PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Non-Aligned Movement

“India has of late, chosen to debunk non-alignment in its pursuit of multi-alignment.” 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

Route 1 non-alignment ≠ withdrawal Nehru’s “best judgment” freedom of choice, not equidistance method changes, idea holds

Route 2 test the verb “debunk” posture vs principle grammar of policy shifts, core survives

Body flow

departure is real: LEMOA/COMCASA, PM absent from NAM summits, Jaishankar’s engage–manage–cultivate–reassure but neither recent nor complete: Nehru ready to join the side of interest, 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty, Ganguly’s realist turn after 1962, deepened 1991 the constant is strategic autonomy: Non-Alignment 2.0 defining value, “maximum options” multi-alignment spreads commitments (Quad, BRICS, SCO, Russia) so no partner decides for India Saran: substance vs posture

Counter-view

Pant no rigid non-aligned pigeonhole but the charge lands on NAM as institution and Cold War idiom, not on freedom of judgment Global South leadership carries it forward

Conclusion routes

Route 1 “debunk” overstates Sood reinterpretation, not abandonment

Route 2 from avoiding sides to maximising options autonomy is the continuity, alignment only the instrument

Model answer

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

Handwritten model answer — UPSC PSIR 2024, India & the Non-Aligned Movement