Editorial 1 : Boosting a special bond
Introduction: Nepal and India have a unique relationship. The open border, shared culture, economic interdependence and deep-rooted people-to-people relationship make bilateral ties special. The emphasis from the leadership of both the countries is making this special relation better day by day.
India’s significance for Nepal
- India is Nepal’s largest trading partner, the top-source country for tourists, the only supplier of petroleum products and the largest source of total foreign investment.
- India also provides transit for almost all of Nepal’s third-country trade and accounts for a significant share of inward remittances from pensioners, professionals and labourers working in India.
- It has always been the first responder during disasters and emergencies in Nepal.
- The country, in addition to the immediate rescue and relief package, provided a financial package of $75 million for the development of the recently earthquake-hit areas of Nepal.
New initiatives in India-Nepal relations
- Nepal’s trade deficit with India is close to 18 per cent of the GDP.
- Inadequate infrastructure and high transaction costs (paperwork and approval processes, processing and settling fees) have made Nepal a high-cost economy.
- Nepal and India, unlike before, are now focusing on reducing the trade deficit, initiating and strengthening cross-border digital financial connectivity to ease trade, tourism, and remittance flows.
- This is in addition to other physical connectivities to reduce the cost of doing business and facilitate people-to-people ties.
The cooperation in power sector: Backbone of India-Nepal economic cooperation
- Immediately after signing a Joint Vision Statement on Power Sector Cooperation, which covers bilateral cooperation in the production, transmission and cross-border trading of hydropower in 2022, there has been dramatic progress in electricity cooperation.
- The export of electricity from Nepal to India reached around 650 MW in 2023.
- The country earned more than Rs 10 billion and the earnings have begun to support reducing the trade deficit and augmenting foreign exchange earnings.
- In 2023, another long-term power trade agreement was signed between India and Nepal to export 10,000 megawatts of electricity from Nepal to India in 10 years.
- This was essential for Nepal to boost investors’ confidence in the hydro sector and ensure returns on their investment.
- These agreements have helped to initiate several new projects by investors from India and Nepal.
- Both countries have also initiated significant partnerships in building cross-border transmission lines.
- Investment in hydroelectricity production and distribution has overall increased.
- They have also helped Nepal initiate the export of hydroelectricity to Bangladesh under a tripartite agreement between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
- Nepal plans to export 40 MW in 2025, which may increase considerably.
India-Nepal cooperation in digital space
- Last year, Nepal and India decided to establish and enhance digital financial connectivity.
- As a result, Indians travelling to Nepal can make payments through their mobile phones.
- Nepali people will be allowed to do so shortly after the Nepal government finalises the regulations in this regard.
- This facility will help hassle-free payments to traders, tourists, pilgrims, students, and people who travel to India for medical treatment.
- The soon-to-be operationalised mobile transfer mechanism will help workers in Nepal and India transfer earnings through formal channels in their respective home countries.
- To augment this process, the requirements for opening a bank account by Nepalis in India are also being simplified.
- The process for Nepali residents to obtain an Aadhaar card is straightforward.
Measures taken to reduce cost of doing cross-border trade between India and Nepal
- Several measures have also been taken in partnership with India to reduce the cost of doing business in Nepal.
- The countries are working on constructing two new petroleum pipelines between Siliguri, India and Jhapa, Nepal and Amlekhgunj and Chitwan.
- These projects were envisioned after the success of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline inaugurated in 2019, the first-ever cross-border pipeline in South Asia.
- It has saved transportation costs for Nepal by a minimum of Rs 1 billion per annum.
- In addition, the savings coming from pilferage, leakage, theft, and delays by using pipelines instead of trucks are significant.
- It has also been agreed that two additional integrated check posts (ICPs) in Bhairahaba and Dodhara-Chandani in Nepal, which help facilitate the smooth movement of cargo and passenger vehicles, will be built with the grant assistance of India.
- To reduce the transportation and transaction costs of doing business, border roads have been upgraded.
- Cross-border freight rail between India and Nepal has been operational and several other cross-border roads and bridges are being built.
- The feasibility study of the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway has been completed and a direct rail service from Ayodhya to Janakpur is being considered.
Conclusion: The relationship between the two countries is deep, broad and wide. There are many concerns of the people that need to be addressed. However, the momentum of partnership and progress of the recent past must be continued. Established bilateral mechanisms between the two countries to address areas of cooperation and concerns including boundary issues should be activated. This will keep the relationship robust.
Editorial 2 : The new compact
Introduction: Beginning July 1, a historic page turns. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam — will now replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973; and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
The three new laws: A step in good direction
- These three laws have, for over a century, framed the citizen’s compact with the state, especially its imperative to lay down the rule of law and the coercive apparatus that comes with it.
- But India’s criminal justice system has been in dire need for reform.
- The case has been made repeatedly by mounting numbers of undertrials in jails, the victims in their long wait for justice and courtrooms clogged with cases.
- The enactment of new codes is a landmark step.
- From introducing community service as an alternate form of punishment; making summary trial mandatory for petty offences; ensuring video-conferencing of trials; prescribing timelines for speedy trials to inclusion of offences for mob-lynching and child marital rape, these are some of the key areas where the needle has moved decisively forward.
What more could have been included in three laws?
- There are other areas where work needs to be done.
- In July 2020, an expert panel set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a detailed questionnaire for citizens with questions ranging from criminalising marital rape, making sexual offences gender-neutral to legalising euthanasia and revisiting sedition.
- The consultation process mostly took place during the pandemic, many of those big changes did not make it to the new codes.
- In Parliament, too, the bills were passed through a voice vote when most of the Opposition was suspended.
Concerns of states regarding some provisions
- States have flagged some issues. Some are logistical but important, like not having English names for the laws and a delay in translation to regional languages.
- Karnataka has, for example, flagged the provision allowing a police officer 14 days for a preliminarily investigation before registering an FIR and the total exclusion of Section 377 of the IPC which is invoked now in cases of sexual assault of a man.
- The Uttar Pradesh cabinet has already approved a proposal to bring an ordinance to make some exceptions in the anticipatory bail provisions.
More issues will come up, once the laws are implemented
- Clearly, the debate on the new laws cannot be limited to what was spoken in Parliament.
- As the laws roll out, more issues will come to fore and it is important for the Centre to hold space for that debate.
- Citizens and civil society are the key stakeholders in this and they will — and should — weigh in on its implementation flagging abuse and misuse.
The criminal justice system reform is an ongoing process
- It is important for the government to listen to these voices, not frame the feedback in political terms of Opposition versus Government.
- Reform of the criminal justice system is also not a one-time solution or one that just takes place in the books.
- Police reform, sensitisation and addressing gaps in judicial infrastructure are also needed to realise the objective behind these reforms.
- It is a work in progress that needs laws to constantly adapt to the changing needs of those it seeks to govern.
- The rolling out of three laws is just the beginning of the process
Conclusion: The enactment of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam marks a significant step towards revamping India’s criminal justice system. This is an ongoing process, and the new codes serve as a springboard for a more just and efficient legal system that adapts to the evolving needs of society.