PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & South Asia — Part 1

Analyze the impact of Hydro politics on Indo Bangladesh relations.

How the answer moves

The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.

Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes

Route 1 54 shared rivers, formal agreement on only two → JRC dormant since 2011 → hydro politics sets a ceiling, does not break the tie

Route 2 lower riparian, lean-season flow falling → Farakka and Teesta still open after five decades → the one file that stays stuck while the rest of the relationship advances

Body flow

Teesta as the test case → 1983 ad hoc: India 39%, Bangladesh 36% → 2011 collapse → coalition politics + West Bengal’s objections → river sustains state’s poorest districts → Ghosh on Farakka: transboundary → inter-state → block is federal, not diplomatic → Sikkim dams cut lean-season flow → delay read as indifference → Rahman: frustration, trust weakened → Majumdar: spillover to India’s Brahmaputra position vs China

Counter-view

land boundary and maritime disputes settled → connectivity and energy ties grew alongside → impact is a ceiling, not a rupture

Conclusion routes

Route 1 water marks the limit of that progress → Muni: strategic interests not to be blocked by narrow domestic concerns

Route 2 constraint is internal, so the remedy is internal → settling Teesta protects India’s wider riparian position

Model answer

Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2020, India & South Asia — Part 1