{"id":3402,"date":"2026-08-10T22:26:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T16:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/?p=3402"},"modified":"2026-08-13T00:14:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T18:44:27","slug":"download-psir-gs2-daily-brief-10-august-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/download-psir-gs2-daily-brief-10-august-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran holds the strait, Saudi Arabia buys cover, and the Election Commission must win over the losers \u2014 PSIR &#038; GS2 Brief, 10 August 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"bf\">\n<div class=\"bf-shell\">\n<header class=\"bf-head\">\n<p class=\"bf-stand\">Today&#8217;s brief reads three articles. R Swaminathan in the Deccan Herald argues that the Strait of Hormuz, and not the bombing, will decide the war with Iran. Mahesh Sachdev in The Hindu reads the new Saudi, Turkiye and Pakistan defence pact as one more Saudi search for cover. S Y Quraishi in the Indian Express asks the <span class=\"bf-term\">Election Commission<\/span> to earn the trust of the side that loses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-meta\"><b>PSIR &amp; GS2 Daily Brief \u00b7 Issue 120<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>10 August 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Paper I-B, Paper II-A, Paper II-B<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Amit Pratap Singh<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"bf-get\"><b>Issue 120 as a PDF<\/b><span>The full brief, ready to print for your folder.<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Daily-brief-Issue-120.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<section class=\"bf-item\">\n<div class=\"bf-eyebrow\">Paper II-A \u00b7 International Relations<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">Six months of bombing have not moved Iran off the Strait of Hormuz.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>Deccan Herald<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>R Swaminathan<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>8 August 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.deccanherald.com\/opinion\/hormuz-holds-key-to-peace-in-expanding-war-4103484\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>R Swaminathan writes that the war with Iran is in its sixth month and the United States has run out of moves. Heavy bombing no longer buys military gains. A ground invasion to force a surrender is not on the table. The one thing Washington wants is an open Strait of Hormuz. That is the one thing Iran holds. So the road back to peace now runs through a bargain over the strait.<\/p>\n<h4>The facts that matter<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The conflict began on 28 February. Since then President Donald Trump has halted planned military strikes against Iran on six separate occasions.<\/li>\n<li>The latest pause came after a telephone call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and joint pressure from other Gulf states. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had warned them that Iran would answer a strike by attacking their energy and desalination infrastructure.<\/li>\n<li>The Houthis in Yemen declared a maritime embargo against Saudi shipping and Red Sea ports. They then struck Saudi oil tankers and energy sites along the Red Sea.<\/li>\n<li>That embargo has undermined the Saudi plan to send oil past the Strait of Hormuz through the East-West Pipeline. Saudi tankers are now routed around Africa to reach buyers in Asia.<\/li>\n<li>Iraqi militias backed by Iran attacked crude stabilisation units in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia over two days. Saudi Arabia then joined the United States in air strikes on militia command centres in Iraq.<\/li>\n<li>Iran has announced a tentative agreement with Oman on a bilateral transit corridor. It says maritime security cannot be assured while the United States naval blockade of Iranian ports stands.<\/li>\n<li><span class=\"bf-law\">Article 43 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea<\/span> lets states share the cost of keeping an international strait safe and clean by voluntary agreement. The author offers it to Washington as a legal way out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Why it matters for PSIR<\/h4>\n<p>Here is a weaker state using geography against a stronger one. Iran cannot match American military power. It can still close the water through which the Gulf sells its oil. Carry the case into answers on national interest, security and power, and on what military force cannot buy.<\/p>\n<p>The energy link is direct. The second article in this brief gives the figure: India is the world&#8217;s third largest importer of crude oil. A strait that shuts is an Indian problem and not only a Gulf one. That is the ground for the GS-2 question on energy security in Indian foreign policy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;Resolving the Hormuz deadlock offers the only plausible path for Washington and Tehran to resume negotiations on nuclear and other issues.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>R Swaminathan<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-item\">\n<div class=\"bf-eyebrow\">Paper II-B \u00b7 India and the World<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">The Makkah pact is the third security deal Saudi Arabia has bought in one year.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>The Hindu<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Mahesh Sachdev<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>10 August 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/a-new-security-triangle-emerges-with-the-makkah-pact\/article71325559.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Mahesh Sachdev reads the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement as a Saudi answer to a bad year. He does not read it as the birth of a Muslim NATO. Riyadh trusts neither American protection nor Iranian restraint. So it has signed three security deals in twelve months. The rest of the article sets out what divides the three partners, and the narrow conditions in which such a pact can work at all.<\/p>\n<h4>The facts that matter<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, or MJDA, was signed on 7 August 2026 by the top leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan. Its text has not been made public.<\/li>\n<li>The joint statement says that any armed attack against any one of the three states shall be regarded as an attack against them all. That wording echoes <span class=\"bf-law\">Article 5<\/span> of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.<\/li>\n<li>It is the third such step in a year. Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement with Pakistan last year, and joined a 14 country Multinational Maritime Defence Alliance in the last week of July.<\/li>\n<li>The three bring different things. Saudi Arabia has a defence budget of 83 billion dollars. Turkiye has a military industry that exports 10 billion dollars a year. Pakistan has armed forces of 660,000.<\/li>\n<li>Pakistan has a 900 kilometre border with Iran and a large Shia minority. In the same week as the pact it began formal talks with Iran on a Free Trade Agreement, in spite of United States sanctions and of its own two defence pacts.<\/li>\n<li>India is the world&#8217;s third largest importer of crude oil, and is expected to drive global demand for the next 15 years. India has been the third largest market of the Kingdom and its second largest trading partner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Why it matters for PSIR<\/h4>\n<p>This is a clean case for the standard question on when an alliance holds. Sachdev says the pact works only in a long war of small attacks. In a full war Turkiye and Pakistan would be slow to fight Iran, which is their neighbour. If peace returns, the pact loses its purpose. A promise bought out of anxiety behaves in this way.<\/p>\n<p>For India the advice is measured. Watch the Pakistani attempt to line the partners up against India. Do not treat the pact as a new bloc. Saudi trade with India is too large for the Kingdom to pay for a war on the Pakistani side. That is the line for answers on India and West Asia, and on <span class=\"bf-term\">collective security<\/span>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;Riyadh finds ties with India uncluttered by extraneous considerations. India is a geo-strategically safe bet for the turbulent Gulf.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Mahesh Sachdev<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-item\">\n<div class=\"bf-eyebrow\">Paper I-B \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">An Election Commission trusted only by the winner has already failed.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>The Indian Express<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>S Y Quraishi<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>10 August 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/opinion\/columns\/s-y-quraishi-writes-ecs-real-test-winning-the-confidence-of-the-opposition-10825425\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>S Y Quraishi is a former Chief Election Commissioner. He sets out one rule for the office. The ruling party needs regulation. The Opposition needs reassurance. The Commission must supply both. His claim is that the duty is not an equal one, because the two sides are not equal in power. The party in office already commands the administrative machinery. The Opposition has only its voice.<\/p>\n<h4>The facts that matter<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The framers placed the Election Commission beyond the reach of the executive. It was made an independent constitutional authority, charged with protecting the integrity of the electoral process.<\/li>\n<li>A serving civil servant who is appointed Election Commissioner gives up his service and takes a constitutional office. Quraishi resigned from the Indian Administrative Service a year before he was due to retire.<\/li>\n<li>In <span class=\"bf-case\">T. N. Seshan v. Union of India<\/span>, and later in <span class=\"bf-case\">Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India<\/span>, the Supreme Court held that an independent Election Commission is indispensable to free and fair elections, which form part of the <span class=\"bf-term\">basic structure<\/span> of the Constitution.<\/li>\n<li>One of the most important chapters of the <span class=\"bf-term\">Model Code of Conduct<\/span> is written for the Party in Power. It restrains ministers from using official machinery for campaigning, bars the misuse of public resources, and stops policy announcements that may sway voters.<\/li>\n<li>During the 2024 general election, Opposition parties said their complaints about breaches of the Model Code were not heard promptly or openly. Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa protested, and the author writes that he was hounded out.<\/li>\n<li>More recently 23 Opposition parties wrote to the Chief Justice of India about the handling of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The Trinamool Congress alleged discourtesy in its dealings with the Commission, which the Commission denied.<\/li>\n<li>The example Quraishi gives is from the Bihar Assembly election of 2010. On the eve of counting, Lalu Prasad Yadav asked that only bank employees supervise counting in his constituency, and the request was granted. He telephoned again after losing, inclined to question the voting machines, and took the advice not to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Why it matters for PSIR<\/h4>\n<p>The distinction to carry into an answer is the one Quraishi draws. Independence on paper is not independence in conduct. A Commission may hold every legal safeguard and still appear close to the government of the day. What he asks for is distance from the executive, a quick hearing for whoever asks, and small accommodations that cost the Commission little.<\/p>\n<p>The second point is the sharper one. Treating both sides alike is not neutrality when one side already commands the state machinery. That is why the Model Code carries a chapter for the party in power. Use the argument in answers on the Election Commission and on the basic structure. It also fits the 2025 Paper I question on how the Chief Election Commissioner is appointed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;In my experience, most defeated candidates can accept defeat. What they find difficult to accept is the feeling that nobody listened to them before they lost.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>S Y Quraishi<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-syl\">\n<h3>Where this sits in your syllabus<\/h3>\n<p class=\"s\">Open the note and read the full topic.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-chips\"><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/afghanistan-iraq-and-west-asia\/\">Afghanistan, Iraq and West Asia<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/determinants-of-foreign-policy\/\">Determinants of foreign policy<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/national-interest-security-and-power\/\">National interest, security and power<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/balance-of-power-and-deterrence\/\">Balance of power and deterrence<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/realist-approach\/\">Realist approach<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/transnational-actors-and-collective-security\/\">Transnational actors and collective security<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-the-usa\/\">India and the USA<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/collapse-of-the-soviet-union-unipolarity-and-american-hegemony\/\">Collapse of the Soviet Union, unipolarity and American hegemony<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-south-asia-the-neighbours\/\">India and South Asia \u2014 the neighbours<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/election-commission\/\">Election Commission<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/judicial-review-and-basic-structure-doctrine\/\">Judicial Review and Basic Structure doctrine<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/supreme-court\/\">Supreme Court<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/national-and-regional-political-parties\/\">National and regional political parties<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/trends-in-electoral-behaviour\/\">Trends in electoral behaviour<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-q\">\n<h3>The questions this feeds<\/h3>\n<p class=\"s\">Questions from earlier years that today&#8217;s reading speaks to. Where the answer is written, the red link opens it. The full set is in the <a href=\"\/psir\/pyq-vault\/\">PYQ Vault<\/a>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>GS-2 \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 15m<\/b>&quot;Energy security constitutes the dominant kingpin of India&#x27;s foreign policy, and is linked with India&#x27;s overarching influence in Middle Eastern countries.&quot; How would you integrate energy security with India&#x27;s foreign policy trajectories in the coming years?<\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2023 \u00b7 15m<\/b>What are the challenges and limitations in India-Iran relations?<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/what-are-the-challenges-and-limitations-in-india---iran-relations-upsc-psir-2023-5005\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2024 \u00b7 15m<\/b>Do you agree with the view that the USA uses NATO as a traditional tool of strategy to perpetuate its hegemony in the world?<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/do-you-agree-with-the-view-that-the-usa-uses-nato-as-a-upsc-psir-2024-3312\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 10m<\/b>Would you agree with the contention that India&#x27;s inclination to lean on a &#x27;more aggressive hyper-realist posture&#x27; has gained a new momentum in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist strike?<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/would-you-agree-with-the-contention-that-indias-inclination-to-upsc-psir-2025-4908\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper I \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 15m<\/b>There is a debate on the procedure for appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners to the Election Commission of India. Analyse its various aspects.<\/li>\n<li><b>GS-2 \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 10m<\/b>Discuss the &#x27;corrupt practices&#x27; for the purpose of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"bf-foot\">A new brief on every working day. Facts and quotes are taken from the articles named above.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Iran&#8217;s hold on the Strait of Hormuz has outlasted six months of American bombing, and a bargain over the strait is now the only road back to peace. Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan have signed the Makkah pact, which reads less like a Muslim NATO than like a third Saudi attempt to buy cover. At home a former Chief Election Commissioner argues that the harder half of the Commission&#8217;s duty is to keep the trust of the side that loses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"fx_brief_v2":"1","fx_brief_issue":"120","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psir-gs-2-daily-brief"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-10-at-2.38.47-PM.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3402"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5038,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3402\/revisions\/5038"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}