Indo-Pacific

• During the 18th Heads of Asian Coast Guard Agencies Meeting (HACGAM) in New Delhi, the Indian Defense Minister stressed the importance of using ocean resources sustainably for economic growth while protecting the ecosystem's health. He added that India supports open maritime borders with rules in the Indo-Pacific.

The Indo-Pacific region is what?

• The Indo-Pacific is a relatively new idea. The Indo-Pacific region first came to prominence about ten years ago; since then, it has grown significantly.

• Understanding that the Indian Ocean and the Pacific are linked strategic theatres is one of the factors contributing to the term's adoption.
• Also, Asia has become the region of gravity. The Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean offer sea lanes, which is why there are maritime routes. These oceans are where the majority of global trade takes place.

Significance

• The Indo-Pacific region, which spans four continents—Asia, Africa, Australia, and America—is one of the most populous and economically vibrant regions in the world.
• The region's dynamism and vigor are obvious given that it is home to 2/3 of the world's economic output and 60% of the world's population.
• In terms of attracting and receiving foreign direct investment, the region is excellent. There are links to the Indo-Pacific in many of the important and substantial supply networks of the world.
• The Indian and Pacific Oceans together contain enormous deposits of marine resources, such as offshore hydrocarbons, methane hydrates, seabed minerals, and rare earth metals.
• Littoral countries have competitive capacities for the exploitation of these resources thanks to their extensive coasts and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).
• In turn, the Indo-Pacific area is home to some of the largest economies in the world, such as those of China, Japan, Australia, the United States, and India.

What does India think about the Indo-Pacific?

• Work together for a security architecture: Many of India's close allies, including the US, Australia, Japan, and Indonesia, want India to be present in the South and East China Seas, primarily to challenge China.

• India, however, wants to work together to create a structure for regional security and peace. A shared rules-based system for the area must be developed by the nations through conversation in order for everyone to enjoy prosperity and security.
• Africa to America The Indo-Pacific: India views the Indo-Pacific as an area that is free, open, and welcoming. It encompasses every country in the region as well as everyone else with an interest in it. India considers the region from the coasts of Africa to the coasts of America for calculating its geographic size.
• Equal Participation in Trade and Investment: India supports an open, balanced, rule-based, and stable trading environment in the Indo-Pacific, which raises all countries on the wave of trade and investment. The nation anticipates the same thing from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
• Unified ASEAN: Unlike China, India wants an ASEAN that is united, not fragmented. China attempts to use the "divide and rule" conquest approach by pitting some ASEAN members against one another.
• Collaboration with China: India rejects the American interpretation of the Indo-Pacific, which aims to check Chinese dominance. India is more interested in finding methods to collaborate with China.
• India wants to democratize the area to combat the dominance of one player. The area was virtually like an American lake in the past. However, there is concern that the area will now turn into a Chinese lake. India opposes any player in the region assuming hegemonic power.

What are the Indo-current Pacific's challenges?

• Geostrategic Competition Theater: The Indo-Pacific region serves as the primary arena for the geostrategic rivalry between various multilateral organizations like QUAD and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

• Growing China’s dominance: Chinese military buildup has put India's interests and the stability of the Indian Ocean in jeopardy. China is providing military and infrastructure support to India's neighbors, including frigates for Sri Lanka, submarines for Myanmar, and its overseas military facility in Djibouti (Horn of Africa).
• In addition, China controls the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka, which is only a few hundred miles from India's coast.
• Non-Traditional Issues: Due to the size of the region, it is challenging to identify and handle a variety of dangers, such as piracy, human trafficking, and terrorism.
• Climate change and the three successive La Nia episodes that are triggering cyclones and tsunamis in the Indo-Pacific area are major threats to its ecological and geographical stability.
• The aquatic life in this area is also being hampered by marine pollution and illicit, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
• India's Limited Naval Capacity: Due to India's Military Budget's Limited Allocation, the Indian Navy has Limited Resources and Capacity to Strengthen its Efforts. Additionally, India faces a significant logistical problem in maintaining its presence in the Indo-Pacific due to the absence of overseas military bases.

Way Forward

• The use of the shared sea and air spaces, which would necessitate freedom of navigation, unhindered commerce, and the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, should be accorded to all countries in the region on an equal basis as a right under international law.
• Connectivity needs to be established in the area on the principles of respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, consultation, good governance, openness, viability, and sustainability.

World Health Summit: Polio Eradication

At the World Health Summit in Berlin recently, world leaders announced USD 2.6 billion in funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's (GPEI) 2022–2026 Strategy to eradicate polio.

About polio:

• The neurological system is harmed by the debilitating and potentially fatal viral infection known as polio.
• There are three separate wild poliovirus strains that are each unique and immunologically diverse:
• Type 1 wild poliovirus (WPV1)
• Type 2 wild poliovirus (WPV2)
• Type 3 wild poliovirus (WPV3)
• All three strains exhibit the same symptoms, which include irreversible paralysis or even death. These three strains are distinct viruses that must each be eliminated separately due to genetic and virological variations.

Spread:

• The virus is primarily spread from person to person by the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by shared vehicles (for example, through contaminated water or food).
• Children under the age of five are primarily affected. The virus grows in the colon and then spreads to the nervous system, where it can paralyze a person.
• Most persons with polio experience no symptoms at all. Some patients only experience minor symptoms like fever, fatigue, nausea, headaches, arm, and leg discomfort, etc.
• Polio infection can occasionally result in a lifelong loss of muscular function (paralysis).
• If the respiratory muscles are paralyzed or the brain becomes infected, polio can be fatal.

Treatment and Prevention

• Although there is no treatment for it, vaccinations can help prevent it.

Vaccines:

• Oral polio vaccine (OPV): This vaccine is administered orally as a birth dose for institutional deliveries, followed by three primary doses at six, ten, and fourteen weeks and one booster dose at sixteen to twenty-four months of age.
• As part of the Universal Immunization Program, the injectable polio vaccine (IPV) is administered as an additional dosage alongside the third dose of DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus) (UIP).

Polio in India:

• After three years of no incidents, India was certified as polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2014.
• This accomplishment was made possible by the successful Pulse Polio Campaign, in which polio drops were given to all kids.
• The country's final wild poliovirus case was discovered on January 13, 2011.

Steps were taken to end the polio virus:

International: The Global Polio Eradication Initiative

• The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), national governments, and WHO began it in 1988. Currently, polio has been officially eradicated in 80 percent of the world's population.
• Through the systemic injection of vitamin A during polio vaccine campaigns, an estimated 1.5 million childhood fatalities have been avoided.
• World Polio Day is marked annually on October 24 to encourage nations to continue their vigilance in the fight against the disease.

Pulse Polio Programme in India:

• Initially, the goal was to completely cover the population with the oral polio vaccine.
• Mission Intensification Indradhanush 2.0 was a national immunization campaign to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Pulse polio program (2019-20).

Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)

It was introduced in 1985 as the "Expanded Programme of Immunization" (EPI). The Program's goals are as follows:

• the rapid expansion of vaccination coverage
• enhancing the standard of services
• establishing a trustworthy cold chain system up to the level of the medical facility
• establishing a district-based performance monitoring system
• achieving vaccine production self-sufficiency.