; and release of free and subsidized food grains under PMGKY to about 800 million people have ensured continuous availability of nutrition and food to all. The government needs to now focus more toward its health infrastructure and quick rearrangement of strategies and projects with participation and cooperation of all the stake holders including the government, NGOs, private players, and others.

Way Forward The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has developed the ‘Vision 2050’ strategy framework to encourage excellence in agricultural research, education, and extension for long-term food and nutritional security. The programs seek to achieve zero net land degradation, a 20% increase in total food supply-chain efficiency, a 20% reduction in losses and wastages from field to fork, a 20% increase in water and nutrient efficiency in agriculture, more nutrition and crop per drop, and improved food safety (Saxena 2017). Innovation and technological advancements hold out hope for sustainable food and nutritional security through enhanced production and productivity of crops and cattle including fisheries. Biotechnological and genetic advancements of crops/cattle/fish will be a major contributor toward increasing productivity and providing a safety net to food production through employment of environment friendly tools for insect and pest management. Infrastructure for agriculture and food production system like mechanization and better irrigation planning may enhance the overall productivity to save labor and cut down the production cost. These steps would also result to enhance India’s current position in the food processing sector. Increase in the rural income will surely ensure food and nutrition security, which requires improvements in rural infrastructure. Also the poverty alleviation programs should be designed to suit the specific needs of poor communities. Gender empowerment leads to an environment where men and women can develop their potential fully. Raising awareness and access to correct information among women in matters of land rights will lead to women’s equal participation in labor markets.

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Conclusion The vastness of the country, variety of natural resources, and the extensive public policy together ensure regular innovation and benefit for the smallholders and landless farmers. The concept of food security is complex and interdependent, as agriculture overcome poverty and induce growth, in developing competitiveness and modernized agricultural systems and targets sustainable use of resources and overcoming climate changes for better use of mankind. Furthermore, the government is working toward creation of a pro business environment which will benefit the producers, strengthen economic development, and will build a large workforce. All this is only possible through reducing trade barriers and following World Trade Organization (WTO) norms, protecting our innovation through intellectual property rights and fulfilling the norms of transparent bio safety. The research and development of private sector in the agricultural domain is also required in the emerging economies. However, in order to harness the opportunities the government needs to overcome the diverse challenges. Climate change is one of the biggest challenges before the developing countries. Therefore, sustainable food security and enhanced nutritional security is based on the ability of science and the potential for innovation which will ensure increased production of crops and livestock. Promotion of gene revolution will also enhance food security by lowering the cost of production, increasing net farm income, reducing the usage of pesticide and herbicide, increasing agricultural yields this would finally result in lower consumer prices. However these measures taken up by the government raise and guarantee India’s national food security and household nutritional security. It will also reduce poverty, accelerate the growth in agricultural sector, and will finally lead to a successful economy.

References Ahmad, Jamil, Alam, Dastgir, and Haseen, Ms. Shaukat. 2011. Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture and Food Security in India. International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Biotech, 4 (2) (June): 129–137. Chaudhry, Anita, and Aggarwal, P.K., 2007. Climate Changes and Food Security in India, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi. Dev, S. M., and Sharma, A. N. 2010. Food Security in India: Performance, Challenges and Policies. Oxfam India, OIWPS-VII. Devereux, S. 1993. Theories of Famine. London, Harvester-Wheatsheaf.

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Dhingra, S. 2020. Protecting Informal Workers in Urban India: The Need for a Universal Job Guarantee. https://voxeu.org/article/protecting-informal-wor kers-urban-india Empowering Women: A Way to Food Security, Vishnupriya Pandey, February 2017 Kurukshtra. FAO. 1995. Programme for the World Census of Agriculture 2000. Statistical Development Series No. 5. Rome. FAO. 2007. The challenge of renewal. Report of the independent external evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Submitted to the Council Committee for the Independent External Evaluation of FAO (CC-IEE). FAO, Rome. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2013. Food wastage footprint: Impacts on natural resources: Summary report. FAO, Rome Food Security Act: A Review, Mukesh Kumar, February 2017 Kurukshtra. Food Security for the Food-Insecure: new challenges and renewed Commitments Majda Bne Saad, December 1999. Kattumuri, Ruth. 2011. Food Security and the Targeted Public Distribution System in India. ASIA RESEARCH CENTRE WORKING PAPER 38. Kishorea, Avinash, Deb Pala, Barun, Joshia, Kuhu, and Aggarwal, P. K. 2018. Agricultural Economics Research Review. Mahendra Dev, S., and Sharma, Alakh N. 2010. Food Security in India: Performance, Challenge and Policies. Oxfam, India. MacKinnon, R. 2002. Social Risk Management: A Conceptual Fallacy of Composition. Risk Management, 4 (2–3): 21–31. Mitra Amit. 2009. Climate Changes: Adaptation Activities in India. Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group, Gorakh pur U.P. MoEF 2010. Climate change and India: A 4 × 4 assessment; A sectoral and regional analysis for 2030s. Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. http://www.moef.nic.in/downloads/publicinformation/finrptincca.pdf. National Food Security Act, 2013: Enabling Small Farmers to Produce More Food GK Kalkoti, February 2017 Kurukshtra. Nutritional Security in India, Sameera Saurabh, February 2017 Kurukshtra. Policy Forum Article, Food Security in India: The Imperative and Its Challenges Sudha Narayanan. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 2 (1): 197–209. Pingali, Prabhu L. 2012. Green Revolution: Impacts, Limits, and the Path Ahead. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Agricultural Development, Seattle. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/agriculture/brief/ food-security-and-covid-19 Saxena, Jagdeep. 2017. Food Security in India: Sustainability, Challenges and Opportunities, February 2017 Kurukshtra.

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Saxena, C. N. 2010. Modernisation of Public Distribution System in India through Computerisation. www.sccommissioners.org/documents/dow nload/134, accessed on 25 June 2019. Sen, A. 1997. Hunger in the World. The Suntory Centre, UK. Sen, A. 1981. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Sebastian, P. T. 2009. Fix the System. Outlook Business. http://business.outloo kindia.com/article.aspx?262372, 31st October, accessed on 12, August, 2019. Sharma, Y. 2020. Covid Has Exposed Deep Flaws in India’s Social Security System: Experts. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes. com/news/economy/policy/covid-has-exposed-deep-flaws-in-indias-socialsec urity-system-experts/articleshow/75218338.cms. Summerton, S. A. 2020. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Food Security and Social Protection in India. Indian Journal of Human Development, 14 (2): 333–339. Tarozzi, Alessandro. 2002. The Indian Public Distribution System as Provider of Food Security: Evidence from Child Anthropometry in Andhra Pradesh. http://www.princeton.edu/rpds/papers/pdfs/tarozzi_indian_public_distri bution_system.pdf, accessed 23rd August 2019. Transparency in Public Food Distribution Through Digitization, Dibakar Lenka, February 2017 Kurukshtra. Unfolding Government Policies Towards the Development of Climate Smart Agriculture in India. United Nations, Universal declaration of human rights, 1948. United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition, 2020. http://www. unscn.org/.

PART III

Advancing Economic and Maritime Security

CHAPTER 9

Cooperatives and Agriculture: A Case for Economic Security in India Pankaj Kumar Soni

The question of economic security is to be defined with a new character for the new aspects of its theoretical content in connection with the institutional transformations at present juncture. This question became essential for the condition of its transformation in the context of new directions of trends and patterns which determine institutional participation in economic modernization. Agriculture security is one of the essential aspects of economic security. The notion of agricultural security is an important step to solve problems of economic security which would consequently ensure inclusive growth. In the context of new challenges and threats to economic security and sustainable development of the regions, it is essential to know the linkage between agricultural security and economic security. It is already established by E. Grigoreva, and Liliya (2015). At the present time, it is essential to look out for the new conceptual approaches or methods and mechanisms which formulate and protect the

P. K. Soni (B) Department of Economics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_9

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economic interests of the State and its peoples. This approach must be in the sense of framing a suitable strategy of socio-economic development of any economy which enhances the base of security. This paper reflects the institutional feature of cooperatives as the mechanism for the economic security which is necessitated by the State in addition to agricultural security. The emergence of cooperative movement with its different dimensions may be summarized as a consequent of the new character associated with the economy. The main factors of economic security and its institutional set up are discussed briefly in the context of the cooperatives. The problems of economic security of underdeveloped economies like India and its main debate of sustainable development are not attached to the parameter indicated by cooperatives. This paper tries to fulfill this shortfall. India, like other third world countries, has a large rural population which depends on agriculture and related occupations. The development of the rural sector of the economy under various five-year plans has involved programmes for agrarian reform, community development, intensive agricultural development and asset creating rural development programmes. These have been initiated largely by central and state governments with mixed results. The problems of rural development are targeted through different schemes which are implemented by the government, which has led to a great emphasis on rural participation through these decentralized programmes, and finally to make a way to achieve economic security. This path has come from comparative studies of rural development which make a linkage to the aspects of cooperative movement in south world countries that have been highlighted as. 1. The need for active participation on the part of the rural people in planning development programmes. 2. Greater emphasis on generating self-help through continuous interaction and production-saving exercises. 3. Developing programmes that meet the needs, resources and capabilities of local people. 4. The necessity of democratic reoriented action. 5. The need for building constituency organizations are accountable to the local people and central agencies

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These factors are considered essential for the success of rural development programmes and they have already been adopted by cooperative societies through their activities. These cooperative societies emerged as a protest against the monopolistic, autocratic system and are organized and managed by their members with the assistance of professionals who are committed to the cooperative principle based on equal participation. Its core values, which are almost a doctrine, are supported by a strong and committed leadership. For the sake of rural poor, cooperatives are one of the best ways to achieve these targets as well as economic security. In recent years, there have been numerous attempts at identification of various factors which are working for the general process of economic and social security. Cooperatives are one of these attempts which lead to social and economic harmony. Hence, it may be responsible for heavenly peace and prosperity in the society provided it is properly pursued. Cooperatives are the backbone of economic activities and social progress. Plunkett, H., has aptly said, “Cooperation is self-help made effective by organization”. Cooperative institutions are inevitable to grow within the socio-economic milieu prevalent in each country. However, the general socio-economic situation and also the cooperative situation differ from country to country, there are some broad common elements essential in an integrated strategy of cooperative development; • The first major element in the strategy of cooperative development relates to the choice of sectors wherein cooperative should seek to penetrate with economic security. • The second element is related to the determination of the ideological basis of cooperative with economic security. • The third major element in the process of cooperative development relates to the choice of organizational pattern of economic security. • The fourth and last element concerns priority to be given to various development inputs such as capital, education, management skills and training facilities for economic security. Cooperatives have their roots in the doctrine of cooperation and philosophy of economic security had played a crucial role in the development of doctrine. Most of the thinkers of economic security accepted the primacy of the state in social affairs and recognized the value of property rights and competitive conditions in society. They attributed the prevailing

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conditions of poverty and misery to the new conditions of economic organization since the latter was characterized by an imbalance between production and consumption. They are largely unanimous in their view that “Man had tampered with the original, perfect constitution of human society, which was, in essence, communistic and by such artificial devices as private property has destroyed its natural harmony, and, as a consequence, the happiness of the individual ”. They believed that man was by nature good and was capable of developing to the highest perfection. The greed and wickedness of human beings under the new economic organization could be rectified through united action. This is the belief that generally constitutes the rationale of the cooperative doctrine. Cooperative is the form of economic organization in which persons or a community wilfully and voluntarily pool their resources on the basis of equality for the advancement of their economic interests. Fay (1922) defines a cooperative society as “an association for the purposes of joint trading, originating among the weak and conducted always in an unselfish spirit, on such terms that all who are prepared to assume the duties of membership share in its rewards in proportion to the degree in which they make use of their association”. According to the Cooperative Planning Committee (1946), “cooperation is a form of organization in which persons voluntarily associate together on a basis of equality for the promotion of their economic interests . Those who come together have a common economic aim which they cannot achieve by individual isolated action because of the weakness of the economic position of a large majority of them. This element of individual weakness is overcome by the pooling of their resources, by making self-help effective through mutual aid, and by strengthening the bonds of moral solidarity between them”. Cooperative principles are set of basic guidelines by which cooperatives put their values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity into practice. The seven basic corner stones of cooperative principles are: Voluntary and open membership, Democratic member control, Member economic participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training and Information, Cooperation among cooperatives, Concern for community. Cooperatives are defined as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common, economic, social, cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically- controlled enterprise” (ICA-1995).

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In short, it is a special form of economic organization where people work together for attaining their best advantage for some common object under certain definite rules. On the basis of these definitions, the basic principles of cooperative activities are indicated as: 1. A voluntary association—It is the existence of a common economic need which is the sole associating factor and there is complete freedom to the individual to determine with and till when he should associate. 2. Democratic administration—This rule ensures no exploitation of “man by man”. It creates faith; it creates honest dealings; it ensures just treatment—all which are so very essential for the existence of a successful cooperative association. 3. Self-help through mutual help—The members combine to promote the economic interests of themselves and not of anybody else. 4. Common welfare through common action—Efforts directed towards seeking self-interest out of selfishness do not find a place in a cooperative organization. 5. A spirit of service—Cooperative action is not only a movement for economic betterment but also a part of human beings for the satisfaction of their common need based on principles. Thus, both the cooperative principles and values (elements) are the true identity of cooperatives and distinguish the cooperatives from other forms of organizations. Moreover, the principles are not independent of each other: if one is ignored, all are diminished. The concept of cooperation is much older and broader than cooperatives. As Rajagopalan (1996) has rightly remarked, “A cooperative is only one organizational mode available to people for co-operation, which is a basic and broader aspect of behavior. Just because co-operatives are facing problems, it does not imply co-operation has become irrelevant ”. So, it is no wonder that cooperatives are long in practice, but short on theory. There are three broad strands of thoughts to justify the formation of cooperatives—first, a safety net perspective, which cooperatives tend to provide for certain disadvantaged groups of people; second, a cooperative

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as a rival economic organization; and third, a cooperative as a broader socio-economic organization with a purely economic basis. Cooperative institutions have inevitably grow within the socioeconomic milieu prevalent in each country. According to G. Fauquet (1941), a well-known authority on cooperation, growth of cooperation depends on “the present state of economic structure, the accident of political personalities , the activity of educational and propagandist bodies, the influence of legislation and lastly, and more generally the attitude of the state”. While the general socio-economic situation and also the economic security situation differ from country to country, there are some broad common factors which underline the need for certain common elements in an integrated strategy of cooperative development. Four of these elements are particularly importanta. choice of sector b. ideological basis of cooperatives c. Choice of organizational pattern d. Priority to various development inputs

Choice of Sector The first major element in the strategy of cooperative development relates to the choice of sectors wherein cooperation should seek to penetrate. The related issues concern not only the initial choice but a series of options relating to relative emphasis to be given in the course of further cooperative development. The starting point of the process of cooperative development is provided by identification of economic activities wherein the cooperative form of organization should be initially introduced and later on developed. This vision embodied “production, distribution, education, and government”. On the other hand, some of the pioneering cooperative theoreticians had a restricted view of what cooperatives should aim at. For instance, Beatrice Webb (1979) was of the following opinion, “The limits of the probable domain of cooperatives are within sight. Various associations of consumers are restricted to the provision of certain articles of personal use, the production of which is not necessarily a monopoly, the consumption of which is absolutely compulsory and for which the demand is large and constant ”.

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In developing countries, the choice of economic activities to which priority may be accorded in promoting cooperation ought to be determined by a number of considerations. Firstly, a cooperative is apt to be more readily appreciated in a sector of economy where the large mass of people experiences a high degree of exploitation. The sun of cooperation shines best against a background of darkness of exploitation. In many countries, it is the main factor which mainly explains why credit has been the starting point of cooperative movement. In several Asian countries, the exploitation of the peasant by the rural money lender has been a notorious feature of the agrarian economy. This has provided the requisite motivation for the initial impulse in the direction of a rural credit cooperative movement. In predominantly agricultural countries, a sound strategy of cooperative development ought to proceed on the basis that an integrated development of agricultural cooperation is of paramount importance. Cooperative agricultural credit, cooperative agricultural supplies and cooperative agricultural marketing constitute the trinity of agricultural cooperation. A cooperative strategist should endeavour to ensure that these cooperative activities are so developed as to reinforce one another. While considering cooperative development in the agricultural sector, it is necessary to recognize that credit need not always be the appropriate starting point for agricultural cooperation. In such an event, cooperative credit can be developed as a by-product of the main activity of marketing or supplies. In the resultant situation the credit function is facilitated by two factors. In the first place, marketing offers a built-in device for recovery of credit. In the second place, the volume of produce cooperative marketed becomes a measure of credit worthiness of the farmer member. While considering the choice of activities of cooperative development, it is relevant to take note of an important aspect. Development and expansion of cooperative activities often require large financial resources. To an extent, finances ought to be mobilized by such cooperative from its own members and in the course of its own operations. However, there are certain types of cooperatives which are potent instruments for resources mobilization. In considering areas for cooperative activity, a difficult choice occurs between diversification and intensive sectoral development. While there is a natural urge on the part of cooperative planners to seek an early diversification of the character of the cooperative movement involving intensive

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development which is often likely to yield better results, it is only when cooperatives are eminently successful in a given sphere that a snowballing effect becomes possible.

Ideological Basis of Cooperatives The second element is related to the determination of the ideological basis of cooperatives. It seems pertinent to mention that this element essentially involves two major tasks. The first task is to articulate the cooperative ideology at the micro-level. This concerns the issues relating to ideas and principles in so far as they are applicable to individual cooperative institutions. These issues eventually have a bearing on the determination of the kind of cooperatives which are to be recognized as genuine cooperatives as distinguished from pseudo-cooperatives. The second task relates to the formulation of cooperative movement as a whole. These issues of cooperative ideology have a key place because the ideological attributes of cooperative movement constitute a prime factor in determining the overall role that may be assigned to in the national programmes of planning and development. Whether such role is peripheral or central is mainly a reflection of the ideology which is associated by the public authorities with the cooperative movement. At the level of primary cooperatives, the first task of cooperative ideology is to help in the definition of its basic object. On this point, the report of the ICA Commission on cooperative principles is not explicit. However, the ICA rules define the basic object of a primary cooperative as “the economic and social betterment of its members ” (S. S. Puri 1979). The first issue on which a clear view needs to be taken is whether a primary cooperative must necessarily deal with economic activities as its core activities. In other words, whether a cooperative for the promotion of purely non-economic interests of the members can be organized, seems necessary to be reorganized as legitimate, because, there is no room for the limited return on capital in the case of cooperative principles. In this context, it is pertinent to recall the three components of Horace Plunkett’s famous formula of “better living, better farming and better business”. Every one of these components can and should be recognized as an appropriate basis for a primary cooperative. Another issue which needs careful consideration is posed by an interesting provision in the Cooperative Societies Act in certain Indian states.

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This provision envisages that the object of primary cooperatives may be the promotion of the economic interest of the public (as an alternative to the interests of the members). Conceptually, such a cooperative’s aim must be primarily to promote the interest of its members as human beings. These are the micro-level ideology of cooperative. On the other side, at macro-level cooperative must be a concern for social justice. In this connection, there are two eminent cooperative thinkers. First, there is Fauquet (1979), who wrote, “Any practical leadership of cooperative affairs that is based on a view of the member as only an economic being and not a person, that is to say, a moral and social beings jeopardizes both the material prosperity of cooperation and its social influences ”. Another thinker P. Lambert (1963) expresses his opinion in following ways, “The cooperative society does not aim only at furthering the interests of its members. Certainly, it does aim at furthering their interests but only in so far as this is compatible with the general interest”. The above opinions are indeed significant. They bring out an aspect which is usefully missing in the statutory provisions defining the basic object of a cooperative society. The promotion of economic interests of the members as an object can sometimes make a cooperative resort to patently anti-social postures. It is true that social or public interest is a somewhat nebulous concept which is not easy to operate. Nevertheless, it is an essential guidepost for the working of each and every cooperative.

Choice of Organizational Pattern The third major element in the process of cooperative development relates to the choice of organizational pattern. The choice of the organizational pattern concerns cooperatives at the primary level as well as secondary and tertiary levels. It is a fairly vital choice and can make all the difference between success and failure. This is also the aspect which bristles with keen controversy. Along with the choice of the pattern of organization, there is also an allied question of a relationship between the primary cooperatives and the higher-level cooperatives in the same sector. Another question, pertaining to the designing of appropriate cooperative structure, concerns assessment of the need and scope for an inter-cooperative relationship.

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Priority to Various Developments Inputs The fourth and the last element concerns priority to be given to various development inputs such as capital, education, management skills and training facilities. As the wider area of economic planning, the strategy of cooperative development often demands rather hard decisions in the terms of allocation of limited resources between various possible development inputs. As already stated that cooperative development can be described with a measure of justification as an output of three main inputs i.e., member education, trained managerial personnel and investment & operating capital. The process of cooperative development is invariably influenced by inter-sector priority that may be assigned to every one of these inputs. Determination of such priority often involves hard choice. In this way, the cooperative legislation gives expression to cooperative ideology. It also follows that the farming of the cooperative legislation should also be essentially an indigenous effort. It is somewhat unfortunate that it is not generally so in actual practice. In fact, according to information available with ILO, this is an area where demands for foreign technical assistance are the maximum. More than fifty countries have obtained foreign experts to assist them in providing cooperative legislation at time to time. This is a happy sign for cooperative future. In developing countries, it is essential to redesign cooperative structure to be a part of a long-term process of cooperative development. This happens mainly because there is often lack of full awareness of the manner in which the structural features of cooperatives influence their operational results. In the designing of the cooperative structure, it may be natural to look to the contents of cooperatives legislation as a guide. As a result of new trends and patterns that govern institutional engagement in economic modernization, this question became vital for the condition of its transformation. In the previous few years, India has undergone dramatic shifts in its economic, social and political policy frameworks. As a rising force, India is beginning to articulate its viewpoints on global concerns with other big nations throughout the world. Securing agricultural food supply is an important component of national economic security. Regional economic security and sustainable development are under threat, and it is imperative that we have a thorough grasp of the link between agricultural and economic security. While opening an International seminar on Cooperative Leadership in South East Asia,

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organized by the International Cooperative Alliance in November 1963, Nehru (who is the first Prime Minister of India) said, that quoted by S. S. Puri (1979), “My outlook is to convulse India with the cooperative movement or rather with cooperation to make it, broadly speaking, the basis activity of India in every village as well as elsewhere and finally, indeed to make the cooperative approach the common thinking of India”. In this respect, Nehru’s vision of cooperative remaining unrealized and the movement losing strength following the introduction of economic reform policies in the early 1990s, Over two-thirds of India’s population lives in rural areas, making India more of an agrarian economy. Agriculture’s future will be secured by prosperity in the economy. One of the most critical aspects of our economy is our agricultural sector, and one of our key support pillars has been the cooperative system. Credit, production, processing, and marketing will deliver it. Currently, there are about 230 million cooperatives in India. A strong cooperative credit system exists in India, and more credit has been provided in the agricultural sector by cooperatives than by commercial banks. The dynamism of changing economic scenario in the country consequent upon the financial sector reforms and ongoing technological process in agricultural development would throw open several complex policy options in the twenty-first century. On the one hand, a marketdriven economy with capital-intensive technology may prepare increased demand for credit in agriculture and rural development. On the other hand, Rural Financial Institutions may assign lower priority to rural credit which is believed to endanger their viability. This situation may lead to restricting the reach of credit to the poor further. This calls for strengthening the credit structure either by nursing the existing system or by reinforcing to satisfying the condition of economic security. Today cooperatives have emerged as a very strong economic force committed to providing services for their socio-economic upliftment to our people particularly for the farmers, artisans and other weaker sections of the community. The cooperative has a nation-wide spread and federal structure. It is a matter of great satisfaction that the impact of cooperatives is perceptible in all segments of our economy. Cooperative has covered all the villages and met most of the requirements of rural people including production credit, marketing, agro-processing, consumer needs, postharvest support, etc. to the farmer. In India, the share of cooperatives in the field of agricultural credit is nearly 45%. Similarly, in respect of the distribution of fertilizer they account for 35% of the total distribution of

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fertilizer. Cooperative is playing a major role in the marketing of agricultural commodities such as food grains, jute, and cotton. In the field of agro-processing, cooperatives have played a very important role. They are producing 60% of the total sugar production and commanding 11% of the total spindle age in the textile sector. About 58% of the total handlooms are within the cooperative fold. The basic objective of the rural credit system is to provide adequate and timely credit for agriculture and related activities to enable the rural people to exploit opportunities for development. It also satisfies the notion of economic security. For decades, cooperatives have been extending credit for seasonal agricultural operations and other purposes in rural areas. However, the credit needs have been much larger than what the cooperatives can cope with. In order to plug the credit gaps, a multi-agency approach was introduced in agriculture. After banks nationalization, the commercial banks spread to the rural areas to finance the requirements of farmers and other segments of the rural community. This development envisaged supplementing the efforts of the cooperatives banks. Later on, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) were opened in the countryside to support the efforts of commercial banks in extending credit specifically to the weaker sections including small and marginal farmers, share-croppers, tenant farmers and landless workers. The public sector banks and the RRBs have opened a large number of branches in the rural areas and now command a two-thirds share in the aggregate outstanding agricultural credit. In addition to the disbursements of credits, several innovations have been introduced by all the three players of the credit system to improve their performance and operational efficiency. The most remarkable measures introduced by the commercial banks are the “lead bank scheme” and the “service area approach”. Despite this impressive infrastructure, the cooperative credit movement received a boost in 1954 when the integrated scheme of rural credit was introduced to expand the role of cooperatives in rural finance following the recommendations of the “All India Rural Credit Survey Committee” appointed by the Reserve Bank of India. An important conclusion of the committee was best fit for the dispensation of agricultural credit under Indian conditions. This incites the central and state governments to give a further impetus to the development of cooperatives. However, it is a

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matter of concern that the share of the cooperatives in agricultural credit is declining. Cooperatives have always supported the Government initiated development programmes. They have accordingly affected the required diversification and streamlining. They must, therefore, get the highest priority in agriculture financing. Cooperatives can take up the responsibilities of rural development if the structural, operational and managerial deficiencies are removed through suitable doses of reform and systematic action plan. Apart from these four elements of cooperatives following are some facets of it, which are very crucial in understanding the very purpose of cooperatives as an institution for the economic development of a society.

Responsibility of Cooperatives The social and economic responsibility of cooperative organization means social and economic responsiveness and the obligations which cooperation can do for the society. Social and economic responsibility may also refer to an obligation, a liability, social and economic consciousness, corporate legitimacy, charitable contribution, etc. In other words, the social and economic responsibility of cooperative organization refers to the obligation of a co-operator to consider the public interest while taking his decision and actions. That means the social and economic responsibility of cooperative organization refers to the public interest. In brief, social and economic responsibility means an intelligent and objective interest for the genuine welfare of society. In order to implement social and economic responsibility, social and economic goals are translated into specific goals and tasks. Responsible action means taking into account all foreseeable consequences before taking the step. Therefore, every cooperative must be so conducted that it can serve its own objectives as well as socio-economic-cum-human objectives. Social and economic responsibility concept applies more so for as cooperatives are concerned, as cooperatives have to meet the mounting expectations of the society with their functioning. David A. M., Director General of ILO, which discussed by Sant kumar and D. K. Mishra (1998), has observed, “Cooperatives have helped rationalize distribution patterns, increasing purchasing power, promote customer protections, and narrow the

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housing gap. They have contributed to the modernization of small-scale production in agriculture, fisheries, handicrafts and industry. They have made improved quality and greater volume of production and have led to more efficient marketing of increased input. They have stimulated productive capital formation among large number of individuals. In a wider sense, cooperative growth has thus become an effectives stimulant to economic growth”. The various achievements and benefits of cooperatives in India can be viewed mainly from economic and social angles. The cooperatives have been providing enormous economic services at very economical costs for economic betterment and wellbeing of the rural–urban population. These benefits can be divided into two parts, (a) Economic Benefits & (b) Social Benefits. Economic Benefits i. Service to the relatively weaker sections with due emphasis on the satisfaction of human needs through appropriate production activities and at lower costs; ii. A more equitable distribution of wealth and income; iii. Provide protection to the consumers from monopolies and other forms of centralized combinations; iv. The increase in purchasing power and real wages of the working members by providing them more and better goods for their money; v. Institution of a more economic and efficient distribution system eliminating the unnecessary middlemen; removing unproductive over-lapping activities and eliminating for dual practices like adulteration, short weights higher costs, etc.; vi. Contribution to stabilization of costs, prices and incomes for the benefits of members covered and vii. More meaningful generation of employment A cooperative is basically a socio-economic organization. The cooperative movement has also brought about a number of social benefits to the people.

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Social Benefits i. Cooperative teaches people to live harmoniously on a community basis, sense of unity, brotherhood and corporate feeling have been developed among people with its help; ii. It fosters a sense of responsibility, integrity and diligence; iii. Cooperatives are helping to lessen the social tensions existing in the society; iv. It is bringing about socio-economic changes in the society; v. Cooperative educates the members for proper use of money, better methods of production, etc. The cooperatives movement in India has witnessed the remarkable expansion since its inception, however, in terms of performances and achievements, it perhaps could not come up to the expectations. The growth and expansion of cooperative societies are a necessity for the economic and social development of the country. The cooperatives are, however, only the means and not ends in themselves. There is an urgent need for improving managerial efficiency, minimization state intervention, depoliticalizing of societies, re-organizing and revival of non-viable societies, strengthening recovery of loans, checking utilization and diversion of funds and mobilizing the deposits in order to make cooperative societies.

Cooperatives and Welfare A more strengthened cooperative can work better for the welfare of society and especially farmers through socio-economic reforms. The possibilities of promoting cooperatives in the context of planning goals and suitability of cooperatives as an instrument of social and economic reform vis-à-vis their underlying principles have been examined. The positions which have emerged as a result may be summarized as follows; a. Since the inception of the movement, the cooperatives have shown their capability both as “enterprises” and “associations”. But the examination of these two aspects in isolation has led to considerable misgivings about their efficacy as instruments of social and economic change. b. The principles of cooperative could not be uncritically extended.

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c. The examination of the concept of the cooperatives showed that it could not be given practical shape as there was considerable vagueness about it. As a technique of social change and as a technique of optimizing economic welfare in the spheres of distribution, allocation and growth, the concept represents an advance over the ideals of free enterprise and centralized socialism. d. The attempts at the development of cooperative led to the proposal of different strategies. e. While there has been an emphasis on extending cooperative by promoting it in a particular sector, there have also been proposals which visualize cooperative development in terms of a “minimum cooperative sector”. Cooperatives are the viable agencies for rural credit and rural development. Members should be motivated and gained in a proper way not only to utilize the services of the cooperatives societies but also to make the societies financially viable for repaying the loan at the time. If a member repays the loan within the time schedule, that will be helpful to another loan leading to development. And yet, cooperative has become a major factor in the social and economic progress of some of the affluent and poor countries alike. In some of the affluent parts of the world, cooperative has formed on the basis of the prosperity of rural communities. Although the influence of the cooperative movement has extended far and embraced most economic activities, yet its contribution has sharply varied from society to society. In promoting the values of liberty and equality, it has met with very different degrees of success in different societies. The contribution it has made to the modernizations of productive processes, particularly those undertaken by the weaker sections of society, and securing equity, has also varied depending on its strength and the challenges it faced. Even within the same country, cooperative is often resorted to in greater degree in certain sectors rather than in others. The inter-connections between sub-sectors of the movement are also very different in different countries. All these differences in adoption and impact have raised very basic questions.

Cooperatives and Inequality Cooperatives are community-led economic progress which establishes safe, sustainable and fair living for all the people who are involved in it,

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thus leading to more equitable society. Cooperatives have been expected to achieve a number of economic and social goals related to the development. They have also been expected to increase social and economic justice and equality of opportunity, to reinforce social and economic solidarity. Cooperatives are supposed to rebuild communities supposedly fragmented by the impact of colonial regimes, market expansion and new technologies in addition to increasing production and mobilizing underutilized resources in the wake of threat of economic security. During the post-colonial period, there were high expectations in many Asian and African countries that cooperatives would heal the wounds inflicted by colonialism and restore the traditional spirit of solidarity in village-life. It was often assumed that colonial patterns of inequality and exploitation had created high levels of inefficiency in rural production systems. Consequently, what was needed was some combination of land-reform and cooperative reorganization in order to unleash an enormous production potential from cultivators and pastoralists. Freed of opperessive landlords or colonial interference, the reorganized producers would not only return to original habits of cooperation and solidarity but would achieve much greater output and efficiency in doing so.

Cooperatives and the State In considering the relationship between the state, economic security and cooperatives, some questions are significant. Ideally, what should be the role of the state to maintain economic security in the field of cooperatives? In practice, what has its role been? Why does the state adopt particular policies for economic security in relation to cooperatives in different situations? According to the alternative view, the state is the protector of existing property relations and thus seeks to promote economic security in the interests of the deprived class. The pluralist view, on the other hand, considers the state to be a more neutral agent, pushed and pulled by a variety of competing forces of economic security. In this way, the state plays an important role in the economic sphere in all societies more so in the developing countries. As R. K. Mishra (2014) has observed, “The power of the state is especially formidable in developing societies like India, where it assumes responsibility for economic development and controls the allocation of scarce resources between competing needs ”. The state has played an active and vital role in the fields of cooperatives in most Third World countries to promote the economic security.

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Modern cooperatives in these countries are attempted to promote cooperatives as instruments of development. As for example, all the five-year plans in India have assigned an important place to cooperatives in their development programmes. The same is the case in other Asian countries. Almost all the newly independent countries in Africa have emphasized the promotion of cooperatives in their development plans. Cooperatives were encouraged to increase agricultural production and to reduce poverty and inequality in the rural areas. Two main reasons accounted for this policy orientation. First, in the absence of the political will to bring about a radical change in the distribution of economic power the establishment of cooperatives. It helps the small and poor farmers appeared to be a softer and pragmatic alternative to find the target of economic security. Second, it was believed that traditional societies in Africa and Asia had a long history of cooperation which could be harnessed for rapid rural development. This relation can be utilized to promote the aims of economic security.

Cooperatives and Women After the rapid industrialization of the economy, women are becoming more active in economic activities and they are no more mere “housewives”. In any developing society, the productivity of every constituent person has to increase. Utilizations of every human labour for production purposes can increase the gross national income and this can move forward to achieve our objective of socio-economic development. Gender equalization is the basic step of human capital as well as economic security. Women’s cooperatives are more active in rural areas than urban areas. Though there are small rural development activities such as animal husbandry, dairy, farming, poultry farming, sheep and pig rearing, fisheries, sericulture, horticulture, etc. dairy farming attracts very much the rural women folk. To know the present position of women’s cooperatives in economic development we can quote a research study entitled, “The Role of Cooperative Societies in South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu” by Gopu, J. (1998). The major and important findings of the study are reproduced below; For the purpose of finding out views of the members of the women’ cooperatives a survey of selected members was taken by him. The surveyed members were of the age group between 18 to 35 years old. This reveals

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that majority of them were young women. It was found that none of the surveyed members had any permanent position or occupation. Further, it was found that majority of the members were farm families. It is evident that income derived from agricultural activities was not enough to support the family and so the women are also forced to seek opportunities for additional income.

Cooperatives as Global Experience Cooperatives are globally acknowledged mechanism which leads to economic development of countries. Cooperation has been applied to the best advantages in Denmark in the spheres of farming and dairying. In Israel, it is also very closely linked with planning and labour movement. In fact, the remarkable achievements in building cooperatives and a mixed economy in Israel would have had a much bigger impact on developing countries had it not been for Israel’s political involvement. In two of the Scandinavian countries, namely, Sweden and Norway as also in Finland, Austria, and Great Britain, cooperation has become the backbone of the consumers’ movement. The prestige of these countries helped in its spread in the rest of the world. In India, it has been best manifested, though only in some states, in the spheres of agricultural credit, marketing, and processing. The cooperative experiment is being consciously used to overcome economic dualism. Finally, cooperative has been usefully adopted and practiced in a variety of spheres of human endeavour in countries as advanced as the U.S.A. and as backward as the pastoral economics which lies to the south of Sahara in the African continent.

Conclusion The problem of economic security has two dimensions viz., supply side and demand side. On the demand side, the problem is seeking the best way of dealing with a large number of rural people. It is a fact that institutional support faced many difficulties in dealing with them. Therefore, downtrodden class of people could help by the adoption of institutional support shadow by assuring them of adequate economic security. On the supply side of economic security, the choice of right mechanism which adopted by the institution provides adequate economic security without any difficulty.

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The main purposes of cooperatives are to find out contribution of institutions for economic security. Cooperative becomes an important tool for improvement of sectoral development as for agricultural practices and living conditions of the small and marginal farmer. The growth of an economy in planted direction can take place only if credit is actually used for the specified purposes. If the credit is not used for the purpose for which it was given, then it will become a cause of the waste of resources. The notion of economic security will examine the reasons responsible for this diversion of credit. Cooperative makes the best solution to deal with the issue of economic security. Now, it is time to focus on the promotion and protection of cooperative institutions by the state to ensure economic security. Cooperatives have the capacity to revitalize the agriculture and make it more sustainable and the effective utilization of technology will further add on in its capacity. While providing economic security it not only focuses on sustainability but also creates harmony in society by keeping people in close proximity to each other.

References 15th Indian Cooperative Congress, Background Papers, NCUI, & Souvenir, NCUI. Fauquet, G. (1941), “The Cooperative Sector, Annals of Public and Cooperative Banner”. Fay, C.R. (1922), “Cooperation at Home and Abroad”, P.S. King & Son, London. Gopu, J. (1998), “The Role of Cooperative Societies in South Arcot District, Tamil Nadu” in edited by Kainth & Singh, G., “India’s Rural Cooperatives”, Regency Publication. Grigoreva, E. & Liliya, G. (2015), “The Economic Security of the State: The Institutional Aspect”, Procedia Economics and Finance. Indian Cooperative Movement: A Profile, Various Issues, NCUI. Kumar S. & Mishra, D.K. (1998), “Role of Cooperatives in Rural Development” in edited by Kainth & Singh, G., “India’s Rural Cooperatives”, Regency Publication. Lambert, P. (1963), “Studies in the Social Philosophy of Cooperation”, Cooperative Unions Ltd. Mascarenhas, R.C. (1988), “A Strategy for Rural Development”, Sage Publications. Mishra, R.K. (2014), “Role of State Owned Enterprises in India’s Economic Development”, OECD.

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Puri, S.S (1979), “Ends and Means of Cooperative Development”, NCUI. Soni, Pankaj Kumar (2009), “An Anlaysis of PACS in Agricultural Credit Provisioning in Select Backward States in Contemporary India”, JNU, Unpublished Dissertation.

CHAPTER 10

India’s Maritime Security: Opportunities and Challenges Zeba Rayee

Introduction India’s tryst with destiny was modulated by historic events such as the 1962 Indo-China confrontations, the disputes over territorial sea with almost all the neighbours in the Indian Ocean and the changing geopolitical realities of the Indian Ocean region. India’s maritime security has been directly proportional to the increasing volume of trade and its ability to secure sea lanes of communications. Starting from a force meant to secure sovereignty, to becoming one of the major naval powers of the world, the Indian navy has justified in letter and spirit its role of insuring India’s maritime security. This paper argues that the opportunities far outweigh the challenges for India in the IOR and tactical handling of disputes through faith in international instruments, enlightened selfinterest, capacity building as well as leveraging the proximity benefits can

Z. Rayee (B) Assistant Professor, Zakir Hussain Delhi College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_10

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be equally helpful in securing the time frame until which the Indian navy could build itself to serve as a deterrent for enemies and diplomatic leverage for friendly nations. It will help India to pursue its aim of freedom of navigation and smooth trade flows in the medium term and becoming a formidable regional power in the long run. This paper also argues that until India and China have basic consensus on evading the threat perception about each other Indian Ocean cannot become a global common in true sense of the word. The first section provides an illustration of the concept of maritime security and why it is important for any nation? The second section discusses India’s security before and after independence. What were the main factors for the formulations of India’s naval plan? How the growing presence of different states in Indian Ocean Region changed the power dynamics in the region? How these changing dynamics affected India’s strategic location in Indian Ocean? Third section put forth the major challenges faced by India in the Indian Ocean such as smuggling, trafficking, piracy terrorism etc. and what are the opportunities available for India in the region if it strengthens its maritime security and at the same time it also analyses its implications on India. The last section contains the conclusion that India is asserting its role as global power and its contribution in maintaining peace in Indian Ocean is increasing its influence. Maritime security is one of the cardinal concepts when talking about the security. At the time when non-conventional security issues have become inevitable in the global affairs, the maritime security is very imperative for any nation. It affects the different facets of a country, whether it is national interest or the economy or its bilateral relations or other major issues. It involves various organizations from both public and private sectors. Main goal of these organizations is to protect the freedom of sea, to encourage and preserve the trade and commerce, to ensure that laws are being followed and implemented properly (Feldt et al. 2013). It is very imperative to distinguish between maritime security and maritime safety. “Maritime security” is “the combination of preventive and responsive measures to protect the maritime domain against threats and intentional unlawful acts”1 while “maritime safety” is “the combination of preventive and responsive measures intended to protect the 1 This definition has been taken from wise pen team report on Maritime Surveillance (MARSUR).

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maritime domain against, and limit the effect of, accidental or natural danger, harm, and damage to environment, risks or loss”.2 Safety focuses on securing maritime environment by rules, regulations and various techniques whereas security considers the operational requisites. It can be said that safety is the responsibility related to civilians and security is the responsibility of government in a state. There is no universal definition of maritime security. As the nature of sea is changing it is very imperative to deal the issues with an approach which will be comprehensive in nature. Earlier the sea was considered as an unbarred space where only applicable rule was freedom. However, now the dynamics have changed and approach are based on sharing, common area or possession, large but no frail. At present it is place which needs the management and protection at the global level (Feldt et al. 2013).

India’s Maritime Security After Independence History and geography are two major factors in the security of sea and these two factors have also influenced India’s strategy in postindependence times. Although before the independence the colonial rule has focused mainly on India as far as maritime security was concerned as India was located at the centre point in the Indian sub-continent region. Britain’s naval influence in the region remained unchallenged almost for a century. It was only after the Suez debacle and the entry of Japan at the time of World War II in the Indian Ocean Region that Britain realized its diminishing naval power. Japanese active actions in the region can be seen through capturing the Andaman and Nicobar Island, disabling shipping at the Bay of Bengal, Japan sunk the royal naval ship off the Colombo coast post in 1942. The vacuum created by diminishing British power facilitated the entry of US. Initially US was very hesitant in playing any role as it had no interest in the region. Its involvement in the Indian Ocean was the result of British persuasion. It was the manifestation of cold war international security architecture because the US could not afford the USSR to become the regional hegemon. After independence it was imperative for India to mark its boundary as it has to deal with pugnacious Pakistan at its western border and China at the northern border which had its own emerging ambitions and these ambitions of China got intensified in 2 This definition has been taken from wise pen team report on Maritime Surveillance (MARSUR).

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1990s. In this context K. M. Panikkar has argued; “assuming that China will ignore any if its naval interests in coming years will not be reasonable. He further states that the way China is spreading out its bases, such asHainan, this is making its position more dominant than Japan”. These issues led India to formulate its first naval scheme and policy. Once the cold war got over it started focusing on issues like “to make sure that Indian ships don’t get involved in any war at high seas; to make sure the smooth movement of export and import supplies through sea in all the conditions; to keep her routes of ships and port accessible; to secure its port from any invasion; and to assist the army in carrying out various operations at the sea to secure the national policy” (Satyindra Singh 1986). However, this plan could not get implemented because of two major reasons, firstly, the war with Pakistan on Kashmir issue in 1947–1948, secondly financial impediments in the country. In the aftermath of 1962 Sino-Indian war, it was felt that extending Indian navy’s fleet into both Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal will provide India a way to enhance its own security in particular and of Indian Ocean Region in general. However, India’s maritime adroitness was acknowledged for the first time during the 1971 war. In this war, Indian navy showed its tactical capabilities and innovative ideas through operation “trident” and operation “python”. Other naval operations included the naval interdiction, air defense, ground support, logistics missions, etc. The Maldives operation of 1988 and Somalia operation of 1992–1994 portrayed India as a stabilizer in the Indian Ocean Region. After the end of cold war focus therefore shifted to confirm a protected maritime environment which will emphasize control of SLOCs (Sea Lanes of Communication) to have a protected maritime trade as well as shipping. The focus was also to have a secure exploitation of maritime reservoir in the region. For India, it also signified “safety of infrastructure and other resources in the maritime zones as well as the littoral associated to the extraction, movement and reception of domestic energy resources” (Gurpreet Khurana 2007). In the early 1990s littoral’s nations started engaging with each other through platforms like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Indian Ocean RimAssociation for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC). The objectives of these engagements were to establish strong regional bodies. However, the factors like power play of regional and extra regional bodies, changing attitudes and alliance, repercussions of cold war and colonialism, etc.

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created an obstruction in fruitful outcome of these engagements. These incidents made the Indian Ocean a “Sea of Uncertainty”.3 To reduce the differences between the Indian Ocean Region littoral states and bring them closer, India took initiative and started the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium in 2008. This programme provided a common platform to the thirty-five navies of the region with an objective to promote coordination through constant consultations and dialogue. This programme also has the provision of meeting every two years so that different views on important matters could be exchanged. Sharing same vision in the Symposium has led to the development of common strategies to increase regional maritime security. This initiative will play a very significant role in resolving the misunderstood issues between the Indian Ocean Region states, for which the backing and support of all the members are needed. After the end of cold war India got a challenge of balancing between a US dominated world and multipolar environment. After signing the civil nuclear deal with US in 2005 Indo-US relation saw the increased cooperation. US also recognized India as predominant regional power, which could be seen in Chuck Hegel’s speech in Shangri la Dialogue 2013, where he stated that: India’s role as a stabilizing power is of growing importance with the increase of trade and transit between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The US considers India’s efforts to enhance its military capabilities as a welcome contribution to security in the region.

India’s Strategic Position Geo-politically significant location of India in IOR can be a catalyst in metamorphosis of its more strengthened maritime policy. India possesses a very significant position in the Indian Ocean Region. Indian Ocean is the only water body which is being named after any country, this showcases the geospatial and strategic prerogative of India in this region. It has 7517 K. M long coastline and it extends from Gujarat in west to West Bengal in east. Andaman Nicobar places India in a beneficial geo strategic position. Modern India is located between the “Middle East, Central Asia, China, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean. India must remember that it can 3 “Indian Ocean: A Sea of Uncertainty”, Future Directions International, February 2012.

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use its location to its strategic advantage by projecting influence outwards into all those regions. Additionally, India can also use its central location in the Indian Ocean to become a hub of transportation, communication, and trade”.4 India is a Rim land which has essential political, economic, military and technological capabilities. It possesses nuclear power and also has positional benefit of launching ballistic missile, these features increase its imperative towards geopolitical sensitivities.

Security Challenges in Indian Ocean There are several choke points in Indian Ocean which are strategically very significant for the flow of energy and global trade. So, keeping these choke points secured is really important. The Indian Ocean is an area of persistent tensions and this tension is consisting of both internal and external disputes. The internal conflict can be seen at local level while external conflicts are of global importance, which are subject to political military and foreign interventions. The Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research conducted an analysis of global conflict in which it states that altogether 42% of world conflicts can be associated with Indian Ocean countries. Many incidents of the smuggling of goods, gold, narcotics, explosives, arms and ammunition, the infiltration of terrorists into the country through these coasts have been seen over the years. Keeping in view the various dimensions of security these are the major security challenges faced by India in Indian Ocean region: 1. Terrorism: India is facing a totally new form of cross-border terrorism that is maritime terrorism. This cross-border terrorism has grabbed a totally new dimension. Defining the maritime terrorism has become a tough task as there is no universal and consensus-based definition of maritime terrorism. According to US Department of Defense, terrorism is, “unlawful use or threatened use or force of violence against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious or ideological objectives”. As stated by the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) Working Group maritime terrorism is: “the undertaking of terrorist acts and activities within the maritime

4 https://thediplomat.com/2014/07/geography-and-indian-strategy/.

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environment, using or against vessels or fixed platforms at sea or in port, or against any one of their passengers or personnel, against coastal”. Some notable incidents in the Indian Ocean region include the attack of al-Qaeda on the USS Cole in 2000 and on the French tanker Limburg in 2002, also the use of Indian Ocean for Mumbai attack in 2008. The terrorist groups like LTTE (Sri Lanka) and Al Shabaab (Somalia) are also active in the IOR. The explosives which were being used in 1993 serial bomb blast in Mumbai were smuggled by the Raigad coast in Maharashtra and the 10 Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai on 26 November 2008 also came through the Indian Ocean sea route. These incidents showcase that our country’s coast is very much vulnerable. Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, (LeT) always try to create instability in India through the sea route like infiltration, attempt to attack India’s oil assets in Bombay High, Sabotage Ports, targeting assets which have very high values like the atomic power plants situated on the coast or attacking INS Vikrant. Indian government has got much information from intelligence agencies like LeT is training around 500 terrorists in the Azizabad coastal camps near Karachi so that they can take various initiatives to perform maritime terrorism in and around India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and also strike high value assets along Indian coasts. Pakistani navy and coast guard have seized hundreds of Indian fishing boats over period of time for allegedly wandering into Pakistan’s territorial waters. These terrorists’ organizations could misuse these boats for terrorist attacks. In point of fact, the national security organizations believe that these fishing boats could be used by these Pakistani terrorists to penetrate into Indian waters through Indian Ocean. 2. Issue of piracy: While discussing the maritime challenges one cannot ignore the issue of piracy which includes different threats and organized crimes that are transnational in nature, especially when it comes to fishery crimes. Having an expanding economic efficiency and maritime trade have its own pros and cons. On the one hand it provides enhanced development while on other it gives a ground to pirates who comes from under-privileged and sluggish economies (Arun Banerjee 2017). The unrestrained piracy which takes place off the coast of Somalia is a reminder for the security officials and experts that terrorism can be very easily delegated to these sea pirates. Terrorist organization like Al Qaeda and its associated terror

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groups could use the pirates to spread maritime terrorism. These Somali pirates have attacked and hijacked ninety vessels in 2008 for pay-off and ransacked cargo from wheat to chemicals. They have also seized many cargo ships and super tanks which were transporting the oil of millions of dollars. According to security experts these terrorists’ organizations consider these pirates beneficial for their terrorist activities as they have very good knowledge of shipping routes and they also have an approach with ports in the region through satellite phones and communication. Through this communication they get exact satellite communication about cargo shipping routes. This knowledge helps terrorist organizations in executing their maritime terrorism. The compulsory movement of vessels through the “choke points”5 encourages the act of piracy. During the timeframe of 2005–2012 in the Gulf of Aden and sea of Somalia the piracy incidents were at its zenith. In 2009 the “Djibouti code of conduct”6 was established in this regard which introduced the “Jeddah amendment”7 in 2017 to widen the scope of Djibouti code of conduct. Among the world’s most important international shipping route the Strait of Malacca is positioned between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. The Strait of Malacca is the “shortest waterway which connects the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. In 2013, 15.2 million barrels of oil a day passed through the strait, with the fuel from the Middle East primarily heading towards Indonesia, China, and Japan” (US Energy Information Administration). It is also one of the narrowest choke points in the world. The “narrowest point in the strait is only 1.7 miles wide, which creates a natural bottleneck for shipping. The strait has also become one of the newest piracy hotspots in the world” (Jeremy Bender 2015).

5 There are 8 choke points in the world. Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Bab-el-Mandab, the Malacca Strait and the Bosporus Strait, Danish Strait, Cape of Good Hope. 6 The Djibouti Code of Conduct that has been instrumental in repressing piracy and armed robbery against ships in the western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. 7 The Jeddah Amendment recognizes the important role of the “blue economy” including shipping, seafaring, fisheries and tourism in supporting sustainable economic growth, food security, employment, prosperity and stability. But it expresses deep concern about crimes of piracy, armed robbery against ships and other illicit maritime activity, including fisheries crime, in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

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3. Human trafficking and smuggling : By analyzing the global violence pattern one can find that organized crime, smuggling and trafficking are prevalent; especially in the Indian Ocean region the smuggling of drugs and arms is very frequent. Organized crime also involves counterfeit trade which varies from cigarettes to fashion brands. The coastlines of India, which includes Maharashtra and Gujarat coast line, sunder ban in West Bengal, Andaman Nicobar Island and Tamil Nadu coast, are subject to landing of contraband which makes this region highly vulnerable. There are many countries which are the origin place for illegally trafficked humans in the IOR and these trafficked humans faces the risk of losing life at the sea torture by criminals …The most dangerous and concerned place in the sea is the Gulf of Aden and the south Red Sea, where huge trafficking takes place between Bosasso and Berbera in Somalia and Yemen. Presently, most of the refugees in Yemen are Somali people… To examine the illegal trafficking in the maritime space six factors are required: “Source countries, Points of export (ports/harbours/coastlines), Transshipment nodes/countries (if/where applicable), Means of transportation (vessel type), Sea transportation routes, Destination countries/ports” (Rupert Herbert Burns 2012). The trafficking of human has also become a very profitable business, in the form of organized crime. When civil war started in Sri Lanka people started migrating to India above that many other things such as arms, ammunition, boat engines, diesel, etc. were also brought illegally out of the coast of Tamil Nadu. These smuggling continued even after the end of war. 4. Illegal migration: Asia has seen many waves of maritime migration as it has a huge region having islands, peninsulas and many old sea routes. Recently, from last few decades, the (illegal) migration has become a debatable issue, as refugees and irregular migrants travelling through the sea creates complications for the states in the Asia Pacific region to restrict their borders, to control the flow of immigrants and to abide by international laws (Kathleen Newland 2015). Illegal migration in India from its neighboring states creates political instability in the country especially in the bordering states. The creek areas of Gujarat are the most vulnerable areas for refugee influx as it is very near to Pakistan and also its terrain is favourable for easy movement. Lakshadweep is another targeted area where

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the terrorists’ organizations of Pakistan are trying to use this route to penetrate in India. Other reasons for illegal migration on east and south coast include victimization associated with religion and politics, poverty, and not having enough opportunities in their countries, etc. Terrorists can capitalize movement of these migrants to infiltrate India at the same time migrants who are facing financial problems could very easily be mobilized by these terrorists. 5. Environmental security: With the increasing environmental degradation and climate change issues the security of maritime ecosystem has become a very huge challenge. The Indian Ocean region (IOR) is the focus of 70% of natural disasters taking place all over the world. It could be seen through the disastrous tsunami occurred in 2004 and very frequent cyclones on the Eastern Coast of the region. There are more than “150 collisions at sea on a yearly basis due to poor visibility, non-serviceability of radars, hull failure, boiler explosions and human errors” (Khurana 2004). The natural disasters are the cause of global warming which causes the melting of polar ice. It will increase the mean sea level. These incidents will not only be “appalling for low lying areas and island nations, but, due to the mass exodus which would follow, it could also trigger a demographic upset and a resource crunch in neighboring regions” (Verma 2010). IOR did not get the proper attention on environmental concern especially on overexploitation of resources. An approach which advocates the sustainable exploitation of resources is needed here. Movement of fishermen beyond the territorial water is another matter of concern in Indian Ocean region. As mentioned above having a cordial relationship with the countries in the Indian Ocean region is very significant for India to make the region a globally common place. To have a more secured region India’s dynamics with China, Pakistan and Sri Lanka should also be revamped.

Maritime Issues Between India and China At the time when the importance of maritime trade is increasing, it plays very significant role in granting both the strategic advantage and economic benefits to nation states. China has put forward a plan for the revival of maritime silk route as sea counter of one belt one road initiative. China’s naval existence is constantly increasing in the Indian Ocean

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which poses a major challenge to India. 82% of energy needs of China get fulfilled by Indian Ocean, for example oil and gas requirements (Brewster 2015). 30% of Chinese sea trade, which accounts for about US$300 billion every year, is transported by the Indian Ocean (Khurana 2008). Recently Chinese naval submarines docked in Colombo. This growing presence could be seen in Chinese initiatives such as development of maritime infrastructure in Gwadar, Hambantota and Chittagong in South Asia, it is also establishing and revitalizing port facilities in Mombasa, Dar-e-Salam and Bagamoyo on the Eastern Coast of Africa. China is planning to build a Chinese trade-corridor in the Indian Ocean which could be seen as a part of its Maritime Silk Route initiative. The all-weather China-Pakistan friendship, coupled with its growing anti-Indian inclination further make India’s security issue more complex. Thus, it could be said that this growing naval presence in Indian Ocean would provide a ground for confrontation between both countries. China is growing its presence in the South West Indian Ocean (SSWIO) countries with the help of its private and state-owned companies which are involved in manufacturing or managing maritime infrastructure in SSWIO countries which includes Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, etc. This kind of involvement with neighbouring countries will provide China an advantage, for example recent Chinese involvement in Sri Lanka. While it raises concern for India to establish a strong presence in Indian Ocean and also to strengthen its ties with its neighbouring countries. As far as the intentions of China in Indian Ocean regarding India is concerned, the ever-increasing Chinese naval existence and the use of its military power through “pearls”, showcases that China wants to encircle India geographically in Indian Ocean (Khurana 2008). According to the “String-of-Pearls”8 theory, China is attempting to encircle India by setting up and upgrading ports in India’s neighbouring countries, which is another challenge posed by China to India. Most of the Indian security experts believe that this string of pearl strategy of China is not legitimate and its actual purpose is to counter the Indian influence in Indian Ocean. Although India has also increased its own involvement and strengthened its security relationships in the SSWIO countries, however still there is a lot of scope for more involvement with these countries.

8 The term was first used in a 2005 report titled “Energy Futures in Asia” prepared for the US Secretary of Defense by the private consultants.

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Tackling Pakistan Sir creek boundary which is not been demarcated is the matter of dispute between India and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean. It is tidal estuary which is located between India (Gujarat) and Pakistan (Sindh province). The UN tribunal had fixed the land boundary between the two countries but it did not demarcate the boundary. Because of this clearly not demarcated boundary both countries get involved into the conflict. The dispute is based on the explanation of the maritime boundary line between Kutch and Sindh. Before India got independence, this region was a part of the Bombay Presidency of British India and after its independence in 1947; Sindh became a part of Pakistan while Kutch remained a part of India. Pakistan asserted the entire creek on the basis of the Bombay Government Resolution (paragraph 9 and 10). This resolution was inked between the then government of Sindh and Rao Maharaj of Kutch in 1914. As per the resolution, the creek was part of Sindh, thus setting the boundary as the eastern flank of the creek popularly known as Green Line. However, India claims that the boundary is located in the middle of channel as illustrated in another map drawn in 1925, and implemented by the installation of mid-channel pillars back in 1924. The marshland of Sir Creek first became disputed in the early twentieth century when the Rao of Kutch and the Chief Commissioner of Sindh Province of British India, because of his distinct perceptions of the boundaries, laid claims over the creek. After this the Government of Bombay took up the issue, performed a survey and gave its judgement in 1914. This decision had two contrary paragraphs, which led both the India and Pakistan to become competitor for the same issue. “Paragraph 9 of this verdict states that the boundary between Kutch and Sindh lies “to the east of the Creek”, (Green Line) which effectively implied that the creek belonged to Sindh and, therefore, to Pakistan. On the other hand, Paragraph 10 states that since Sir Creek is navigable most of the year. According to international law and the Thalweg principle, a boundary can only be fixed in the middle of the navigable channel, which meant that it has be divided between Sindh and Kutch, and thereby India and Pakistan. India has used this para to consistently argue that the boundary needs to be fixed in the middle of the creek”. Pakistan, however, claims that Sir Creek isn’t navigable but India claims that since it’s navigable in high tide, the boundary should be made from the middle of the channel. Another important factor in this issue is that sir creek very often changes its course

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which leads to problems in demarcation of the area thus providing ground for conflict between India and Pakistan. The region is also imperative for its huge potential for energy as this region is rich in oil and gas below the sea bed, which will lead to huge economic advantage.9

Issues with Sri Lanka The agreements of 1974 and 1976 have clearly demarcated the boundary between India and Sri Lanka. Even after having clear demarcated boundary two countries are facing some maritime challenges which include the fishermen issue and Kachchathivu island issue. Kachchathivu island issue: The Agreement of 1974 through which Kachchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka, secured the traditional fishing rights of Indian fishermen, which allowed them to fish in and around Kachchatheevu. Sadly, these traditional rights were also given away at the time of maritime boundary agreement of 1976 which delimited the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal. The fishermen in Tamil Nadu feel, with justification, that the two agreements have struck a death blow to their livelihood (Suryanarayan 2013). Indian fishermen tried to claim their traditional fishing rights whereas the authorities of Sri Lanka refused these rights. This incident enraged the Indian fisherman which ultimately affected the politics of Tamil Nadu. In the year 2014 Tamil Nadu government request the apex court of India to call off the ceding of island to Sri Lanka for which Tamil Nadu gave an argument that this agreement was not approved by parliament. While clarifying the matter the government of India stated that the island was not ceded by silence but it was given to Sri Lanka in the settlement of maritime boundary dispute. Fishermen issue: The security threats and threats to the marine ecosystem have raised the issue of conflict between India and Sri Lanka, regarding the fishermen. At the time of Tamil Elam war, the navy of Sri Lanka started exerting more authority over Palk strait. This move of Sri Lankan navy brought the matter of Indian fishermen straying in Sri Lankan water into the spotlight. The main aim of this increased authority was to cease illegal trade and arms smuggling and for that many times they have to fire on Indian fishermen. This incident enraged the dispute 9 Various parts of this paragraph has been taken from a news article by Maninder Dabas titled “Everything You Need To Know About The Dispute Over Sir Creek Between India And Pakistan”.

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between two nations. The solution of this problem lies in administrative and technical measures. Rather than seeing Palk Bay as a competing territory it should be looked as a common heritage. A joint effort from each side is needed where there should be discussion and consensus among fisherman over the equitable sharing of resources and also how to maximize the marine resources. To get a solution to this issue a bottom-up approach is needed, where solution will come from the grass root level (Suryanarayan 2013).

Opportunities and Implications The future of Indian Ocean Region countries is directly proportional to how they will cope-up with the emerging challenges and opportunities in the region. Indian Ocean Region could be seen as an emerging region in the world affair and India’s role in this region is very cardinal and crucial. India, being one the fastest growing economy in the world and having demography of around 2.5 million people with an average age of 30, has a very high potential of playing a significant role in the IOR. India has also shifted towards the shared approach and being more comprehensive and re-evaluated its priorities in the region. The smooth functioning of globally important trade routes of Indian Ocean will lead to the economic progress of India as it is situated at the crossroad of connecting “Northern Atlantic” and “Asia Pacific”, which is one of the cardinal global trade routes. Providing protection to the movements of vessels carrying crude oil would pave a way towards the energy security of world in general and India in particular. Taking into account the threats arising from environmental degradation like over fishing and coastal deterioration and taking initiatives to protect the marine Environment will provide India an opportunity to become a global leader of environment friendly development. If India intensifies its involvement in protection of port facilities in its own country and at the same time making collaborations with neighbouring countries to build, manage and upgrade the port facilities, it could easily mark a strong influence in the Indian Ocean region and also it will enhance the trade benefits for itself. To attain the same, Indian Government has taken some initiatives for the blue economy development, modernization of its ports, initiated the Sagarmala programme,

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Industrial parks and logistic parks. This will lead to the port-led development in the states which are situated on coasts and will ultimately strengthen the Indian economy. Protecting the Maritime Transportation encompassing goods and people from pirates and assuring safe navigation in the region is another opportunity for India to gain economic benefit, stop illegal infiltration and to combat terrorism. India actively participates in joint naval exercise with many countries to restrict piracy in the Indian Ocean, security of sea lanes, etc. These mutual operations to work on a joint exercise in the ocean assure the confidence of most of the Indian Ocean Rim Countries in India’s capacity of being a major naval power and future of India becoming a global power which can enforce peace in the region in times of crisis. India is committed for protecting maritime transportation for which it is keeping itself in harmony with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14, which aims to protect coastal and marine resources and ensure that they remain a driver of economic development in the long term. Through this, India is moving towards the goal of “Blue Justice”.10 Resolving the problems related to fishermen with Sri Lanka would help India in stabilizing the politics of Tamil Nadu and also it will enhance the Fishery industry of country. India’s maritime strategy can best be described as dominance without hegemony which is reflected in its belief in international legal and conventional rule of law and a consensus-based maritime policy, which refuses to be a “zero sum game”.11 At the same time, India has to realize that the proper solutions to the challenges in IOR are need of hour to attain the above-mentioned goals.

Conclusion Security is one of the most important foreign policy aims of any country which includes both external and internal security. Changing dynamics of global politics has changed the focus of security from traditional to nontraditional securities as latter is Trans boundary in nature which affects the

10 Maritime security and countering maritime crime are known as Blue Justice. 11 A situation in game theory where one participant’s gain is equal to the another one’s

loss and net benefit is zero.

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whole world irrespective of their boundaries. It includes economic security, human security, health issues, environment issues, terrorism, human and drug trafficking, etc. similarly the objective of India’s maritime policy is also moving towards non-conventional security aspects. India must strike a balance between both conventional and non-conventional aspects of security so that it can utilize its full potential to form a more comprehensive policy, which will have the ability to address the current challenges. At present time one of the major objectives of India’s maritime policy should be to enhance military power and have a sound political and economic purpose in the Indian Ocean. It is very crucial to secure its coastal integrity from the regional threats. This aim has led to a more ambitious and coherent policy making. It focuses mainly on to safeguard the free movement of ships, a secure sea line communication and to protect its interests in neighbouring water, exclusive economic zone and island territories. It is very crucial for India to come out as a “world class blue water force”, to be able to handle the regional issues while capitalizing its significant strategic position in the IOR. India should also take necessary step to safeguard its exclusive economic zone (Panth 2016). While mentioning about India’s maritime security its position on Indian Ocean is very strategic and it is very comprehensively evolving its strategy for maritime security. However, India has to tackle lots of challenges in Indian Ocean region such as piracy, smuggling, trafficking, terrorism, illegal infiltration, resolving issues with neighbouring countries, countering China’s growing presence, etc. The competition between China and India in Indian Ocean needs a close scrutiny as the rivalry in land shows its effect on sea also. These issues can transform Indian Ocean from a peaceful area to an area having drastic competitive region. So, there is a need to establish cooperation between regional and extra regional players in the Indian Ocean Region so that this region can stay a peaceful place which will help in flourishing and development of all the stakeholders. India has increased its involvement in the Indian Ocean and also introduced major changes in its social, political and economic policies according to the demand of changing global political scenario. India is asserting its role as global power and inspiring the world to come up with the solution-oriented plans to counter growing challenges arising out of non-conventional security threats.

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References Khurana, G. 2008. ‘The Maritime Dimension of India’s Energy Security’. Strategic Analysis, 31(4): 583–601. Feldt, Lutz, Peter Roell, and Ralph D. Thiele. 2013. ‘Maritime Security— Perspectives for a Comprehensive Approach’. ISPSW Strategy Series: Focus on Defense and International Security, 222: 1–25.

CHAPTER 11

Water Security in India: Exploring the Challenges and Prospects Sandeep Kaur and Priya Gauttam

Introduction Survival of living beings cannot be imagined without water. Water is nature’s unique gift that made the world conducive to life. Human beings are highly dependent on water to carry out their life sustaining activities that mainly involve drinking, food production, economic development, and sanitation, etc. Moreover, this precious gift of nature is a renewable resource. As having a renewable nature, it is a sustainable natural resource by means of storage, recycling, reuse, and transport. Despite these amazing properties of water, India is facing various water-related challenges such as water pollution, scarcity, uneven distribution, etc. Therefore, the Government of India has been formulating National Water

S. Kaur Department of Political Science, Khalsa College Amritsar, Amritsar, India P. Gauttam (B) Department of South and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_11

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Policies from time to time to meet these challenges and to ensure water security to the people. Although water is the most abundant natural resource available on earth which covers nearly 71% of the earth’s total surface, but, 97% of the water is salty and is not drinkable. Two percent of the total earth’s water is in the form of ice glaciers and less than one percent is freshwater that can be used for various life sustaining purposes. India has more than 18% of the world’s population, but just 4% of the world’s clean water supplies, with 2.4% of the world’s land area (N.W.P., 2012). The two main sources of water in India are the Himalayan glacier and the Monsoon season. Himalayan glacier is the source of freshwater, which feeds the major rivers, such as Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Indus. These three rivers are the lifeline of the East, West and the Northern people resided in India. Nearly half of India’s water resources are found mostly in the different tributaries of these river systems. Most of the socio-economic activities of the population depend on these water resources for production, such as agriculture, hydropower, and industrial activities. As India continues to grow from agriculture to techno-industrial economy, its usage of natural resources is also increasing. Water demand has increased as a result of population growth, urbanization, and industrialization. Population of India is increasing by leaps and bounds and hence its food demand too. Agriculture sector which fulfills the demand of food is highly water intensive. Most of the fresh water in India, especially groundwater is used for irrigation. Groundwater level in villages is decreasing day-by-day. Farmers are being deprived of their livelihood due to lack of water and hence they are migrating toward cities for work. This is creating an additional burden on the cities to meet the water demand of a large number of people. Furthermore, to be a developed economy, India also needs to develop its industrial sector, which also requires huge amounts of water. India is also facing various water-related issues due to anthropogenic climate change and global economic activities. With the little availability of freshwater, degrading farmland, anthropogenic climate change, and increasing water demands in an industrializing economy, India stands at the threshold of water insecurity. Meeting the requirement of water for the world’s second largest population is the biggest challenge for policy makers in India. A comprehensive study of these challenges is necessary to mitigate the human and development issues. Therefore, this chapter introduces the relevance of the term “Water Security” for India. Furthermore, to ensure water security, the chapter

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discusses the problems related to water resources and policy responses of the Indian government to resolve them. Furthermore, the chapter also provides some policy suggestions to achieve water security for all. Conceptualizing Water Security A conventional view of security has always been in terms of national security. Especially after World War II, The goal of national security has become to protect the sovereignty of the state through military power. As Dabelko rightly pointed out “At its most fundamental level, the term security has meant the effort to protect a population and territory against organized force while advancing state interests through competitive behaviour” (1995: 3). But this state-centered discourse of security began to be challenged after the late 1980s. New alternative approaches have emerged in security literature such as critical security studies, peace studies, environmental security, human security, and so forth. However, Vandana Asthana and Ashok Chandra Shukla have argued that “The differences in determining who or what is to be secured, and against whom, have been in the forefront of the debates in security studies” (2014: 01). Therefore, security in terms of securing borders and sovereignty is not enough for the people of less developed nations where people are facing other fundamental problems such as poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy, hunger, lack of access to water and sanitation. Water problems are continuously growing around the world and are adversely affecting people, prosperity of nation, and national security. Water has been one of the most enduring sources of stress at the international and national community and even at the individual level. Although there is no clear cut definition of water security but in the broader sense, Grey and Sadoff explained water security as “The availability of an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods, ecosystems, and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks to people, environments and economies” (2007: 548). United Nations (2013) has defined Water Security as the “the capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, and socio-economic development, for ensuring protection against waterborne pollution and water-related disasters, and for preserving ecosystems in a climate of peace and political stability.” The concept of water safety was first introduced in the 1990s but it was rarely used. In 2000, the

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World Water Council (2000) introduced its vision for “A Water Secure World – Vision for Water, Life, and the Environment,” and the Global Water Partnership (2000) published a report entitled “Towards Water Security: A Framework for Action.” The first integrative definition of water security was introduced in the second world water forum (2000). Global water partnership defined “Water security at any level, from the household to the global, means that every person has access to enough safe water at affordable cost to lead a clean, healthy, and productive life while ensuring that the natural environment is protected and enhanced” (Global Water Partnership, 2000). Although water security is a comprehensive term, it can be understood in terms of water quality and quantity, sustainability, human needs, and human vulnerability to hazards. Water security is a major concern for countries around the world, particularly those with large populations.

Water Security and India: A Relevant Concept Most of the challenges related to water security revolve around the world’s developing and emerging economies. India is now the world’s fastest growing economy, with its unique characteristics and domestic challenges. India is poised to become a developed economy with the world’s second largest population. With a rapid economic growth, waterdependent sectors such as agriculture, urban areas, industry, and production are also growing at an unprecedented rate. According to a National Intelligence Council Report published in 2012 with the title “The Global Trends 2030,” India and China will be the emerging powerhouses and by 2030, Asia will be well on its way back to being the powerhouse of the world, just as it was before 1500 (Asthana & Shukla, 2014). By considering India’s growth rate, one can easily understand the growing demand of water resources will be enormous. Therefore, sustainable use of water is most significant for India to meet water demand of its people with economic development. However, meeting these demands is not an easy task. The United Nations World Water Development Report 2009 found that by 2030 nearly half of the world’s population (about 4 billion people) will be living in regions with high water stress. The report also emphasized that increasing demands for food, energy, and water will stress resources in almost all regions of the world especially in the developing world. India needs to work on two tenets of water security—“quality” and “quantity.” However, these two tenets are slowly challenged by a

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range of water problems in India such as shortage of water (where water demand exceeds water supply), deprived water quality, water pollution, etc. To ensure water security to its people, India needs to understand and address the following water-related problems/challenges. Water Pollution In India, water resource pollution is a major problem that affects both the quality and quantity of the water. While 5% of the total water is used for domestic use, 27% of the villages and 6% of the urban population in India do not have access to drinking water (Hegde, 2012). Moreover, there is a serious concern about water quality which affects health. It is estimated that over 70% of the water consumed by India’s rural population does not meet WHO standards. It has been reported that 80% of diseases in rural areas, 21% of transmissible diseases, and 20% of deaths among children in the five year age group are directly related to precarious water consumption (ibid.). There are many reasons for increasing water pollution such as; the release of untreated sewage and industrial waste into rivers, extreme fertilizer use in agriculture, and contamination of groundwater with salts and minerals present in the lower soil profiles. It is estimated that 36 million tons of sewage are produced daily in New Delhi alone out of which only 50% are treated and the rest are released into the Yamuna River. Other cities like Lucknow, Patna are also facing the same problems. Only 30% of the sewage water generated in 23 major cities is treated and the remainder pollutes 18 major rivers in the country (Shah, 2016). Throughout India, the largest rivers are also polluted with fluorides, nitrites, and other toxic metals. At present, so many people are suffering from fluorosis. It is estimated that about 66 million people in twenty states are at risk due to excess of fluoride (Connett et al., 2004). Around ten million people are at risk due to surplus arsenic in groundwater. The rise in the use of these compounds has reduced the efficiency of the surface water supply because of nitrate pollution. The total cost of environmental degradation in India amounts to US$ 80 billion per annum (Business Standard, 2013). Of this, 59% results from the health impacts of water pollution (Singh & Kumar, 2014). In 1995, a survey undertaken by the Central Pollution Control Board identified 22 sites in 16 states as critical for groundwater pollution due to industrial effluents. Various reports have highlighted the presence of heavy metals like lead, cadmium,

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zinc, and mercury in the groundwater of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Delhi, and Haryana. Bacterial contamination of water continues to be a widespread problem across the country and is a major cause of illness and deaths with 37.7 million affected by waterborne diseases annually. “The major pathogenic organisms responsible for waterborne diseases in India are bacteria (E Coli, Shigella, V cholera), viruses (Hepatitis A, Polio Virus, Rota Virus) and parasites (E Histolytica, Giardia, Hook Worm)” (Ashbolt, 2004). Rivers in India are the major water resource for a large section of people but most of them are highly polluted. Most polluted rivers in India are Ganga, Yamuna, Sutlej, Narmada, and Kaveri, etc. Ganga is the fifth most polluted river in the world and it is polluted by human waste, industrial waste, and by religious practices. Large portion of the sewage water with high organic load flows into Ganga. Most industrial cities are located near the bank of river Ganga such as Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, and Patna. Chemical plants, textile mills, distilleries, slaughterhouses, and hospitals of these cities prosper and grow along the Ganga River and contribute to the pollution of Ganga by dumping untreated waste into it. Seventy billion people bathe in the river during the festival and left food waste in the Ganga for the rituals. As well, India’s Yamuna River is contaminated by open sewage drains, lack of proper sewage treatment plants, soil degradation, and dumping toxic waste into the river water. The Yamuna River once had ‘clear blue’ water but the river is now one of the world’s most polluted rivers, particularly around New Delhi (Kaur, 2014). The city is pouring into the river 58% of its waste. Pollutants in the river water develop at an alarming pace. Days aren’t far away when Delhi homes will have water polluted as ever. 70% of Delhi actually drinks filtered water from the Yamuna River (ibid.). Water from none of the rivers is fit for drinking. Groundwater is also highly polluted in India. A major problem is groundwater quality, which accounts for more than 85% of domestic supply. Groundwater pollution occurs due to poor sanitation systems, landfill, leaking sewer, petrol stations, and extreme use of pesticides in agriculture. Groundwater pollution is also due to natural contaminants such as arsenic or fluoride. Containment has been brought by overdependence on groundwater, Fluoride is one of these. Around 20 states are at risk due to excessive fluoride. While the WHO’s permissible fluoride limit in water is 1 mg per liter, but the fluoride range in drinking water in India is detected from 0.2 to 48 mg/l (Kumar, 2016). Approximately 6

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million children under 14 are suffering from dental problems. Arsenic is also a dangerous groundwater prowling killer which puts nearly 10 million people at risk. The problem is serious in West Bengal’s districts of Murshidabad, Noida, North and South 24 Paraganas, Malda, and Bardhaman (Kunar et al., 2016). A further serious concern is the high content of nitrates in water. The principal sources of nitrate contamination are fertilizers, sewage tanks, etc. Traces of nitrates have been shown in the groundwater at MP, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. It is bacteriological contamination that contributes to cholera, and widespread hepatitis in India (The Times of India, 2018). Impure water is likewise a major burden on the state. In places where water quality has deteriorated sharply, there is an urgent need to look for alternative sources of potable water. Water Scarcity in India After two successive years of low rainfall, the severe drought affects a quarter of the population of the State. Approximately 50% of India is struggling with conditions close to a drought. The situation in India’s southern and western states, which received below average rainfall, has been particularly grim this year. The NITI Aayog in its report entitled “Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) 2018,” has mentioned that twenty one cities (Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad etc.) are competing to reach zero groundwater levels by 2020, affecting access for hundreds of millions of citizens. However, 12% of India’s population is already living the ‘Day Zero’ scenario, owing to excessive groundwater extraction, inefficient and wasteful water management, and years of deficient rainfall. According to the study by 2030, water demand is expected to be twice the supply available, resulting in extreme water shortage for hundreds of millions of citizens and a potential 6% reduction in GDP of the country (The Economic Times, 2018). In addition, approximately half of India is facing a drinking water crisis with Chennai and Bengaluru bearing the brunt as the monsoon has been delayed and arrived without a bucket (Dutta, 2019). According to the Central Water Commission, 2000 (as cited in Sen, 2018), 85.3% of the total water used was for agriculture. It is expected to fall by 2025 to 83.3%. India is spending no money on the conservation of water consumed in agriculture. Surprisingly, water conservation exists in the manufacturing and utility industries, all of which use

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less than 5% of the nation’s water (Sen, 2018). Therefore, more than 50% part of India is facing high to extremely high water stresses. For irrigation, about 89% of groundwater is used. This is the country’s highest consumer group. Household use comes in second place, with nine percent of the groundwater extracted followed by industry using only two percent (Dutta, 2019). Farmers are now searching for other sources of water, as the seasonal monsoon has become dependent on groundwater, which has now become subject to a typical “tragedy of the commons” situation. Groundwater is used to meet a total 50% of urban water needs and 85% of rural household water needs (ibid.). There are now more than 25 million blocks of groundwater in India, but many of them are under threat. The water crisis is manmade because of increasing population growth and the lack of proper water resource management in India. Inefficient use of water for agriculture is one of the main reasons for water scarcity. Traditional techniques of irrigation cause maximum loss to water due to drainage, water conveyance, and extreme extraction of groundwater. India has also been incapable of treatment and reuse of domestic wastewater. Approximately 80% of the water entering the country’s domestic sector is drained out as waste flow to pollute rivers and land as well. India entered the league of water deficient nations according to the 2011 census. If the availability per capita falls below 1700 cubic meters per citizen, a nation shall be considered water deficient. At the beginning of this decade, water availability per capita fell to 1500 cubic meters per person (Sen, 2018). According to WRIS report, India will fall below 1,100 cubic meters per person by 2050. It shows that the quantity of water is continuously decreasing in India in a very rapid manner. Unequal Distribution and Availability It is predictable that while eighty one percent of all households have access to forty liters of water per day through different sources. About 18% to 20% of rural families have piped water supply networks. This produced inconsistencies in water quality and supply (Dutta, 2019). According to the Niti Aayog’s Composite Water Management Index (2018), 75% of households do not have on-site drinking water and about 84% of rural households do not have access to water. Where people have piped water supply, water is not treated properly. Like Delhi and Mumbai, they get more than 150 litres per capita per day (LPCD) than the normal municipal water norm, whereas other cities get 40 to 50 LPCD.

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Non-Revenue Water Non-Revenue Water (hereafter NRW) refers to the disparity in water volume delivered to customers and the amount of water actually reaching customers. In other words, NRW is the water physically lost (through leakages or bad infrastructure) or obviously lost (through incorrect metering and theft). In India, the average national NRW is 20%. The NRW average is more than twice the national average in some cities like Delhi and Goa. The bulk of the water sold on the Delhi black market is alleged to come from the public water grid, which causes artificial water insecurity (Majumder, 2015). There is no doubt that aging and poorly developed infrastructure are the major causes of NRW in India, while crime and corruption are playing an increasingly bigger role in the problem. Water pollution, along with overexploitation and improper management practices, has created a dangerous situation related to the unavailability of water resources for future generations. Above mentioned water-related problems are not recently emerged. Policy makers of India are already concerned about these problems, so they have taken some steps through the policies to address these issues.

Policies Toward Water Management After forty years of independence, the Indian government introduced National Water Policy in 1987. National water policy was introduced firstly in 1987 and revised in 2002 and 2012. The primary objective of this water policy is to provide every person with drinkable water and to sort out the water problems like water pollution, lack of drinking water, floods, drought, and mismanagement of water resource and wastage of water. The first National Water Policy introduced in 1987 was divided into 21 parts. Each section focused on particular topics related to the need of water policy to training in an information system, project planning, management of water distribution system, etc. However, with the passage of time, there appeared some policy implications which led to the revision of water policy in 2002 by the NDA government. In 2002 some more sections were added to water policy which includes; water rates, farmer’s participation, water sharing /distribution of water among states, etc. In 2012, the UPA government revised National Water Policy which was something different from the first two (1987 and 2002) National Water Policies.

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National Water Policy 1987 The main provisions of National water Policy of 1987 are as follows: Ground Water Development: Exploitation of groundwater resources should be regulated to ensure social equity. The extraction of water from the ground should not be exceeded to the recharging possibilities. There should be a groundwater recharge project for the maintenance of the groundwater. Water Allocations Priorities: The NWP 1987 also introduced water allocation on the basis of priorities which were divided into five categories: (i) Drinking water, (ii) Irrigation, (iii) Hydropower, (iv) Navigation, and (v) Industrial and other uses. Simultaneously, it was also mentioned that these priorities can be changed. Appropriate drinking water facilities should be provided to the entire population of India by 1991. Irrigation and multipurpose projects will provide a drinking water component on a regular basis, when no alternative source of drinking water is available. First, the need of human and animal drinking water should be met with the available water. There should be social justice and equity in the irrigation system. Efforts should be made to involve the farmers in different aspects of the administration of irrigation systems. Water Rate: Groundwater level in India is going down very fast. For the rational utilization of water, the NWP introduced water price. However, the water rate should be different for the marginalized people. The involvement of voluntary agencies and farmers: Voluntary agencies should be recruited to educate farmers on the rational use and management of water so as to maintain soil and surface water quality. Water zoning: The country’s water zoning should take place and economic activities should be guided and scheduled in compliance with such water zoning. Conversations on water consciousness should be encouraged through education, rules, motivators, and resources. Management of flood control: The National Water Policy also contains important guidelines for flood control. A flood forecasting network should be set up to provide timely warning to the settlements in the flood plains. There is a guideline for settlements and economic activity in the flood-prone areas to minimize the loss of life and property due to floods. The land degradations will be reduced. Drought Management: It is mentioned in the first paragraph of NWP that every third part of the country is drought affected. Meanwhile, the clause number 18 mentioned that the drought-prone area should get

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priority in the water resource management planning. The employment should be given to the persons who have suffered drought conditions. The NWP also gave preference to the scientific management of water resources. The good training was necessary for every field of water management whether it is project planning or information system. This water policy has all the major aspects of water management, but the Implementation of water policy was poor. National Water Policy 2002 In the water resources sector, new challenges emerged which required a review of the National Water Policy of 1987. The National Water Management Council adopted the updated National Water Policy 2002 at its 5th meeting held on April 1, 2002. This policy was divided into 27 sections and some new sections were also added into this policy, such as Rehabilitation, economic and Physical Sustainability, Participatory Approach to Water Resources Management, participation of Private Sector, distribution of water among the states, and Improvement in the performance. Financial and Physical Sustainability: The NWP 2002 gave new Water Pricing, called as Financial and Physical Sustainability. According to this section, it is necessary to impose some price on the different use of water. This would be for maintenance and service providing. But there would be subsidies for the disadvantaged and poorest section of the society. Participatory Approach to Water Resources Management: This section is new in NWP 2002. The 2002 NWP adopted a participatory approach for the management of water resources. It does not involve only farmers, as NWP 1987 involved, but also included government institutions, other users, and stakeholders. After the 73rd and 74th amendment of the constitution, NWP was revised for the first time in 2002. So under the participatory approach, the Gram Panchayats have also been included in the operation, for conservation and the administration of water resources. Private Sector Participation: This section shows the effect of liberalization on the Indian economy. Before liberalization, in NWP 1987, the only participation in the water resources was of farmers and volunteers. NWP 2002 encouraged the contribution of the private sector in the planning, management, and development of water bodies. Water sharing/distribution among the states: Most of the states have water sharing disputes among each other. Against this backdrop, The

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NWP 2002 suggests that the water dispute should be resolved with due regard for water facilities from the national perspective. The states facing water shortage problems should make an agreement with the basin state for fulfilling the future demands. Performance Improvement: Improvement in water resource management efficiency is required. Drinking water, irrigation, hydropower, forestry, agro-sectors, and non-agricultural sectors should be priorities for water allocation. There is a need for improvement in the performance of water resources management. A new section has been added to this water policy that the drainage system will form a fundamental part of any irrigation project started from the planning stage. It was not included in the 1987 water policy’s project planning section. National Water Policy 2012 The salient features of NWP 2012 are as follows: The National Framework of Law: According to NWP 2012, there is a need for a national framework of law at the center level, state law by the states, and lower tier should tackle the local water situation. To maintain the food security and sustainable development, there is a need to accept that water is a community resource and it should be maintained by the communities under the control of the state. Use of water: NWP 2012 stated that Agriculture, hydropower, thermal power and navigation, domestic and industrial use need water. It should be the duty of States to provide the households with a minimum amount of water. Ecological needs of the river must be understood in terms of the natural flow of the river. It can be characterized by the small floods and large floods. Natural flow of the river should meet the development needs. States and communities should further maintain the area where water resources are in abundance but poorly managed. The community should firstly meet the water needs of local people. Adaptation to climate change: This section is included for the first time in the NWP due to rapid change in climate. Adoption indicates a transition to a new or changing world in a natural or human system. Adaptation approaches will include better demand control by implementing wellsuited agricultural techniques, crop patterns, and improved methods for water application. Enhancing water availability for use: Availability of water resources and their uses need to be scientifically assessed and reviewed after every five

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years. There is a need to increase the water availability due to an increase in demand and to stop the overexploitation of groundwater by using a different technique. The need of an hour is to recharge the groundwater rather than extraction. Demand management and water use efficiency: To meet the demands of citizens in the twenty-first century, policy estimated the need for sustainable use of water. Water should be recycled and reused and irrigation should be based on modern techniques. The project should be planned for the economic use of water and should be completed as soon as possible. The focus should be on increasing water availability through direct use of rainfall, desalination, avoidance of unplanned evaporation, improved water use technologies, encouraging efficient use of water, and encouraging community-based aquifer management. Water Pricing: One new clause added in this section is that there should be a tariff system on the recycle and reuse of water. The price of water should be based on a differential principle. Priority allocation will ensure food security and livelihood support for the vulnerable. The WUA’s job has remained the same as in the 2002 NWP. Conservation of river corridors, water bodies, and infrastructure: The Management of such infrastructure should be maintained in a scientific manner by the community participation. Water bodies should be protected from getting polluted. Special care needs to be taken of the Himalayan region and wet lands during the project planning. Water Supply and Sanitation: There should be equality in the supply of water to the rural and urban areas. Efforts should be made to improve the water supply in the rural areas. The supply of water, both in rural and urban areas, should not be based on only groundwater, but on the surface and rainwater also. Recycled water can be used in toilets. Water bills should include sewage charges. Industries established in the water shortage area should allow withdrawing only the make-up water and must avoid the groundwater pollution. Modernization of Water Management: While coming on the provision for modernization of water management, the NWP 2012 emphasized on the modern technique of water management. The level of groundwater has been going down due to the over-extraction of the water. NWP adopted the modern technique of artificial recharge of ground and encouraging the community-based management of aquifers. Artificial recharge seeks to improve the natural replenishment of groundwater

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resources through any building process, water distribution, or by artificially modifying natural conditions. Renewal of groundwater by artificial recharge of aquifers in India’s drought region is indispensable, as natural rainfall intensity is grossly insufficient to generate any surplus of moisture under natural infiltration conditions. While artificial groundwater recharge methods have been widely used in the developed nations for several decades, their use has occurred only recently in developing nations such as India. In India, artificial groundwater recharge has been employed in the states of Gujarat, Kerala Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. Modern Technique for Irrigation: The management of water resources also depends on the modern technique of irrigation. The NWP 2012 focuses on the modern techniques of irrigation such as micro-irrigation which includes sprinkler, drip techniques. Simultaneously, irrigation techniques include the field ponds also. Sprinkler irrigation involves spraying water through nozzles into the air and allowing it to fall almost evenly on the surface of the ground, at a rate lower than the soil’s penetration rate. Using sprinkler irrigation in areas such as high permeability soils, subsidizing soils, steep slopes, and fresh groundwater under shallow occurrences is beneficial. The rate of application of water can be well controlled by this method and is particularly suited in areas with limited availability of water resources. National Water Policy and Public–Private Partnership Many of the high profile privatization projects collapsed in the late 1990s. This has happened because of the severe political and social backlash these privatization projects faced due to steep price increases, inefficient operations, and poor quality of service. After that, the global water companies like Veolia, Suez, and SAUR have begun to seek more funding from the IFIs and the governments of developing countries. The support sought was in terms of assured income, intervention procedures from the International Financial Institutions (hereinafter IFIs) to mitigate risks, significant grants and soft loans, and cooperation with private companies toward the goals of profit-making from the water sector (Dwivedi, 2010). Nevertheless, the IFIs who were advocating privatization as a solution realized in continuing their commitment to promoting the free market and marketing that a new strategy would be required to keep the idea of privatization viable. IFIs such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the

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Public–Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) have shifted from seeing privatization as a panacea for all ills in the public sector to adopting a ‘private sector-led development,’ backed by public-sector investment in the form of public–private partnerships (PPPs). The Bank’s current infrastructure strategy, therefore, shows a clear shift from reliance on the private sector to delivering on investment and services to encourage public–private partnerships when compared with the 1980s and 1990s. A similar approach has been taken in the report of the Water Resources Working Group, Ministry of Water Resources, and Government of India. Public–private partnership model was recommended in the National Water Policy of 2002. Under this partnership, the responsibility of the government shifts to the hands of private corporations. This private corporation does not cover only the drinking water supply but also the management of water resources as the NWP added. In early 2000, more PPP projects were proposed, with a focus on management contracts involving operations and improvements to management that were more consistent with sector priorities. Because public utilities were not recovering operations and maintenance costs were entirely through tariffs, governments began providing public funding to meet a significant portion of the investment requirements to bring in the private sector to leverage their efficiency creation capabilities. Since 2005, a total of 10 projects have been awarded, involving the distribution of water to domestic consumers. A study was carried out by Water and Sanitation Program (hereinafter WSP), Trends in Private Sector Participation in the Indian Water Sector. A critical review identified 12 PPP projects in India under WSP 2011. All water supply projects except Latur clearly targeted 24/7 supply and other service delivery parameters. This focus and the early results in the Karnataka and Nagpur pilot projects significantly contributed to mainstreaming service delivery objectives and hence end user satisfaction in the water sector in India, and specifically among PPPs. This is a significant shift from the overriding focus on asset creation prevailing in the 1990s. Further, concurrent with the PPP, Nagpur also incorporated a fully owned company called Nagpur Environmental Services Limited (NESL). The water supply functions have been transferred to NESL. The PPP contract is signed and supervised by NESL. The Water Board oversees the agreement. A regular vigilance committee meeting for tanker owners The State is using market processes to provide people with water. Since the Eighth Plan, the private sector has been encouraged to build and maintain drinking water projects. The

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Tenth Plan (2002–2007) emphasized that water delivery to consumers would generally be demand-based, with consumers prepared to maintain, operate, and finance. This means those with purchasing power will have easy access to drinking water, while those without purchasing power would have to dream. So, in India, the water sector has been privatized twice. First, management contracts privatize water supply. The second is more subtle and has far-reaching effects via water sector reforms.

Water Security: NDA Government’s Initiative Toward Water Sector Swajal Scheme Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (NDA-1 government), the ministry of drinking water and sanitation has launched “Swajal scheme” to ensure clean drinking water supplies in rural areas. This scheme will cover one hundred fifteen rural districts in the whole India. It will involve a cost of seven hundred crore rupees through funds under the existing National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) budget. (Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, 2018). Swajal was initially launched as a pilot scheme in February 2018 in six States of Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Subsequently, it was extended to the one hundred twelve districts in twenty-seven states recognized by NITI Aayog. These districts have low coverage of habitations with piped water supply (hereinafter PWS) as compared to national coverage. Thus, this scheme will cover all these districts and there is a massive possibility for the development of PWS through Swajal in these aspirational districts. The Swajal scheme demands the participation of local gram panchayats with the partnership of rural communities and state-sponsored agencies and these agencies will operate and maintain this scheme. The scheme would be implemented as a groundwater-based Piped Water Supply (PWS) scheme in all the aspirational districts. 90% of this project is financed by the government and 10% by the beneficiary communities (India Today, 2018). Villagers and technicians trained under this framework handle the control of water through this scheme to maintain and run the units. This scheme would ensure that there should be no contamination of the water. Skilled technicians will take care of the maintenance of these pipes.

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National River Linking Project This project was introduced by the NDA-1 government in 2014, a project named the National River Linking Project (hereinafter NLRP) officially known as the national perspective plan. However, this project was rejected by parliament thirty years ago. But Prime Minister Modi took the initiative to introduce this project again. The aim of the project is to equalize water flow by connecting “surplus rivers” in flood-prone areas to “deficient rivers” in drought-prone areas and thereby create a steady and consistent flow of water throughout the whole of India (Bansal, 2019). This project would meet the irrigation, domestic consumption, and industries condition of humans, thus underestimating the need for the river itself to have water. The project will cover thirty river links created between the Himalayan and Peninsula Basin River. This will irrigate 35 million hectares of land through increased surface water and a further 10 million hectares of land through recharged groundwater reserves, while also generating 34,000 megawatts of energy. The whole project is expected to take approximately fourteen years to complete. This project will generate hydropower, and it is predictable to add hydropower to curb millions of drinking water woes and also supply water to industries in drought-prone and waterscarce cities in the south and west India. In 2016, under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, the NDA-1 government launched a drip irrigation scheme in sixty-four districts across the country, which greatly improved water and energy output. However, little was done to expand or carry on the scheme in other districts. The expansion of this scheme would have defiantly increased agricultural water efficiency.

The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan The Modi government has tried to tackle the water problem from a social perspective and launched the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan). The Abhiyan’s goal is to create around 1 lakh toilet in rural India, where only 14% of households have access to toilets, in a bid to minimize sewage runoff into local water bodies and sources. All of the above mentioned schemes show that the government of India took various steps to fulfill the water demands required for domestic and industrial purposes. However, given the population, India is still in severe water scarcity.

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Recommendations Although, the Government of India has taken various policy measures to tackle water insecurity but these measures are not enough. Policy makers should incorporate some other aspects also. National Water Policy should prioritize providing the people with clean drinking water. For that purpose, the government should mention a special paragraph in the NWP and related time period to achieve these goals. Poor people are not able to pay the price for water. Government should fix a quota of free drinking water in the policy especially for the economically weak or backward people and tribal people both in rural and urban areas. These services should be provided by the government or public sector and not by the MNCs. Government must impose strict penalties on the MNCs for the over exploitation of ground and surface water. These penalties should be mentioned in NWP. Local people should have the first right to use groundwater wherever there is a water bottle making factory of MNCs. Basic needs of the local communities should not be compromised. It is positive that NWP adopted a participatory approach and mentioned that water resource projects and services should be handled and managed with community participation. But when corporations become involved in water resource management then community involvement goes down. There should be the responsibility of the local Panchayats to maintain the water resources and provide a safeguard from the water pollution. It should not only be mentioned in the NWP, but there should be a strong obligation on the Panchayats to manage water resources. The government should also keep a close watch on the activities of the panchayat and corporations to ensure water security. There is no doubt that local communities can take care of natural resources in the best way. Therefore, the involvement of local people should be increased compared to private corporations for managing water resources. Considering the increasing population of India, it is very important to use water rationally and wisely. The government should not only take care of the quantity but also the quality of the water. Fresh water is very important to prevent various water-related diseases. Quality water is required to maintain hygiene, environment, sanitation, and storage facilities also. For industrial purposes, recycled water can be used. Domestic waste water should be used for agriculture purposes. Integrating recycled water into agricultural supplies will reduce water scarcity in food production. To

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prevent wastage of water, the government should organize some seminars and workshops for rural and urban people to make them aware of the sustainable use of water. Maintaining the quality and quantity of water for livelihoods, health, climate, ecosystems, and development is a major challenge for India’s policy makers. Above mentioned recommendations might help policy makers to achieve water security objectives.

Conclusion Water security is widely recognized as an important and ever more pressing policy challenge. To tackle this issue, appropriate indicators are needed to stimulate policy action and to measure the effectiveness of interventions. Therefore, the present crisis in the water sector requires a fundamental and far-reaching change in the way we govern waterrelated issues. The lack of a water policy is likely to indicate that a state has no comprehensive goals for its water resources. The goal of managing the quantity, quality, and reliability of water supplies in the nation is to achieve optimal, long-term, environmentally sustainable social and economic benefits for their use in society. The vital purpose of a water policy is to change water use behavior. Whatever approach is taken, policy inevitably intervenes somewhere in the cycle of public or private decision-making. Minimizing the detrimental consequences of water overuse and misuse, and ensuring important water supplies are used to eradicate poverty and promote economic and human growth. A water policy needs to be made that acknowledges and addresses the problems that the country faces and will face over the next century.

References Aayog, NITI. (2018). Composite water management index. National Institution for Transforming India, GOI . Ashbolt, N. J. (2004). Microbial contamination of drinking water and disease outcomes in developing regions. Toxicology, 198(1–3), 229–238. Asthana, V., & Shukla, A. C. (2014). Water security in India: hope, despair, and the challenges of human development. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Bansal, S. (2019, September 14). National River Linking Project: Dream or disaster? India Water Portal. Retrieved from https://www.indiawaterportal. org/articles/national-river-linking-project-dream-or-disaster

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PART IV

Geographical Contours

CHAPTER 12

Securitization of Climate Change: A Case Study of India Sudheer Singh Verma

Introduction People live in fear of climate change that has led to catastrophic risks. These may invoke conflicts among communities resulting in the interaction of climate change, environmental degradation and social, economic, demographic, and political factors. Actors—individual, community, and Mass media are involved in the process of securitizing occurred/occurring natural disaster phenomenon caused by changes in the Earth’s ecosystem through recalling memories in the minds of members of a society. For example, the heavy rains, floods, and droughts that occurred over different areas of India triggered by weather pattern variability. The changing climate pattern is the consequence of rising earth temperature caused by human activities which emit greenhouse gases in the

S. S. Verma (B) Department of South and Central Asian Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India e-mail: [email protected]

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_12

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atmosphere. When people frequently read and listen about the catastrophic natural occurrences that occur daily, a sense of security about the future begins to imprint in the human mind. People, therefore, began to consider climate change as security threats affecting directly human security. Climate change affects the frequency and intensity of natural disastrous events and affecting the vulnerability of households and communities to hazards. India, for instance, is facing the wrath of climate change in the form of frequent natural hazards. According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), over 40 million hectares or 12% of the country’s territories is susceptible to flooding and river erosion. India has witnessed 285 reported flooding events from 1945 to 2017, affecting approximately 850 million people, leaving 19 million homeless and killing around 71,000 (Choudhary, 2018). Recently in August 2018, heavy rains and floods devastated several parts of the state of Kerala. These disastrous events killed about 216 people and displaced over 7.24 lakh people (‘Focus shifts to relief as waters recede in Kerala’, 2018). These hazards have threatened economy, population, and sustainable development of India, especially due to its rising vulnerabilities associated with demographic changes and social-economic circumstances and unplanned urbanization. As, Roxy Matthew Koll of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune argues: Our vulnerability to extreme rainfall is increasing as more people are living in low-lying areas and land development is changing drainage patterns. When there is more rain than the soil can absorb, water will quickly run-off overwhelming streams, drains and rivers, and causing flash floods. (quoted in Choudhary, 2018)

The horrific memories related to flooding occurrences in several Indian states, for example, flash flooding in Uttarakhand in June 2013, flooding in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, in Chennai, Tamilnadu in November 2015, in Assam in 2016, and in Mumbai and Gujarat in 2017. In the pre-independence time, India had experienced terribly the major famine of 1837–1838. In 1803–1804, 1813–1814, 1819, 1825–1826, 1827– 1828, and 1832–1833, the region had been affected by a few famines and droughts before that famine. After independence, India has been hit with several severe droughts. These events are regarded in connection with fluctuations happening in the climate system of the earth. When

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media, academia, policymakers, and political officials participate in debate of natural hazards that occur by connecting with climate change, people are compelled to remember all the horrendous memories of floods and drought incidents that cause a sense of fear of risks. Poverty is one of India’s biggest issues, for instance, 73 million people are living in extreme poverty in India in May 2018. These people lack the income to take advantage of a growing economy’s opportunities (Livemint, 2018). Climate change negatively has affected food security, food prices, income of household, livelihood opportunities, and health. It poses risk to human security and security threats such as human migration, conflicts over scarce resources, and survival threat to Small Island countries (Kurtz, 2012). People who are marginalized in social, economic, cultural, political, institutional, or other ways are particularly vulnerable to climate change (Goldenberg, 2014). Uncertainty, unpredictability, and variability about impacts of climate change are directly instilling a sense of insecurity or uncertainty about their future among people. The variability and uncertainty nature of climate change impacts act as an agent of securitisation of climate change in the ongoing climate change discourses. Climate change securitisation (Scott, 2012) or riskification (Corry, 2012; Kaufmann & Wichum, 2016) make it a political problem from mere scientific issue. Securitization of climate change is directly associated with a sense of insecurity of losing what accomplished by people through progressive development to date. A sense of insecurity is a driving factor in bringing about changes in human behaviour concerning the issue of climate change (Peters & Mayhew, 2016). Acquiring a change in people behaviour is a fundamental requirement to address the problem. The chapter attempts to analyze disastrous natural events in association with the social, demographic, economic, and political factors. The chapter further explained process of securitizing climate change as a security risk.

Climate Change and Security: Conceptual Understanding Climate change as a phenomenon occurs after a certain geological period of the earth. After industrial revolution, human activities have accelerated the pace of change in the earth’s climate system. As a result, complex human-nature relationships have emerged that affect each other. Human beings began to transform natural forces into benevolent forces

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for humankind with the progression of technological development. The enhanced degree of human intervention in the earth’s climate system has brought catastrophic changes in the climate system of the earth. Climate change as a problem in the twenty-first century has evolved as a social phenomenon from being predominantly physical phenomenon. Climate change is regarded as a threat multiplier. At the same moment, it decreases people’s adaptive capacity, making people vulnerable against the impacts of climate change. Climate change is defined by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as [A] change in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties. The change persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. (Solomon, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, & Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007)

Climate change, in other words, refers to any change in the climate system of the earth over time, whether due to natural variation or human activity. However, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. (Solomon, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, & Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007)

As Dryzek et al. (2011) argue that the climate change is the result of a complex geo-atmospheric ecological system. Complex systems always have the capacity to surprise by behaving in unpredictable ways. Furthermore, human activities induce multiple interacting phenomena with the earth’s environmental system in which climate change is one of them (Dryzek et al., 2011). Climate change, therefore, presently affects the smooth functioning of human societies and poses future risks. Similarly, human actions cause the Earth’s ecological system to change and pose dangers in the future to disturb the ecological equilibrium. However, Richard Dwarkin in his book ‘The Selfish Gene’ has described how climate change has moved from scientific discourses into everyday life through the creation of series of memes and the refinement of older

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memes, which have spread through almost every type of communication. Memes refer as units of cultural ideas that include symbols and practices that can be transmitted through distinct types of communication. Further, memes are processes of evolution, adaptation, and assimilation (Nazareth, 2011). Since the dawn of civilization, security is a predominant issue to human society. The concept of security refers to a sense of insecurity and uncertainty (Palfreeman, 2004). The concept of security is intricately connected to both person and society’s value system. Therefore, the term of security is assigned to each actor (e.g., person as a member of a community) speaking about security. As social constructivists, security is perceived as the result of the interactions of numerous players with social values and identities shaping these relations (Schäfer, 2013). The concept of security refers as to some degree of protection of previously acquired values. In other words, security is a value that a nation can have more or less, and it can aspire to have in greater or lesser measures. Security further has been understood in an ‘objective sense’ and a ‘subjective sense’ (Wolfers, 1952). Security measures, in an objective sense, the absence of threats to the attained value, but, in a subjective sense, the lack of fear that such values will be attacked. Security is therefore understood as phenomena relating to safety, disorder, and uncertainty (Stampnitzky, 2013). There are multiple factors that are responsible for feeling safe to an individual or community—predictability; identification of threat; the calculation of risk; the relativity of experience; the various versions of the ‘weapons equation’ i.e. perception of ownership or access to weapons of an individual (Palfreeman, 2004). Security as a policy objective must be distinguishable from others as security in competition with other scare resources. Security furthermore can be understood in its various forms, i.e. economic security, environmental security, military security, social security, physical security, identity security, emotional security, etc. (Baldwin, 1997). Historically, security has advanced a comprehensive concept from a simple sense of being secure. As Cicero and Lucretius presented security as a philosophical and psychological state of mind, or the subjective sense of freedom from sadness. Political stability refers to a security during the Augustus period. So, it was used as a political concept in the context of ‘Pax Romana’ (Brauch, 2005). The concept of security has travelled from one century to another by holding different meanings and values. During the sixteenth century, security was defined in the context of ‘securitas

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publica’. The ‘Securitas publica’ refers that the rulers provide protection to the ruled in peace time while the ruled are obliged to support the prince during conflict and war. Security emerged as a normative concept in the seventeenth century, which highlighted the security of the individual by fostering social protection. The term also emphasized the internal security (police) as well as the external security (armed forces, military alliances) of the state, which transcends the meaning of both psychological and subjective sense of being secure as well as an objective situation and legally specified status of being protected. The term security evolved as a common welfare in the eighteenth century, which became a goal and a key criterion for social steering as well. State emerged as a key security provider institution regulated by law in the nineteenth century. While in the twentieth century, security strongly associated with police, courts (justice and home affairs) and other political, economic, and especially military measures (security and defence). Security in the twenty-first century is viewed as ‘no longer a situation free of dangers, but rather an ‘insurance’ as a ‘technology of risks’ which becomes a feature of contemporary societies’ social steering (Brauch, 2005). The United Nations has expanded the notion of security since the 1990s by recognizing new security threats such as poverty, infectious disease, environmental degradation, climate change, war, and violence within states (Schäfer, 2013). Human security joined the political and academic security discourses in the early 1990s. It has been realized that deprivation of human security can destabilize peace and stability in the socio-political system within the state and relationships among states at the international level. The emphasis has been shifted from state security to human welfare with the introduction of human security. The state remains a key security provider, but a sufficient condition for human welfare is much more than just state security (Gregoratti, n.d.). Human security is a holistic concept that comprises seven dimensions namely economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security (UNDP, 1994). The pillars of human security include freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of future generations to inherit a healthy environment, and freedom from hazard impact (Schäfer, 2013), which need to be materialized into reality.

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Securitization: Theoretical Explorations Security comes into being when people realize their commitment to protect themselves from threats. Securitization is a process in which people start to perceive the occurring phenomenon as existentially threatening by linking event-related memories. Further, securitization is a consensual establishment of threats that should be sufficient to produce substantial political effects. What constitutes an existential risk is exceptionally rely upon a common comprehension of what is meant by a threat to security (Adiong, 2009). Threat is understood as ‘capability coupled with intent’ (Schäfer, 2013). As Estrella D. Solidum (1981) argues that threats are conditions which are creating diminishing of the enjoyment or satisfaction of values. Threats vary in intensity based on how you perceive such conditions and your abilities to neutralize, meet, or cope with them. Further threats can be classified as— 1. Actual threats —they are existing conditions that can, at any moment, lessen the enjoyment or satisfaction of values. 2. Potential threats —they are conditions tending to reduce enjoyment or satisfaction of values but are not transformable to actual threats due to some constraints. 3. Fictitious threats —they are conditions that are perceived to reduce security but do not really exist (Solidum, 1981, p. 264). The condition will become a foundation for securitization if individuals perceive a condition that reduces value fulfilment. The concept of securitization was first advocated by Ole Waever and then extended in collaboration with Barry Buzan, Jaap de Wilde. Their thought regarding the perceived condition reducing the enjoyment of values as a threat was known as Copenhagen School of security studies. The post Copenhagen school conceptualizes securitization as an intersubjective process rather than as a ‘self-referential practice’. The concept of securitization refers: [a] discursive process through which an intersubjective understanding is constructed to treat something as an existential threat and to enable immediate and outstanding actions to address the threat which typically includes sociolinguistic as well as socio-political procedures of production/genesis, diffusion/transfer and reception/translation in a discourse. (Stritzel, 2014, p. 4)

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Securitization theory views a discursive process through which existential threats have been constructed as an attempt to effectively apply ‘security’ to a particular object, case, or development. However, securitization is considered as a translation in which security is contextualized in terms of local political histories and practices. Further, production procedures always involve activities that transform previous and associated meanings in a discourse (Stritzel, 2014, p. 4). The Copenhagen school of securitization criticizes traditional views on security, which revolve around a security system focussed on state security and military threats. The school expanded the scope of security by including human welfare. The approach argues that security is a ‘speech act’. Speech act is a process that makes an issue a security issue. In the 1970s and 1980s, economic and environmental agendas have arisen in global politics. Later the increased concern about identity issues and transnational crimes during the 1990s have stimulated dissatisfaction (Buzan et al., 1998), which translated into security concern. Security is a kind of restoration of conflictual or threatening relations often through emergency mobilization of the state. Ole Waever, however, has stressed more on de-securitization through the shifting of issues out of emergency mode and into the bargaining processes of the political sphere (Buzan et al., 1998, p. 4). Mass media as an actor help and hinder in naming and categorizing issue as threat. At the point when an issue securitized, a political actor involves in presenting the problem as an existential threat that is a fast approaching danger to the community’s physical, cultural, and social health. In addition, a political leader has obtained a degree of public assent to use extraordinary measures to combat the threats. As, Fred Vultee (2010) interpreted securitization as a media frame of an issue. A media frame refers to a central organizing idea that helps both journalists and audiences make sense of events or an instrument that allows a storyteller to select certain aspects of a perceived reality and make them more outstanding in a communicating text (Vultee, 2010). Security promotes politics beyond the established rules of the game. The term further frames the issue either a particular type of politics or beyond politics. Securitization can, therefore, be perceived as a more extreme version of politicization. Security is a self-referential practice, because it is in this practice that an issue becomes a security problem—not necessarily because there is a true existential threat, but because the issue is presented as such a threat (Buzan et al., 1998, pp. 23, 24). The process

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of securitization is closely related to discourses and political constellations. As Barry Buzan et al. (1998, p. 25) argue that a debate that takes the form of presenting something as an existential threat to a referent object does not, by itself, create securitization—this is a securitizing move. Only when the audience accepts something as an existential threat as such, the issue is securitized. Furthermore, the Copenhagen School believes if a securitizing actor introduces a reference object as being threatened by a certain existential threat and seeks legitimacy from a selected audience for some extraordinary measures lying outside the normal sphere of public policy, the issue becomes a part of the security realm (Kurtz, 2012). Securitization theory perceives that an issue becomes a security problem through discursive politics. Thierry Balzacq, however, argues that securitization is not a self-referential practice but an intersubjective process. He defines securitization as— an articulated assemblage of practices whereby heuristic artefacts (e.g. metaphors, polity tools, image repertoires, analogies, stereotypes, emotions, etc.) are contextually mobilized by a securitizing actor, who works to prompt an audience to build a coherent network of implications (e.g. feelings, sensations, thoughts, and intuitions), about the critical vulnerability of a referent object, that concurs with the securitizing actor’s reasons for choices and actions, by investing the referent subject with such an aura of unprecedented threatening complexion that a customized policy must be undertaken immediately to block its development. (Balzacq, 2011, p. 3)

Three core assumptions of securitization theory can be identified in the abovementioned definition, they are—first, the centrality of audience; second, the co-dependency of agency and context; third, a constellation of practices and tools. In addition, the Paris School views securitization comprises a securitizing move by a securitizing actor and succeeding security practice by this actor (Kurtz, 2012). Thus, securitization theory helps to understand a process of securitization in which an issue becomes a security issue. The chapter attempted to explain how discursive politics helps climate change to become a security problem.

Securitizing Climate Change Climate change emerged as a security risk in the twenty-first century. It is not just a security issue, but it amplifies and multiplies of other current

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security threats that society is facing. How has climate change emerged as a security concern in society? As, securitization theory suggests several methods for the emergence of any normal issue as a security risk. ‘Securitizing move’ (Scott, 2012) is the first step in the process of securitization. Actors like individual, society, and state carry out securitizing move that can be understood by examining continuing climate change discussions as security threats. Subsequently, those ongoing climate change debates need to be accepted by the audience (i.e., by larger public). Then, climate change issue emerges as a risk to security. The rediscovery of the existence of disasters around the end of the twentieth century, François Ewald said that these disasters are no longer, as before, attributed to God and His providence, but to human responsibility, marks a radical change in the society (Kaufmann & Wichum, 2016). These deleterious disasters became a supporting cause for the rise of ‘risk society’ (Beck, 1992). Risk society generates risk awareness, then focuses on catastrophic scenarios such as nuclear warfare or runaway climate change. Risk oriented approach to security argues that risk is a governance technique itself. And, administrators increasingly govern through risk and securitize a gradually increasing portion of society, populations, and deeper layers of human existence with reference to the necessity of controlling risks (Corry, 2012). To ensure security, actors adopt different tactics and strategies that incorporate the pre-emption principle and the resilience strategy to avoid or minimize catastrophic events and their consequences (Kaufmann & Wichum, 2016). It is vital to identify referent objects for climate security. The environment as such is the climate change security reference object. The ongoing climate security debates revolve around ‘a concern to preserve existing civilization levels’ (Buzan et al., 1998, p. 75). In this perspective, the predominant fear for a return to forms of social barbarism reigns in the minds of humans. They then attempt to prevent this from happening. Global climate change induced change in the security debates from nuclear war to social barbarism. This shifting pattern in the security discussions can be observed currently in the referent objects of cinematic performance, for example, post-nuclear war (focussed referent object in Mad Max movie directed by George Miller) to post-environmental apocalypse (focussed referent object in Water World directed by Kevin Reynolds) barbarism (Buzan et al., 1998). Cinema always helps to build or to ruin a society’s culture. Cinematic presentations (i.e., movies, short films, prime time serials, etc.) act as an

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actor in ‘securitizing move’ of climate change and consequently spectator accept the presentation as such. For example, ‘Carbon: A Story of Tomorrow’ a major Hindi short movie released in 2017 produced by Pooja Entertainment & Films focuses on a 2067 world dystopian. The film focuses on the environmental issues that prevail in Delhi, India. The film addresses the environmental pollution problems and increasing the footprint of carbon (‘Carbon short film review,’ 2017). Carbon would become an abundant gas in 2067 world, and then oxygen will emerge a trillion-dollar industry. How has an audience thought about the movie? These views in the form of reviews are presented here. One audience, for example, opined in the movie that pollution affects the lives of everybody today and tomorrow. In a dystopian 2067 future, where oxygen is so scarce that it has become the city’s new and the most expensive drug. The price of oxygen will only be comparable with water that emerge another drug (Carbon, 2017) because of water would turn into a long-overdue dream. Newspapers in India usually publish news relating to the climate change risks in the form of news items or opinion page. The newspapers are publishing news of natural disasters—floods and droughts that occur, heavy snowfalls, and cyclones by associating with the evolving trends of the climatic system on earth. The newspapers as an actor actively participate in the ongoing climate change securitization discussions. In addition, policymakers and academic intellectuals are genuinely concerned about the climate change that has led to emerging risks to threats i.e. food and Water, etc. Major crops like maize and wheat will be affected due to changes in the climate system on earth. Moreover, increasing temperatures in the Indian Ocean will have an adverse effect on the abundance and variety of marine species used for food. This will impact both the individuals who rely on fish for their primary protein source and the fishing and aquaculture industries associated with this harvest. In addition, the rapid warming of the Indian Ocean is disrupting rain patterns across the central-eastern Indian region, leading to yet another food production challenge. It is observed that the annual rainfall over the central-eastern Indian region has decreased significantly. Historical data from the past 60 years beginning in 1951 shows that the decline was at a rate of 1.49 mm per year (Kota, 2016). As, observed in the 2018/19 economic survey, farmer’s income would drop by 15% during the kharif and 7% during the rabi crop seasons during the year when rainfall levels drop 100 mm below average. The survey points out that climate change could

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decline annual agricultural earnings on average from 15% to 18% and for unirrigated fields from 20–25% (Lahiry, 2018). This has sheer impact on the arming society. The agricultural community would have to face risks of losing jobs and eventually food insecurity. Overall, climate change has evolved as a threat to livelihoods regardless of whether individuals live on plain or mountain terrain. The impacts of climate change on the elevated mountainous glacial environment are very tremendous. Villages from Nepal to Bangladesh at the foot of the Himalayan Mountain and across India share a common history of natural disasters. A host of environmental hazards including deforestation, accelerated glacier melt, and considerable number of forming glacier lakes have caused mountain habitats very susceptible over the past century. These changes in the mountain have been resulted in the form of glacial lake burst floods, and increased sedimentation in the river channel as well as contiguous agricultural fields. These results pose risks to mountain livelihoods (Singh & Hietala, 2014, p. 29). As Sanjay Chaturvedi and Timothy Doyle (2015) quoted a study published by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the environmental assessment in which the warning was given of the severe effects of deforestation and fast multiplying hydropower projects. The impacts of deforestation and rapid rise of temperature can be observed in the form of decrease rainfall and sudden heavy rainfall. The country is busy in multiplying hydropower projects for meeting energy requirement of sustaining economic growth. These have to do with flash floods, which could lead to heavy loss of human life and property. The report noted that on Bhaghirathi and Alaknanda rivers are as many as 42 hydropower projects, with 203 under various stages of construction and sanction, amounting to almost one power project every 5–7 km of the rivers. Global warming has a significant impact on water resources in India. The rising surface temperature warms the climate. The warmer climate will speed up the hydrological cycle and alter rainfall, magnitude, and timing of run-off. Warm air produces more humidity and increases the evaporation of surface moisture. Rainfall and snowfall events are likely to be more intense with more moisture in the atmosphere. This will result in increased flood potential. However, if the soil has little or no moisture to evaporate, the solar radiation event will increase surface temperature, which may lead to longer and more severe droughts. India witnessed several severe droughts, which affected millions of people as details are furnished in the Table 12.1. Global warming will therefore affect the

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Table 12.1 List of States affected by Drought Name of affected state

Year

Affected people

Bihar and Orissa Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh Bihar and Rajasthan Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh Eastern Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh Rajasthan, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, and Orissa Entire North, West, and Eastern India Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan, Gujarat, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra

1966 1969

50 Million 15 Million

1970 1972 1979

17.2 Million 50 Million 200 Million

1982 1983

100 Million 100 Million

1987 1992

300 Million Figure Not Available

2000

Over than 100 Million

2013, 2015

Around 90 Lakh

Source Samudranil (2016) and ‘India’ (2000)

soil moisture, groundwater recharge, and frequency of flood or drought events (Mall et al., 2006, p. 1610). India has only 4% of total water resources (Chang, 2017). India has 20 river basins. Most river basins are water stressed because of the growing demands for domestic, industrial, and agriculture use. Increasing demands from a growing population coupled with economic activity also add pressure on the water resources that have already been stressed. Groundwater serves to meet significant increasing water requirements in the economy of India. It caters around 85% of rural demand, 50% urban needs, and more than 60% of agricultural irrigation needs. The groundwater table has plummet, drying springs and aquifers because of unregulated groundwater extraction (Lahiry, 2018). The effects of global warming are natural events like droughts, heavy rains, unseasonal rains, hailstorms, floods, etc. Anthropogenic climate change significantly impacts water resource accessibility and uneven distribution of water across the region resulting in ‘catastrophic human misery’ (Mall et al., 2006). In South Asian region, per capita water availability has declined by nearly 70% since 1950. Moreover, by 2025, most of the region is expected

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to face either physical or economic water scarcity (Jaitly, 2009). Conventional wisdom indicates that allocation of scarce natural resources among individuals generates a conflicting situation that may later transform into full-scale conflicts. As, the first chairman of the Global Water Partnership, Ismail Serageldin, stated in 1995, ‘if the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water - unless we change our approach to managing this precious and vital resource’ (quoted in Jaitly, 2009, pp. 26–27). South Asia is prone to erupt violent conflicts within the country and in bilateral relations between countries. The scarcity of water resources caused by climate change will generate a risk of conflicts erupting. Natural disasters and slow changes in the environment induced by Climate change will displace individuals from their usual location of residence. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre noted that 19.3 million people were displaced worldwide in 2014 due to climate change. The future indication of the number of individuals displaced by 2050 could be between 250 million and one billion. The Indian subcontinent is a region that is geographically diverse and particularly vulnerable to a wide variety of natural disasters. India, as South Asia’s biggest country, will become a home for individuals displaced by natural disasters. Millions of rural Bangladeshi people have forced to migrate towards India due to natural disasters such as floods, storm surges, saltwater intrusions, and cyclones. India is likely to face major people migration in future, owing to earthquakes and water-borne calamities in Nepal, droughts in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and rising sea levels around the Maldives (Vijayaraghavan & Somani, 2016). In the low-lying coastal zones of the Brahmaputra basin, covering Assam, Orissa, Kolkata in India, and many Bangladesh regions, the migration of human beings is seen because of climate change (Mishra, 2017). It was noted that of the 4.1 million people who live in the Indian part of the islands of Sundarbans, 70,000 would be rendered homeless (Panda, 2010). The homeless people are compelled into safe place to migrate. India is regarded as a secure place for Bangladesh and Nepal refugees. Most of these refugees move to metro cities. India is facing itself climate-induced internal migration and already saturated metro cities. These cities may not be in position to provide a basic standard of living to domestic and global environmental refugees. The reason behind not providing fundamental services to the environmentally displaced people is that the Indian subcontinent region is home

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to millions of people residing on sub-poverty level who rely on subsistence from the agriculture sector (Mishra, 2017). This will become a cause for social, economic, religious, and political strife in India in the future. Some parts of the country began witnessing political mobilization to send migrants back home. Political leaders believe that these people place extra burdens on scarce natural resources. Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC), for example, could be considered as a step towards securing scarce natural resources and preventing social, economic, religious, and political conflicts. Climate change as a security issue is regarded as ‘catastrophic destructive to humanity’ like nuclear weapons and terrorism. Climate change has been deployed as ‘geopolitics of fear’ at various location in the service of diverse interests and agendas by varied agencies—individually and/or collectively (Chaturvedi & Doyle, 2015). Climate change emerges as a security risk to India’s current peace.

Conclusion Fear of losing something drives human behaviour. Natural disasters have been an inseparable component of human history since the beginning of human civilization. Human activities began to emit more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere after the industrial revolution. GHGs accumulation in the atmosphere has resulted in an increase in Earth temperature. This phenomenon is also referred to as global warming. Global warming has increased natural disasters’ frequency and severity. Usually, the newspapers report all the natural disasters that occur by associating with the changing climate system of the earth. Subsequently, players such as political leaders, policy makers, film producers, etc. stress the problem more through their presentations. The twenty-first-century climate change is regarded as a matter of existential threat to mankind. Since the mid-1980s, climate change has appeared as a political problem in world politics. The international community has made significant progress towards bringing everyone to the same table to discuss the climate change problem. India is one of the highly vulnerable countries to climate change. Climate change is emerging as a security problem for India, but traditional problems such as poverty and development continue to predominate.

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CHAPTER 13

Energy Security in India: Inevitability vs Availability Bhaskar Jyoti

In a world of increasing interconnectedness, the ability of countries to manage their relationships with one another will be critical in ensuring energy security. As a result, energy security will be one of the most important concerns facing foreign policy in the coming years. Oil and natural gas have traditionally been seen as politically valuable commodities. Daniel Yergin is a Russian actor and director (Daniel Yergin, 2006). Prime Minister Modi while speaking at 16th International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting, said India’s energy future has four pillars— Energy access, energy efficiency, energy sustainability, and energy security (International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting, 2018). His speech highlights the inevitability of energy availability and energy security for the growth and development of the nation. With the advent of steam engines in the mid-eighteenth century, the unparalleled competition and race began which was new to human civilization. The race for energy

B. Jyoti (B) Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi, India

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_13

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which began then, continues till now, and, it is deciding the new global economic power hubs. From being an optional to a mandatory aspect of day-to-day activities, applications of various energy sources have revolutionized the entire globe. The prosperity and economic development of any nation today are directly affected by its ability to fulfill energy consumption demands. India’s per capita energy consumption is around one-third of global average. India, today, is the 3rd largest crude oil importer and this thrust is keeping pace with its developmental and growing economic path. India’s energy needs will grow at around 4.2% per year for the next 25 years to maintain the current developmental pace. Energy consumption is directly proportional to the quality of life. Hence India’s growth in energy demand will significantly increase even beyond the major economies of the world and the issue carries undoubtedly a major concern. Energy Security should include the ability to adapt to changes in the energy markets which are more integrated and dependent globally in the contemporary era. It includes the affordable costing supplies to cope up with the domestic demands. The recent developments like economic slowdowns, climate change, and anti-pollution initiatives have impacted the demands from developed industrialized countries and hence the growing developing countries like India are on exponential trajectories, shifting the global energy market base. Energy security demands a strategic positioning and an integral approach.

Understanding Energy Security Within the Non-Traditional Security Framework The Traditional notions of security contain the state security as the core concern and focus is on ensuring supply while negating various concerns on socioeconomic and environmental impacts. The idea of National Security historically, was emphasized under this notion. One country’s security and safety were about the development of arms and warfare technologies upgradation as the only means to strengthen the capabilities of the country to fight against outsiders’ aggression and invasion. The external threats are supposed to be of intrusion, invasion, and aggression forming the military nature of national security. The threats of the existence make the other values vulnerable. Hence, the significant part of the resources

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is invested to build the military might. The vulnerability of one country’s military strength lead to an arms race. With reference to energy security, the traditional norms focus on energy security focus on ensuring supply. The socioeconomic as well as climatic impacts are either ignored completely or are given the least consideration. The Non-traditional notions of security on the other hand, favors a holistic and multidisciplinary and diverse approach to fulfill growing energy demands. The needs of the rising energy demands cannot be addressed with the traditional security notions. The Humane face of security comes as the central core concern in this notion. This argues that threats to human civilization have become prominent with the dynamics of shifting global economic power centers especially in the postcold-war era. These discourses and debates include the concerns which were negated by the traditional notions of energy security. With the consideration of wide ranging issues, the Non- Traditional security has become important. The traditional threats to security are far less harmful than many undermined threats such as hunger, hygiene, and sanitationrelated diseases which kill millions of people every year (Energy and Non-Traditional Security in Asia, 2012). Hence the non-traditional notion is also known as Human security along with a holistic approach in socioeconomic needs. Various climatic, socioeconomic and even politically changing dynamics have impacts on the energy security. Today, merely focusing on a steady un-interrupting supply of energy is not enough to catch up with the sustainable human development and climate targets. The projections from developing countries like China and India suggest the energy consumption and pollution are on growing trajectories. In such scenarios, countries like India must consider their energy security options. This will lead to sustaining and supporting their economic development and growth. With the limited options for energy basket, a country seeks to expand the markets beyond national level, this also involves other state or non-governmental actors and the active role of civil society and international cooperation. Energy security is a crucial challenge which decides and reshapes strategic relationships among global communities. Hence, it is important to shift our focus on these broad-based non-traditional security issues. These days Indian government and global communities are keeping energy security at the center stage of their policy framework so as to deal with impending challenges effectively and plan relevant policies for the benefit of the masses. Despite the fact that many countries are already

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spending a huge share of their budget on military and weapons, there is a larger consensus and understanding that investing in building human capital will not only boost economic growth and development but also spread prosperity and peace in the world.

Need for Sustained Source of Energy Across the globe, most of the energy needs are fulfilled with conventional sources of fuels such as coal and petroleum products. Almost 80% of India’s electricity needs are met by fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels causes greenhouse gas emissions which further deplete the ozone layer and increase global warming and climate change. Most of the scientific explorations now reveal the direct relation between global warming and melting of ice glaciers, rising sea levels, and coastal flooding. This drastically impacts the aquaculture and infrastructure. Energy is central to the developmental history of the world. The new industrialized nations have replicated this norm to fulfill their socioeconomic developmental goals. Many countries including India are socio-politically vulnerable to global fuel prices and volatility in the supply market. Government’s inaction in dealing with the needs might also cause social unrest. Fuel subsidies as a temporary measure cannot remove this vulnerability and dependence upon foreign markets. Hence, the introduction of energy efficient mechanisms and alternative fuel options is inevitable. Hence, the energy security is essentially a Non-Traditional Security threat. Securing the sustainable sources of energy would ensure a peaceful living and harmonious society.

India’s Energy Mix Provided the current installed capacity of India, sustaining the energy needs of 1.2 billion people is a mammoth task. Given the limited resources, along with the fluctuating overseas markets and changing international relations, it has become even more challenging. India’s per capita energy consumption stands as low as 33% of the global average but in terms of consumption India is the 4th largest energy consumer, this is obviously because of its huge population base. Energy sector is a complex sector with political complexities, on the one hand, interdependence of all sectors on one another and the prosocialist approach since independence on the other, these factors have

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largely restricted any substantial liberalization and privatization of the energy sector. These have also led to suboptimal efficient outcomes. A Comprehensive picture of the Energy Sector in India shows the huge demand–supply gap. The World Bank data from 1960–2015 shows, where the net global energy imports stood at 20.969% in 2015, India’s imports crossed 34% mark in 2014. The Energy Import costs 7% of India’s GDP. From Crude oil to gas, India largely fulfills its energy requirements by importing oil and gas products from other countries. Current breakup of India’s primary energy basket constitutes (Energy Policy Review, NITI Ayog, 2019). 1) Coal—45% 2) Oil—25% 3) Gas—5% 4) Bioenergy—22% 5) Nuclear—1% 6) Hydro—1% 7) Other renewable sources—1%

Crude Oil and Petroleum Products India’s unsustainable and unviable huge dependence on foreign oil imports to meet its energy needs has significantly increased from 77% in 2013–14 to 80.6% in 2015–16, 81.7% in 2016–17 to 82.9% in 2017–18 and a whopping 83.7% in 2018–19, as per Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. In real terms, net consumption of oil increased from 184.7 MT in 2015–16 to a whopping 194.6 MT in 2016–17, 206.2 million tons in 2017–18 and demand surged by 2.6% (that is 211.6 MT) in 2018–19 with an inclined trend in the current fiscal costing $112 billion from the imports costs of $64 billion in fiscal 2015–16. On the other side, India’s domestic crude oil outputs are steadily declining from 36.9 MT in fiscal year 2015–16 to 36 MT in fiscal year 2016–17 followed by further negative output to 35.7 MT in fiscal year 2017–18 to 34.2 MT in fiscal year 2018–19. The State owned and private Oil Marketing Companies in India show the declining trends in their oil production. The biggest state-owned oil producer and one of the seven Maharatna companies in India, Oil and

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Natural Gas Corporations production fell from 21.1 MT in fiscal year 2015–16 to 20.9 MT in fiscal year 2016–17, 20.8 MT in fiscal year 2017–18 to 19.6 MT in fiscal year 2018–19. The private producers also recorded a decline from 11.2 MT in fiscal year 2015–16 to 9.6 MT in fiscal year 2018–19. The crude oil imports are more likely to get double its 2013 levels with oil demands raising as high as 1500 MT by 2035. Various policy measures to curb imports include adopting HELP (Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy) replacing the old NELP (New Exploration Licensing Policy) to promote a level playing field among private players and market freedom to choose the areas where firms want to explore. The policy is yet to attract private and foreign investment.

India’s Coal Sector The major thrust of India’s economy is based on the coal sector. It is one of the eight core sectors in India. The prevalent use of coal in three other core areas (steel, cement and power sector) shows India’s dependency upon the sector. The Power Generation sector is dependent upon coal (nearly 80%), the non-availability of which negatively impacts the economy. The continuous assured supply of coal is essential for the cement and metal sectors. Coal is the single largest source of providing the country’s 50% energy consumption. India has 286BT out of global 850BT proven reserves of coal, and holds the 4th largest coal reservoir in the world. Coking coal and noncoking coal are two categories of Indian Coal where the former is an essential element for iron and steel manufacturing industries. Indian coal reserves are 88% non-coking and the rest 12% are of high ash and moisture content which is cheap and of inferior quality. Despite this, India’s domestic demands are not being fulfilled and importing coal puts an extra burden on the exchequer. In order to bridge this demand–supply gap, India imports quality coal from other countries. Imports from Australia and Indonesia amounts to nearly 75% of the total coal imports of the country. The Coal sector was nationalized in 1973 and The Coal India Limited (CIL), one of the seven Maharatna Central Public Sector Undertakings, produces nearly 80% of country’s overall coal production. The CIL produced more than 550 million tons of raw coal in 2016–17.

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Along with non-availability of domestic good quality coal, the challenges of coal sector include land acquisition, local tribes’ resistance, dominance of left wing extremism, environmental clearances, and technological investments in clean coal to reduce the excessive wastage and non-transparency & corruption in coal blocks allocations. Some of the areas wherein India can work in long term includes Clean Coal initiatives viz, coal-bed methane, carbon sequestering, coal gasification and liquefaction, coal beneficiation to reduce the ash content and improve the quality and grade of the coal. India also needs to judiciously use its available coal resources.

India’s Electricity and Power Generation Sector India has achieved the landmark 100% household electricity connection in 2019 (Energy Policy Review, NITI Ayog, 2020). However, there are certain remote hilly areas and remote rural areas where the significant number of citizens are yet to garner the benefits of electricity. The absence of electricity infrastructure leaves nearly 700 million Indians finding biomass as an alternate energy source for daily chorus activities like cooking. India’s electricity grids viz. Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern, North-Eastern, and South Eastern, are interconnected and dependent on each other. All grids are run by PGCIL (Power Grid Corp. of India Limited), a state-owned undertaking. PGCIL operates nearly 95 K circuit kilometers of transmission lines. The Northern grid had failed in July 2012, with about 35.6 K MWe load followed by failure of two other grids left almost half a billion people in 22 states without power for nearly 24 h. KPMG in its 2007 report has said that the electricity sector has losses to the tune of $6B per year due to transmissions and distribution. The losses were pegged at a value of $12.6B per year in 2012. There are states having as high T&D losses as 27%. The issues of T&D losses coupled with many theft cases, and transmission installed capacity of just 13% of total generation capacity have kept the sector underutilized of its full potential. There have been many capacity building initiatives to decrease T&D losses, increasing the capacity and efficiency since 2010. The National Load Dispatch Center started its operation in 2009 to supervise the regional load dispatch centers, along with dispatching and making schedules of electricity operations and monitoring throughout the

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national grid. The grid failure of mid- 2012 taught India about the importance of a synchronous operational efficiency and the country’s regional grids were interconnected. The capacity and extent of high voltage, direct current (HVDC) has been doubled since 2002 and the losses over distant transmissions have been reduced drastically.

Natural Gas Sector Natural Gas is expected to replace the carbon-led energy demand in the country. The Clean Natural Gas accounts for nearly 8% of power generation capacity. The issue is that it feeds only 5% of India’s electricity. The imported gas prices are very high, as high that it costs 70–80% additional cost as compared to domestic coal heat value basis. This implies that the additional costs cannot be accommodated by Gas and it substantially decreases natural gas ability to compete with domestic coal commercially for power generation purpose. Total gas fired installed capacity of 25 GW contribution is only nearly 5% of India’s aggregated power generation. The comparable policy push for Natural gas is yet to become a reality. The natural gas sector is competing with low cost coal without any support as in renewable energy productions, the integration and intermittency costs are generally socialized. Moreover, the affordability is a major determining factor when it comes to choosing natural gas over other sources of energy. Hence, the prospective of India becoming “gas-based economy” is limited and distant in nearby future.

Renewable Energy Sector Given the excessive dependence on imported crude oil and its harmful impacts on the environment as well as on the balance sheet, India needs to diversify its energy basket. India needs to give maximum emphasis upon the alternative renewable energy forms. Various policy measures have been undertaken to reshape the country’s energy security. These policy measures can bring the vast unexplored potential of the renewable energy sector to provide an alternative choice. With the advancement of technologies and viability studies, various renewable energy or clean energy sources should replace the conventional energy sources altogether in a stipulated time frame. The category includes cleaner fuels, more efficient transportation system with vehicles running on cleaner fuels, energy conservation, and efficiency.

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Coal, gas, and oil fulfill nearly 93% of India’s domestic demand for commercial energy. The Planning Commission’s 12th FYP (Five Year Plan 2012–17) states the role of these fossil fuels to shrink marginally to 90% by 2022. So, India’s dependence on fossil fuels is inevitable in near future. But overdependence on single source i.e., coal for significant electricity generation purpose will make the other sectors vulnerable if the supply of coal falls short even for temporary period. So, the diversification of energy basket becomes inevitable for a country like India. Renewable energy will bring down the import bills of crude oils. Global factors largely impact the crude oil prices, so increasing dependence upon domestic renewable sources will also bring India’s import cost down. India is the 6th largest renewable energy producer globally. Focusing on renewable energy is not only beneficial for the environment but also helps in generating employment opportunities. Renewable (wind and solar) energy-based power generation will have additional benefits such as capital subsidies and import subsidies, subsidies on interstate transmission, renewable purchase obligations (RPOs), and “must run status”. Solar Power, wind power, hydro power projects, and nuclear power plants are viewed as the potential replacements of fossil-based electricity generation. But the technological and skill requirements in fulfilling the potential are the biggest challenges. Even to provide alternate energy sources in rural and remote areas, renewable energy sources can be beneficial. India has achieved the milestone of becoming the 5th largest producer of solar energy globally. Government’s ambitious target to generate 175 GW of renewable energy from various sources including Solar Power Projects and Wind by 2022 is also running in the right direction. Solar Power has become the cheapest form of energy today. Transportation sector needs to shift its dependence from 93% upon oil and coal, to cleaner alternatives. Electrical vehicles running on renewable energy can provide a breakthrough in this. Shifting to electrical vehicles will not only be eco-friendly but it can also reduce the fossil fuel demands drastically, which will further reduce the transportation cost and save billions of dollars to the exchequer. With the estimates of increased demands from the sector, various policy measures have been taken by the government. This includes setting up of large network of charging infrastructure throughout the country. Road and Railways transportation needs to depend upon the renewable sources instead of conventional

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oil imports. Bharat-VI stage emission targets have been adopted, which is a step in the right direction. The auto manufacturing companies are now bound to manufacture vehicles with lesser effluents emissions. The refinery companies will have to provide cleaner fuel which will help in more efficiency and lesser impact on environmental pollution. The active participation of the private sector is necessary to bridge the demand–supply gap. Solar powered water pumps have been introduced in many parts as a low carbon alternatives, viability of such projects is still unpredictable and uncertain. Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahaabhiyan (KUSUM) scheme works toward promoting solar power production solar farming up to 28,250 MW to help farmers. The Union Budget 2018–2019 has allotted Rs 48,000 crore to lead the scheme for a period of ten years. The idea of diverting power tariff subsidies toward solar powered water pumps in order to bring down carbon emissions can be given much emphasis.

Solar Energy Sector India lies in tropical region and has the additional advantage of peak solar radiation insolation for nearly 300 days which amounts to 2.3K to 3KHours of sunshine which is equivalent to more than 5K Trillion kWh. India’s current installed capacity of the sector is 26GW amounting to 34% of the total renewable energy sources (75GW) in February 2019 (MNRE 2019). This demand–supply gap can be reduced with solar energy replacement. It will lead the country toward clean and green energy from the conventional fossil fuel-based energy sources causing global warming and climate change concerns. The Solar Energy is pollution free in nature and the availability in abundance makes it the most suitable substitute for a tropical country with large aspirations and commitments. India committed to install 100 GW of Solar Powered energy, of its total 175 GW of renewable clean energy by 2022 as a part of India’s INDC- “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” in the Paris deal. India’s growing energy demands are largely fulfilled by conventional sources like fossil fuels and their enormous imports are costing huge expenditures to the exchequer. However, the availability of solar energy, if exploited to its potential, can overcome the energy needs, providing the stability in India’s energy security. Indian economy needs proper continuous electricity supply for manufacturing and agriculture sectors to grow. The much-needed “self-sufficiency” thrust with minimal power

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generation cost can boost the economy. India’s thermal energy power is dependent largely upon the fossil fuels which cause environmental pollution. Solar energy, being a clean form of energy source can replace the existing basket.

Challenges in the Solar Energy Sector India’s solar energy sector is overdependent upon the imported technologies and products. This puts an extra financial burden on the exchequer. The global markets with cheap products are dumping the Indian market, affecting the domestic industries which have technological and economic constraints while competing with global giants in the sector. Various initiatives to increase the indigenous production have been taken up in recent times. Under “Make in India” the local manufacturing of the solar equipment’s is encouraged with various tax and policy relaxations. However, this policy decision has been vociferously challenged by the USA, thus balancing energy sufficiency on one hand and trade relations with the USA has been like walking on a tight rope for India. The land area required to install solar parks is very high. Even with the latest State-of-Arts technologies approximately 2.8 acres of land is required to install a solar power plant of 1GWh capacity. India being the 2nd most populated country already overburdened on land resources. India shares nearly 18% of the global population but it has only 2.4% of the global land share. The innovative ideas such as rooftop solar panels and Canal Solar power experiments in Gujarat are giving a positive outcome. Promoting solar panels on canals will also lead to reduce the water evaporation losses along with generating power. Some countries like France have also made roads using solar panels, India could also study the feasibility of constructing such roads. India’s solar waste to the tune of 1.8 m by 2050 needs to be checked. Various steps have been taken by the government of India to address the challenges faced by the solar energy sector. For instance, National Solar Mission has been launched in order to promote sustainable and ecological growth along with addressing the issue of energy security. MNRE, The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has been established as a nodal agency in the country to tackle renewable energy issues. National Institute of Solar Energy is the apex body of Research and Development in the sector, works under the aegis of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) is an

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NBFC Institute which provides long-term loans for renewable energy sector and various energy efficient projects. India is establishing and developing large Solar Parks around the country. Solar infrastructure in canal tank and canal bank is being promoted. SRISTI Scheme-” Sustainable Rooftop Implementation of Solar Transfiguration of India” is launched to promote rooftop solar generation units. The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) has approved the II-Phase of Rooftop, focusing on regular households. In order to prepare qualified workforce—Suryamitra Program has been launched. National Green Energy Corridor is under implementation. For Larger Energy commercial units, the renewable purchase obligation is required. The cost of hardware in solar PV projects installations including inverters amounts to a significant cost of total expenditure. The higher solar potential led to proper assets mobilization. Most imports in the sector comes from China, which produces cheaper products which reduces the cost margin. Along with domestic factors like availability of cheaper labor and land when compared with global investment cost also benefits India in significantly reducing the solar projects cost. India now is the world’s most cost-effective solar power generating economy. The sector has immense potential in employment sector also, creating new jobs. As per estimates, 1GW solar power project creates nearly 4K direct and indirect jobs. Considering the operational and maintenance requirements, the sector creates recurring and permanent jobs.

Nuclear Power in India Overburdened energy sector in India constantly maneuvers to find alternate energy sources and nuclear energy is one of its potential target areas in coming years. Various steps have been taken by the union and the state governments from time to time to reduce dependency on imported crude oils and increasing the use of renewable resources. It included diversifying the energy basket by including various non-conventional sources of energy. Inducting nuclear plants into energy policy framework has been studied thoroughly by various organizations. India’s nuclear program is largely indigenous. Infrastructure development programs on large sectors shows the commitment of governments toward massive capacity building. In 2018, 6 nuclear reactors were under construction with 4.4 GWe of combined capacity in India. The central policy making body is Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in India, where as the responsibility to design,

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construction, operation and commissioning of thermal power projects rests with NPCIL (National Power Corp. of India Limited), the Central Public Sector Undertaking. Out of the total 1478 TWh electricity produced in India in 2016, the share of nuclear sector was just 2.6% (38TWh). The projected nuclear capacity by the year 2031, is nearly 22.5 GWe which is nearly 40 GWe short of the 63.5 GWe target. India, has not been a signatory of 1970 NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) because of the potential weaponization programs and its biased nature. It has impacted the transfer of upgraded technologies in the nuclear sector. Hence, India was banned and isolated from the trades in nuclear materials and plants for nearly 34 years until 2009. This has determinantal impacts on the progress and development of the nuclear sector in India. Indo-USA Nuclear Deal concluded in 2009 highlighted the seriousness of India’s commitment toward energy security. The changed policy framework aims to increase the share of Nuclear Energy supply to 25% of electricity by 2050. Nuclear Energy power projects need to be installed in phased manner to increase the current 9 GW in 2019 capacity to projected nearly 30 GW in 2022 and 60 GW target by 2030. India has also signed Nuclear Deal with several other countries including Australia, Japan, Russia etc. which would prove to be a landmark in achieving the ambitious targets. Nuclear Energy sector has also not remained devoid of various challenges ranging from, local resistance to nuclear plants installations at several locations to the genuine safety concerns. In the aftermath of Fukusima Nuclear Accident, there has been a worldwide shift in the perception of the safety and security of nuclear power plants. The fear among the masses about the harmful radiations and the long term impacts upon their lives are major concerns, which needs to be looked after with serious deliberations. Environmental issues and clearances are another road block. India doesn’t have significant reserves of uranium, hence it is developing the required technology to exploit its huge thorium reserves. Nuclear projects have always had the environmental concerns and safety risks posed by the improper waste disposal of radioactive materials and the breakdown of the safety measures. This has caused serious international environmental repercussions, example Chernobyl in the 1980s. In the aftermath of Fukusima Nuclear Accident, taskforce were constituted for the purpose of evaluation of safety and security measures in

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India. NPCIL constituted 4 taskforces for the same. Various supplementary provisions and safety upgradations were recommended by these taskforces and AERB’s (Atomic Energy Regulatory Board) constituted high- level committee to cope up with such disasters. Subsequently Tarapur Boiling water reactors cooling mechanism were upgraded with continuous back up nitrogen available for containment structure. Even though various steps have been taken keeping safe operations in eye, yet a significant series of safety measures can be taken by India. Such as; providing flood defenses to Madras to the tune of the PFR- Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor nearby Kalpakkam.

India’s Energy Security and Geopolitics Whereas in decades of 1940s political independence mattered a lot in twenty-first century the discourse has been dominated by energy independence. The Energy Security has a significant role in carving out the independent foreign policies of a country. Various diabolic factors in oil exporting countries of West Asia, ranging from instable government, civil wars, extra territorial tensions and covert operations by other countries threaten the energy sovereignty of other oil importing countries. Recent drone attack on oil fields of Saudi Arabia saw not only oil prices going up globally but also markets dwindling with the threat of limited supply. Sensex in India immediately saw a dip as sentiments of major industries and shareholders were hit hard.

USA-Iran Conflicts and India’s Energy Security In 2018, the USA withdrew unilaterally from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) also known as USA-Iran Nuclear Deal and various sanctions were imposed on the purchase of Iranian Oil. India has been one of the significant importers of Iranian Oil as it imported 23.5 MT in fiscal 2018–19 and more than 22 million tons of 220.4 MT crudes were imported in fiscal 2017–18 by India. Iran has offered India attractive terms, including 60-day credit, free insurance, and shipping. The India’s crude basket has further reduced by lesser options for trading and bargaining price deals. For India, even a single dollar increase in the oil price costs import bill to raise by around |10,700 crores yearly. This affects the trade deficit badly. The unpredictability in policy procurements has left India’s concerns unchecked. Not only this, China is leveraging this

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opportunity and trying to capture the oil market of Iran. India’s efforts to build Chabahar port in Iran has already seen unprecedented delays, its ambition to acquire a stake in Farzad B gas exploration sight would also be jeopardized if India is not able to cope up with the American sanctions.

USA’s New Found Oil Capacities Recent technological revolution in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling by the USA has led the country to become the net exporter of energy from being a net importer until recently. The USA today is an exporter of crude oil, coal, natural gas as well as nuclear and solar technologies. The USA has become almost independent with regard to the energy market. Further exploration of shale gas and boom in the sector helped the USA to become the 3rd largest coal exporter globally. With the rise of new energy suppliers in the energy market, along with the emerging dynamics in demand–supply scenario, the traditional Middle East supplier are threatened with economic losses. OPEC recent decision to preserve the market share by retaining the oil prices instead of increasing them, shows the shifting global production chain.

Conclusion Energy has become the essential indicator of the human development, therefore, all developed and developing countries are trying to ensure as much electricity as possible to its citizens. The USA abandoned the membership of the Paris treaty on the pretext that it can’t compromise with the living standard of its people by promising consumption and emission cut. In this backdrop India has to ensure energy availability to its citizen on one hand and reduce emission and consumption losses on the other to avail sustainable energy to its citizens. According to Asian Development Bank, India needs investments of around $2.3 trillion in the energy security sector by 2035. The Comprehensive Investment policies can lead to the inflow of much-needed investment in the sector with the private sector and also the foreign investments. India’s projected 8% global solar power capacity by 2035 with potential 360 GW capacity puts India in the global leaders list. The ambitious target of significantly bringing down India’s oil import dependence from 80% in 2013–14 to 67% by 2022, can be achieved only if the domestic production is increased. This is possible by promoting

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energy conservation efforts along with increasing use of biofuels for domestic energy use. The Energy Security has worldwide outlook and ramifications, it requires an approach which is integrated and sustainable. India needs to have a unified energy policy with contract frameworks and arrangements. Data with respect to the availability of various resources and possible exploration sites need to be evaluated scientifically. Various measures should be taken to encourage the biofuels and improve the gas supply along with setting up of a gas hub immediately. Regulatory issues need to be tackled within the stipulated time frame. The idea of a national energy security agency on the basis of an Integrated Energy Policy needs a serious consideration. With the adoption of APM (Administrative pricing Mechanism) the government is also introducing some reforms in legal, regulatory, and fiscal frameworks to attract foreign investments in the sector, particularly the renewable energy sector. Incentivizing the private producers with norms relaxations and tax holidays is the need of the hour. Oil and gas explorations along with a healthy cooperative environment by promoting joint ventures can provide the necessary impetus to the energy sector. India needs to maintain the commercial viability and competitiveness in clean energy sources. India’s energy sector is now based on market principles and provides a healthy competition and level playing field for both the Public Sector and the Private entities. The global community with better technological developments, governments, private players, civil society have to come up in making efforts in shifting from fossils to renewable sources of energy.

References Andrews-Speed, P., Ma, Xin (2008) Energy production and social marginalization in China. Journal of Contemporary China, 17 (55), 247–272. Daniel, Y. (2006, March−April) Foreign Affairs, 85 (2). Draft National Energy Policy NITI Aayog (2019/2020) Government of India. https://www.google.com/search?q=Energy+Policy+Review%2C+NITI+ Ayog%2C+2019%29.&client=tablet-android-samsungrev2&%20source=androi dhome&source=hp&ei=MnsbYpb4DJWO2roPjMCf6A4&iflsig=AHkkrS4AA AAAYhuJQrhhH0t3qPg37m7w2010ww8NeUq&ved=0ahUKEwiW2cuk_Z_ 2AhUVh1YBHQzgB0Q4dUDCAcamp;uact=5&oq=Energy+Policy+Review% 2C+NITI+Ayog%2C+2019%29.&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQgAEKIE UABYAGCaDmgAcAB4AIAB2AKIAdgCkgEDMy0xmAEAoAECoAEwiz.

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Energy and Non-Traditional Security in Asia (2012) Threats to Human Security, Paul Bellamy. https://opentextbc.ca/humansecurity/chapter/threats-humansecurity/. International Energy Forum Ministerial Meeting (2018) India’s energy future has four pillars—Energy access, energy efficiency, energy sustainability and energy security: PM. https://www.narendramodi.in/pm-modi-inauguratesthe-16thinternational-energy-forum-in-new-delhi-539611. Khatib, H. (2012) IEA World Energy Outlook 2011—A comment. Energy policy, 48, 737–743. MNRE (2019) Annual Report 2019–20, Government of India. https:// www.google.com/search?q=springer+publication&client=tablet-android-sam sungrev2&source=androidhome&source=hp&ei=cX0bYpGwJbKk2roPv_ K0yA8&iflsig=AHkkrS4AAAAAYhuLgRU0HMZBaZgtgA7eVxMZRTb 9lH4i&oq=springer+publc&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAxQAFgAYABoAHA AeACAAQCIAQCSAQCYAQAwiz&ved=0ahUKEwjRrPu2_5_2AhUyklYB HT85DfkQ4dUDCAs. Thakur, T., Deshmukh, S., Kaushik, S. and Kulshrestha, M. (2005) Impact assessment of the Electricity Act 2003 on the Indian power sector. Energy Policy, 33, 1187–1198. Yergin, D. (2006) Ensuring energy security. Foreign Affairs, 85(2) 69–82.

CHAPTER 14

The Evolving Dynamics of National, Regional, and Global Security: A Postscript Obijiofor Aginam

Overview of the Argument Since the evolution of the contemporary international system founded on the pillars of the Peace of Westphalia 1648, international security discourse has been defined predominantly as threats to state security. In a world order built on the state-centric Westphalian architecture, threats to the geo-political territories of nation-states have dominated national, regional, and global security discourses and responses. In tandem with the re-alignment of geo-political interests in a post-Cold War world order of the decade of the 1990s, this book has explored, in the Indian context, the need to broaden national, regional, and security discourse linking the multiple dimensions of state and human security in mutually reinforcing ways.

O. Aginam (B) International Institute for Global Health, United Nations University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3_14

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The Multiple Dimensions of State and Human Security In 1994, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 1994) popularized the notion of human security by recognizing the emergence of new threats to the security of peoples: safety from chronic threats such as hunger, disease, and repression. In 1995, the Commission on Global Governance observed that “global security must be broadened from its traditional focus on the security of states to include the security of people and the planet. … The security of people recognizes that global security extends beyond the protection of borders, ruling elites, and exclusive state interests to include the protection of the people” (Commission on Global Governance 1995, p. 81). The 2003 Report of the Commission on Human Security (2003) defined human security as the protection of “the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment ”. Albeit, human security was hotly contested and intensely debated in security literature at the time of its emergence (Axworthy 2001; Commission on Human Security 2003; UNDP 1994; Hampson 2001; McRae & Hubert 2001; Ramcharan 2002),1 recorded history is replete with its trappings. In the realm of pathogenic microbes, the decimation of a significant percentage of humanity, and the collapse of states as a result of infectious diseases are well documented by medical historians. Plague devastated the city of Athens during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BC (Thucydides 1954). The “plague of Justinian” killed a third of the population, and eventually led to the collapse, of the Byzantine Roman Empire (McNeill 1976). In the fourteenth century, Black Death (Bubonic Plague) killed almost half of Europeans (McNeill 1976). In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, small pox, measles, influenza, chicken pox, and scarlet fever decimated Native American populations as a result of their earliest contacts with Europeans (Crosby 1972; Watts 1997). From 1918–1919 more than twenty million people died as a result of the global epidemic of swine flu (Kiple 1997). In recent years, human security has strongly resonated with the spread of ebola haemorrhagic fever, West Nile virus, and bio-terrorism as exemplified by the spread of anthrax through

1 For critique of human security, see Paris (2001). On health and human/state security, see Price-Smith (2002); Brower and Chalk (2003).

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the U.S. postal system in 2001 (Campbell and Zelokow 2003; Fidler 2002; Gostin, et al. 2002). With the global crisis of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) including the re-emergence of drug-resistant tuberculosis across various regions, climate change-induced food and water insecurities, new forms of bioterrorism and cyber security, and the evolving dimensions of conflicts including flagrant abuses of weapons and laws of war, most states including emerging powers like India are now re-assessing their approaches to national, regional, and global security in a rapidly changing world. Synthesizing the Anti-Thesis of Multiple Dimensions of Security: A Daunting Challenge? Security policy at the national, regional, and global contexts involve multiple actors and levels of analysis and application. There are two reasons why security discourse in the twenty-first century requires a governance framework that is built on state and human security as complimentary paradigms. The first is the collapse of the Cold War that largely “crippled” most international organizations including the United Nations from 1945 until the collapse of the former Soviet Union. The second is a new but complex post-Cold War world order that has transformed the geo-political boundaries of nation-states in dynamic ways with the globalization of emerging and re-emerging non-traditional risks and threats. Exploring the politics of the “domestic-foreign Frontier” in his classic work, James Rosenau identified a policy response that treats the emergent “Frontier” “as becoming more rugged and, thus, as the arena in which domestic and foreign issues converge, intermesh, or otherwise become indistinguishable within a seamless web”. Thus, While foreign policy still designates the efforts of societies to maintain a modicum of control over their external environments, new global interdependence issues such as pollution, currency crises, AIDS and the drug trade have so profoundly changed the tasks and goals of foreign policy officials. (Rosenau 1997, p. 5)

Governance of emerging and re-emerging dimensions of state and human security in the “Frontier” involves critical and difficult choices. The search for these choices, while not easy for most emerging powers, nonetheless

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challenges state officials to explore ways to reconstruct the governance architecture at the national, regional, and global levels toward greater transparency and accountability in ways that strike a delicate balance between a nation’s strategic interests, and the realities of the twentyfirst-century globalized world of mutual interdependence of states and societies.

References Axworthy, L. (2001) Human Security and Global Governance: Putting People First. Global Governance, 7, 19–23. Brower, J. & Chalk, P. (2003) The Global Threat of New and Reemerging Infectious Diseases: Reconciling U.S. National Security and Public Health Policy. Santa Monica: RAND. Commission on Global Governance (1995) Our Global Neighborhood: The Report of the Commission on Global Governance. Oxford University Press. Commission on Human Security (2003) Human Security Now: Protecting and Empowering People. New York: Commission on Human Security. Crosby, A.W. (1972) The Columbian Exchange: The Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Greenwood Press. Campbell, K.M. & Zelokow, P. (eds.) (2003) Biological Security and Public Health: In Search of a Global Treatment. Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute. Fidler, David P. (2002) Bioterrorism, Public Health and International Law. Chicago Journal of International Law, 3, 7–26. Gostin, L.O., et al. (2002) The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act: Planning for and Response to Bioterrorism and Naturally Occurring Infectious Diseases. JAMA, 288(5), 622. Hampson, Fen O. (2001) Madness in the Multitude: Human Security and World Disorder. Oxford University Press. Kiple, Kenneth F. (ed.) (1997) Plague, Pox and Pestilence: Disease in History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. McNeill, William H. (1976) Plagues and Peoples. Oxford University Press. McRae, R. & Hubert, D. (eds.) (2001) Human Security and the New Diplomacy: Protecting People, Promoting Peace. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Paris, R. (2001) Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air. International Security, 26, 67. Price-Smith, A. (2002) The Health of Nations: Infectious Disease, Environmental Change, and Their Effects on National Security and Development. MIT Press.

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Ramcharan, B. (2002) Human Rights and Human Security. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. Rosenau, James N. (1997) Along the Domestic-Foreign Frontier: Exploring Governance in a Turbulent World. Cambridge University Press. Thucydides (1954) History of the Peloponnesian War (R. Warner, trans.). Penguin Books. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (1994) Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security. New York: Oxford University Press. Watts, S. (1997) Epidemics and History: Disease, Power and Imperialism. Yale University Press.

Index

A Accessibility, 148, 149, 151, 162, 163 Adaptation, 239 Adroitness, 196 Affordability, 148, 149, 153 Affordable costing, 254 Affordable prise, 160 Aggressive blend, 79 Agriculture, 172, 181–184, 190, 212, 214–218, 222, 228 Agriculture security, 171 Agro-processing, 181, 182 Ammunition, 198, 201 Anarchic, 2, 17 Anthrax, 38, 40, 42, 44, 45 Anthropogenic, 247 Anti-Indian inclination, 203 Anti-pollution, 254 Anti-social postures, 179 Appalling, 202 Aquaculture industries, 245 Armed robbery, 27 Artificial recharge, 223, 224

Assimilation, 239 Autocratic system, 173 Autonomy, 174 Awareness, 180

B Bacteria, 36, 37, 41 Bacterial containment of water, 216 Bewildering, 30 Big basket, 2 Bioterrorism, 97–99, 103 Bioterrorist, 36–38, 40, 43–49 Bio-warfare, 99 Bioweapon, 36, 38–44, 49 Blue Justice, 207 BWC treaty, 43

C Cardinal concept, 194 Catastrophic, 155, 235, 236, 238, 244, 247, 249 Charitable contribution, 183

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022 S. K. Singh and S. P. Singh (eds.), Nontraditional Security Concerns in India, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3735-3

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INDEX

Cheap labour, 125, 127, 128, 136 Chronic, 150 Cinematic presentation, 244 Close-knit, 20 Coin of the realm, 24 Collateral effects, 69 Combat human trafficking, 135, 141 Commercial sexual exploitation, 123, 125, 127, 128, 135, 136, 141 Commodities, 139, 142 Communicable disease, 104, 105, 112 Community, 78, 80, 81, 84, 87, 92, 123, 126, 130–132, 135, 137, 138, 235, 236, 239, 240, 242, 246, 249 Comparable policy, 260 Comprehension, 241 Computerization, 56 Consumer need, 181 Consumption, 174, 176 Contagion, 19 Convalescent plasma therapy, 114 Convention, 248 Cooperative development, 173, 176, 177, 179, 180, 186 Cooperative legislatures, 180 Cooperative movements, 172, 177, 178, 181, 184, 186 Cooperative organization, 175, 183 Counterinsurgency, 19 Covid-19, 36, 48 Credit gap, 182 Criminal contingents, 26 Criminal law, 139 Cross-border trafficking, 136 Cruelty, 132 Culprits, 38, 46 Cyber-espionage, 54 Cybernetics space, 54 Cyber Security Forum, 66, 67

D Damage to environment, 195 Dangerous, 217, 219 DDoS attack, 57 Deadlier, 53 Debilitating stage, 111 Decentralized programme, 172 Deception fraud, 125 Degradation, 153, 154, 158, 165, 202, 206 Degradation of environment, 153 Delinquent sexual abuse, 141 Demand, 212, 214, 215, 217, 222, 223, 226, 227 Demand-supply gap, 257, 258, 262 Democratically, 174 Demography, 101 Depletion, 158 Destructive, 53, 54 Deteriorate/deteriorating, 147, 217 Devdasi system, 137 Diagnostic laboratories, 108 Diligence, 185 Disadvantaged groups, 175 Disastrous, 53 Dispatching, 259 Distilleries, 216 Distributed Denial of Services (DDOS), 57, 61 Diversification, 177, 183 Drought, 148–150, 155–158 Drug smuggling, 28 Drug trafficking, 19, 22, 28

E Earth temperature, 235, 249 Ebola, 104 Ecological equilibrium communication, 238

INDEX

Economic & Social Benefit, 184 Economic disparity, 84 Economic interest, 172, 174, 175, 178, 179 Economic security, 78–80, 83, 84, 89 Ecosystem, 156 Egalitarian society, 81 E-health initiatives, 110 Emergency medicine, 45 Emotional instability, 84 Encompassing, 19 Endless torture, 132 Enemy, 36, 38, 40, 41 Energy availability, 253, 267 Environment, 84, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92, 93 Environmental degradation, 129, 131 Epidemiology, 101 Eradication, 151, 155 Erosion of trust, 100 Ethnic violence, 20 Expenditure, 262, 264 Experience, 239 Explosives, 198, 199 Extra-regional, 21, 25

F Fake communication, 57 Famine, 150, 151 Field trials, 42 Financial crisis, 154 Fiscal framework, 268 Fisherman, 205, 206 Flash flood, 236, 246 Food entitle, 148 Food production, 147, 154, 159, 165 Food security, 78–80, 85, 86, 89 Foreign investment, 258, 267, 268 Frail, 195 Freedom from fear, 131 Freedom from want, 131

279

Fuel crisis, 154 Fundamentalist, 19

G Generation capacity, 259, 260 Geographical barriers, 157 Geopolitics of fear, 249 Germ warfare, 37 Global cyberspace, 69 Global giants, 263 Global stability, 22 Golden triangle, 28 Governance, 79, 80, 84, 88, 92 Greenhouse gas emissions, 256 Gross domestic product (GDP), 147, 151, 156 Ground water, 220, 223, 228 Gunrunning, 28

H Harbouring, 124, 127 Hazardous, 36, 37, 42, 43 Health security, 80, 89, 90 Human-centric approach, 131 Human security, 77–81, 83, 86, 87, 89, 90, 92 Hydrological cycle, 246

I Illegal migration, 201, 202 Illicit trade, 23 Impediment, 87, 88 Inclination, 22 Independence, 174 Industrial waste, 215, 216 Inefficient, 97 Information infrastructure, 62–66, 68 Infrastructure disincentives, 85 Instability, 199, 201 Insurgency, 137, 142

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Integrity responsibility, 185 Inter-cooperative relationship, 179 Interdependence, 17, 18, 256 International law, 201, 204 Intimidation, 22, 23, 138 Intrepid, 19 IOR countries, 26

J Jeopardize, 179 Juncture, 171

L Land degradation, 220 Law enforcement, 98 Legal authorities, 129 Legal permit, 123 Littorals, 26

M Major famine, 236 Management, 217–226, 228 Marginal areas, 158 Maritime boundary dispute, 205 Maritime security, 193–195, 197, 207, 208 Mechanism, 43, 45, 46, 48 Merchant fleet, 25 Metamorphosis, 197 Middle channel, 204 Minimum coordination sector, 186 Money laundering, 28 Monkey Pox, 104 Multiculturalism, 81, 88 Multidisciplinary, 255 Multilateral, 17, 29–31 Multipolar environment, 197 Multipronged, 64 Municipal water norms, 218 Myriad, 2

N Narcotics, 198 National Food Security Act, 148, 149, 151, 161, 163 National priorities, 97 National security, 79, 82, 95–100, 102, 107 National values, 2 Natural disaster, 235, 245, 246, 248, 249 Nitrate pollution, 215 Non-conventional security, 194, 208 Non-traditional security threats, 124, 125, 129, 131, 132, 136 Nutrition, 148, 150, 152, 154, 161, 162, 165 Nutrition security, 148, 152, 153, 165, 166 O Occurrence, 19, 20, 25, 26 Oil bunkering, 19 Operational efficiency, 182 Operation python, 196 Operation trident, 196 P Pandemic, 98, 100–102, 106, 116 Pandemic influenza, 97, 98 Pay-off, 200 Performance, 221, 222 Perpetrator, 55 Personal, 80 Plausible, 37 Pneumonic plague, 102 Political factor, 235, 237 Political instabilities, 63 Political personalities, 176 Poly alignment, 29, 30 Populist, 88, 92 Portrayed, 196

INDEX

Post-liberalism, 30 Power projection, 17 Predominate, 249 Preparedness, 148 Privatization, 224, 225 Privileged, 199 Profitable industry, 133 Property right, 173 Prostitution, 123, 126, 128, 137, 140, 141 Public-private health diactomy, 107 Public-private partnership (PPP), 66, 84, 224, 225

Q Quality, 213–218, 220, 224, 228, 229 Quantity, 213–215, 218, 228, 229 Quasi-universal system, 159

R Rabbit fever, 40 Radicalization, 85, 88, 89 Reallocation, 1 Regulatory issues, 268 Rehabilitation, 142, 143 Renewable energy, 260–264, 268 Reoriented action, 172 Resistance, 259, 265 Restraining, 111 Resurfacing, 103 Resurrection, 19 Revitalised, 20 Revolutionised, 254

S Sample registration system (SRS), 106 Sea of uncertainty, 197 Sea piracy, 19, 20, 22

281

Securitising climate change, 237, 243 Securitizing, 235, 243–245 Security, 17–31 Security communication, 65 Self-help, 172–175 Sex tourism, 128 Showcases, 197, 203 Sir creek issue, 204 Slaughterhouses, 216 Sluggish, 199 Smuggling, 19, 22, 127, 134 Snowball effect, 178 Social justice, 220 Solar infrastructure, 264 Solar power, 261–264, 267 Solidarity, 174, 187 Sophisticated, 22, 25 Standardization, 114 Strategic partnership, 29 Strategic relationship, 255 String of pearls, 203 Subsidized food, 161, 163, 165 Surveillance, 96, 108, 109, 112 Suspicion, 44 Sustainable development, 171, 172, 180 Sustainable livelihood, 213 Sustainable utilization, 155

T Techno industry, 212 Technological development, 137 Technologies upgradation, 254 Technology of risks, 240 Telecommunication, 54, 58 Temptation, 101 Terrains, 148 Terrorism, 194, 198–200, 207, 208 Threat perception, 129, 130 Tidal estuary, 204

282

INDEX

Trafficking, 123–130, 132–143 Tragedy of commons, 218 Transfer, 124, 133 Transformation, 18, 26, 29 Transitory, 150 Transmissible, 215 Transmissions, 259–261 Transnational crime, 20 Transnational entities, 95 Transshipment nodes, 201 Tribal, 149 U Undermined threats, 255 Underutilised, 259 Unexplored potential, 260 Unifying events, 80 Unilateralism, 30 Unparalleled competition, 253 Unprecedented rate, 214 Unpredictability, 237 Unrestrained, 199

Urbanization, 212, 236 Utility industries, 217

V Variability, 235, 237, 238 Vulnerability, 84, 255, 256 Vulnerable countries, 249

W War of Asphyxiating, 41 Water-borne pollution, 213 Water insecurity, 212, 219, 228 Water scarcity, 248 Weapon for dissemination, 47 Weapon of ass destruction (WMD), 60 World war 1, 41

Y Youth inclination, 86