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

Discuss India’s vision of a New World order in the 21st century.

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 “Asian Century” / Indo-Pacific pivot → multipolar order, no fresh hegemon or bipolar bloc → pluralist heritage vs China’s “Middle Kingdom”

Route 2 thesis-first: multipolar + reformist → built on strategic autonomy and multi-alignment → then locate in the “Asian Century”

Body flow

autonomy + multi-alignment → Jaishankar (inaction → action; engage US/Russia/EU/ASEAN by interest) → Raja Mohan (non-alignment → multi-alignment; power diffuses) → balancer → leading state → UNSC reform / IMEC / I2U2 / Global South / G20 (Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam) → Bajpaee (bridge West–Global South; reformist, not revisionist)

Counter-view

is it truly multipolar? → Rajagopalan (bipolar US–China; costly illusion) → Acharya (post-Western, multiplex; no single dominant power) → India’s multipolarity = goal as much as description

Conclusion routes

Route 1 reformist agency → multi-alignment steers a diffusing order toward inclusion → convert flexible autonomy into consistent leadership

Route 2 multipolarity still aspiration as much as fact → India’s task is to realise it → change through inclusion, not disruption

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