PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & the Nuclear Question
“India’s Nuclear policy is deeply influenced by its cultural beliefs and the pragmatic approach of its foreign policy.’ Discuss.
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
rR! security alone never explained the bomb → two roots: cultural aversion (restraint) + pragmatism (arsenal) k2 moral repugnance from the freedom movement vs hard security necessity > culture restrains, pragmatism arms
Body flow
freedom-movement tradition (Gandhi / Nehru / Tagore) + NWFW ~ Rajagopalan “necessary evil” > Hall’s Nehruvian “restraint, stability, minimalism” + Menon: NFU a cultural choice → security triggers (China 1964, Pakistan, lost Soviet umbrella) → Raja Mohan’s calculated choice → Pant’s strategic ambiguity → 2003 doctrine embodies both (CMD / de-mated / NFU = restraint; NCA / SFC / triad = capability) > realism = hedge, constructivism = identity → post-Pahalgam 2025 Operation Sindoor “new normal” → Chauhan: high threshold, space below → Raja Mohan: ambiguity vs full-spectrum deterrence → NFU still intact
Counter-view
pragmatism straining the cultural restraint: expansionist pull to dilute NFU / doctrinal ambiguity / counterforce — set against the enduring moral aversion and the NWFW ideal
Conclusion routes
R1 principled realism — culture gives restraint + vision, pragmatism gives weapons + diplomacy 2 not either half but the balance (Hall: realism tempered by moral belief) → that synthesis defines India’s path
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
