Editorial 1: BRICS in perspective
Recent Context:
- Recently, the 15th BRICS Summit concluded in Johannesburg last week with the membership of the grouping going from 5 to 11, after the induction of four countries from the Gulf and West Asia — Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as well as Ethiopia and Argentina from Africa and South America, respectively.
- The expansion was carried out under the Johannesburg Declaration which refers to “consensus” being reached on “the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures of the BRICS expansion process”, details of which have not been made public so far.
The expansion of group may enhances the China based geopolitical agenda
- There are major implications of this enlargement, beyond the current five members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — which will come into effect on January 1, 2024
- The pressures on this grouping to acquire a more geopolitical agenda (with Chinese characteristics), particularly in the context of the escalating strategic contestation between the US and China
- However, there are certain areas of conflict between Indin and China particularly border dispute which going to affect China based geopolitical agenda.
Stand of Indian and China over dispute
- China suggests that the two sides should “bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border region”.
- This present the current state of India-China relations and their different positions on border-related issues. However, It should not discourage India from keeping communication channels open with China, including at the highest level, without investing them with undue hope or optimism.
Role and position of China in BRICS
- While India has good relations with all six new members, the ability of China, the largest economy and most influential country in the grouping which influence and drive the agenda of future direction of BRICS
- It is sobering to recall that China has been the key player in most of the milestones in the evolution of BRICS since its inception in 2006: As
- The first expansion in 2010 with the inclusion of South Africa;
- the establishment of the New Development Bank in 2015 with its headquarters at Shanghai, even though the idea of a BRICS bank was proposed by India;
- the setting up of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement in 2015 with China as the largest contributor ($41 billion as against $18 billion contributed by India);
- Xi mooting the “BRICS Plus” arrangement at the Xiamen Summit in 2017; and
- now the enlargement of the grouping with more members to come.
Expansion of BRICS may be used by China as anti-west grouping
- In his remarks at the 14th and 15th summit meetings of BRICS, Chinese president Xi launched attacks on the US-led West. he referred to west as “dark clouds of Cold War mentality and power politics”, with “some countries” attempting “to expand military alliances to seek absolute security, stoke bloc-based confrontation by coercing other countries into picking sides, and pursue unilateral dominance at the expense of others’ rights and interests”.
- In such scenario India has a major role to play that India will have to guard against BRICS emerging as an anti-West grouping and as an instrument in China’s power play.
Role of Indian in new emerging BRICS to counter China’s influence
- India’s agenda should be to encourage the economic and developmental priorities of the grouping and use it to articulate the concerns and aspirations of the Global South and promote its engagement with the latter.
- India must be wary of projects like the BRICS currency (a not-starter) or de-dollarisation and Alternative payment mechanisms can be explored but that can be done under bilateral arrangements.
- However, given problems with China and its proclivity for weaponising economic interdependence, it does not serve India’s interest to promote a larger role for the Chinese Yuan in global trade or as a reserve currency.
- India will have to devise a careful strategy to ensure that the grouping is not dominated by China to advance its strategic agenda. This is feasible because all decisions are taken in BRICS on the basis of consensus and there is a lack of appetite among other member-countries, except for Russia and Iran, to take sides in the Sino-US rivalry
Conclusion
- Therefore, India will have to engage the grouping proactively and not shy away from wielding its veto in decision-making and exposing China’s hypocrisy on issues like the expansion of the UN Security Council, which figures in the Johannesburg Declaration.
- The West, too, must introspect as to why it is losing the Global South and the reasons behind 40-odd countries seeking to join a grouping that has, at best, limited achievements to its credit.
Editorial 2: The cutting Edge
Recent Context:
- Recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a global framework on the expansion of “ethical” artificial intelligence (AI) tools as he flagged concerns over algorithmic bias and its disruptive impact on society.
Areas of application of AI:
Views over regulation of AI:
- With the explosion of artificial intelligence systems, policy makers the world over confront the complex challenge of regulating AI.
- Acknowledging the far-reaching ramifications of AI systems, tech leaders such as Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, have called for the creation of an international regulatory body, while others like Elon Musk had earlier called for a pause on AI development until independent experts developed and implemented a set of shared safety protocols.
- Seen against this backdrop, the Indian government’s decision to move in the direction of actively formulating regulations is welcome.
Rules for regulation of AI and national and international level
- Even as policy makers across jurisdictions have begun to take steps towards regulating AI, their approaches vary.
- Under the European model, for instance, the regulatory framework has sought to classify artificial intelligence systems according to the risk they pose.
- These risks are classified into four categories
- minimal,
- limited,
- high and
- unacceptable.
- This framework also calls for the establishment of a European Artificial Intelligence Board to oversee the implementation of regulation.
- However, there is absence of legal regulation mechanism at global level
India’s position on AI regulation
- In India, a paper released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in July had outlined the form a regulatory framework could take.
- It recommended setting up of an independent statutory authority and a multi-stakeholder body which draws its members from the government, academia and industry to advise it.
- It proposed a matrix to classify AI use cases based on their risk , high or low risk and regulate them according to principles of responsible AI, which it enumerated as
- inclusive growth and sustainable development,
- fairness, transparency and explainability, robustness,
- security and safety, and accountability.
While considering wide areas of AI impact, there is need for a global collaboration
- The impact of AI will not only be felt in the information technology sector, but potentially across a range of areas like education, healthcare and finance.
- The wide-ranging concerns such AI systems raise, therefore, from issues of privacy to bias and discrimination, security risks and intellectual property rights, and given the fact that technology is constantly evolving, call for a forward-looking approach.
- Moreover, regulatory frameworks cannot work in isolation. As AI will not be constrained by geographical boundaries, global collaboration will be required.
Conclusion
- While considering the strong technology ecosystem that exists in India, the country is well placed to play a crucial role in shaping the global AI regulatory framework.
- However, while policymakers must clearly draw up the regulatory guardrails, they must be careful — they must seek to facilitate innovation, not stifle it.