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