Topic Of The Day:-“New Delhi’s limited options”
First, let’s examine India’s real stakes in the Maldives before exploring the various options available and their associated challenges. New Delhi’s fundamental concern is not the suspension of civil liberties or setback to democracy in the Maldives. It’s China: how China would increase its stocks in Male at the expense of India lies at the heart of Indian anxieties about the political impasse in the Maldives. In New Delhi’s mind, then, the game is increasingly zero sum, and winning it would require reinstating India’s lost glory in the Maldives, something the embattled former President, Mohamed Nasheed, is promising to do. Let’s put India’s apprehensions in context. India has of late been anxious about its steadily losing stature in the neighbourhood: its inability to act in the Maldives will only further accentuate this reality. India’s carefully constructed identity of being the “successor-state-of-the-British-Raj” strongly informed the early decades of its regional policy. Assertions of India’s Raj tradition in the neighbourhood have been resisted by the smaller countries of the region, often without much success. However, the rise of China has fundamentally changed the equation by giving them an opportunity to demand more respect and negotiate better terms of engagement. South Asia traditionally had one hegemon, India; today it has two, India and China. Small states of the region are indeed the winners in this new balance of power game. The emerging discontents of India’s regional policy need to be viewed in this historical context. These new geopolitical realities also necessitate that New Delhi alters its approach to dealing with the region and appreciates the aspirations of the region’s small states, keeping in mind their increased choices. In other words, the sooner India is able to rejig its regional policy to suit the post-hegemonic milieu in South Asia the better it will be able to grapple with the emerging realities therein. In that spirit, then, India should desist from undertaking “civilising missions” to educate its neighbours on civil liberties and democracy. Let the democratic chips in Maldives fall where they may.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Unfolding
Meaning: Reveal or disclose (thoughts or information).
Example: “Eva unfolded her secret exploits to Mattie”
Synonyms: Narrate, Relate
2) Undeniable
Meaning: Unable to be denied or disputed.
Example: “it is an undeniable fact that some dogs are easier to train than others”
Synonyms: Indisputable, Indubitable
Antonyms: Debatable, Questionable
3) Deem
Meaning: Regard or consider in a specified way.
Example: “the event was deemed a great success”
Synonyms: Consider, Judge
4) Chaotic
Meaning: In a state of complete confusion and disorder.
Example: “the political situation was chaotic”
Synonyms: Disorderly, Confused
5) Goldilocks
Meaning: Used to describe a situation in which something is or has to be exactly right.
Example: The Mayor takes a Goldilocks approach to his city’s 18 percent growth: It’s not too fast and not too slow.
Synonyms: Perfect, Faultless
6) Playbook
Meaning: A set of rules or suggestions that are considered to be suitable for a particular activity, industry, or job.
Example: Typically, outsiders are brought in to execute a specific playbook, i.e. to solve a particular problem in a particular way.
7) Fraying
Meaning: (of a person’s nerves or temper) show the effects of strain.
Example: “as the temperature rose, tempers frayed”
Synonyms: Strain, Overtax
8) Fact-finding mission
Meaning: An occasion when a person or group goes somewhere to collect information about something.
Example: We’re going on a fact-finding mission to China to learn more about how they run the industry.
9) Sober
Meaning: Serious, sensible, and solemn.
Example: “ a sober view of life”
Synonyms: Serious, Sensible
Antonyms: Light-hearted, Frivolous
10) Impasse
Meaning: A situation in which no progress is possible, especially because of disagreement; a deadlock.
Example: “the current political impasse”
Synonyms: Deadlock, Stalemate
11) Reinstating
Meaning: Restore (someone or something) to their former position or state.
Example: “the union threatened strike action if Owen was not reinstated”
Synonyms: Restore, Rehabilitate
12) Embattled
Meaning: Having a lot of problems or difficulties
Example: An embattled government ; embattled teachers.
13) Stature
Meaning: Importance or reputation gained by ability or achievement.
Example: “an architect of international stature”
Synonyms: Reputation, Repute
14) Accentuate
Meaning: Make more noticeable or prominent.
Example: “his jacket unfortunately accentuated his paunch”
Synonyms: Highlight, Spotlight
Antonyms: Mask
15) Engagement
Meaning: The action of engaging or being engaged.
Example: “Britain’s continued engagement in open trading”
Synonyms: Participation, Involvement
16) Hegemon
Meaning: A leader, country, or group that is very strong and powerful and therefore able to control others.
Example: Could the United States lose out to another global hegemon, China?
17) Discontents
Meaning: Dissatisfaction with one’s circumstances; lack of contentment.
Example: “voters voiced discontent with both parties”
Synonyms: Dissatisfaction, Disaffection
Antonyms: Contentment, Satisfaction
18) Necessitate
Meaning: Make (something) necessary as a result or consequence.
Example: “a cut which necessitated eighteen stitches”
19) Hegemonic
Meaning: Ruling or dominant in a political or social context.
Example: “the bourgeoisie constituted the hegemonic class”
20) Milieu
Meaning: A person’s social environment.
Example: “Gregory came from the same aristocratic milieu as Sidonius”
Synonyms: Environment, Backdrop
