PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Global Centres of Power — Part 1

Discuss the role of Indian diaspora in promoting Indo-US 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 Hagerty’s three drivers of convergence → diaspora clout alongside Cold War’s end + India’s reforms → channels, not lobby

Route 2 diaspora sits between domestic and systemic levels → converts India’s economic opening into American constituency → conversion stops short of policy

Body flow

conversion as the mechanism → education renewal (17.9 per cent, 7.5 billion dollars) → H-1B networks carry IT and services trade → Fulbright-Nehru + GIAN institutionalise → continuity across administrations → Kapur: ideas, networks, reputation, not money → political weight overstated → Carnegie 2026: inflation and jobs lead, two per cent place India first → Dhruva Jaishankar: no single bloc, generational and ideological splits

Counter-view

the bridging channel is the exposed one → visa denials, backlogs, hundred-thousand-dollar H-1B fee on a group filing 71 per cent → Aghi: rejection rates + GSP loss thin people-to-people ties

Conclusion routes

Route 1 durable in society, not settled in policy

Route 2 stability no treaty supplies, but market access and mobility stay with governments

Model answer

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

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2013, India & the Global Centres of Power — Part 1