THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 17 September 2020 New order in West Asia: On Abraham Accords(The Hindu)

New order in West Asia: On Abraham Accords (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations 
Prelims level: UAE, Bahrain and Israel peace deal 
Mains level: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora

Context:

• The so-called Abraham Accords, signed in the White House on Tuesday by the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, under U.S. President’s mediation, clearly mark a new beginning in the relations between the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdoms and the Jewish state.

The new dawn of a new middle east:

• Under the agreement, the UAE and Bahrain would normalise ties with Israel, heraldingbetter economic, political and security engagement.
• More Arab countries are expected to follow suit, say U.S. and Israeli officials.
• The agreements have the backing of Saudi Arabia, arguably the most influential Arab power and a close allyof the UAE and Bahrain.
• The ailing ruler of the Kingdom, Salman bin Abdulaziz, is treading cautiously for now, but Riyadh has opened its airspace for commercial flights between the UAE and Israel.
• The accords, the first between Israel and Arab countries since the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty, also offer a rare diplomatic win to Mr. Trump, whose other foreign policy bets, be it Iran or North Korea, were either disastrous or stagnant.
• With less than 50 days to go before his re-election bid, he has called the agreements “the new dawnof a new Middle East”.

Palestinian question unaddressed:

• Though of historical and geopolitical significance, it is too early to say whether the accords will have any meaningful impact on West Asia’s myriadconflicts.
• Unlike Egypt and Jordan, which signed peace treaties with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively, the Gulf countries are not frontline states in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
• They had established backroom contacts with Israel years ago; what is happening now is their normalisation. Second, the agreements leave the Palestinian question largely unaddressed.
• With Arab countries signing diplomatic agreements with Israel bilaterally, the Arab collective support for the Palestinian movement for nationhood, which has been the basis of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, is crumbling.
• But it does not mean that the Palestinian question would fade away.
• The vacuum left by the retreat of the Arab powers from the Israel-Palestine conflict is being filled by the non-Arab Muslim powers — Iran, Turkey and their allies.
• The geopolitical sands may be shifting but the core issue concerning Israel is unresolved.
• Three, the UAE-Bahrain agreements are in fact endorsing the region’s emerging order.
• With the U.S. in retreatand Turkey and Iran pursuing more aggressive foreign policies, there is a three-way contest taking shape, in which Sunni-ruled Arab kingdoms, all American allies, are realigning their geopolitical interests with Israel.

Conclusion:

• The Abraham Accords are likely to sharpen this contest.
• If Mr. Trump and the signatories to the accords want to bring peace here as they have claimed, they should address the more structural issues, which include the unresolved question of Palestine.
• Accords between Arab States and Israel can’t bring peace without solving the Palestine issue.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Contingency Fund (CF), consider the following statements:
1. Contingency Fund (CF) is a specific provision meant for meeting unexpected and unforeseen contingencies only with respect to depreciation in the value of securities.
2. As per Section 47 of the RBI Act, profits or surplus of the RBI are to be transferred to the government, after making various contingency provisions, public policy mandate of the RBI, including financial stability considerations.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: B

Mains Questions:

Q.1)Highlights about the recent agreements signed by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for normalising relations with Israel. What are the significances of it? Also discuss the implications for India and the world.