World Peace Day: India climbs two ranks to 139th position on IEP's Global Peace Index

India climbed two spots to become the 139th ‘peaceful’ country on the Global Peace Index 2020 released by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics & Peace.

The GPI 2020, which evaluated 163 countries and territories, placed India in the ‘low’ section in terms of peace. The countries were judged on the basis on 23 parameters, including domestic and international conflict, safety and security in society, and the degree of militarisation

The study states that tension between different political, ethnic, and religious groups remains a significant threat to peacefulness in India. It notes that the amendment of the Citizenship Act in December 2019 and the ensuing tensions between Muslims and Hindu have been the major reasons for continued turbulence in India.

India saw a slight increase of 3% in the incarceration rate at 3% and an increase of 9.9% in deaths from an internal conflict.

The report says that India saw some improvement in peacefulness as there was a dip in its military expenditure from total GDP along with its armed service rates. “India’s commitment to UN peacekeeping funding also improved significantly,” it said.

India has been ranked above 123 globally on an average since the IEP started this study from 2008.

According to IEP, 2008 was the most peaceful year for India as it ranked 123, followed by 2009 (125). 2012 happened to be the least peaceful year for the county as its rank fell to 144. For the last six years, India is ranked between 136 (in 2018) and 143 (2014, 2015).

The study shows that there has been a deterioration of peace at the global level, with the average country scores falling by 0.34% as compared to last year.

“This is the ninth deterioration in peacefulness in the last 12 years at global level,” the study said, adding that while 81 countries have improved their peacefulness record, 80 others have not.

While Iceland continued to be the most peaceful country, a position it has held since 2008, New Zealand remained unchanged in the second position as compared to last year. Austria, Portugal and Denmark take the remaining spots in the top five ranks respectively.

For the second year in a row, Afghanistan continues to remain the least peaceful country, followed by Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Yemen. In the South Asian region, Bhutan (overall 19) continues to be the most peaceful country, followed by Nepal (73), Sri Lanka (77), and Bangladesh (97). India, which ranks fifth in the region is just above Pakistan (152) and Afghanistan.

The United Nations celebrates World Peace Day on September 21 with this year's theme being ‘Shaping Peace Together’ which encourages people to celebrate the day by spreading compassion, kindness, and hope in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.