PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & South Asia — Part 2
Explain the defence and foreign policy of India to address the challenges emerging out of the current India-China standoff at the Line of Actual control (LAC).
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
Ne ri 2020 ended the quiet-boundary assumption — two tracks, defence and diplomacy R2 undefined LAC + the 2020 shock India answers with capability on the ground and machinery at the table
Body flow
forward formations, logistics — roads, tunnels, airfields, BRO 27,394 crore inside the largest 2026-27 outlay — theatre command pending since April 2026 — denial, no new line → Miller, two-front > Shaksgam rejection, January 2026 — October 2024 Depsang- Demchok patrolling — August 2025 SR machinery: early- delimitation expert group, border-management working group, de- escalation tabled — Beijing review, May 2026 — Chaudhuri, security dilemma, dialogue as restraint — Indo-Pacific partnerships without alliance
Counter-view
buffer zones postpone claims, reserves close behind, calm reversible — Jabin T. Jacob, tactical stabilisation not strategic reset, India reactive, patrolling restricted — Doklam and Siliguri Corridor
Conclusion routes
R1 capability and mechanism contain, they do not resolve R2 boundary moves only when both governments can defend a settlement at home
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
