PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Global South
Discuss some of the key drivers of India’s new interests in Africa which might help in developing long-term comparative advantage over China.
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
rR! China-Africa trade at a record $275bn in 2024 = yet lending under $5bn a year, repayments now exceed disbursements → drivers named: minerals, markets, sea lanes, African votes → scale cannot be matched > build where Chinese money does not reach R2 engagement once carried by solidarity, now by material need > but the stem asks for edge, not interest > edge must rest on assets money cannot buy quickly young African market → generics + IT goods to ordinary households → African pharma still in its infancy → ITEC + Pan-African e-Network leave skills, not debt → Bhattacharya: IIT campus Tanzania, forensic sciences campus Uganda → DPI extends the same logic → identity/payments/records as public goods → over twenty countries, six African → no debt, no supplier lock-in → Xavier: electoral management, federalism, decentralisation, judicial training → area China cannot enter
Body flow
nothing converted into position → Singh's paradox: Indian-origin firms in African copper, cobalt, tantalum, output flows to China → fragmented engagement vs integrated state-backed system → Sharma and co-authors: longer partnerships, far smaller footprint
Counter-view
arate §€=6«R!sdrivers correct → advantage only through delivery: projects on time, ieee value retained in Africa → earned by record, not claimed by contrast R2 China's trade at a record while its money recedes → the basis of influence is shifting, not collapsing → India’s edge is slow-appreciating and
Conclusion routes
conditional
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
