PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · South Asia: Regionalism, SAARC & BIMSTEC
Discuss the future of SAARC in the light of India’s increased focus on other regional groupings like ASEAN and BIMSTEC.
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
BIMSTEC = Bay of Bengal platform free of that veto / ASEAN = market + Indo-Pacific place + Bangkok Vision 2030 + maritime transport agreement, April 2025 — India’s position: paused, not closed — Menon: BIMSTEC FTA unfinished since Phuket 2004, connectivity plan unimplemented — Bhardwaj: five of seven members South Asian, habits travelled across — smaller states built SAARC to bind India collectively — a power that picks its region binds itself to none — their stake in BIMSTEC falls too — Dhaka asks in Delhi, July 2026, that the two work together
Body flow
Pandey: comparison misleading, judge BIMSTEC on its own mandate → it was never meant to include Pakistan or Afghanistan
Counter-view
ay itm ®! survives on paper → the only body covering all of South Asia routes R2 revival waits on Pakistan — Indus Waters in abeyance, trade prohibited — not on a fresh charter
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
