India Justice Report 2025: Gender Inequality in the Courts
1. Syllabus Relevance
- GS-II (Polity and Governance): Structure, organization, and functioning of the Judiciary; Mechanisms, laws, institutions, and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections.
- GS-I (Society): Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and remedies.
2. Context
- The India Justice Report (IJR) 2025 highlighted alarming statistics on gender inequality within the Indian judiciary, noting that only 14% of High Court judges and a mere 3.1% in the Supreme Court are women.
- This severe under-representation is not just a social issue but a structural flaw that impacts the quality of justice delivery and the perspectives considered in judicial pronouncements.
- The news underscores the immediate need for judicial and institutional reforms to ensure the judiciary mirrors the diversity of the population it serves.
3. Main Body: Multi-Dimensional Approach
- Structural and Institutional Barriers:
- The Pipeline Problem: The lack of adequate representation often begins at the level of judicial entrance exams and lower courts, where the number of women candidates or successful recruits is disproportionately low.
- Patriarchal Collegium System: Historically, the process of elevating judges through the collegium system has been criticized for lacking transparency and potentially perpetuating historical biases against women.
- Attrition and Work-Life Balance: The demanding, often grueling schedule of a legal career, combined with societal expectations of caregiving, forces many competent women to leave the profession prematurely.
- Hostile Work Environment: Reports of gender insensitivity, lack of adequate facilities, and instances of sexual harassment in some courts and chambers further deter women from pursuing long-term careers in law and judiciary.
- Impact on Justice Delivery and Jurisprudence:
- Lack of Diversity in Viewpoints: Gender-specific issues (e.g., sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape law) are best adjudicated by a Bench with diverse perspectives, which is currently lacking.
- Confidence in the System: The under-representation of women judges erodes the confidence of women litigants, making them feel less understood or fairly heard by an overwhelmingly male Bench.
- Judicial Precedents: The lack of women’s voices can result in a perpetuation of traditional, often patriarchal, interpretations of law, particularly in family law and criminal justice cases.
- Symbolic Value: Increasing women’s representation sends a powerful symbolic message about gender equality and meritocracy within a fundamental pillar of Indian democracy.
- Global Comparisons and Best Practices:
- International Benchmarks: Many developed nations and common law jurisdictions (e.g., Canada, Australia) have achieved near gender parity in their apex courts, setting a benchmark for India.
- Affirmative Action Debates: The discussion often shifts to whether an explicit policy of reservation or preferential consideration for women in judicial appointments is necessary, similar to other civil services.
- Mentorship Programs: Successful global models utilize formal mentorship and sponsorship programs to guide talented women advocates toward judicial careers.
4. Positives and Negatives, Government Schemes
- Positives (of Increasing Representation):
- Better Justice: More diverse Benches lead to more well-rounded, sensitive, and context-aware judgments.
- Role Models: Creates powerful role models for young women aspiring to join the legal profession.
- Efficiency: Women judges are often perceived as being less prone to delays, potentially improving the disposal rate of cases.
- Negatives (of Reform):
- Merit vs. Representation: Critics of reservation argue that any affirmative action risks undermining the principle of judicial merit, which is essential for maintaining the judiciary’s independence and integrity (though this is a contested view).
- Resistance to Change: Deep-rooted institutional and cultural biases within the bar and the bench resist any rapid change to the established norms of appointment.
- Government Schemes/Initiatives in Focus:
- All India Judicial Service (AIJS) (Proposed): A proposed service that aims to democratize judicial appointments, potentially helping to introduce diversity through a centralized, merit-based selection process.
- Special Recruitment Drives: Some states have initiated special drives to encourage and fast-track the appointment of women in lower judiciary positions.
5. Way Forward
- Mandatory Quotas: Introduce a non-negotiable, time-bound minimum percentage (e.g., 33%) of women in the recommendation process for High Court and Supreme Court appointments, initially via the Collegium.
- AIJS Implementation: Urgently implement the All India Judicial Service to create a transparent, standardized system for entry into the judiciary at the grass-roots level.
- Infrastructure and Support: Ensure basic infrastructure, such as separate washrooms, child-care facilities, and a robust anti-sexual harassment mechanism (POSH Act implementation), is available across all court complexes.
- Data-Driven Monitoring: Mandate the annual publication of gender statistics across the entire judicial pipeline (law schools, bar councils, lower courts, high courts) to monitor progress and identify bottlenecks.
6. Conclusion
The India Justice Report 2025 provides a statistical indictment of the judiciary’s failure to achieve gender equity. Rectifying the historical under-representation of women is not merely a matter of fairness but a prerequisite for strengthening the judiciary’s legitimacy and sensitivity. The implementation of structural reforms, combined with affirmative action, is the only way forward to ensure a truly inclusive and equitable justice delivery system.
7. Practice Mains Questions
- Question 1: The abysmal representation of women in the higher judiciary poses a challenge to the constitutional ideal of justice. Critically analyze the reasons for this under-representation and suggest concrete reforms for the Collegium system. (250 words)
- Question 2: Discuss the potential impact of a diverse bench on jurisprudence, particularly concerning gender-sensitive issues. Should the government introduce mandatory reservation for women in judicial appointments? (150 words)
Ruling on Retroactive Age Limits under Surrogacy Law
1. Syllabus Relevance
- GS-II (Polity and Governance): Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation, Judiciary, Health.
- GS-II (Social Justice): Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Reproductive Rights.
2. Context
- The Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling on the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021, stating that the Act’s age limits will not apply retroactively to couples who began their fertility treatment, such as freezing embryos, before the law came into force.
- The case centered on couples who had initiated the process in good faith but found themselves ineligible under the stringent new law’s age restrictions after its enactment.
- This judgment protects the reproductive autonomy and legitimate expectations of individuals already undergoing complex medical procedures.
3. Main Body: Multi-Dimensional Approach
- Legal Principle and Constitutional Law:
- Rule Against Retrospectivity: The judgment upholds the fundamental legal principle that laws should ordinarily operate prospectively and not punish or frustrate actions taken legally before the law was enacted.
- Article 21 (Right to Life and Liberty): The ruling implicitly reinforces the expanded scope of Article 21, including the right to reproductive choice and autonomy, as the State cannot unfairly truncate a medical process already underway.
- Legitimate Expectation: The Court recognized the petitioners’ legitimate expectation that their medical procedures (like freezing embryos) would culminate in a birth under the existing, less restrictive legal framework.
- Surrogacy Law: Objectives and Criticism:
- Act’s Objectives: The Surrogacy Act, 2021, aims to regulate the process, banning commercial surrogacy and allowing only altruistic surrogacy (where no monetary payment is made to the surrogate mother, other than medical expenses).
- Restrictive Provisions: Critics argue that the Act is overly restrictive, limiting the process only to married heterosexual couples of a specific age (between 25-50 for women and 26-55 for men) and only allowing the use of self-gametes.
- Impact on Choices: The restrictive nature of the law potentially denies access to surrogacy for single parents, live-in partners, LGBTQ+ couples, and those who need donor gametes, infringing on their fundamental rights.
- Medical and Ethical Dimensions:
- Cryopreservation: The ruling specifically addresses the status of cryopreserved (frozen) embryos, recognizing them as tangible assets linked to the couples’ reproductive future.
- Medical Timelines: Fertility treatments are time-sensitive. The ruling acknowledges that abruptly halting the process due to a new law causes not just legal harm but severe emotional and medical distress.
- Altruism vs. Exploitation: The debate remains on whether the outright ban on commercial surrogacy truly eliminates exploitation or merely drives the practice underground, where exploitation is even less regulated.
4. Positives and Negatives, Government Schemes
- Positives (of the Ruling):
- Protection of Rights: Offers immediate relief and protection to a small, vulnerable group of couples who were caught in the transition between the old and new laws.
- Legal Consistency: Reaffirms a key principle of administrative and constitutional law regarding retrospectivity.
- Reproductive Autonomy: Upholds the right of choice, ensuring that years of medical effort and investment are not wasted.
- Negatives (of the overall Surrogacy Act):
- Exclusion of Groups: The Act remains highly exclusionary, creating legal hurdles for many individuals and couples who cannot biologically conceive but are excluded from altruistic surrogacy due to marital status or sexual orientation.
- Global Brain Drain: The ban on commercial surrogacy risks driving the entire fertility industry, including skilled doctors and surrogates, to less restrictive countries.
- Government Schemes/Initiatives in Focus:
- National Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Board: The Act mandates the establishment of this national board to oversee and regulate all ART and surrogacy clinics, ensuring ethical practice.
5. Way Forward
- Comprehensive Review: The government must undertake a comprehensive review of the Surrogacy Act’s restrictive provisions, particularly those concerning marital status and the use of donor gametes, to align the law with Article 21.
- Clarity on Transition: Ensure clear, unambiguous guidelines for all future health-related laws regarding the transition period, protecting individuals who have initiated long-term medical processes.
- Regulate, Not Ban: Shift the regulatory philosophy from a blanket ban on commercial surrogacy to one of stringent regulation, focusing on the ethical treatment, fair compensation, and legal protection of the surrogate mother.
- Financial Redressal: Develop a legal framework for financial redressal or compensation for couples whose medical procedures are rendered void due to restrictive, non-retrospective laws.
6. Conclusion
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the Surrogacy Act’s age limits is a victory for the principle of non-retrospectivity and protects the reproductive rights of specific couples. However, the ruling underscores the deeper need to reform the overall Surrogacy Act, 2021, to make it more inclusive and ethical, ensuring that the pursuit of parenthood is not arbitrarily denied by rigid legislation.
7. Practice Mains Questions
- Question 1: Analyze the Supreme Court’s judgment regarding the retroactive application of the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021. In what ways do the restrictive provisions of the Act challenge the right to reproductive autonomy under Article 21? (250 words)
- Question 2: Discuss the ethical dilemma posed by the ban on commercial surrogacy. Does altruistic surrogacy eliminate exploitation, or does it merely obscure it? (150 words)
EU’s AI Act Enforcement Begins, Setting Global Regulatory Standard
1. Syllabus
- GS Paper II:
- Governance, Transparency, and Accountability.
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- GS Paper III:
- Science and Technology—developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
- Awareness in the fields of IT, Computers, and associated regulations.
- Relevance: International regulatory mechanisms, Digital governance, Ethical implications of technology, and the “Brussels Effect.”
2. Context
- Definition: The EU AI Act is the world’s first comprehensive legal framework establishing universal rules for the development, deployment, and marketing of Artificial Intelligence systems.
- Core Principle: It adopts a risk-based approach, classifying AI applications into four categories: Unacceptable Risk, High Risk, Limited Risk, and Minimal Risk.
- Timeline: The Act is entering its full phase of enforcement, with rules on the most sensitive areas (like prohibited practices) taking immediate effect, and requirements for high-risk systems following soon after.
- The ‘Brussels Effect’: Due to the size of the European Single Market, compliance with the Act becomes a global standard, forcing non-EU companies (from Silicon Valley to Shanghai) to adopt EU rules to gain market access.
3. Main Body in Multi-Dimensional Approach
- Legal and Regulatory Dimension:
- Prohibited AI: Bans systems deemed to pose an ‘unacceptable risk’ to democratic values and human rights, such as social scoring by public authorities.
- High-Risk Systems: Strict requirements (transparency, data quality, human oversight, documentation) are mandated for AI in critical areas like medical devices, border control, and judicial administration.
- Fines: Non-compliance can result in staggering penalties: up to €35 million or 7% of a company’s global annual turnover, underscoring the severity of enforcement.
- Technological and Compliance Dimension:
- GPAI (General-Purpose AI): Introduces specific rules for large foundational models (like LLMs), requiring technical documentation, model card summaries, and strict compliance with EU copyright law.
- Transparency Mandate: Requires that all AI-generated content (e.g., deepfakes, text from chatbots) must be clearly labeled and identifiable to users.
- Conformity Assessment: High-risk systems must undergo a mandatory conformity assessment before deployment to ensure they meet the Act’s standards for robustness and accuracy.
- Economic and Industrial Dimension:
- Innovation Stifled?: Concerns exist that the heavy compliance burden may disproportionately affect European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), potentially hindering innovation compared to less regulated markets.
- Consumer Trust: The Act aims to create a trustworthy environment for AI adoption, potentially boosting consumer confidence and investment in compliant AI technologies.
- Global Market Access: For Indian and US firms, compliance is now a necessary, non-negotiable cost, influencing product design decisions globally.
- Ethical and Societal Dimension:
- Biometric Surveillance: Restricts the use of real-time remote biometric identification (e.g., facial recognition) in public spaces by law enforcement to specific, strictly necessary cases, requiring judicial authorization.
- Bias Mitigation: High-risk systems must be designed to minimize discriminatory bias throughout their lifecycle, from training data to deployment.
4. Positives and Negatives, Government Schemes
- Positives:
- Fostering Trust: By setting a high bar for safety and fairness, the Act helps build public acceptance and confidence in AI deployment.
- Legal Clarity: Provides regulatory predictability for developers and investors, reducing legal ambiguity about future liability.
- Democratic Values: Ensures that AI development aligns with fundamental human rights and democratic principles.
- Negatives:
- Implementation Complexity: The enforcement requires substantial technical expertise within national regulatory bodies, which may lack the capacity to audit cutting-edge AI models.
- Regulatory Friction: The complexity of rules could slow down deployment and adoption, creating friction for businesses.
- Future Proofing: The rapid evolution of AI technology makes it challenging for static legislation to remain relevant over time.
- Government Schemes (Indian Context):
- India AI Mission: Focuses on developing a national compute infrastructure and promoting responsible AI research, indicating a future framework for governance.
- Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act: Provides a parallel legislative mechanism for data handling, which will complement future AI regulations by ensuring responsible data input.
5. Way Forward
- Transatlantic Dialogue: India and the EU should establish a formal regulatory dialogue to harmonize standards, ensuring Indian AI startups can meet EU compliance requirements easily.
- National AI Governance: India must accelerate the creation of its own comprehensive AI governance framework, learning from the EU’s risk-based approach while fostering domestic innovation.
- Capacity Building: Investing in the training of auditors, legal experts, and ethical review boards specialized in AI systems.
- AI Sandboxes: Creation of regulatory sandboxes to allow startups to test high-risk AI applications in a controlled environment before full market deployment.
6. Conclusion
- The EU AI Act is a significant global milestone that institutionalizes a human-centric approach to AI regulation. Its enforcement effectively transforms ethical concerns into legal mandates, compelling global technology players to prioritize safety and accountability. While compliance challenges are substantial, the Act successfully champions the principle that powerful technology requires comprehensive democratic oversight.
7. Practice Mains Questions
- Analyze the ‘Brussels Effect’ and its implications for technological sovereignty in emerging economies like India following the enforcement of the EU AI Act. (15 Marks)
- Critically examine the risk-based classification system of the EU AI Act. Do the penalties prescribed provide sufficient deterrence against misuse of High-Risk AI? (10 Marks)
Major Central Banks Signal Continued Inflation Vigilance Amidst Mixed Economic Data
1. Syllabus
- GS Paper III:
- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development, and Employment.
- Monetary policy and its instruments, objectives, and limitations.
- Relevance: Global economic integration, Impact of global monetary policy on emerging markets, Inflation management strategies, and the role of international financial stability.
2. Context
- The Primary Actors: The US Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Bank of England (BoE) are the key global influencers of monetary policy.
- The Challenge: Despite aggressive interest rate hikes since 2022, core inflation (excluding volatile food and energy) remains ‘sticky’ or elevated across major economies.
- The Stance: Central banks have adopted a unified message of “vigilance” and “higher for longer” interest rates, signaling that the fight against inflation is not yet over, even if economic growth is slowing.
- Policy Goal: The singular objective remains guiding inflation back to the long-term target of 2% to maintain price stability and anchor inflation expectations.
3. Main Body in Multi-Dimensional Approach
- Monetary Dimension (Tools and Strategy):
- Rate Hikes: The primary tool used to increase the cost of borrowing, reduce aggregate demand, and slow down economic activity.
- Quantitative Tightening (QT): Actively shrinking central bank balance sheets by allowing government bonds and mortgage-backed securities to mature without reinvesting the proceeds, removing liquidity.
- Forward Guidance: Explicitly communicating the intention to keep rates elevated until inflation is convincingly on a downward path, managing market expectations.
- Economic and Fiscal Dimension (Trade-offs):
- The Hard Landing Risk: The high-rate environment increases the probability of a recession, as tight money can severely restrict investment and consumption.
- Debt Servicing Cost: Higher rates significantly increase the cost of debt for governments, corporations, and heavily leveraged consumers, potentially leading to financial stress.
- Fiscal Restraint: Central bank actions necessitate fiscal consolidation from governments (reduced deficits and spending) to prevent monetary tightening from being undermined by fiscal stimulus.
- Global and Geopolitical Dimension (Spillover Effects):
- Capital Outflows: High interest rates in the US (the world’s reserve currency) attract global capital, leading to FII outflows from emerging markets like India.
- Currency Depreciation: This capital flight strengthens the US Dollar (USD) and puts downward pressure on emerging market currencies (e.g., the Indian Rupee – INR), making imports (especially crude oil) more expensive.
- Trade Slowdown: A slowdown in Western economies reduces demand for goods and services, negatively impacting India’s exports, particularly in the IT and manufacturing sectors.
- Social Dimension (Inequality):
- Regressive Impact: Inflation acts as a regressive tax, disproportionately eroding the purchasing power of fixed-income and low-income groups.
- Labor Market Cooling: The policy may intentionally lead to an increase in unemployment (though most central banks aim for a gradual ‘cooling’ rather than mass job loss) to ease wage inflation.
4. Positives and Negatives, Government Schemes
- Positives:
- Price Stability: A return to the 2% inflation target protects the long-term integrity of the economy and increases the real value of savings.
- Anchor Expectations: Consistent vigilance prevents the public and businesses from anticipating high inflation, which can be self-fulfilling.
- Credit Quality: Higher rates can clean up ‘zombie’ companies that only survive on cheap credit, leading to a more efficient allocation of capital.
- Negatives:
- Slower Growth: The necessary trade-off is reduced GDP growth and increased risk of economic contraction.
- Financial Market Stress: Rapid or unforeseen policy moves can cause sharp volatility and liquidity crises in global financial markets.
- Government Schemes (Indian Context):
- Flexible Inflation Targeting (FIT): The RBI operates under the FIT framework, mandated to keep CPI inflation between 4% $\pm$ 2%, providing a clear institutional focus on price stability.
- Targeted Fiscal Interventions: Schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana and subsidies on cooking gas and fertilizers are used to absorb the shock of global commodity price inflation for vulnerable populations.
- Forex Intervention: The RBI actively intervenes in the currency market to smooth excessive volatility in the INR, reducing the imported inflation impact from a strengthening dollar.
5. Way Forward
- Structural Reforms: Focus on long-term supply-side reforms in India (e.g., logistics, energy production, agriculture supply chains) to reduce vulnerability to external price shocks.
- Clear Communication: Central banks must continue to communicate policy decisions clearly (forward guidance) to avoid unnecessary market panic.
- Global Coordination: Utilize multilateral forums (G20, IMF) to ensure better coordination of monetary policies, particularly concerning the timing of rate hikes and QT, to minimize cross-border economic damage.
- Fiscal Discipline: Governments globally must ensure fiscal policy is complementary to monetary policy by reducing deficit spending, thereby alleviating inflationary pressures.
6. Conclusion
- The continued vigilance of major central banks signals a critical phase in the post-pandemic recovery, emphasizing that the battle against inflation takes precedence over immediate growth concerns. This sustained commitment to tight monetary policy creates both challenges (capital outflows, currency pressure) and opportunities (long-term price stability) for the Indian economy, demanding a balanced and strategic response from the RBI and the government.
7. Practice Mains Questions
- “The policies of the US Federal Reserve are an external constraint on the monetary autonomy of the Reserve Bank of India.” Discuss this statement with reference to the ‘higher for longer’ rate stance. (15 Marks)
- Analyze the rationale behind central banks focusing on core inflation over headline inflation. What are the key non-monetary factors driving persistent core inflation? (10 Marks)
New US-India Strategic Pact Targets Advanced Semiconductor and Space Technology
1. Syllabus
- GS Paper II:
- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
- Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.
- GS Paper III:
- Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
- Awareness in the fields of Space, Computers, and advanced manufacturing.
- Relevance: Indo-US relations, Geopolitics of technology, Semiconductor supply chain diversification, Strategic autonomy.
2. Context
- The Framework: The partnership is formalized under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), launched to deepen strategic and technological cooperation.
- Shifting Focus: The relationship has moved beyond defense sales and diplomatic ties to focus on co-production, technology transfer, and research collaboration in 21st-century technologies.
- Strategic Rationale: The core driver is the shared geopolitical goal of building resilient, trusted, and democratic technology ecosystems, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, to mitigate dependency on non-allied nations.
- Key Areas: Semiconductors, defense manufacturing, space exploration, and quantum computing form the pillars of this expanded pact.
3. Main Body in Multi-Dimensional Approach
- Geopolitical and Security Dimension:
- Strategic Alignment: Reinforces India’s role as a key net security provider and stabilizing partner in the broader Indo-Pacific, aligning with Quad objectives.
- Defense Co-production: Includes historic agreements for the transfer of sensitive defense technology, such as the manufacture of jet engines in India (e.g., GE F-414), significantly boosting indigenous defense capability.
- Export Controls: The US is streamlining export controls for certain high-tech items, reducing bureaucratic friction for Indian technology access.
- Technological and Manufacturing Dimension:
- Semiconductor Ecosystem: The US is actively supporting India’s Semicon India Programme, helping attract major firms for chip fabrication (fabs), packaging (ATMP), and design centers.
- Space Collaboration: Deepened cooperation between NASA and ISRO, including joint scientific missions and India joining the US-led Artemis Accords for peaceful space exploration.
- AI and 5G/6G: Joint research and development in next-generation telecommunications and advanced computing, aiming to set global standards aligned with democratic principles.
- Economic and Trade Dimension:
- Supply Chain Resilience: Aims to diversify global manufacturing away from single-point dependencies by establishing India as a trusted hub for high-value components.
- Investment Flow: The pact signals a strong commitment, encouraging substantial US Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India’s strategic, high-technology sectors.
- Talent Mobility: Initiatives to facilitate the movement of highly skilled Indian talent (engineers, scientists) between the two countries to collaborate on joint research projects.
- Challenges and Constraints Dimension:
- IPR Protection: India must rigorously enforce Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) to satisfy US companies regarding technology transfer.
- Infrastructure Gaps: India needs to rapidly develop the specialized infrastructure (e.g., ultra-pure water, consistent power supply) required for advanced manufacturing like semiconductor fabrication.
4. Positives and Negatives, Government Schemes
- Positives:
- Technological Autonomy: The shift from ‘buy’ to ‘make-in-India’ enables the achievement of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) in critical sectors like defense and microelectronics.
- Skill Development: Attracts global expertise and technology, leading to the creation of a high-value skill pool and R&D ecosystem in India.
- Strategic Leverage: Provides India with greater leverage in global affairs by cementing its partnership with a major global power in future-defining technologies.
- Negatives:
- Dependence Risk: If India fails to scale up its indigenous capacity, the pact could lead to new forms of dependence on US technology instead of genuine self-reliance.
- Bureaucratic Delays: The successful implementation hinges on overcoming India’s bureaucratic inertia, which historically has slowed down complex technology projects.
- Government Schemes (Indian Context):
- Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: Offers fiscal incentives across 14 sectors, including electronics and telecom, acting as the domestic financial backbone for foreign collaborations under iCET.
- Semicon India Programme: A $10 billion financial incentive package dedicated to attracting semiconductor and display manufacturing units, which directly benefits from US partnership.
- National Space Policy 2023: Encourages private sector participation in the space economy, aligning with the spirit of collaboration established by the Artemis Accords.
5. Way Forward
- Dedicated Implementation Cell: Establish a permanent, high-level mechanism (e.g., a fast-track office under the PMO) dedicated to resolving bottlenecks for iCET projects within a fixed timeframe.
- University-Industry Nexus: Mandate and fund collaborative research projects between top Indian engineering institutions (IITs, IISc) and US tech firms to build a robust talent pipeline.
- Regulatory Stability: Ensure consistency in policies, particularly concerning taxation and import duties, to sustain long-term confidence for US investors in capital-intensive sectors like semiconductors.
- Global Outreach: Leverage the success of the pact to attract technology investment from other trusted partners (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) to fully diversify the high-tech supply chain.
6. Conclusion
- The strategic technology pact marks a historic inflection point, signifying a transition in the US-India relationship from a merely bilateral trade focus to a partnership of co-development and strategic interdependence. By focusing on critical domains like semiconductors and space, the agreement not only addresses shared geopolitical challenges but also provides India with an unprecedented opportunity to become a significant global manufacturing and technological power.
7. Practice Mains Questions
- Analyze how the US-India iCET framework contributes to India’s strategic autonomy and its objective of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in the defense and technology sectors. (15 Marks)
- The US-India partnership is a response to the geopolitical compulsion of supply chain diversification. Evaluate the specific challenges India faces in creating a globally competitive semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. (10 Marks)
