PYQ Vault · Paper 2 · India & South Asia — Part 2
“The Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship between India and Bhutan needs to be revised with more pragmatic, realistic obligations and responsibilities.’ 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
R! 1949 Article 2 = guidance clause inherited from Sinchula ~ colonial residue — already removed in 2007 Rk2 the statement targets a text that no longer exists → live question is practice, not parchment
Body flow
1949 guidance clause — Raja Mohan: replaced in 2007 as Bhutan democratised — 2007 text even-handed, mutual bar on use of territory — legal footing at Doklam — what a treaty cannot fix: hydropower = 94% of debt, Punatsangchhu I & II cost overruns, tariffs unsettled — India’s answer is delivery: %10,000 cr thirteenth Plan, ~4,033 cr Gelephu-Samtse rail, wholly Gol-funded
Counter-view
pressure has not eased – Bhutan-China boundary talks resume, March 2026 — youth resentment of dependence — Das & Chakrabarti: adjust to a changing society, make the partnership people-centric
Conclusion routes
R1 realistic obligations = projects on time + fair tariffs, not a new treaty R2 2007 revised the text; 2026 asks India to revise its conduct
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
