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

For India, a multipolar world order would also mean a multipolar Asia. Comment.

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 Cold War binaries dissolved → power diffused across many actors → India answers by multi-alignment (US, Russia, Europe, ASEAN — interest, not loyalty) → stake: world & Asia are one proposition

Route 2 Jaishankar → multipolar world “feasible only by a multipolar Asia” → global multipolarity empty if one power masters the region → stake the link

Body flow

world & Asia one proposition for India → China’s rise unbalances the region, narrows India’s choices (AIIB / expanded SCO / NDB) → India presses a multipolar Asia to secure interests vs China → design = equal distribution of power & responsibility → three elements: Asian security ↔ global security + India’s UNSC claim / shared decision-making (major & minor powers) / inclusivity not exclusivity (room for US) → shared leadership among India, China, Japan

Counter-view

is a multipolar Asia feasible? → Rajagopalan: China outweighs India or any Asian combination → Asia tilts to US-China bipolarity, India leans on the US → Raja Mohan: “myth of multipolarity” as a bipolar order forms

Conclusion routes

Route 1 link holds as India’s purpose, not a guarantee → multipolar Asia a project, not an automatic yield of global multipolarity

Route 2 build it via India’s own rise + countervailing coalitions → India seeks a larger role in the diffusion of power while checking Chinese dominance

Model answer

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

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2025, Recent Developments in Foreign Policy — Part 1