{"id":686,"date":"2026-07-21T22:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T16:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/?p=686"},"modified":"2026-08-19T03:48:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:18:38","slug":"download-psir-gs2-daily-brief-21-july-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/download-psir-gs2-daily-brief-21-july-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Seychelles needs capacity more than money, the Indo-Pacific needs content, and Canada needs Indian factories \u2014 PSIR &#038; GS2 Brief, 21 July 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. Priya Miriam Noronha at the Observer Research Foundation reads the new agreements between India and Seychelles, and asks whether Seychelles can carry them out. Arnab Dasgupta at MP-IDSA argues that the <span class=\"bf-term\">Indo-Pacific<\/span> survives the American change of name, and that its three resident powers must now fill it with content. Chris Cooter, High Commissioner for Canada to India, sets out where Canadian technology and Indian manufacturing meet.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-meta\"><b>PSIR &amp; GS2 Daily Brief \u00b7 Issue 104<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>21 July 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Paper II-A, Paper II-B<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Amit Pratap Singh<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"bf-get\"><b>Issue 104 as a PDF<\/b><span>The full brief, ready to print for your folder.<\/span><a href=\"\/psir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Daily-brief-Issue-104.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<section class=\"bf-item\">\n<div class=\"bf-eyebrow\">Paper II-B \u00b7 India and the World<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">India now offers Seychelles credit, payment systems and training, and not security alone.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>Observer Research Foundation<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Priya Miriam Noronha<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>20 July 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/expert-speak\/india-seychelles-relations-exploring-blue-economy-opportunities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Priya Miriam Noronha writes about the State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Seychelles from 27 to 29 June 2026. The visit produced 19 bilateral outcomes. They cover development finance, digital payments, maritime cooperation, agriculture and the building of institutions. She reads them as a widening of an old relationship. That relationship rested on maritime security, defence cooperation and development assistance. It now takes in the <span class=\"bf-term\">blue economy<\/span> as well.<\/p>\n<p>Her caution is about what comes next. Several of the agreements are enabling frameworks and not working programmes. Seychelles has already shown that it can raise money for the ocean. It has found it harder to turn that money into results. So Noronha argues that the power to prepare and run projects will decide what the new agreements are worth.<\/p>\n<h4>The record<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>India and Seychelles established diplomatic relations in 1976, the year Seychelles became independent.<\/li>\n<li>Trade between the two countries is small. It stood at US$72.92 million in 2024-25, of which Indian exports were US$68.64 million.<\/li>\n<li>Seychelles has 115 islands spread over an Exclusive Economic Zone of about 1.3 million square kilometres. They sit on the sea lanes that link the Gulf with South and East Asia.<\/li>\n<li>India works with Seychelles on <span class=\"bf-term\">maritime domain awareness<\/span> under the MAHASAGAR framework. The two also share information through the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region.<\/li>\n<li>The Work Plan for 2026 to 2031 between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Agriculture Department of Seychelles covers climate-smart agriculture, horticulture, post-harvest management, livestock development and food security. It does not cover fisheries.<\/li>\n<li>Fisheries is the second largest sector of the economy of Seychelles. It accounts for over eight percent of GDP and employs about one sixth of the people. Port Victoria is a regional centre for the transshipment of tuna.<\/li>\n<li>The largest financial commitment was a <span class=\"bf-term\">line of credit<\/span> of US$125 million from the Export-Import Bank of India. It puts to work the concessional part of a Special Economic Package of US$175 million announced earlier in 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Seychelles joined the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. No costed project under it has been announced yet.<\/li>\n<li>The National Payments Corporation of India International Payments Limited and the Central Bank of Seychelles signed an agreement to bring in the Unified Payments Interface.<\/li>\n<li>India and Seychelles agreed to recognise the certification of Indian seafarers on ships flying the flag of Seychelles.<\/li>\n<li>Public debt of Seychelles fell to 53.6 percent of GDP in 2025. It is on a path towards a medium term anchor of 50 percent under a programme backed by the International Monetary Fund.<\/li>\n<li>In 2015-16 Seychelles refinanced US$21.6 million of sovereign debt through a <span class=\"bf-term\">debt-for-nature swap<\/span>. The swap set up the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust. It also bound the country to protect 30 percent of its Exclusive Economic Zone.<\/li>\n<li>Seychelles issued the world&#8217;s first sovereign blue bond in 2018. It raised US$15 million with support from the World Bank.<\/li>\n<li>The public administration of Seychelles serves a population of about 120,600.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>The argument<\/h4>\n<p>This is the small state question in a form you can use. A candidate can show what India offers island states in the Indian Ocean today. The offer is credit, payment systems, training and a place in new bodies. It is no longer security assistance alone. That is material for answers on India and Africa, and on the Indian Ocean in Indian foreign policy.<\/p>\n<p>The article also gives a simple test of aid. Noronha shows that the first blue bond and the debt swap delivered less than they promised. Some of the conservation work they paid for had already been pledged. The lesson is that money follows capacity. Use it against the easy claim that finance settles development.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;India&#8217;s scale and technical capabilities complement Seychelles&#8217; experience as a small island state that has pioneered blue finance and ocean governance deals.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Priya Miriam Noronha<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-item\">\n<div class=\"bf-eyebrow\">Paper II-A \u00b7 International Relations<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"bf-h2\">The Indo-Pacific does not end when the United States drops the word from a command.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>MP-IDSA<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Arnab Dasgupta<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>17 July 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/idsa.in\/publisher\/comments\/future-prospects-for-the-indo-pacific-beyond-us-commitment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>The United States said in late June 2026 that its Indo-Pacific Command would go back to the name it carried before 2018. That name is United States Pacific Command. Arnab Dasgupta sets out the debate that followed. Some writers said the command kept its wide area of work, so nothing had changed. Others read it as proof that the United States was bringing its commitments closer to home. Dasgupta takes a middle position. Washington has changed the order of its priorities. It has not left the region. Its forces still train and exercise with the armies and navies there.<\/p>\n<p>His own argument follows from that. American involvement is now episodic and issue based. It runs beside other priorities in West Asia, Eastern Europe and, most actively, the Americas. The answer is not to call the <span class=\"bf-term\">Indo-Pacific<\/span> dead. India, Japan and Australia live in the region, and Dasgupta calls them <span class=\"bf-term\">resident powers<\/span>. They should build a trilateral mechanism of their own. They should also fill the idea with content that can be measured.<\/p>\n<h4>The record<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>The United States announced in late June 2026 that its Indo-Pacific Command would revert to the name it held before 2018, United States Pacific Command.<\/li>\n<li>Japan invented the concept in 2007. Its Free and Open Indo-Pacific policy has grown into a foreign policy doctrine. It joins security coordination with the supply of public goods through pillars of economic security and cooperation.<\/li>\n<li>Japan has recently liberalised its rules on defence technology cooperation. Dasgupta reads this as an opening for joint development and manufacture with India and Australia.<\/li>\n<li>India stated the SAGAR doctrine, or Security and Growth for All in the Region, in 2015. It upgraded SAGAR to MAHASAGAR in 2025.<\/li>\n<li>India set up the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative in 2019. Dasgupta calls it the largest alternative framework to the Quad.<\/li>\n<li>India brings two capabilities to the region. The first is a cost efficient space programme that launches satellites for countries of the Global South and shares data with them. The second is <span class=\"bf-term\">digital public infrastructure<\/span>. Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface are the templates, and the India Stack is open to others. At least 23 countries build their national plans on it.<\/li>\n<li>Australia was the first country to use the term Indo-Pacific in government. Since 2017 it has become one of the firmest supporters of the Quad.<\/li>\n<li>Australia holds <span class=\"bf-term\">critical minerals<\/span>. Dasgupta argues that its long experience in sustainable mining matters more, because it can anchor the spreading of supply chains.<\/li>\n<li>Australia has old ties with the Pacific Island Countries. Dasgupta treats these ties, and those of New Zealand, as the road to public goods for those states.<\/li>\n<li>The Republic of Korea and New Zealand are already Quad Plus partners. Dasgupta would draw them in further, and would add Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines to Vietnam.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>The argument<\/h4>\n<p>This article answers the 2024 question on why the term Asia-Pacific gave way to Indo-Pacific, and then carries the story forward. A term first used by a great power can be taken up by the states that live in the region. Build such an answer around the phrase resident powers.<\/p>\n<p>It is also a test of what a region is. The Indo-Pacific has no charter and no secretariat. It holds together only while states put work into it. Dasgupta names that work. It is space, digital public infrastructure, precision manufacturing, minerals and ties with the Pacific Island Countries. Learn that list. It turns a slogan into a set of capabilities.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;If the Indo-Pacific as a concept lacks content, the answer is not to dismiss it as a placeholder, but to fill it with content amenable to empirical measurement and demonstration.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Arnab Dasgupta<\/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\">Canada is rearming, and it wants Indian factories to build part of what it buys.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"bf-src\"><b>The Hindu<\/b><span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>Chris Cooter<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span>21 July 2026<span class=\"d\">\u00b7<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/canada-india-defence-collaboration-for-a-secure-future\/article71246291.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Read the article<\/a><\/div>\n<p>Chris Cooter is the High Commissioner for Canada to India. He writes that Canada is rebuilding its armed forces, and that the work opens a door for India. He quotes Prime Minister Mark Carney at CANSEC 2026 on 27 May 2026. Carney said that the nature of war is changing, driven by drones, autonomous systems and weapons in orbit. Conflict may now come closer to Canadian borders than before.<\/p>\n<p>Cooter then sets out where the two countries fit together. Canada has depth in research, a full aerospace sector and minerals in the ground. India has scale, a large aviation market and a growing industrial base. Canada is spreading its defence supply chains so that it does not depend on one country. It is asking partners such as India to join in co-development, in the manufacture of subsystems and in sustainment.<\/p>\n<h4>The record<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Carney announced in 2025 that Canada is on track to spend 5 percent of its GDP on defence by 2035. By March it had already passed 2 percent.<\/li>\n<li>Canada and India have accredited Defence Advisers in Ottawa and Delhi. Carney and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to set up a Defence Dialogue.<\/li>\n<li>The navies of the two countries took part in the Rim of the Pacific exercises and the Talisman Sabre exercises. A delegation from the National Defence College of India visited Canada in June.<\/li>\n<li>Canada has set up a national Defence Investment Agency for military procurement. It has also launched a defence Industrial Strategy to spread its supply chains.<\/li>\n<li>Canada is putting half a billion dollars into next generation aerospace technologies, including a drone innovation hub.<\/li>\n<li>Canada is one of the few countries with a complete aerospace sector. India has the third largest domestic aviation market in the world.<\/li>\n<li>Canada has geological reserves of 31 <span class=\"bf-term\">critical minerals<\/span>, from cobalt to helium. It holds the tenth largest reserves of rare earth elements, the third largest recoverable resources of uranium and 5 percent of the tungsten reserves of the world.<\/li>\n<li>Canada is the second largest producer and exporter of uranium in the world. It supplied 24 percent of global production in 2024.<\/li>\n<li>The memorandum of understanding between Canada and India on the Critical Minerals Value Chain was signed during the visit of Carney to India in February and March 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Canada offers advanced components for satellite technology and space robotics. Cooter writes that its RADARSAT constellation system can serve the Indian aim of raising naval capacity in the region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>The argument<\/h4>\n<p>Read this first as a document of persuasion. A serving High Commissioner is writing in an Indian newspaper, and the claims in it are the claims of a government. Say so in an answer. That is a good habit for questions on how foreign policy is made and sold.<\/p>\n<p>The substance can still be used in two places. The first is the standard question on the defence industry and self-reliance. Canada wants partners who can build, and India wants technology. One bargain can meet both wants. The second is the argument that economic security and national security are one subject. Cooter makes that argument through critical minerals.<\/p>\n<p>Note also the institutions the article names. There are Defence Advisers in both capitals, an agreed Defence Dialogue and a signed memorandum on critical minerals. Bodies of this kind are what turn goodwill into a working relationship. Name them in answers on India and Canada.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;Canada&#8217;s strengths in advanced technologies can complement India&#8217;s scale, manufacturing capacity, and expanding industrial base.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Chris Cooter<\/cite><\/div>\n<div class=\"bf-quote\">\n<p>&#8220;The very nature of war is rapidly evolving, driven by the proliferation of drones, autonomous systems, and weapons in orbit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><cite>Mark Carney, quoted in The Hindu<\/cite><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"bf-syl\">\n<h3>Where this belongs 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\/continuity-and-change-in-indian-foreign-policy\/\">Continuity and change in Indian foreign policy<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/determinants-of-foreign-policy\/\">Determinants of foreign policy<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-africa\/\">India and Africa<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-japan\/\">India and Japan<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-and-the-usa\/\">India and the USA<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/india-s-look-east-policy\/\">India\u2019s \u201cLook East\u201d policy<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/asean\/\">ASEAN<\/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\/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\/vision-of-a-new-world-order\/\">Vision of a new world order<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/globalisation-of-the-world-economy\/\">Globalisation of the world economy<\/a><a class=\"bf-chip\" href=\"\/psir\/notes\/environment\/\">Environment<\/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>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 15m<\/b>India maintains strong ties with countries that will assure a free and open Indo-Pacific and guarantee greater connectivity with rest of the world. Analyze.<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/india-maintains-strong-ties-with-countries-that-will-assure-a-upsc-psir-2025-4909\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2025 \u00b7 10m<\/b>Historical ties between India and Japan grew into a &#x27;special strategic and global partnership&#x27;. Comment.<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/historical-ties-between-india-and-japan-grew-into-a-special-upsc-psir-2025-4609\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>PSIR Paper II \u00b7 2024 \u00b7 10m<\/b>Discuss the rationale behind replacing the &#x27;Asia-Pacific&#x27; strategy with the new term &#x27;Indo-Pacific&#x27; strategy.<a class=\"ans\" href=\"\/psir\/psir-pyq\/discuss-the-rationale-behind-replacing-the-asia--pacific-strategy-upsc-psir-2024-4509\/\">Answer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><b>GS-2 \u00b7 2024<\/b>Discuss the geopolitical and geostrategic importance of Maldives for India with a focus on global trade and energy flows. Further also discuss how this relationship affects India&#x27;s maritime security and regional stability amidst international competition?<\/li>\n<li><b>GS-2 \u00b7 2023<\/b>&#x27;Sea is an important Component of the Cosmos.&#x27; Discuss in the light of the above statement the role of the IMO (International Maritime Organization) in protecting environment and enhancing maritime safety and security.<\/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>Priya Miriam Noronha of the Observer Research Foundation counts 19 outcomes from the Prime Minister&#8217;s visit to Seychelles, and argues that the power to prepare and run projects will decide their worth. Arnab Dasgupta of MP-IDSA reads the American change of a command name as a change of attention and not an exit, and asks India, Japan and Australia to give the Indo-Pacific content of their own. Chris Cooter, High Commissioner for Canada to India, sets out where a rising Canadian defence budget meets Indian manufacturing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":691,"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":"104","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-686","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\/07\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-21-at-6.31.50-PM.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686","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=686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5107,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions\/5107"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}