{"id":1541,"date":"2026-08-09T19:12:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/discuss-the-potential-role-india-can-play-in-initiating-a-upsc-psir-2025-4207\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:55:20","slug":"discuss-the-potential-role-india-can-play-in-initiating-a-upsc-psir-2025-4207","status":"publish","type":"psir_pyq","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/discuss-the-potential-role-india-can-play-in-initiating-a-upsc-psir-2025-4207\/","title":{"rendered":"Discuss the potential role India can play in initiating a possible phase of trilateral economic engagement among India, China and Nepal."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pq-flow\">\n<div class=\"pq-flow-h\">Flow snapshot <em>\u2014 how the answer moves<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p1\"><span>Intro routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> Nepal land-locked between two rising economies <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> foreign policy narrowed to both, not widened to the world <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> trilateral converts zero-sum contest over Kathmandu into positive-sum<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> India already holds trade, power and transit instruments <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> constraint is not capacity but sequencing <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> begin project by project, not by grand framework<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>functional advantage: largest trading partner + main power market + route to sea <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> ~45,000 MW viable potential vs 10,000 MW committed over ten years <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Nepal already sells power to Bangladesh across Indian grid = trilateral working in practice <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Raja Mohan<\/b>: manage complex interdependence, not compete <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> functionalist case for shared needs <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Lipulekh border trade reopened June 2026, Nepal protests the pass is its own <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Himalayan economy still in two separate bilateral tracks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>India distrusts BRI and any third presence in Nepal <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> suspicion dating to Sugauli <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> China rarely joins what it has not begun <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Muni<\/b>: Kathmandu plays the China card for better terms from Delhi; new government caught between regional and global rivalries<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> India\u2019s own delivery is the first ceiling \u2014 20 MW withheld, transmission limits <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> begin where politics is thinnest: power, transit, shared water data<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Chellaney<\/b>: geography leaves Nepal no substitute for India <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Delhi can move first, trilateralism built project by project<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"pyq_year":[36],"pyq_marks":[35],"pyq_topic":[83],"pyq_paper":[69],"class_list":["post-1541","psir_pyq","type-psir_pyq","status-publish","hentry","pyq_year-36","pyq_marks-15-marks","pyq_topic-india-and-south-asia","pyq_paper-paper-2"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_pyq"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4953,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1541\/revisions\/4953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pyq_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_year?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_marks","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_marks?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_topic?post=1541"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_paper","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_paper?post=1541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}