In News:

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance in one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades.

What’s in Today’s Article:

• NATO – About, functions, should India join NATO
• News Summary

In Focus: NATO

• Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 30 countries from North America and Europe.
• NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
• It is a system of collective defence where independent member states agree for mutual defence in case of any attack by external party.
  • Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all.
  • This article forms the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defense.
• Headquarter - Brussels, Belgium.

Functions

• Political
  • NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
• Military
  • NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
  • If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.

Should India join NATO?

Arguments in favour of joining

• End of Cold War era
  • During the Cold War, India’s refusal was premised on its non-alignment.
  • This argument has little justification once the Cold War ended during 1989-91.
  • NATO has regular consultations with both Russia and China, despite the gathering tensions with them in recent years.
  • This presents a case for India to join the alliance.
• To combat terrorism
  • India has seen many terrorist attacks – 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Pulwama, Uri attack etc.
  • Hence, security analysts suggest that India should join NATO to combat terrorism on a long-term basis.
• Members of NATO are well-established partners of India
  • Indian membership would simply mean having regular contact with a military alliance, most of whose members are well-established partners of India.
  • India has military exchanges with many members of NATO — including the US, Britain, and France — in bilateral and minilateral formats.
  • Hence, collective engagement with NATO should not be problematic.
• To contain China
  • NATO is increasing its footprints in Indian Ocean Region where China is aggressive.
  • NATO membership would help India in containing China.

Arguments against joining the alliance

• Fear of antagonising Russia
  • Russia has been a long-term ally for India. Even, during the current Ukraine war, India has not openly criticised Russia.
  • India still is heavily dependent on the Russian military equipment. Hence, joining NATO will lead to the deterioration of the relationship.
• It would hurl India headlong into the Global War on Terror
  • Joining NATO on full-term basis could become problematic for India as it would drag India into various conflicts around the globe.
    • Collective self-defence article would force India to contribute its troops to support NATO.
• Sovereignty and Principle of Non-Alignment
  • Joining the alliance would lead to the establishment of NATO bases on India’s territory which may be considered an infringement of our sovereignty.
  • So far, India has not joined any military bloc and remained true to the principle of non-alignment which forms the core of India’s foreign policy.

India needs to open a strategic dialogue with NATO and work towards areas of common security concern on a case-by-case basis. In this context, a pragmatic engagement with NATO countries must be an important part of India’s foreign policy. However, it must refrain from becoming a formal member of NATO.

News Summary

• At a recently held summit in Madrid, NATO has formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
• This is seen as one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed both the countries to drop their tradition of neutrality.
  • Until now, Finland and Sweden followed the policy of strict neutrality between Moscow and the West.
    • They took neutral positions on matters on which the Soviet Union and the West disagreed.
  • However, recent invasion of Russia in Ukraine forced these countries to drop their tradition of neutrality.

Key Highlights of the summit:

• Calls Russia direct threat
  • A NATO communique, released after the summit, called Russia the most significant and direct threat to the allies’ security and stability.
    • This highlights NATO’s deterioration in relations with Russia, which was earlier classified as a strategic partner.
  • It also agreed a package of support aimed at modernising Ukraine’s largely Soviet-era military.
• Lays out challenges from China
  • NATO, for the first time in its guiding blueprint, said China might challenges the alliance.
  • It further said that Beijing’s closer ties to Moscow went against Western interests.
  • It said that China strives to subvert the rules-based international order, including in the space, cyber and maritime domains.
• Invitation to Sweden and Finland to join NATO
  • NATO’s 30 allies formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance at their summit in Madrid.
  • The move came after Turkey dropped weeks of resistance to their membership bids.
    • Turkey, which has been a member of NATO since 1952, had repeatedly opposed Finland and Sweden’s entry.
    • It accused the two Nordic countries of supporting Kurdish militant groups which it deems to be terrorist organizations.
    • Turkey dropped weeks of resistance after securing a 10-point agreement.
    • Under this agreement, the two countries vowed to join Turkey’s fight against banned Kurdish militants and to swiftly extradite suspects.