Since the title ‘Annus Horribilis’ has been unmistakably claimed by 2020, we have to find another name for 2021, which was equally tumultuous, but not without some signs of recovery and resurrection, which turned out to be a mirage at the end of the year.
For a moment in early summer, it seemed that COVID-19 was in the rearview mirror. Human beings began not only to enjoy the freedom of the new norm but also to claim ownership of the chaotic world disorder. But at the end of the year, there is more dread than hope, more awareness of human helplessness than human conquests.
With Omicron threatening to invade from the south to the north, Christmas 2021 and New Year 2022 are under a pall of gloom.
Hard lessons
The year 2021 also
taught us the lesson that even an existential threat cannot
extinguish human depravity, greed and violence. We were sharpening
the weapons of mass destruction with one hand while fighting for
survival with the other. Vials of biological weapons were not beaten
into bottles of vaccines. Instead, a vaccine war over vaccine
inequity broke out in some places, while vaccine hesitancy led to
waste and unnecessary loss of lives.
Multilateralism and international cooperation dwindled in the face of the pandemic threat. The United Nations continued to be paralysed as the “all UN” approach to the pandemics in the past failed because of Chinese obstinacy. Cooperation, if any, was confined to limited groups at the regional, sub-regional and local levels. The search was on for a substitute structure for the UN.
India, having given away its pharmaceutical assets on a “vaccine maitri” initiative, gasped for breath as a wave of devastation swept through the country and the pictures of unattended pyres went viral across the world.
Overflowing hospitals and empty oxygen cylinders led to deaths in the parking lots of hospitals. Reports of ruthless exploitation of the situation by Government functionaries and companies have begun to surface.
Side by side with heroic efforts for rescue and healing came stories of human tragedy and greed. The waves of violence in Kerala, particularly against women during the pandemic were beyond belief. Ironically, even surgical masks were used to commit crimes. Occasional news of economic recovery, increase in foreign investments and stimulation packages were the silver lining in the dark clouds.
In the dawn of the New Year 2021, the pangs of birth of the Biden Administration witnessed the biggest assault on democracy in history when the loser refused to accept defeat and sought to overturn the election results.
President Biden repeatedly declared that the US was back at the centre stage, but he appeared to be fighting with his back to the wall against the pandemic in a population refusing to take vaccines or wear masks. China pushed him to strengthen the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and to form the trilateral security pact AUKUS (of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States) as a proper military alliance across the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The most significant part of the deal was the US pledge to provide Australia with technology to build eight nuclear-powered submarines. Russia joined hands with China to isolate the US on Afghanistan. A virtual conversation with President Xi Jinping and a Summit for Democracy have not rescued President Biden from his plight.
The year began with the expectation that the Iran nuclear agreement might be revived three years after President Trump withdrew from it. In February the Biden administration accepted an invitation from the European Union to re-join the negotiations. Diplomatic jockeying between Tehran and Washington delayed the start of talks until April.
Negotiations finally resumed in late November, but Iran walked away from the concessions it made in earlier rounds and reiterated its initial demand that the United States lift all the sanctions the Trump administration imposed. As 2021 came to a close, the talks were on the verge of collapse with Iran just a month away from acquiring weapons-grade uranium and the Biden Administration facing the question of what to do should diplomacy fail.
On the climate front
“A code red
for humanity.” That was how the UN Secretary-General António
Guterres described a climate report released in August that concluded
that humanity faces catastrophic climate change unless the emission
of heat-trapping gasses is slashed. Climate optimists could find some
developments to cheer for in 2021.
President Biden committed the United States to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement on his first day in office. China agreed in September to discontinue financing coal-fired power plants overseas, and Iceland opened a facility to take carbon dioxide out of the air. At the Conference of Parties in Glasgow in November, countries pledged to take steps to address climate change, such as declaring years for reaching net zero emissions. But sadly, the prognosis is that these measures will not add up to the optimum level of global warming.
Indian diplomacy
India was
exceptionally active diplomatically during the year, first to deal
with the Chinese incursion across the Line of Actual Control and
continued occupation of Indian territory and later to form a global
coalition to replace the narco-terrorist group with an inclusive
government in Afghanistan.
India’s willingness to talk to everyone, even with adversaries, was impressive. But not much progress has been made on either of the two fronts. Photo opportunities on the screen and in person gave an impression of dialogue, but they did not lead to a meeting of minds.
As the President of the Security Council, India flagged the major issues of the times and also managed to get a fair Security Council resolution without any negative votes. Russia once again came to our rescue with its veto to defeat another effort to bring in new issues to the Security Council. It brought to mind the tremendous pressure put on India not to express reservation on disarmament topic being brought into the Security Council.
Hope it's a good year!
The arrival
of Omicron which is threatening to spread like wildfire has dashed
our hope for a New Year without health hazards. Some scientists say
that it is in the nature of pandemics to have a milder, but
fast-spreading variant before they retreat. That gives us the hope
that 2022 will be a year without masks and social distancing. As for
peace and prosperity, much greater international cooperation and
concrete action by the international community are imperative.
