Skip to main content

One of the least peaceful countries, India's global peace ranking deteriorates: Report

A just-released report has asserted that India's ranking in the Global Peace Index (GPI) is 141st among 163 countries, deteriorating by four ranks in a year. Ranking 163 countries by providing a score to each, the report, prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), headquartered in Sydney, Australia, has found India to be one of the least peaceful nations in the region.
Thus, among its neighbours, India ranks worse than Bhutan (15), Sri Lanka (72), Nepal (76), Bangladesh (101) and China (110). The only consolation is, India's 141st rank is better than Pakistan's, 153rd. Afghanistan ranks worst than all the countries, 163rd.
With offices in several top world cities -- New York, Brussels, The Hague, Mexico City, and Harare -- IEP's rankings, now in the 13th year, are claimed to be a "leading measure of global peacefulness". The report presents data-driven analysis on peace, its economic value, trends, and how to develop peaceful societies.
GPI covers 99.7 per cent of the world’s population, using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators from highly respected sources, and measures the state of peace using three thematic domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.
Assessing ongoing domestic and international conflicts, the report finds Bangladesh (1.979 on a scale of 5) and China (1.982) more peaceful than India (3.039) and Pakistan (3.594). As for the level of societal safety and security, India's score is 2.329, better than Bangladesh (2.517), China (2.518), and Pakistan (2.987). And regarding militarisation, Bangladesh (1.668) and China (2.016) score better than India 2.566 or Pakistan 2.575.
As for economic cost of violence, India and Sri Lanka are calculated to be spending 5% of GDP. But as for Bangladesh, this ratio is 3% of GDP, China's is 4% and Pakistan 7%.The results for this year show that the average level of global peacefulness has improved very slightly. Though this is the first time the index has improved in five years, the average country score improved by just 0.09 per cent, with 86 countries improving, and 76 recording deterioration -- India and Pakistan falling in the second category.
The report says, Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the top of the index by New Zealand, Austria, Portugal, and Denmark. Bhutan has recorded the largest improvement of any country in the top 20, rising 43 places in the last 12 years, it adds.
While Afghanistan is rated as the least peaceful country in the world, replacing Syria, which is now the second least peaceful country, other least peaceful countries among the bottom five are South Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq.
The report regrets, South Asia’s score for every indicator in ongoing conflict is less peaceful than the global average, and in four out of six cases found to be deteriorating. Only the category of deaths from internal conflict improved, with fewer fatalities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, than the year prior.
The report says, "The improvement in both armed services personnel and military expenditure was particularly notable in some of the largest militaries in the world. Of the five countries with the largest total military expenditure -- United States, China, Saudi Arabia, India, and Russia -- all five had falls in their armed service personnel rates, and China, India, and the US also had a concurrent reduction in military expenditure as a percentage of GDP."
The report places India alongside Philippines, Japan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Pakistan as having the highest risk of multiple climate hazards.
The report says, "China, Bangladesh, and India, score in the bottom half of the GPI and have significant exposure to climate hazards, with 393 million people in high climate hazard areas."
It warns, "Drought or the loss of arable land can lead to severe food insecurity and loss of livelihoods. Periods of drought in Kenya sparked clashes over water between pastoralists and farmers, and water shortages in India yielded conflicts between neighbouring states. Potential for larger interstate conflicts over resources that traverse borders, such as river basins, is also of concern."
---
Download full report HERE

Comments

TRENDING

Policy Bazaar seems to think, not Right to Education but insurance ensures a kid's school admission

While frequent advertisements on TV are extremely jarring, I was a little amused while watching a Policy Bazaar-sponsored advertisement. The advisement by one of India's most well-known online insurance brokers sees a woman asking a kid entering the house why he hasn't been to school. The kid enters in with a bag full of vegetables in his hand which he presumably bought in the market at a time he should have been in the school.

Addressing caste discrimination in US higher education: Rutgers report sparks controversy

In a surprise move, an American university has published a "controversial" report titled "Caste-Based Discrimination in US Higher Education and at Rutgers". The report has sparked debate, as no sooner was it released than an Indian diaspora advocacy group, CasteFiles, filed a complaint against Rutgers University and Prof. Audrey Truschke, co-chair of the task force that prepared the report. The complaint, filed under Title VI of the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, alleges violations of the right to education free from harassment and discrimination.

Has Gujarat missed the Artificial Intelligence bus like it missed the IT bus in 1990s?

Has Gujarat missed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) bus as it did the Information Technology (IT) bus in the 1990s despite claiming to be an industrial powerhouse sought to be promoted by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi? It would seem so if the latest study by the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) "Labour-force Perception about AI: A Study on Indian White-collar Workers" is any indication.

Bhokta kataar hai? When Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema developed dislike for exploited

On December 14 falls the birth centenary of Raj Kapoor, referred to as a legend who acquired international fame – especially in the former Soviet Union – at a time when few others in Bollywood could dream of reaching that level. Undoubtedly one of the best actors who during the early black and white days showed his empathy towards the underdog -- Awara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), and Jagte Raho (1956), to name just a few -- he is also called the Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema because he often portrayed a tramp-like figure.

Majority white collar workers fear job loss as AI grows at CAGR of 25-35% in India

An Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) study, "Labour-force Perception about AI: A Study on Indian White-collar Workers", has revealed that as many as 60% of white collar workers fear job loss as a result of artificial intelligence (IA) being introduced in Indian industry, while only 53% "hope" that new jobs will be created.

NHRC failing to 'effectively address' human rights violations: NGO groups tell UN-linked body

In a joint submission to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions' (GANHRI's) Sub Committee on Accreditation (SCA), two civil society groups -- All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) and Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) --  have said that the  National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC's) accreditation, deferred in  2016, 2023, and 2024, fails to find space on its website. In their submission to the top global body which coordinates the relationship between NHRIs and the United Nations human rights system, AiNNI and ANNI said, the accreditation status of NHRC "has not been updated" since 2017, and as of September 21, 2024, the "website falsely states that the NHRC has retained its 'A' accreditation status from SCA for four consecutive five-year terms." They added, such omission diminishes "civil society's trust" in N...

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but  what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication. Quoting the September 27 MoEFCC's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting,  released on October 2, a senior scholar-activist of the top environmental advocacy group South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) has  reported  that in a "respite" to forest dwelling communities, fragile biodiversity and community conservation areas, the EAC has "rejected" the Adani application for project. However, the window for continuing with the controversial project hasn't been entirely closed. To quote Parineeta Dandekar, the ...