PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Recent Developments in Foreign Policy — Part 1

Discuss the role of public diplomacy in the enhancement of India’s global standing.

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 define public diplomacy → Nye: instrument converting attraction → standing → India’s “leading power” claim

Route 2 a rising India needs legitimacy, not just capacity → attraction as the low-cost route to standing

Body flow

Nye’s frame → Thussu: Buddha to Bollywood, appeal largely society-generated → ICCR institutionalises heritage into goodwill → recent delivery: vaccine diplomacy + Voice of Global South + G20 “One Earth, One Family, One Future” / Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam → bridge West–South → low-cost influence + UNSC/governance-reform case

Counter-view

Ian Hall’s limits of government action → state amplifies but cannot manufacture attraction (springs from society) → credibility needs delivery to match rhetoric + cohesive image at home

Conclusion routes

Route 1 public diplomacy widens standing as a low-cost multiplier → complements, does not replace, hard capacity

Route 2 standing grows only when projection meets performance → attraction sustained by credibility

Model answer

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

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2022, Recent Developments in Foreign Policy — Part 1