PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants & Institutions

Do you agree with the view that the Indian Foreign Policy is increasingly being shaped by the Neoliberal outlook? Elaborate

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 neoliberal FP = minimal regulation + free trade → Keohane & Nye: complex interdependence sustains peace → India shows a growing imprint

Route 2 from Nehruvian idealism + economic isolation → 1991 LPG reforms as the pivot → neoliberal outlook increasingly visible

Body flow

Nehruvian isolation → 1991 LPG pushes private sector abroad (Velasco) → markers: Look East ‘93 · India–Africa Summits · US ties · WTO services · FTAs · NDB/AIIB → deeper architecture: DTAAs · Act East · Connect Central Asia

Counter-view

realism persists: surgical strikes, Doklam, Galwan → caution on RCEP/BRI → multi-alignment + strategic autonomy → South–South + egalitarian WTO/UN/climate stands qualify the shift

Conclusion routes

Route 1 Bajpai: neoliberal position predominates in pragmatic FP → agree, with qualification

Route 2 increasingly visible, but not the single decisive factor → India no prisoner to one stream

Model answer

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

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2013, Indian Foreign Policy: Determinants & Institutions