Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon (Polity & International Relations) – July 29, 2020

On April 1, 2020, China and India usher in the important moment of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

• Looking back at the past 70 years, China-India relations have moved ahead despite wind and rain and gone through an extraordinary development path.
• In the 1950s, the leaders of the older generation of the two countries made the historical decision to establish diplomatic relations between China and India, and jointly advocated the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.
• “Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai” (Indians and Chinese are brothers) resounded throughout our two countries.
• From the 1980s, the two sides agreed to solve the boundary question through peaceful and friendly consultation, established strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity, and achieved all-round development of bilateral relations.

After 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated the “hometown diplomacy”, held two informal summits in Wuhan and Chennai respectively, carried out strategic communication on overarching, long-term and strategic issues of global and regional importance, and agreed to strengthen the closer partnership for development between the two countries.

The Eastern Economic Forum was established by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in 2015 to support the economic development of Russia’s Far East and to expand international cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Unveiling the Russian edition of India’s ‘Look East, Act East’ policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged on September 2019 to extend a $1 billion Line of Credit to Russia’s Far East region (RFE).

The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) brings together key decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners who are engaged in the field of remittances and migration for development.

• Since its first forum in 2007, IFAD has gathered over 1,000 participants from the public and private sector, and the civil society, to facilitate the creation of partnerships and the exchange of best practices in maximizing the impact of remittances to the benefit of migrants’ communities of origin.
• In doing so, IFAD partners with key international financial institutions and other prominent organizations, such as the European Commission (2015) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2017).
• The forum is held biannually, in conjunction with the observance of the International Day of Family Remittances (IDFR) on 16 June.

India and several African countries on February 2020 pledged to deepen cooperation to combat the growing threat of terrorism and preserve maritime security by sharing information, intelligence and surveillance, in a joint deceleration (lucknow declaration) adopted at the first India- Africa Defence Ministers conclave at the ongoing Defexpo.

Nepal has invited the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan along with several other heads of government and heads of state for the Sagarmatha Sambaad.

The first ever multi-stakeholder dialogue event is expected to be the biggest diplomatic initiative in Nepal’s recent history that will be attended by many global figures apart from the leaders of the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

The Union Cabinet has ratified the Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement between India and France aimed at enhancing people-to-people contacts, fostering Mobility of students, academics, researchers and skilled professionals.

• The Agreement was actually signed in March, 2018 during the State Visit of the French President to India.
• The Agreement is initially valid for a period of seven years, incorporates provision for automatic renewal and a monitoring mechanism through a Joint Working Group.

The West Asia peace plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump on January 2020 seeks to give the Israelis what they have long wanted — an expansive state with Jerusalem as its “undivided capital” and tight security control over a future Palestinian state.

• With his plan, Mr. Trump is actually pushing to revive the stalled two-state talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, but on his own terms.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had earlier spoken against the two-state solution, has accepted the Trump plan, while appearing beside the President in the White House.
• The Palestinians were absent.

The opposition party in December, 2019 claimed that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act not only “violates” provisions of the Constitution but also falls afoul of an international convention to which India is a signatory.

• India was a signatory to the international convention on torture that talks about “providing shelter to people who face torture in another country”.
• “India is bound by the principle of jus cogensthat ensures human rights to those who are tortured and persecuted”.

The Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund is a $150 million multi-donor trust fund (2013-2021) administered by Asian Development Bank under the Urban Financing Partnership Facility.

• It aims to support fast-growing cities in Asia to reduce the risks poor and vulnerable people face from floods, storms or droughts, by helping to better plan and design infrastructure to invest against these impacts.
• Recently grant of $5 million from the multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) will be provided to build climate change resilient infrastructure in Visakhapatnam.

The World Bank has operationalised a Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) with $333 million for 22 African countries.

• The idea was incubated as the Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism by the International Solar Alliance.
• Essentially, the scheme reduces the cost of capital through credit enhancement mechanisms.
• SRMI has given a big push to solar projects in countries like Maldives to start with.
• SRMI is trying to enhance the mechanism both vertically and horizontally.
• Many island countries now want to be covered under the SRMI.
• This unique approach offers technical assistance to help countries develop evidence-based solar targets, implement a sustainable solar program, and maintain robust procurement processes with transaction advisors.