PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & South Asia — Part 2
Despite deep ties, India’s relations with Sri Lanka have seen strains due to China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka through investments and economic dominance. Analyse.
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
R! 2,500 years + free trade agreement since 2000 — thesis: strain traces to the space Indian delay left open, not to Chinese money R2 open on China’s three doors — ask what opened them — same thesis
Body flow
debt — Hambantota port — investment — Colombo Port City > trade — top import partner without any trade agreement — Pant: regional dominance that also pushes out other powers — Bajpai: “disinterested neighbour” against “big brother India” — India’s own delivery deficit – Hambantota and Trincomalee offered to Delhi first – recovery since 2022 — nearly $4 billion crisis support > 2025 defence agreement + Trincomalee energy hub — Cyclone Ditwah relief – Mazagon Dock in Colombo Dockyard — gap narrowed
Counter-view
Colombo reads it as balance, not choice — Hambantota’s ninety- nine-year lease stays with China
Conclusion routes
R1 Raja Mohan: crisis support built goodwill and an opening to reframe ties R2 strain real but not terminal — contest now turns on delivery, not sentiment
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
