PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Global Centres of Power — Part 2
Do you agree that the growing assertiveness of China is leading to multilayered Indo-Japan relations? 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
R1 ties predate China's rise > 1952 treaty, yen loans 1958, CEPA, high-speed rail > assertiveness changed pace and range, not origin k2 “multilayered” must be shown, not asserted — layers exist — but unequal in strength
Body flow
same pressure on both: Senkakus + LAC + nine-dash line rejected 2016 > Panda: Asia uneasy, Beijing reads friendship as ganging up — layered response: 2+2, Malabar, Quad, Act East Forum-FOIP ~ 2025 security declaration replaces 2008 ~ UNICORN co- development 2026 — coercion adds newest layer: Takaichi in Diet, Nov 2025 = travel advisory + seafood ban > July 2026 economic-security declaration: semiconductors, critical minerals, clean energy > no dependence on one country
Counter-view
depth lags breadth > Jain: economic ties the weak link, 10 trillion yen slow ~ Menon: strategic autonomy caps Tokyo's balancing hopes — India still engages Beijing while Japan’s China ties worsen
Conclusion routes
R1 assertiveness explains breadth better than depth rz the layers are real but uneven > agreement with the question, not endorsement of its implied depth
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
