India-Bhutan Relations

India-Bhutan Relations

Why in news?

During the visit of the King of Bhutan to India, both countries agreed to explore new routes for regional connectivity and to upgrade border and immigration posts. This initiative aims to strengthen trade and partnership between the two nations

Earlier:

• China and Bhutan held their 25th round of boundary talks in Beijing.
• Both the countries signed a Cooperation Agreement on the Responsibilities and Functions of the Joint Technical Team (JTT) on the Delimitation and Demarcation of the Bhutan-China Boundary.
• This advances their 3-Step Roadmap initiated in 2021 for border resolution, building on the positive momentum since their last talks in 2016)

Key Highlights of the Discussion?

Immigration Check Post:

• The Darranga-Samdrup Jongkhar border crossing, connecting Assam and Bhutan’s southeastern district, will be officially designated as an immigration check post
• This will allow not only Indian and Bhutanese nationals but also third country nationals to enter and exit the area, promoting tourism and enhancing connectivity

Trade and Connectivity:

The two countries agreed to facilitate trade by allowing Bhutanese trade items to be carried further from Haldibari in West Bengal to Chilahati in Bangladesh, aiming to enhance trade opportunities and ease the movement of goods between Bhutan and Bangladesh through Indian territory

Support for Bhutanese SEZ Project:

The two sides agreed to strengthen trade infrastructure with the upgradation of an existing land customs station at Dadgiri (Assam) to a modernised “Integrated Check Post” (ICP) along with “development of facilities on the Bhutanese side at Gelephu”, indicating India’s support to the Bhutanese SEZ project

Regional Connectivity:

India and Bhutan have agreed to discuss new routes of regional connectivity, which includes the development of a cross-border rail link between Gelephu in Bhutan and Kokrajhar in Assam, spanning 58 km.

Additionally, there is a plan to explore a second rail link of approximately 18 km between Samtse in Bhutan and Banarhat in the tea gardens area of West Bengal.

Both sides discussed upgrading border and immigration posts to support this project, and it could be a significant development in the border area

Significance of Bhutan for India?

• Strategic Importance:
  • Bhutan shares its borders with India and China, and its strategic location makes it an important buffer state for India’s security interests.
  • India has provided Bhutan with assistance in areas such as defense, infrastructure, and communication, which has helped to maintain Bhutan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
  • India has helped Bhutan build and maintain its border infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, to strengthen its defense capabilities and ensure its territorial integrity.
    • In 2017, during the Doklam stand off between India-China, Bhutan played a crucial role in allowing Indian troops to enter its territory to resist Chinese incursions.
• Economic Importance:
  • India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner, and Bhutan’s major export destination.
  • Bhutan’s hydropower potential is a significant source of revenue for the country, and India has been instrumental in assisting Bhutan in developing its hydropower projects.
  • India also provides Bhutan with financial assistance for its development projects.
• Cultural Importance:
  • Bhutan and India share strong cultural ties, as both countries are predominantly Buddhist.
  • India has provided assistance to Bhutan in preserving its cultural heritage, and many Bhutanese students come to India for higher education.
• Environmental Importance:
  • Bhutan is one of the few countries in the world that has pledged to remain carbon-neutral, and India has been a key partner in helping Bhutan achieve this goal.
  • India has provided assistance to Bhutan in areas such as forest conservation and Renewable Energy

 

Challenges in the India-Bhutan Relations?

• China’s Growing Influence:
  • China’s increasing presence in Bhutan, particularly along the disputed border between Bhutan and China, has raised concerns in India. India has been Bhutan’s closest ally and has played a key role in protecting Bhutan’s sovereignty and security.
  • However, China’s growing economic and military influence in the region poses a challenge to India’s strategic interests in Bhutan.
• Border Disputes:
  • India and Bhutan share a 699 km long border, which has been largely peaceful.
  • However, there have been some incidents of border incursions by Chinese forces in recent years.
    • The Doklam dispute was a major flashpoint in the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction. Any escalation of such disputes could strain India-Bhutan relations.

 

• Hydropower Projects:
  • Bhutan’s hydropower sector is a key pillar of its economy, and India has been a major partner in its development.
    • However, there have been concerns in Bhutan over the terms of some of the hydropower projects, which have been seen as too favourable to India.
    • This has led to some public opposition in Bhutan to Indian involvement in the sector.
• Trade Issues:
  • India is Bhutan’s largest trading partner, accounting for over 80% of Bhutan’s total imports and exports. However, there have been some concerns in Bhutan over the trade imbalance, with Bhutan importing more from India than it exports.
    • Bhutan has been seeking greater access to the Indian market for its products, which could help to reduce the Trade deficit.

Way Forward

India has the potential to contribute to Bhutan’s economic growth through investments in infrastructure, tourism, and various sectors. This not only aids Bhutan in achieving self-reliance but also generates employment opportunities.

Cultural exchange programs between India and Bhutan can be promoted to enhance mutual understanding and appreciation of each other’s culture, encompassing art, music, and literature.

The facilitation of visa-free movement between the two countries can bolster sub-regional cooperation.

Additionally, India and Bhutan can fortify their strategic collaboration to address shared security concerns, collaborating on efforts against terrorism, drug trafficking, and other transnational crimes

 

 

Dark Patterns

Why in news?

The Government of India, through the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution, has formed a 17-member task force to create consumer protection guidelines specifically aimed at addressing concerns related to Dark Patterns

• The Ministry is concerned about the increasing dark patterns of misleading advertisements that use tactics like false urgency, confirm-shaming, forced action, subscription traps, and nagging.
• To tackle this issue, they plan to release clear guidelines to regulate these practices.
• The ministry has also urged the consumers to flag such manipulative online practices on the National Consumer Helpline by calling ‘1915’ or through a WhatsApp message to 8800001915

What are Dark Patterns?

• Dark patterns refer to deceptive design techniques used in user interfaces to manipulate or deceive users into taking certain actions or making specific choices online.
• Such patterns are unethical user interface designs that deliberately make Internet experience harder or even exploit the users.
• These patterns exploit cognitive biases and behavioural tendencies to trick or mislead users, often for the benefit of the platform or business implementing them.
• These tricks can include creating a false sense of urgency, making people feel bad for not doing something, forcing them to take certain actions, trapping them into subscriptions, or constantly bothering them.

Some major types of Dark Patterns:

• Urgency: This tactic creates a sense of urgency or scarcity to pressure consumers into making a purchase or taking an action.
• Basket Sneaking: Websites or apps use dark patterns to add additional products or services to the shopping cart without user consent.
• Confirm Shaming: It involves guilt as a way to make consumers adhere. It criticizes or attack consumers for not conforming to a particular belief or viewpoint.
• Forced Action: This involves forcing consumers into taking an action they may not want to take, such as signing up for a service in order to access content.
• Nagging: It refers to persistent, repetitive and annoyingly constant criticism, complaints, requests for action.
• Subscription Traps: This tactic makes it easy for consumers to sign up for a service but difficult for them to cancel it, often by hiding the cancellation option or requiring multiple steps.
• Interface Interference: This tactic involves making it difficult for consumers to take certain actions, such as cancelling a subscription or deleting an account.
• Bait and Switch: This involves advertising one product or service but delivering another, often of lower quality.
• Hidden Costs: This tactic involves hiding additional costs from consumers until they are already committed to making a purchase.
• Disguised Ads: Disguised ads are advertisements that are designed to look like other types of content, such as news articles or user-generated content.

 

Consequences:

• Dark patterns endanger the experience of Internet users and make them more susceptible to financial and data exploitation by Big Tech firms.
• Dark patterns confuse users, introduce online obstacles, make simple tasks time-consuming, have users sign up for unwanted services/products, and force them to pay more money or share more personal information than they intended

 

How do companies use dark patterns?

Social media companies and Big Tech firms such as Apple, Amazon, Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Google use dark or deceptive patterns to downgrade the user experience to their advantage.

Amazon: It came under fire in the EU for its confusing, multi-step cancellation process for the Amazon Prime subscription.

Google-owned YouTube: It nudges users to sign up for YouTube Premium with pop-ups, obscuring the final seconds of a video with thumbnails of other videos.

This is being viewed as a way of disrupting what should have been an otherwise smooth user experience.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn users often receive unsolicited, sponsored messages from influencers.

Disabling this option is a difficult process with multiple steps that requires users to be familiar with the platform controls.

 

What are the Global Efforts to Combat Dark Patterns?

• In March 2021, California in the US passed amendments to the California Consumer Privacy Act, prohibiting dark patterns that hindered consumers from exercising their privacy rights.
• The UK issued guidelines in April 2019, which were later enforceable under the Data Protection Act, 2018, restricting companies from using manipulative tactics to lure underage users into low privacy settings.

 

What do users stand to lose because of dark patterns?

Lack of Transparency:

Dark patterns can obscure important information, making it difficult for users to fully understand the implications of their actions.

This can lead to uninformed decision-making and potential financial or privacy risks.

Reduced Autonomy:

It manipulates user behavior, limiting their freedom of choice.

Users may feel coerced or pressured into making decisions they wouldn’t have otherwise made, leading to buyer’s remorse or dissatisfaction.

Privacy Concerns:

Some dark patterns may manipulate users into sharing more personal data than they intended or agreeing to privacy settings that compromise their confidentiality.

This can have implications for data security and expose users to potential privacy breaches.

Negative User Experience:

Dark patterns often create frustrating and confusing experiences for users.

They may feel deceived or manipulated, leading to a loss of trust in the platform or brand and a diminished overall user experience

 

Way Forward

• By establishing a task force and working towards developing guidelines, the government aims to prevent deceptive practices and safeguard user interests. This move aligns with similar efforts undertaken by countries like the US and the UK.
• It is crucial to raise awareness among users about dark patterns and empower them to recognize and avoid manipulative tactics employed by websites and apps