PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Global Centres of Power — Part 1
The recent differences between India and Russia are the result of misconceptions than facts. Elucidate.
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
Intro = R!_:- 2016 Pakistan exercise + Indo-Pacific coolness read as betrayal — routes statement half right > nostalgia explains anger / structure explains divergence R2 misconception is real but misplaced — not about Russian conduct but about Indian expectation of Russia as balancer > differences follow from alignment
Body flow
Body fllw Raghavan: 2016 regret not analysis — never a fairy tale > 1962 intelligence to Beijing, Tashkent pressure — Pakistan outreach thin > so far the stem holds — but stated differences are open: artificially imposed construct, Lavrov on Quad – India’s documented shift: US top supplier 2014 Major Defence Partner, LEMOA, COMCASA -> cause is alignment — Raja Mohan: structural contradiction, threat inversion (West vs China) — Zakharov: Russia from non-alignment with India to junior coalition with Beijing — real misconception located
Counter-view
Counter- (carried early, paragraph two) > stem’s case at full strength: Russian view realism is old, Pakistan outreach limited —> anger rests on romanticism, not evidence
Conclusion routes
Conclusion R1 misconception explains anger / alignment explains difference routes crude base survives mid-2026 > Nadkarni’s bound > manageable, not imaginary R2 differences real but bounded — correction needed in Indian expectations, not in Russian conduct
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
