4-8 RS.130/-
IAS 2020 POLITICAL SCIENCE TEST SERIES
By: Dr. PIYUSH CHAUBEY
TEST: 4
www.iasscore.in Political Science Test Series 2020 TEST - 04
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250
SECTION - A
1. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: (a) Lobbing in India should be legalized. (10) (b) Indian parties and their attitude towards federalism (10) (c) People’s movement and social transformation (10) (d) Bhoodan movement and its contribution to land reforms in India. (10) (e) The difference between protests and Social movements in India. (10) 2. Attempt all the questions: (a) Comment on the nature of linguistic politics in India and its evolution in the past decades. (15) (b) Analyse the role of pressure groups in policy formulation. (15) (c) Indian Constitution provides essential features of a federation, but it differs from the typical federal systems of the world in certain fundamental aspects. Discuss the differences. (20) 3. Attempt all the questions: (a) What was the Congress/Nehruvian Consensus regarding the social-economic development of freeGS GSGSIndia? Explain. SCORESCORESCORE (15) (b) Caste and Class in India have their distinct identities in terms of structure and economic status. Is this a universal truth in India or does it have certain exceptions? Give your views. (15) (c) In spite of the weak constitutional position in Indian federalism, occasionally, the states have asserted themselves. Elaborate by giving examples. (20) 4. Attempt all the questions: (a) Discuss evolution of women movement in India, how far is it correct to say it is not an independent, autonomous movement? (15) (b) Nature and Evaluation of Land Reforms in India after Independence. (15) (c) Various factors influence the formation of political parties and their attitude towards federal polity help us to understand their impact on federalizing process. Examine the given statement. (20)
Political Science [1] SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: (a) Ethnic movements in North East India (10) (b) Is caste inequality and expression of colonial modernity or a resultant of Brahmanical tradition? (10) (c) What are the major issues and challenges of environmental movements in India? Discuss its nature, strategies and methods of protest. (10) (d) Party system is in transition in India. (10) (e) The evolving profile of legislators in the Indian parliament. (10) 6. Attempt all the questions: (a) Discuss the major functions and performance of mechanisms designated to resolve inter-state conflicts. (15) (b) Critically analyse the impact of Green Revolution on Indian Agriculture. (15) (c) Religion was used as force for supporting or opposing the British in India or for separating which led to different political functions of religion during the colonial rule. Examine the given statement. (20) 7. Attempt all the questions: (a) Analyse the various issues and challenges of Human rights movement in India? (15) (b) Is it correct to say that the interstate water dispute tribunals have become a barrier to development? What role does the constitutional exception given by Supreme Court to tribunals played in this context? (15) (c) Discuss the stages in Relationship Between Caste and Politics. (20) 8. Attempt all the questions: (a) Through political party competition, the social divisions of a deeply divided society get expressed. Discuss the above statement with specific reference to social mobilization by politicalGSGSGS parties SCORESCORESCORE in India. (15) (b) Comment on the trends in coalition politics in India after 1967. How has disappearance of Congress Dominance and emergence of coalition politics impacted contemporary Indian politics? (15) (c) Discuss the differences between social movement and new social movements between developing and industrialised country. (20)
[2] Political Science Political Science Test Series 2020
www.iasscore.in POLITICAL SCIENCE Answer Hints: Test No.4
SECTION - A
1. (a) Lobbing in India should be legalized.
• Approach Required: Provide arguments both for and against the idea of Lobbying. Content should be centered around the relevance of Lobbying as per conditions specific to India. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to elaborate too much on what Lobbying is. Focus more on adding more and more arguments. Lobbyists provide governments with valuable policy-related information and expertise but if the activity is not transparent, public interest may be put at risk in favour of specific interests. India currently does not have a law to regulate lobbying. But recent corruption scandals involving lobbying by big businesses have increased public pressure for a law to regulate the activity. The factors which advocate legalizing lobbying in India are as follows: • It will provide a clear transparent ground for the same efforts which are underway in politics. The public will be clearly aware of the intensity and scale of efforts from various non-political bodies in public decision making and it will help reducing corruption and also will put a check to crony capitalism and the unholy nexus between corporates, bureaucracy and politicians. • This will provide ample opportunity to all groups to take an active part in decision making compared to the present scenario where this advantage only goes to those sections which are generally considered close to the political class. But at the same time, there are several reasons which argue against the case for legalizing lobbying in India: • Compared to USA, there are multiple groups in existence in India with communal and sectarian interests and objectives. Once lobbying is legalized, these groups will get an open field to influence the law makers and this will result in deformation of the political scenario where money power will override the sense of public morality. • In country where caste and religion play a massive role in determining the course of national politics, legalized lobbying will result in an open struggle between various caste and communal groups and this might result in law and order problems ranging from excessive use of money power to increased opportunism among legislators since they will have the freedom to choose that interest group which gives them maximum benefits. • All the interest groups do not enjoy the same kind of strength in terms of financial power and public relations. For e.g. Corporate organizations and big business houses can easily undermine the opinion of worker unions. The recent example of Radia tape controversy shows that corporates in India have already developed mechanism to influence even the highest echelons of central government. Organizations which represent the economically weaker strata of Indian society like Dalit’s, tribal, peasants, students and workers might not have the resources to protect themselves against the other powerful groups and would be adversely affected. • In India, the individual in a single instance can be a member of multiple interest groups and legalized lobbying might result in same individual experiencing antagonistic interests on the same issue. For example in case of seasonal migration of workers from rural areas to nearby towns is a common phenomenon in India. Now a law regulating the unorganized labour sector might result in identification of the same person either as an industrial worker or as a farmer but not both. Similar situations can occur in case of caste vs religion, religion vs region interest groups, thus doing more than good. Therefore the legalizing of lobbying in India is a decision which has to be taken with a lot of caution and only after taking into consideration the above factors.
1. (b) Indian parties and their attitude towards federalism
• Approach Required: Try to elaborate how Major Indian political parties view the present federal set up and what changes they prefer to implement. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t just focus on present day parties. Try to include some historical and regional party examples as well. • Political parties grow out of various forces, personalities and historical developments and act as a major force in the federalizing process. Their attitude towards ‘federal polity’ helps us to understand their impact on it. • The Indian National Congress has always stood for a strong Centre. The Hindu Mahasabha also favors strong centre and would like the abrogation of article 370, which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir. • The Swatantra Party wanted redistribution of power and responsibility so as to give States larger responsibilities. It also preferred the idea of referring inter-state disputes to a standing judicial body for final verdict. According to Bhartiya Jana Sangh a strong centre was an imperative need of the country’s political situation. It preferred a unitary constitution with federal characteristics. It wanted the full integration of the State of Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union. • The BJP wants that Articles 352,356 and 360 should be reviewed so as to avoid their misuse. The formation of an Inter-StateGSGSGS Council SCORESCORESCORE under Article 263 should be made mandatory. Article 370 being a transitory article should be deleted. According to BJP decentralization is imperative but nothing should be done that may weaken the unity of the country. • The communist Party of India stands for removal of all injustice and discrimination against states. It demands wider power and authority, particularly in financial and economic matters, be given to the states of the Indian Union. It also favours the abolition of the institution of Governors, establishment of autonomous districts and regions within the States. • The CPI (M) favours the ‘the widest autonomy for the various states comprising the Indian Federation’, transfer of the concurrent list to the States, allocation of 75 percent of all the Central taxes to the States. • The DMK emphasized the need for the preservation of state rights without infringement by the Centre. It demanded that the constitution be amended to vest the residuary powers in the States.
[2] Hints: Political Science • The Akali Dal pleads for autonomous states with the Centre retaining the federal functions in respect of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and Railways. Thus on the basis of their stated positions on the issue, the political parties can be classified into three groups. • First, Parties like Congress who do not advocate any change in the structure and pattern of the Centre-State relations. • Secondly, those parties who accept the constitutional structure and the need for a strong centre but who would like to see changes in the machinery and the style of the Centre-State relations. The Congress (O), the BJP, the Swatantra and the Jana Sangh are such parties. • The third group represents radicalism on this issue. They demand restructuring of the entire framework of the Centre-State relations. This group consists of the CPI, CPI (M), DMK, AIDMK, AGP, TDP and the Akali Dal.
1. (c) People’s movement and social transformation • Approach Required: Elaborate on how grass root movements have resulted in greater awareness and political participation of hitherto oppressed and weaker sections of society with help of examples and views of scholars. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not attempt your own generic analysis, rather rely on views of eminent scholars to validate your arguments. • Due to multiple varieties of people’s movements like women, Adidas, Dalit, peasants and workers, political positions are no longer the sole prerogative of upper caste and class elites. In several regions their proportion in seat of power has sharply declined. Middle and lower castes have challenged their power. A group though tiny, from the lowest social strata, Dalit’s and tribal have also emerged as political elite and get some share in decision-making of the state. They do play important, sometimes decisive role in formation of government. Similarly women though in a microscopic minority have also begun to share political power and assert their rights. Thus circle of political elite has enlarged. • One of the most striking positive contributions of the movements are that people from lower strata participate in electoral processes and exercises their franchise. They express their needs, expectations, grievances and also anger against those who hold offices and desire for the change. • Many scholars such as Huntington, Rajni Kothari and several others observes that as the gap between expectationsGSGSGS of people SCOREandSCORESCORE performance of the system widens mass upsurge in the forms of movements increase. Alain Touraine and Jürgen Habermas argue that democratic system in post-modern society is not able to guarantee to the individual – Freedom, equality and fraternity. – People’s movements are the expression of collective will. It is soul of democracy – expression of people’s grievances against the system, their needs and aspirations; and – Their desire to get involved in political processes. • The 1990s have witnessed a participatory upsurge among the disadvantaged sections of the society. Before the 1970s the urban participation used to be higher than the rural participation. But now rural participation has overtaken urban participation. There has been tremendous rise in the participation of women in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. This period has also registered a definite upswing in the electoral participation of the tribal. The Dalit participation is higher in UP than in Bihar, MP and Rajasthan.
Hints: Political Science [3] • Yogendra Yadav is of the opinion that perhaps India is only country where the participation of the disadvantaged section has overtaken that of the privileged section. Yadav is of the view that this upsurge in electoral participation does not pose a threat to the democratic system in India because there is no sign of widespread erosion in the legitimacy of the system or mounting frustration among the participants. This is not in agreement with S.P. Huntington’s theory, which looks at excessive participation in absence of early institutionalisation as a recipe for revolution, of rising frustration and Eventual collapse of democracy.
1. (d) Bhoodan movement and its contribution to land reforms in India.
• Approach Required: Describe the movement, its contribution/impact and its limitations/ critiques as well. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to add the factual details and critical role played by VinobaBhave and impact of Gandhian ideals on the progress of the movement. • Bhoodan (land-gift or land donation) Movement was launched in April 1951 by Acharya VinobaBhave. The purpose of this movement was to appeal to the landowning classes to donate their surplus land to the poor. But the method adopted for this purpose by the movement was completely different from the one used in the abolition of Zamindari. Inspired by Gandhian technique the SarvodyaSamaj of VinobaBhave used the ideal of non-violent method of social transformation in to Bhoodan movement. • The VinobaBhave and his band of followers travelled through villages on footrequesting the large landowners to donate one sixth of their land as Bhoodan for distributionamong the landless. Although the movement claimed to be independent, yet it enjoyed the support of the Congress Party. The All India Congress Committee had urged the Congressmen to support the movement. • VinobaBhave’s experiment of Bhoodan started in 1951 Pochampali village in the Telangana region of Andhra. The choice of Telangna was significant because that area still felt reverberation of the armed peasant revolt led by the Communist Party of India. After its considerable success in Andhra the movement shifted to the northern part of the country. • In north Bhoodan was experimented in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. In its initial years this movement achieved considerable amount of success in receiving land gift and distributing them. But after the initial years of success the movement lost its vitality. A problem faced by the Bhoodan movementGS was that SCOREa good part of the land donated was simply not fit for cultivation. There were GSGSGSno takers for SCORESCORESCORE such land. • In 1955 VinobaBhave’s experiment took another form, the form of gram-Dan (village-gift). The idea had its origin in Gandhian belief that all the land belonged to God. This movement was launched from a village in Orissa. In Gramdan villages the movement declared that all the land was owned collectively or equally. The movement was very successful in Orissa. Later on it was launched in Maharashtra, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The movement was particularlysuccessful in tribal areas of the country where class differentiation had not yet appeared and there was very little disparity in ownership pattern. By the sixties both Bhoodan and Gramdan had come to an end. • Many critiques dismiss the movement Bhoodan and Gramdan as utopian. There is another charge against the movement that it stifled class-consciousness of the poor and the landless and served as a brake on the revolutionary potential of the peasants. It seemsthat a proper assessment of the Bhoodan and Gramdan movement is still to be made.
[4] Hints: Political Science • The remarkable thing about this movement was that it aimed at the goal of equitable distribution of land not through government legislation but through a movement involving concerned people. And it did so without use of any violent or coercive method but by appealing to the good sense of big landowners. Apart from the considerable success this movement achieved, it also succeeded in creating sufficient propaganda and agitation for redistribution of land.
1. (e) The difference between protests and Social movements in India. • Approach Required: Illustrate the difference between the two types of movements based on their nature of demands, reasons for rise of such movements and how scholars view the nature of protest movement in India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not differentiate just theoretically, you also need to provide some Indian context. • There has been a spurt of protest movements since the 1970s in different states of India. These movements have been identified as the new social movements by some scholars. • They are new in the sense that they have emerged in new context, Gail Omvedt identifies the main characteristic of these movements as apolitical, with new organisation and leadership aiming to change the relations of dominance and subordination. • But all protest movements cannot be termed as new social movements, since they still raise the issues which are related to the traditional economic and social relations. • In almost all states of India there are some characteristics and patterns of protest movements. The principal patterns can be identified as follows: – Disenchantment with the formal political institutions, – Increased violence within the civil society, – Failure of state to deliver public good and services – Emergence of new social and political forces, and – States’ response in the form of coercion, accommodation and repression. • Mass movements or protests are largely have got subsumed in the popular culture being promoted as the ‘globalised culture’. The Marxist scholars attribute it to the ‘multilineal character’ and ‘all pervasiveGSGSGS hierarchy’ SCORESCORESCORE of the Indian society. • However, some scholars criticise this and say that the protest movements are the result of the clash between ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’. The revolution of rising expectations of people is not met with political justice and hence there emerges a gap between ‘political instability’ and ‘disorder’. • Rajini Kothari argues that there is a need for ‘direct action’ in such kind of ‘parliamentary democracy’, so that the state gets transformed. Thus, the transformation of the state is to be achieved through the transformation of the civil society and not the other way. • The role of the centralised state must decline to the extent that it operates in concert with other centres as well as other institutional spaces in civil society. The state should be enabled to regain its autonomy from dominant interests and classes; it should be gradually made to wither away as an instrument of class and ethnic oppression but enabled to survive as a mediator in conflicts and stresses that will continue to take place in civil society. There is also a need to move beyond the nation— state syndrome of statehood
Hints: Political Science [5] 2. (a) Comment on the nature of linguistic politics in India and its evolution in the past decades. • Approach Required: • Mistakes to be avoided: • Politics of linguistic minorities has principally been impacted by these factors: their perception of themselves and of the linguistic majorities, the attitude of the linguistic majorities towards them, and the linguistic majorities’ perception of the linguistic minorities. The linguistic majorities in different states have demanded that the linguistic minorities accept the language of the majorities as medium of instruction in educational institutions and the official language. • They have done it through the three or four language formula. The linguistic minorities have demanded protection of their language by demanding its inclusion in VIII Schedule of the Constitution. It must be noted that demand for recognition of language as an official language or its inclusion in the VIII Schedule is rarely made as an independent demand; it is one of the several demands. In this respect the demands of the linguistic minorities are also demands of the ethnic minorities. A linguistic minority can also be an ethnic minority simultaneously. The ethnic minorities also demand separate states for themselves; they feel in such states their cultural and linguistic identity will be protected. Often the differences between linguistic groups in a state lead to linguistic riots. There are innumerable examples of riots between linguistic majorities and minorities in states of India. and politics. • Let us start with the north-east India. There are a large number linguistic minorities in state of North-East India. The linguistic groups of the region can again be linked to the ethnic groups. The latter belong to two blocs of ethnic communities – the minority’s indigenous groups which have not migrated from anywhere else outside the state, and those who have come from other states and settled there over the years in search of employment. The latter consist of minority multi-lingual groups. But the former consist of several single language minority groups. Assam is among the north-eastern states where the linguistic minorities have resisted the attempts of the linguistic majority to make its language as official and court language of all. The minority linguistic groups have resisted it by demanding protection of their own languages by asking for opening the educational institutions where the medium of instruction could be their mother tongue rather than that of the linguistic majority. • In Assam the principal linguistic conflict has been between the Assamese and the non- Assamese languages. When Assam was a composite state, i.e., before other states were carved of Assam, the conflict was between the Assamese on the one hand and the non- Assamese on the other.GS The latter includedSCORE the Bengali, tribal languages, etc. But after formation of separates statesGSGSGS out of Assam,SCORESCORESCORE especially Meghalaya in 1972, in Assam the main contradiction has been Bengalis and Assamese. • Bengalis are a minority linguistic group in Brahmaputra Valley and Assamese in Barak Valley. The Bengalis fear that introduction of Assamese as the official language would hamper the progress of Bengalis in Brahmaputra Valley. The Assamese-Bengali linguistic conflict in Assam can be traced back to the colonial policies. Within a few years of the occupation of Assam, the British made the Bengali as the official language. The Assamese had alleged that the British did so under the pressure of the Bengalis and it was discriminatory to them. They demanded that the Assamese be declared as an official and court language in Assam. This gave birth to a debate between the intellectuals of two linguistic groups. The Bengalis argued that there was no need for a separate court language for Assam, as Assamese was a dialect of the Assamese. The Assamese intellectuals on the other hand argued that Assamese was not a dialect of Bengali; it was an independent language with its own script and history. The Bengalis should be replaced with the Assamese as an official language.
[6] Hints: Political Science • The British in fact declared Assamese as official language of Assam in 1873. Since then the conflict between the two linguistic groups continued in one or the other form. It assumed violent form in the post- independence period when the Assamese government introduced Assamese as an official language in 1960. It also resulted in demand for a tribal state in the Khasi dominated part of Assam. All non-Assamese communities including Bengalis, other nontribal and tribal groups launched an agitation for formation of a separate state. With the formation of Meghalaya, the Assamese no longer remained the official language. But within Assam the linguistic minorities, both tribal and Bengalis, continue to complain of the discrimination by the linguistic majorities. • The formation of the linguistic states gave the status of linguistic majorities to those groups which were linguistic minorities in the context of all India scenario. But it placed the linguistic minoritieswithin these states in vulnerable position. Apart from facing discrimination in the linguistic policies, they became targets of the attack of the dominant linguistic groups in a different context as well. For example, the linguistic community which is a majority in one state is a majority in another and vice-versa. The conflict between these groups which is not necessarily language—based has its repercussions for them in another states. The linguistic groups in two south Indian states - Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were involved in fierce language riots in 1992. These riots were in no way related to language. It was a fall out of the conflict which took place between two states over sharing of Cauvery water. The Tamil speaking community was targeted by the Kannada speakers in Karnataka causing damage to their property and lives. The minority Tamil linguistic groups demanded the introduction of special measures for the protection of their language and property. • Paul R Brass argues that the state governments have introduced discriminatory policies against the minority languages and the central government has not protected them. The attitude towards Urdu and Mithila spoken in north Bihar are among such examples. Besides, Urdu which is spoken several parts of the country, and is the single largest minority language in U P, has been subject to controversy by the communal forces. Any attempt to give Urdu as a status of official language is met with the criticism by certain groups that it was an appeasement of Muslims. But the Urdu speaking sections, which include both Hindus and Muslims see the opposition to Urdu as an attempt to discriminate against the linguistic minorities. • In Punjab also the linguistic issue got linked with the communal divide between Hindus and Sikhs during the Punjabi Suba movement of the 1960s. The Arya Samaj impacted the vision of non-Sikh Punjabis, who declared their language in the census enumeration as Hindi, though in reality it was Punjabi. It was mainly because of the communalisation of language and apprehension of HindusGSGSGS that creationSCORESCORESCORE of separate states of Punjab excluding Haryana would reduce the Hindus to a minority community in Punjab. They felt by declaring Hindi as their mother-tongue would weaken the case for a separate state of Punjab.
2. (b) Analyse the role of pressure groups in policy formulation.
• Approach Required: Discuss both the positive and negative roles played by Pressure groups in policy formulation in India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your arguments should not be lacking in examples wherever necessary. The term ‘pressure group’ refers to any interest group whose members because of their shared common attributes make claims on the other groups and on the political process. They pursue their interests by organising themselves and by influencing the governmental policies. Their aim is to see that laws or government’s actions are favourable to their interests. Various pressure groups have
Hints: Political Science [7] been influencing the policy making in India by compelling the government to pass laws and make policy decisions as per their demands. Some of the notable examples are: • Associational pressure groups like Ex Servicemen organization successfully compelling the government to accept their demand for OROP (one rank one pension) is a one such example.
• Similarly anomic protest group along with women rights organizations influenced the decision of the government to provide stricter laws to deal with rape, sexual harassment and violence against women in the wake of the December 16 rape case in Delhi.
• Anti-corruption protests by Civil Society groups like India against Corruption lead to passage of the Lokpal bill.
• Non associational groups like caste groups have time and again forced the respective governments to provide reservation in education and public sector employment. Recent examples are movements in Gujrat and North India by the Patel and Jaat groups for reservation and the respective state governments acceding to their demands.
• Pressure groups also sometimes cause a change in the existing or proposed laws by their influence for e.g. the decision of the Central government to not implement the new land bill ordnance due to active protests by Peasant organizations and labour organizations.
• Pressure groups have both positive and negative implications for Indian Democracy depending on the nature of their demands and their strategies of achieving the same.
• For example some of the positive aspects of pressure groups in India are:
• They represent diverse interests such as Dalit, tribal, women, peasant, student and workers perspectives on various socio-economic issues and bring them to be a participant in public decision making.
• They bring out various issues which normally are not noticeable in context of electoral politics like clean environment, women safety, road safety and human rights violations etc.
• They encourage greater public participation through sporadic events and associations like civil right movement initiated by Anna Hazare etc.
• Continued participation in these pressure group’s activities lead to political awareness and mobilization in hithertoGS GSpolitically backwardSCORESCORE sections of society. • They serve as safety valveGSGS against risingSCORESCORE discontent among the public and bridge the gap between the political institutions and the common man.
But at the same time, there are a few negative implications associated with them as well: • They are usually against the normal agenda and functioning of the government and distract the attention of the nation from more pressing issues.
• Their tiresome bargaining with the state results in delay in decision making.
• Sometimes, they create unnecessary social and political unrest which in worse case turns violent, for e.g. Jaat and Patel agitation for reservation claimed several lives at the peak.
• Nevertheless, pressure groups form an integral part of the Indian democratic setup and their contribution is invaluable in terms of policy formulation and inclusive development.
[8] Hints: Political Science 2. (c)Indian Constitution provides essential features of a federation, but it differs from the typical federal systems of the world in certain fundamental aspects. Discuss the differences. • Approach Required: Simply enumerate all the differences which the Indian constitution has from other federal versions. • Mistakes to be avoided: Try to provide the differentiation under different sub-heads and also explain why we chose to alter from the well accepted features of a typical federal setup. Indian Constitution provides essential features of a federation, but it differs from the typical federal systems of the world in certain fundamental aspects. They are as follows: • The Mode of formation – American federation is the result of a voluntary agreement between a number of sovereign and independent states for the administration of certain affairs of generalconcern. – Whereas the “Indian federation is not a matter of administrative convenience, but one of the principle. – India had a thoroughly centralized unitary constitution until the Government of India Act, 1935. The provincial governments were virtually the agents of the central government, deriving powers by delegation from the latter. – It was the Government of India Act, 1935, that for the first time introduced the federal concept and used the expression ‘Federation of India’. – By the Act of 1935, the British Parliament created autonomous units and combined them into a federation by one and the same Act and powers were distributed between the federal government and the provinces by a direct grant. – Under this system, the provinces derived their powers directly from the crown and exercised legislative and executive powers, broadly free from central control within a defined sphere. • Position of federal units under Indian federalism – In the United States of America, the states were sovereign and independent prior to the formation of the federation.GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE – They were reluctant to give up their sovereignty any further than what was necessary for forming a national government for the purpose of conducting their common purposes. – As a result, the U.S. Federation contains a number of safeguards for the promotion of state rights, for which there was no need in India, as the states were not sovereign entities before. • Case of Residuary powers – While Residuary powers are reserved to the states by American Constitution, but they are assigned to the Union by our Constitution (Art. 248). • No right for units to secede – In case of Indian federation, it is not possible for the States of the Union of India to exercise any right of secession.
Hints: Political Science [9] – This was made very clear by sixteenth amendment of the constitution in 1963 that “even advocacy of secession will not have the protection of the freedom of expression. • Consent of a State not required for altering its boundaries – Indian Constitution has empowered Parliament to recognize or change the boundaries of any state by a simple majority in the ordinary process of legislation. – Thus, in the Indian federation, the States are ‘not indestructible’. The concerned State Legislature can express its views on altering its boundaries. The President can seek a state to recommend a bill for this purpose to Parliament.
3. (a) What was the Congress/Nehruvian Consensus regarding the social-economic development of free India? Explain.
• Approach Required: • Mistakes to be avoided: The expression ‘Nehruvian consensus’ reflects the dominance of Nehruvian ideals and vision over the alternative discourses regarding the preferred principles of political, social and economic restructuring of postcolonial India. This postcolonial project was based on his ideas of democratic socialism, secularism, agrarian redistribution, planned economy, rapid industrialization and non- alignment. Key Features of Nehruvian Consensus for Socio-Economic development: • Nehru closely intertwined the concept of political independence with the concept of economic independence. Thus, there emerged a consensus on the need for creating a self-reliant economy through centralized planning and government intervention along Keynesian lines. • Nehru emphasized the creation of a socialistic pattern of society, which was nothing but a mixture of Fabian-style central planning and free enterprise. the direct foreign investment regime remained quite open until at least the mid-1960s because Nehru appreciated the need for foreign capital and technology .He never conceded to the demands for the ouster of multinationals by the Left parties .Thus, the Nehruvian consensus advocated a ‘mixed’ economy model for India. It incorporated the elements of capitalism to solve the problem of production and the essentials of socialism to solve the problem of redistribution. • After independence also there was a concern about the oppressive and outmoded agrarian structure. This concern translatedGSGSGS into SCORESCORESCOREa consensus in the favour of transformation of backward agrarian structure because it was felt that land reforms were needed to diminish inequality and poverty. Consensus was to bring about ‘land reforms from above’ through land legislation, drafted by the central government, enacted by the state. It had features like, Zamindari abolition, ceilings on agricultural holdings and redistribution of land, abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms and updating of land records. • Nehruvian vision of democracy was to combine political, civil and cultural freedom with social and economic freedom. Thus, Nehru presented democracy as ‘Democratic Socialism’ with a distinctive content of Socialism and a strong element of Gandhian principles and methods. in the constitution of Independent India, adopted on 26 Nov. 1949, the political, civil, and cultural rights were mentioned in part III under the title of ‘Fundamental Rights’ and social and economic rights were placed in part IV entitled ‘Directive Principles of State Policy’. Though the former are justiciable and the latter are general guidelines for governments with no legal sanction, yet the latter are no less important.
[10] Hints: Political Science • The Nehruvian consensus on secularism was a conceptual combination of Gandhian religious secularism and Nehruvian rational secularism. However, it was not just a merger of Religious Reformation and Modern Enlightenment but also included new emergent ideas. Nehru considered the establishment of the scientific institutions [like IITs and CSIR etc.] as an antidote to superstition, religion, rumour and myth. It was in this sense that Nehru referred to steel mills and dams as ‘the temples of modern India.’ • The Nehruvian framework of development was based on the belief that simultaneous realization of democratization and economic development [industrialization, urbanization etc.] by an activist state is not only possible but the twin processes will also lead to the establishment of a modern, secular society.
3. (b) Caste and Class in India have their distinct identities in terms of structure and economic status. Is this a universal truth in India or does it have certain exceptions? Give your views. • Approach Required: Elaborate on the differences between class and caste and then also explain the areas of convergence and divergence of the two in Indian society. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide detailed arguments, surficial or generic analysis of Indian social strata will not be sufficient. • Caste and class point towards inequality and hierarchy. In both the cases, however, the principle of organisation differs. The core features of caste are: endogamy or marriage within caste, occupational differentiation and hereditary specialisation of occupations, notion of pollution and a ritual hierarchy in which Brahmins are generally at the top. • Classes, on the other hand, broadly refer to economic basis of ownership or non-ownership relation to the means of production. • But how does caste and class correlate to each other? Classes are sub-divided in terms of types of ownership and control of economic resources and the type of services contributed to the process of production. The Brahmanical ritual hierarchy of the caste is also not universally applicable and upheld by all. In many cases, ritual hierarchy is only contextual. The prosperous Jats in North India enjoy social and political dominance without equivalent ritual status. In most popular renditions of caste, hierarchy alone is emphasised and that too from Brahmanical point of view. • Sometimes, however, caste works as a discrete community, without hierarchical relationship to other segments of society. Our conceptual categories do not always recapture the existing social reality. For instance,GSGSGS a conceptual SCORESCORESCORE distinction is often made between sharecroppers and agricultural labourers. In actual life, however, there is a high degree of overlap and they do not constitute discrete entities. Similar overlap is found in the rentier-landlord and cultivator-owner categories. The picture becomes hazier when we turn to caste-class configuration. • Caste and class resemble each other in certain respects and differ in others. Castes constitute the status groups or communities that can be defined in terms of ownership of property, occupation and style of life. Social honour is closely linked to ritual values in this closed system. Class positions also tend to be associated with social honour; however, they are defined more in terms of ownership or non-ownership of means of production. The classes are much more open and fluid and have scope of individual upward social mobility. In caste system, only an entire segment can move upward, and hence, the mobility is much slower. • Although there is considerable divergence between the hierarchy of caste and that of class, the top and bottom segments of the class system are largely subsumed under the caste
Hints: Political Science [11] structure. The upper castes own means of production (land in rural areas) and act as rentiers. The landless agrarian proletarian coincides with the lower castes or Dalits who provide labour services for the rentier upper caste people as well as rich prosperous farmers of intermediate level. • At the intermediate level, articulation of class-identities is more complex. The process of differentiation of communities dislocates class-relations from the caste-structure. If caste and class show a fair degree of overlap at the top and bottom level and in some cases appear almost co-terminus, the picture is quite ambiguous at the intermediate level of caste hierarchy. Similarly, the processes of modernisation especially urbanisation, acquisition of education and new skills act as the forces of dislocation that puncture the forces of social inertia and modify caste- rigidity.
3. (c) In spite of the weak constitutional position in Indian federalism, occasionally, the states have asserted themselves. Elaborate by giving examples. • Approach Required: Simply give as many examples of the phenomenon where states have stood their ground against the domination of Union. Try to include as diverse scenarios and examples as possible. • Mistakes to be avoided: The question purely relies on factual examples from Indian politics. Any other format of content will simply not be sufficient. In spite of the fact that the position of states legislatively, administratively and financially is very weak, it got weakened further in the past because of one party rule both at the centre and in the states to the extent that the Prime Minister started selecting the Chief Ministers of the states. But in spite of this weak constitutional position, occasionally, the states have asserted themselves. Central Government was forced to recall the Governor • In 1968 in West Bengal the United Front government forced the Centre to call back DharamVira, the then Governor of West Bengal, and to appoint another with its concurrence. • It was because in 1967, DharmaVira had dismissed the government of United Front headed by Ajay Mukerjee and had installed P.C. Ghosh in his place which was supported by the Congress Party from outside. Central directives not implemented • Again the United Front government of Kerala and West Bengal did not implement the Essential Services OrdinanceGSGSGS issued SCOREbySCORESCORE the Government of India in 1968. • This ordinance was issued by the union government to prevent the central government employees to go on strike. Yet, the Union government failed to take action against these states. Union Law not implemented • Moreover, the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal and Rajasthan where Janata Party was in power and AIADMK Government in Tamil Nadu, the Communist governments in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, the governments in Maharashtra and Nagaland refused to implement the Preventive Detention Ordinance promulgated by Charan Singh Government in 1979 to check hoarding and profiteering. • In 1980 the NatkJhalSecurity Ordinance banning strikes was not implemented by the government of the West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala where CPI (M) and its allies were in power. The central government was helpless.
[12] Hints: Political Science • It did not take any action against the State governments as it was not in the interest of the ruling party at the centre to dismiss these state governments at that time due to the possibility of adverse public reaction. Amendment regarding official language • Again, in spite of the dominant position of the centre, it failed to impose its decision on states in certain matters. • For instance, in the case of official language, Southern states in general and Tamil Nadu in particular has openly and successfully opposed the use of Hindi as the official language of the country and has in fact, compelled Parliament to pass the Official Language Act which provides that English would remain the official language of the country so long as non-Hindi speaking states desire. Show of strength by regional parties/groups • It can, therefore, be said that in spite of the dominant position of the centre, on many occasions the central government has been unable to assert because of its weak political position. For instance, in 1971, the Congress (I) party at the centre led by Mrs. Indira Gandhi had to strike a bargain with DMK in Tamil Nadu. • According to this bargain, the Congress Party agreed not to put up any candidate for the Assembly seat in lieu of some seats in the Lok Sabha. However, in the changed political situation after 1971 Lok Sabha elections Mrs. Indira Gandhi dismissed the same DMK government in 1976. • There were also instances when some of the regional groups created a situation which compelled the central government to accept their demands.
4. (a) Discuss evolution of women movement in India, how far is it correct to say it is not an independent, autonomous movement? • Approach Required: Provide a detailed description of the movement alongwith the necessary names of individual, events and organizations. • Mistakes to be avoided: The content is much longer than the word limit. You need to go through all of it and condense it to fit into the required word limit. Do not ignore either the factual aspect or analysis of the nature of the movement. • Except JyotibaPhule most of the social reformers were concerned with social reforms among the high castes. The problems like widow remarriage and sati were not prevalent among the lower strata of society.GS GSGSAnd low castes SCORESCORESCORE in general irrespective of gender were deprived of education. To the early reformers this division did not present itself very sharply as people like Raja Ramon Ray articulated women’s cause as integral part of his overall vision for what we now referred to as a modern India. • Those who began to mobilize opinion regarding the economy and issues related to the operation of the colonial system in the second half of the nineteenth century and early part of the twentieth century were also concerned with the reforms in society and equality of men and a more just society for the women in a possible modern India. • For them the issues of economy and politics were not dissociated. M.G. Ranade, VeereshlingamPontulu, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, PhirojshahMehta, DadabhaiNaoroji ,BadruddinTyabji, JyotibaPhule and many more actively campaigned for women’s education and more public space. The symbol of this unity of perception was the fact that the annual conference of the Indian social conference used to meet at the Annual Congress session pandal itself.
Hints: Political Science [13] • The question whether the social issue or the political issue is more important emerged by this time. The Congress realized that the differences of perceptions on social issues among different communities were given priority over the political issues, it would breach the unity of people while was essential in the national movement. • But the separation of the social question from the political turned out to be some way detrimental to the women’s questions. The debate on the issue of Age of consent Bill which created uproar in the 1890s saw that the progressive voices were opposed quite powerfully by sections which were not in favor of a legislation which was primarily legislation in rising the marriageable age for women. The attempt to separate the two also impeded any serious theoretical debate on the ways and means to incorporate the women’s issue in the movement for social equality. • In the 1920s the Gandhian movements brought back a sense of unity on the women’s question. Along with the question of untouchability, and Hindu Muslim question, women’s condition also became a primary issue to be solved immediately. This has serious implications for the women’s movement in general and the mobilization of women’s issues for the larger political context. The national movement now created the largest possible space for the women to come out and participate on an issue which was ostensibly political, i.e., political freedom. But at the same time the masses, including large number of women, were galvanized to raise their own groups’ issues in the process of the movement. In 1927 All India Women’s Association was formed as the national body giving voice to some of the issues. This was the time when we have voices from women as well as from other sections for giving women the voting rights as well as representation in any possible government formation. Interestingly, this was also the time that suffrage movement in Europe gained its momentum. Many of the women who were in forefront of the Gandhian movement later became involved in institutions all over the country. These institutions would play a major role in taking up serious social issues, and mobilizing and leading movements in later years. In fact, the methods that Gandhi used in his struggle against the colonial state as well as in his movement against the untouchability and on the question of communal conflict became hallmark of some of the movements by women quite often inspired by these women and institutions. In the seventies when women fought in Uttaranchal against the liquor vendors or against the falling of trees, their movement was characterized by the Gandhian ways of protest nonviolent and arousing the moral conscience in the opponent. • The success of Russian Revolution in 1970s encouraged a large number of women to join the communist movement in India, who were involved in the national movement and women’s movements at the same time. In fact, the communist movement helped the later day progressive movement toGSGSGS take up issues SCORESCORESCORE related to women as well as women’s position as the central political and social question. These communist women continued their legacy of women’s movement in the post-independence period. • Post Independence, The resumption of the women’s movement saw the involvement of women in various campaigns and agitations. The state was confronted with many questions that the women’s movements were raising regarding land rights; the gender- blinded nature of development; laws pertaining to dowry, rape, divorce, etc. • According toRadha Kumar, the most interesting ones among these new movements and ideas for the feminists were the Shahada and anti-price rise agitations in Maharashtra, and SEWA and NavNirman in Gujarat . Shahada agitation, a tribal Bill landless laborers’ movement in Maharashtra, was against the extortionate practices of local landlords who treated the tribal as sub-human. Women played the most militant role in the movement and with the development of a ‘women’s consciousness’ , gender-based issues like the problem of wife beating began to be raised by them. The [14] Hints: Political Science raising of this issue led to the development of a woman’s anti-alcohol agitation in 1972 and continuing into 1973 because of the problem of many men coming home drunk and beating their wives. Although Uttrakhand had also witnessed such anti-alcohol agitation several years earlier but according to Radha Kumar anti patriarchal sentiments were expressed in the Shahada movement and remained dormant in Uttrakhand . Likewise SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association), initially a wing of the TLA (Textile Labor Association) and later parted its way from the association, was an organization of women who worked in different trades in the informal sector, but shared some common experiences of extremely low earnings, poor working conditions and so on. Although it was an effort towards improving the conditions of work for women, but some sections of the feminist movement which arose in the late seventies did not claim SEWA but the Shahada agitation, anti-price rise agitation in Bombay and the NavNirman movement in Gujarat as precursors. The anti-price rise agitation launched by a coalition of the communist parties and the two socialist parties in 1973, mobilized women of the city against agitation. The movement grew rapidly becoming a mass movement for consumer protection. • Along the same lines developed a student movement against soaring prices in Gujarat was soon joined by thousands of middle class women becoming known as the NavNirman movement of 1974. Despite being women-centric, Radha Kumar raises a question regarding the anti-patriarchal nature of the anti-price rise and NavNirman movements (whether these should be considered anti-patriarchal or not). She opines that neither of the agitations seems to have asked, for example, why an increase in domestic expenditure should be the concern primarily of women rather than men, and thus, through such agitations women seem to have accepted that family was women’s sphere and their role as consumers has been reinforced rather than challenged. But collective public action was involved on the part of thousands of women in these movements and such collective action by women is generally regarded as posing an implicit threat to patriarchy. Moreover these protests allowed anti-patriarchal sentiments to germinate indirectly because several of the actions of the women in these protests emerged as feminist movements in the late seventies . A powerful critique of patriarchy was witnessed in Jayaprakash Narayan’s call for a ‘Total Revolution ’ during the early 70s in which questions were raised about power structures, which included many about women (Questions about family, unequal access to resources). • In the Chipko movement, which began in 1973 and was joined by women in 1974, the issue of environmental degradation was linked to women’s increasing toil for fuel and fodder and from this wasGS generated SCORE the idea of women having a nurturing attitude towards nature becauseGSGSGS of their SCOREownSCORESCORE nature-related activities. Kumud Sharma is of the view that the women’s participation in the Chipko movement has not helped them in their own struggle against oppression although claims have been made that it is a feminist movement . But this movement, which challenged commercial forestry and forest based industrialization on environmental grounds, did take a women’s perspective into account. In the course of the work of the Chhattisgarh Mines ShramikSangh, a militant trade union formed in 1977 in the Adivasi belt of Madhya Pradesh, a concern for women’s rights was also witnessed. This trade union basically fighting for the rights of marginalized manual miners also upheld women’s equal rights to wage labor. • During the mid-70s, many educated women took to radical, active politics and simultaneously promoted an analysis of women’s oppression. The ferment of the 70s and 80s did not leave the political parties untouched who responded by coming up with their own women’s fronts. The Congress party formalized its own women’s front (Mahila
Hints: Political Science [15] Congress). During the later 70s, the Socialists, through the various permutations and combinations that led to the formation of the Janata party, launched the MahilaDakshataSamiti. The MDS led and participated in many agitations against dowry, rape, price rise, and provided legal support to many women in distress. Also special attention was being paid to women in most general movements of the eighties that was more noticeable in peasant than in workers’ movements. In peasant movements in Maharashtra (led by an independent, Sharad Joshi) and in Bihar (various Marxist Leninist fragments came together to form Indian Peoples Front to lead the strongest peasant movement in Bihar) in the eighties, special attention was paid to organizing women. Although such movements (peasant movement, tribal movement, student movement, etc.) in which women participate do not raise issues affecting women per se but they do raise societal or class issues but Gail Omvedt calls such movements pre-movements as far as women are concerned. He is of the view that such movements reveal the power of women in society often leading to the development of women’s movements as such and allowing them to bring forth their own needs . • A number of magazines and journals devoted to promoting women’s equality also came into being many were in regional languages. These included Feminist Network(English: Bombay); Ahalya, SabalaSachetana, and PratibadiChetna (Bengali: Calcutta); Baiza (Marathi: Pune); Women’s Voice (English: Bangalore) and StreeSangharsh (Hindi: Patna). In 1977 a group of women in Delhi started a journal, Manushi, about women and society which Ilina Sen considers has become a living documentary of various aspects of the women’s movement in India . • With the declaration of the decade 1975-85 as the international decade for women, barriers against feminism were increasingly eroded within the political sphere. The National Perspective Plan was formulated for women under state patronage and systematic plans were made for promoting women’s education, health status, and political participation. The National Perspective Plan was attacked by most groups outside the ruling party in1988 on the ground that it offered superficial remedies only, without touching the fundamental causes of women’s oppression. A group of organizations that included the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), All India Coordination Committee of Working Women (AICCWW), National Federation of Working Women (NFWW), Joint Women’s Programme (JWP), and the YWCA of India issued a document in 1988 criticizing the NPP. • There were new attemptsGS to organize SCORE women workers’ unions in the south. In the unorganized sector, theseGSGSGS grew out ofSCORESCORESCORE campaigns for an improvement in the conditions of living rather than in the conditions of work. Such attempts were also made in Bihar by A.K. Roy (the far left trade union leader) and in Bombay by feminists against the retrenchment of women mineworkers and women textile workers respectively. Such attempts failed because the threat of joblessness made women unite with men around the minimum demand of one wage per family, even if that was a male wage, although feminists could recognize the patriarchies implicit in such a work. Attempts to unionize women within the skilled working class (in Bombay) too failed. Because of these experiences, feminists came to the conclusion that poor women were more militant when it came to issues concerning their conditions of living as families than around issues concerning either work, or the specific problems they faced as women. The Chhattisgarh Mine Workers ShramikSangh provided an example of how successfully women were organized when equal attention was paid by the union to things such as creating better housing, schools for children, and health care for the family.
[16] Hints: Political Science • With the declaration of the decade 1975-85 as the international decade for women, the Indian state responded by commissioning a report on the status of women to a group of feminist researchers and activists, which acknowledged that Indian women suffered from a range of structural inequalities and injustices. A large amount of money was channeled into women’s activities through various groups and voluntary agencies resulting in a competition between different women’s agencies and groups for these funds often causing schisms and conflicts between them. Because of ideological differences and differences of opinion on various issues between different feminists themselves which they have acknowledged and between women’s groups and organizations, the need was felt to look for common ground where a common programme for women can be launched. Such attempts at looking for a common ground were made over time that met with some success but the differences always remained there. Despite these ideological differences, the issues that had arisen in the women’s movement since 1975 were taken up by women’s groups representing all ideologies and tendencies. But because of schisms, splits and feuds, there was a feeling that the quest for unity was not only futile but also counterproductive, for it allowed all sorts of evils to be glossed over: especially the way in which the movement was used to further either individual or organizational ambitions. • All these bodies devoted considerable energies to establish separate identities from each other. All this was happening because of the privileging of the organizational needs over those of the movement. There was also the problem of aid being poured into social movements meant for developmental activities resulting in competition and schisms and, thus, there was least attempt on their part to achieve or even discuss commonality of interests. As a result of this, autonomous feminist groups lost much of the space which had earlier occupied on the premise that they were different from party-political women’s organizations. Their shift away from agitation activities in the early eighties not only left an empty space for party-political women’s organizations to move into, but also affected their presence through the media. • The experience of the feminists from the campaigns and agitations of the seventies and eighties made them to reconsider their tactics and methods used earlier by them . The feminists through such agitations (rape, dowry deaths, sati etc.) were able to win some concessions in the form of laws for women which in some ways proved to be beneficial but in other ways brought serious disappointments for feminists. The discovery that the laws passed have been in the main ineffective and that there was no connection at all between the enactment of new laws and their implementation had left many feeling rather bitterly that the government had, with the greatest of ease, sidetracked their demands. This raised questions about the efficacy of basing campaigns around demands for changes in the law. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • The feminists’ tactics and methods of agitation also witnessed a change whereby according to them earlier methods such as public campaigns, demonstrations, street theatre, etc. had limited meaning unless they were accompanied by attempts to develop their own structures to aid and support individual women. • There was critique of mainstream religious and cultural texts or practices and search for alternative practices or texts and to discover particular historical or particular methods of women’s resistance in India. Such interest in tradition had been present in the Indian feminist movement from its inception like the street plays Om Swaha (against dowry deaths in 1979) and MulgiZaliHohad both used traditional songs. • While pre-independence feminists largely accepted sexual division of labor, however a change was witnessed in the nineteen-seventies when feminists began to point out the many injustices this sexual division of labor resulted in for women. Feminists were also aware of innumerable inequalities in India in the nineteen-seventies not only
Hints: Political Science [17] between men and women but also between women themselves, feeding into each other based on caste, class, language, religion, region, tribe etc. Because of this complexity of several inequalities working simultaneously in the Indian situation, feminists faced serious problems in coming out with holistic overreaching campaigns for change. Feminist movement in India is also characterized by a tension between the desire for equality which opposes sex based differentiation and the sex or gender-based celebrations of feminine. • Radha Kumar gives the examples of various movements which showed anti- patriarchal elements like communist-led food campaigns of the nineteen-forties, Chipko, the anti-alcohol and anti-price-rise movements of the nineteen seventies (these were women’s movements and focused on issues which are regarded mainly as women’s concerns) and nationalist, Tebhaga and Telangana movements (these movements were dominated by men but women also were active in large numbers) . The women’s concerns in the former were ancillary to the role of a housewife like fuel for heating and cooking, food; while these issues did not always come up in the latter but problems of male domination were brought up during the course of both types of movements. While these movements challenged areas of male control or oppression, they did not display the tension between sameness and difference which is seen as the characteristic of Indian feminism. These movements did not demand equality with men nor did they oppose to the sex-based definitions of roles of men and women. They have been described anti- patriarchal in the sense that although these movements appear to affirm the principle of complementarity between the sexes but these opposed practices of privileging men over women. • The success of the women’s movement has not been in terms of the laws passed or the number of women appointed to office but in the fact that it has brought a new consciousness on the entire question of women in the Indian society. The women movement in India was not at all an independent movement rather it was a subordinate movement in its nature. Most of the issues raised by the movement have not been raised independently and the movement has always been part and parcel of the various social reform movements starting from the pre independence era. Various holistic reform movement included issues pertaining to women , a characterstic unlike west where there were separate movements for women’s emancipation and welfare . After Independence, the women movement was clubbed with various other movements like peasants, tribal, workers or environmental movements for e.g., in the case of peasant movements there is a specific demand to stop the sexual exploitation of the women of the depressed communities at the hands of the rural elites along with a generic demand of equal wages for equal work across all sections of the society and economy. Rather than having its independent organizational existence, the movementGSGSGS was SCORESCORESCORE always characterized by various political parties forming their women wings and advocating women issues which in convergence with their specific party ideologies for AIWC, BMP etc. Post 70’s the initial independent existence of the movement is mainly because of the support of the NGO’s who were working in the economic and environmental dimensions. The specificity of the Western women movements continues to remain absent throughout the history of Indian movement in India thereby we cannot say that until now it had an independent and autonomous existence.
4. (b) Nature and Evaluation of Land Reforms in India after Independence. • Approach Required: Provide a detailed analysis of the agenda and actual performance of Land Reforms with the help of examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: Analysis of land reforms should majorly focus on the nature and reasons for its limited success and what can be done to push the idea to achieve its full potential,
[18] Hints: Political Science The Government of India is aware that agricultural development in India could be achieved only with the reform of India’s rural institutional structure. It was said that the extent of the utilisation of agricultural resources would be determined by the institutional framework under which the various inputs were put to use. M. Dandekar observed: “Among the actions intended to release the force which may initiate or accelerate the process of economic growth, agrarian reform usually receives high priority”. The First Five-Year Plan stated: “This (land reform) is a fundamental issue of national importance. The former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, emphasised: “Land Reforms is the most crucial test which our political system must pass in order to survive.” Land reforms therefore became one of the vital aspects of the agricultural development policy especially after the concept of the Five-Year Plan came to stay. The important objectives of land reform measures in India were: (1) to enhance the productivity of land by improving the economic conditions of farmers and tenants so that they may have the interest to invest in and improve agriculture, (2) to ensure distributive justice and to create an egalitarian society by eliminating all forms of exploitation, (3) to create a system of peasant proprietorship with the motto of land to the tiller and (4) to transfer the incomes of the few to many so that the demand for consumer goods would be created. The Second Five-Year Plan emphasised the objectives of the land reforms thus: • To remove the impediments in the way of agricultural production as may arise from the character of agrarian structure and to evolve an agrarian economy conducive of high levels of efficiency and productivity; • To establish an egalitarian society and to eliminate social inequality; Again in the Third Plan, the Planning Commission summed up the objectives of land reforms thus “The first is to remove such impediments to increase in agricultural production as may arise from the agrarian structure inherited from the past. This should help to create conditions for evolving as speedily as possible an agricultural economy with a high level of efficiency. The second objective, which is closely related to the first, is to eliminate all elements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system to provide security for the tiller of the soil and assure equality of status and opportunity to all the sections of the rural population”. Thus the land reforms in India aimed at the redistribution of ownership holdings and reorganising operational holdings from the view point of optimum utilisation of land. It has also aimed at providing security of tenure, fixation of rents and conferment of ownership. After Independence, attempts had been made to alter the pattern of distribution of land holdings on the basis of four types of GSexperiments, SCOREnamely; • Land reforms “from above”GSGSGS through SCORESCORESCORElegislation on the lines broadly indicated by the Central Government, enacted by the State legislators, and finally implemented by the agencies of the State Government. • Land reforms “from above” as in the case of Telangna and the naxalite movement also to some extent in the case of the “Land Grab” movement. • Land reforms through legislative enactments “from above” combined with peasant mobilisation “from below” as in the case of controlled land seizure in West Bengal and protection of poor peasants in Kerala. • Land reforms “from below” through permission of landlords and peaceful processions by peasants as in the case of Bhoodan and Gramdan. The land reform legislation was passed by all the State Governments during the Fifties touching upon these measures; Hints: Political Science [19] • Abolition of intermediaries. • Tenancy reforms to regulate fair rent and provide security to tenure. • Ceilings on holdings and distribution of surplus land among the landlords. • Consolidation of holdings and prevention of their further fragmentation and • Development of cooperative farming. The Zamindars acted as the intermediaries. Until Independence, a large part of agricultural land was held by the intermediaries under the zamindari, mahalwari and ryotwari systems. Consequently, the tenants were burdened with high rents, unproductive cultivation and other forms of exploitation. By 1972, laws had been passed in all the States to abolish intermediaries. All of them had two principles in common: 1) abolition of intermediaries between the state and the cultivator and 2) the payment of compensation to the owners. But there was no clear mention about just and equitable compensation. Therefore, the Zamindari Abolition Act was challenged in the High Courts and the Supreme Court. But the Government accomplished the task of abolishing intermediary tenures bringing nearly 20 million cultivators into direct contact with the state. Nearly 57.7 lakh hectares were distributed to landless agriculturists after the successful completion of the Zamindari Abolition Act. The abolition also had a favourable economic impact on the country. By conferring the ownership of land to the tiller, the Government provided an incentive to improve cultivation. This paved the way for increase in efficiency and yield. This was an important step towards the establishment of socialism and the Government revenue increased. It also ushered in cooperative farming. The efficacy of the legislation was, however, considerably reduced for the following reasons; • The act did not benefit sub-tenants and share croppers, as they did not have occupancy rights on the land they cultivated. • Intermediaries were abolished, but the rent receiving class continued to exist. • Many landlords managed to retain considerable land areas under the various provisions of the laws. Benami holdings became the order of the day in many States. • The problems of transferring ownership rights from the actual cultivators of the land, the tenants, the sub-tenants, share croppers, therefore, remained far from resolved. Result, land reforms remain incomplete and unfinished. The tenancy reform measures were of three kinds and they were 1) regulation of rent 2) security of tenure and 3) conferring ownershipGSGSGS to tenants. SCORESCORESCORE After independence, the payment of rent by the tenants of all classes and the rate of rent were regulated by legislation. The first Five-Year Plan laid down that rent should not exceed one-fifth to one-fourth of the total produce. The law along these lines has been enacted in all the States. The maximum rate of rent should not exceed that suggested by the Planning Commission in all parts of the States. Maximum rents differed from one State to another - Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat fixed one-sixth of the produce as maximum rent. In Kerala, it ranges between one-fourth and one- third and in the Punjab one-third. In Tamil Nadu, the rent varies from one-third to 40 per cent of the produce. In Andhra Pradesh it is one-fourth for irrigated land. The rent could be paid in cash instead of kind. With a view to ensuring security of tenure, various State Governments have passed laws which have three essential aims 1) Ejectment does not take place except with the provisions of law, 2) the land may be taken over by the owners for personal cultivation only, and 3) in the event of resumption the tenant is assured of the prescribed minimum areas.
[20] Hints: Political Science – The measures adopted in different States fall in four categories; First, all the tenants cultivating a portion of land have been given full security of tenure without the land owners having any right to resume land for personal cultivation. This is in operation in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Secondly, land owners are permitted to resume a limited area for personal cultivation, but they should provide a minimum area to the tenants. This is in vogue in Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan. Thirdly, the landowner can resume only a limited extent of land and the tenant is not be entitled to any part of it. This is operating in West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir. In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, measures in the form of an order for staying ejectments have been adopted to give temporary protection to the tenants. – Fourthly, legislative measures have also indicated the circumstances under which only ejectments are permitted. These grounds are (a) non-payment of rent (b) performance of an act which is destructive or permanently injurious to land (c) subletting the land (d) using the land for purpose other than agriculture and (d) reclamation of land for personal cultivation by the landlords. – The ultimate aim of land reforms in India is to confer the rights of ownership to tenants to the larger possible extent. Towards this end, the Government has taken three measures: (1) declaring tenants as owners and requiring them to pay compensation to owners in suitable instalments (2) acquisition of the right of ownership by the State on payment of compensation and transfer of ownership to tenants and (3) the states’ acquisition of the landlords’ rights bring the tenants into direct relationship with the States. – As a result of all these measures, 92 per cent of the holdings are wholly owned and self- operated in the country today. In spite of the progress made in this regard, the tenancy reforms are still plagued by deficiencies some of which are: 1) the tenancy reforms have excluded the share croppers who form the bulk of the tenant cultivators, 2) ejection of tenants still takes place on several ground 3) the right or resumption given in the legislation has led to land grabbing by the unscrupulous 4) fair rents are not uniform and not implemented in various States because of the acute land hunger existing in the country 5) ownership rights could not be conferred on a large body of tenants because of the high rates of compensation to be paid by the tenants. The proof of continuous possession for 12 consecutive years to get occupancy rights also led to tardy implementation of tenancy reforms. – One of the controversial measures of land reforms in India is the ceiling on land holding. By 1961-62, ceiling legislation had been passed in all the States. The levels vary from State to State, and are different for food and cash crops. In Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, for example, the ceiling on existing holding is 40 acres and 25 acres and on future acquisitions 121/1 acres and 25 acresGSGSGS respectively. SCORESCORESCORE In Punjab, it ranges from 27 acres to 100 acres, in Rajasthan 22 acres to 236 acres and in Madhya Pradesh 25 acres to 75 acres. The unit of application of ceiling also differs from State to State. In Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, it is on the basis of a ‘land holder’, whereas in the other States it is one the basis of a ‘family’. In order to bring about uniformity, a new policy was evolved in 1971. The main features were: • Lowering of ceiling to 28 acres of wet land and 54 acres of unirrigated land • A change over to family rather than the individual as the unit for determining land holdings lowered ceiling for a family of five. • Fewer exemptions from ceilings • Retrospective application of the law for declaring benami transactions null and void; and • No scope to move the court on ground of infringement of fundamental rights
Hints: Political Science [21] – According to the figures available till the beginning of the Seventh Plan, the area declared surplus is 72 lakh acres; the area taken over by the Government is 56 lakh acres; and the area actually distributed is only 44 lakh acres. Thus, 28 lakh acres of land declared surplus have not been distributed so far. Of this, 16 lakh reserved for specific public purposes. – The process involved in the distribution of surplus land was complicated and time consuming thanks to the intervention of the court. Many land owners surrendered but only inferior and uncultivable land. The allottees, in many cases, could not make proper use of the land as they did not have the money to improve the soil. – Several States have passed the Consolidation of Holdings Act. Statistics reveal that 518 lakhs of hectares had been consolidated in the country at the beginning of the Seventh Five Year Plan, which constitute about 33% of the cultivatable land. The food and the agricultural organisation (FAO), after studying the position in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh regarding the operation of the consolidation of holding act, remarked;” A significant reduction in the cost of cultivation, increased cropping intensity and a more remunerative cropping pattern were developed in these two States.” – The Planning Commission in the first three Five Year Plans, chalked out detailed plans for the development of cooperative farming. Only two per cent of the agriculturists have formed cooperative societies farming only 0.2 per cent of the total cultivable area. Cooperative farming has certain difficulties to surmount. The big and marginal farmers are sceptical and the small peasants are not easily convinced that the movement would help them. – Assessed from the point of view of two broad objectives namely, social justice and economic efficiency, land reforms, one might say, has been partially successful. Since the adoption of land reforms, the pattern of ownership in the country is changed but one wonders whether it will ensure social justice in the country. Indian agriculture is in a stage of transition, from a predominantly semi-feudal oriented agriculture characterised by large-scale leasing and subsistence farming to commercialised agriculture or marker oriented farming. Another noteworthy feature is the emergence of modern farmers who are substantial landholders and cultivate their land through hired labourers using new techniques. – One of the major negative features of agrarian transition in India is the continued concentration of land in the hands of the upper strata of the rural society. This has not undergone any change in the past five decades, despite the reforms. In fact, leasing in by the affluent farmerGSGSGS is common SCORESCORESCORE place. – An outstanding development of Indian Agriculture was the rapid growth of landless agricultural labourers. They constitute about 10 per cent of the agricultural population and make up about 25 per cent of the labour force. – It may be inferred that the steps taken by the Government have not made any significant impact on the agrarian structure to reduce, let alone eliminate the inequality in the distribution of land or income or to afford to lend the poor the access to the land. It is also true that the land reforms did not seriously jeopardise the interest of the landholders. The structural impediments to production and equitable distribution of rural resources are very much in existence. Social, political and economic power still rests with the elite group who were elite prior to 1947 also. – On the question of increasing productivity, it is difficult to assess the exact contribution of land reforms because productivity has been more related to the technical revolution
[22] Hints: Political Science ushered in the Indian agricultural sector. AsDhingra says, “It is difficult to say either (a) that land reforms did not contribute at all to an increase agricultural production or b) that institutional arrangements alone should be credited with an increase in agricultural production. It is for the future research workers to determine what has been the relative share of institutional and technological factors in agricultural development. – There are many factors responsible for the tardy progress but important among them are the lack of adequate direction and determination, lack of political will, absence of pressure from below, inadequate policy instrument, legal hurdles, absence of correct-up- dated land records and the lack of financial support. – In order to achieve success, the Asian Development Bank has recommended a strategy on these lines; political commitment at the top, administrative preparedness including the improvement of the technical design of enactments, the provision of financial resources and the streamlining of the organisational machinery of implementation, creation of necessary supporting service for the beneficiaries and finally the organisation of beneficiaries themselves. – In this background, the following suggestions may be considered for improvement; breaking up the landlord-tenant nexus, effective implementation of ceiling legislation and distribution of surplus land and simplifying legal procedures and administrative machinery and lastly the potential beneficiaries should be made aware of the programmes. It is time we thought seriously of land reforms when especially a “humble farmer” is on top. If in the new century we still talk of reforms without effective implementation we will surely miss the bus.
4. (c) Various factors influence the formation of political parties and their attitude towards federal polity help us to understand their impact on federalizing process. Examine the given statement.
• Approach Required: Need to assess the overall impact of the rise of regional parties on the health of the federal setup of India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to include a lot of examples of actual events. There is ample scope for critical examination of the issue but no need to be unnecessary critical of the regional parties. • Regional satraps, like Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, have been at the forefront in demanding such a reform. This line of thought has been prompted by the fact that state governments have begunGSGSGS to influence SCORESCORESCORE decisions even on issues pertaining to foreign policy. • There is no doubt that state governments, headed by dynamic leaders, have been carrying out economic diplomacy with foreign governments ever since India embarked upon economic reforms. • No one could ever have imagined a few years ago that an international treaty like the Teesta River Water Treaty, which was to be signed between New Delhi and Dhaka in September 2011, would not go ahead because Trinamool Congress (TMC) Supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal, the mercurial Mamata Banerjee, threatened to walk out of the Congress-led UPA coalition if the treaty went ahead. A year later, Banerjee did end up walking out of the coalition government, when the Central Government went ahead with the introduction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in retail. • Similarly, pressure from Tamil Nadu’s two main parties (the DMK – an ally of the ruling alliance till very recently– and AIADMK) compelled India to vote for a US-sponsored resolution
Hints: Political Science [23] against Sri Lanka at the United Nations in March 2012. The resolution condemned Sri Lanka for its violation of human rights during counterterrorism operations against the LTTE. • Recently again, India voted against Colombo, the DMK walked out of the coalition, accusing India of going soft on the latter and tabling a mild resolution in Parliament, while also voting for a watered down US sponsored one. • This is especially surprising since the Constitution grants the central government all powers pertaining to foreign policy. The Union List (powers granted to the centre) categorically states: “Entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries and implementing of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries.”7While some believe that this increasing strength of state government denotes a strengthening of India’s federal character, others argue it has weakened New Delhi, and has the capacity to harm India’s national interests. It has been argued in this context that, “this new spirit of federalism is quite misguided… these states have blocked the Union government from creating the National Counter Terrorism Centre (an issue that affects many states), have interfered in foreign affairs (as members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu and the West Bengal government have done) and have demanded greater fiscal room. These are issues that are beyond their competence.” • In addition to influencing policy decisions within coalition governments, allies even influence party decisions on issues such as the choice of Prime Ministerial candidate. Parties look to select an individual who is ‘acceptable’ to allies. There is no better example than how the BJP was being cautious in its projection of Narendra Modi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 elections, precisely due to the fact that certain allies such as the JD (U) are uncomfortable with Modi’s projection. • Second, as a consequence of regional parties taking a strong stand on issues of relevance for their respective states, state units within national parties are compelled to do the same, and on many occasions are not on the same page as their leadership in New Delhi. Some strong examples of this point include how all parties in Tamil Nadu banded together to obtain amnesty for the killers of Rajiv Gandhi, and how majority pressure in Andhra Pradesh secured the creation of statehood for Telangana. • While regional parties like DMK, AIADMK, TMC, SP (UP) and even BSP have a strong voice on most issues (with the first three even influencing issues pertaining to foreign policy), smaller regional parties, especially those from the North-East, carry less clout and are not able to influence issues pertaining to economic policy or foreign policy – unlike those from the Southern states and Bengal. In addition, states with larger numbers have a greater financial influence. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • national parties often force regional allies to toe the line on specific issues. Two clear examples that emerge are the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and FDI in retail. The Shiromani Akali Dal, a key ally of the NDA, was in favour of both the initiatives; it was forced to back out at the last minute, because of pressure from the BJP. • there is a need for greater dialogue between the Prime Minister, other Central Ministers, and Chief Ministers across parties – and to not only focus on the big states. This practice has always helped. For example, the big difference between the handling of the Teesta River Water Treaty, which was scuttled, and the Ganges Treaty, which was successfully signed between India and Bangladesh in 1996, is that in the case of the latter, West Bengal was involved already in the initial stages • Second, there is a dire need to give greater importance to organisations such as the Inter- State council, which was set up in 1990, for ensuring that differences between the centre
[24] Hints: Political Science and state can be amicably resolved. The last meeting of the council was held in 2006. It has very rightly been pointed out that, “The ISC’s poor status is further reflected in the fact that it does not even have a full-time secretary.” • In spite of repeated recommendations to strengthen the ISC and for it to meet more frequently, as a tool for dealing with differences between New Delhi and the states, the government has not paid attention. • Third, Federalism needs to be looked at from a broader perspective than politics. The current Congress-led UPA Government is perhaps to be faulted for not being able to differentiate between genuine federal demands, and unreasonable demands of cantankerous allies, but the BJP too has been no better on this account. It may have spoken of Federalism whilst out of power, but whilst in office its own record was not particularly remarkable. While, along with certain Chief Ministers, the party criticised the UPA Government for the NCTC, it did not consult Chief Ministers while in office. A prominent example being the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). This was one of the reasons for its break up with the DMK, which later joined the UPA. Some suggest that the opposition to NCTC was not out of any deep commitment to federalism, but a mere political calculation. • Conclusion It is imperative for sustained dialogue between the centre and states on economic and political issues that may lead to friction, and to not politicize these differences. Apart from this, it is equally important to not confuse the rise of a few powerful regional satraps, and their tussles with the centre, as the strengthening of federalism. True federalism would involve smaller states with lesser representation also having a voice in policy making, and national parties genuinely understanding the viewpoint of states without the sole purpose of keeping alliances intact. Yet, while national parties need to be more sensitive to regional aspirations, it is important that regional leaders act in a mature manner and do not promote controversial politics with the centre for petty gains.
SECTION - B
5. (a) Ethnic movements in North East India
• Approach Required: Discuss the nature of ethnic movements in North East, both on basis of factual evidence and views of scholars. While discussing the views, include views both from within and outside the region. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to analyse the issue from more of a political angle than a security issue. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • With their distinct histories, geographical location and diverse ethnic composition, almost all the states of North-East India have been beset with the problems of ethnicity. They all have witnessed insurgency, ethnic conflicts and riots and autonomy movements in varying degrees at different point of times in the post-Independence period. They have generally taken violent forms. Even as the elements of the insurgency are present in almost all the states, it tool, the most strident form in Nagaland and Mizoram. • There are forces in most of the states of North-East India which believe that they are not Indians; their territories have been merged with India forcibly without their consent. They would prefer to have their own sovereign nation-states. The insurgent groups in Nagaland for example did not accept the Indian Constitution, its VI schedule meant for the North-East, boycotted the first general election held in 1952 in the country, and declassed to have set up their own sovereign state in exile-the Federal Republic of Nagaland. In the past two decades new insurgent groups have emerged in almost all states of the region. Supported by the
Hints: Political Science [25] foreign countries, especially the bordering neighbours, these have set up an umbrella organisation under the readership of the NSCN (National Socialist Council of Nagaland). • They question the sovereignty of the Indian state and the concept of the nation-state. The areas of Assam which are inhabited by the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos had witnessed the movement for an autonomous state in the 1960s.It resulted in the formation of a separate state of Meghalaya in 1972. In Assam, there are agitations for the creation of the autonomous states like Bodoland and KarbiAnglong, etc. The target in the insurgency is the sovereignty of the state- police, army and other institutions. The autonomy movements do not question the sovereignty of the state, but their attack also is diverted against the state agencies. The insurgency and the autonomy movement resulted in the ethnic riots, especially between the tribal and non-tribal or between one and the other tribe. • All these development ultimately get linked to the state policies regarding the North-East region. There are mainly two perspectives which analyse the issue of ethnicity and nation building in the context of the North-East India. • The first is the modernisation “development”nation-state building” perspective. The second is the “federation-building” perspective. The former views the problems as the outcome of the following: the process of “nation building” in the face of the conflict between the modern and tradition; the process of modernisation and transition (democratisation); conflict between the modem and traditional leadership; and the inability of the system to fulfil the aspirations of the new generation. The scholars who have used this perspective are S K Chaubey, V B Singh, B G Varghese, Myron Wiener and Hiren Ghain, • the second perspective is basically a critique of the first one. This perspectives available largely in the writings of the scholars who hail from the North-Eastern. Region. The prominent representatives of this perspective are Sani Baruah,, Sajal Nag, Udyan Sharma, Hiren Guhain, Sanjay Hazarika and M P Bezbaruah.In fact, Urrnila Phadnis is of the opinion that the main leadership in the entire South Asia followed the notion of nationhood as per the considerations of the dominant groups and ignored the minority constituents of the society. • The scholars who adhere to this perspective argue that the problems in the North-East me the result of the “nation-state building” perspective of the mainstream national level leadership. They further argue that in their quest of the “nation-state building” the dominant groups of the country represented by the central government and the mainstream leadership ignored the “periphery”, the smaller nationalities of the North-East; have acted as a “step mother” to them; shown arrogantGSGSGS attitude; paidSCORESCORESCORE less attention to the human rights violation in the North-East than other parts of the country. • These factors have resulted in the insurgency problem in the North-East. This perspective is well articulated in the suggestion of SanjibBaruah that the mainstream leadership of the country should replace their “nation-state building” approach in favour of ‘’genuine federation-building in order to retrieve the situation.
5. (b) Is caste inequality and expression of colonial modernity or a resultant of Brahmanical tradition?
• Approach Required: Approach this question from a purely scholarly point of view and provide arguments for both sides of the debate. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to provide your own viewpoint on this. Limit your content to scholarly views.
[26] Hints: Political Science • These unique core principles of caste-hierarchy, according to Dumont, are observed in scriptural formulation as well as the every-day life of all Hindus. In other words, these values separate Indians culturally from the Western civilisation, making India a land of static, unchangeable, ‘oriental’ Brahmanical values. This notion of caste has been challenged by Nicholas Dirks and others. Dumont’s notion was criticised as it failed to explain the social change, dynamism and individualistic strivings even within the traditional Indian society. • It has been pointed out by others that caste hierarchy is not a fixed hierarchy; rather it is context-specific and fluid. Nicholas Dirks cites ethnographic and textual evidence to demonstrate that Brahmins and their texts were not so central to the social fabric of Indian life. According to this view, power-relations and command over men and resources were more important. The caste-based scriptural or Brahmanical model of traditional India was an invention of the British Orientalists and ethnographers, according to this view. However, caste played a very critical role in the Indian social-reformers’ and nationalists’ perception of caste. It was certainly not a mere product of British imagination. • Contrary to this view, Nicolas Dirks, in his Castes of Mind (2001), argues that caste is a product of colonial modernity. By this he does not mean that caste did not exist before the advent of British. He is simply suggesting that caste became a single, unique category under the British rule. It was the colonial state and its administrators who made caste into a uniform, all-encompassing and ideologically consistent organism. They made caste a measure of all things and the most important emblem of traditions. Colonialism reconstructed cultural forms and social-institutions like caste to create a line of difference and demarcation between themselves as European modern and the colonised Asian traditional subjects. • The colonial modernity devalued the so called Indian traditions. Simultaneously, it also transformed them. Caste was recast as the spiritual essence of India that regulated and mediated the private domain. Caste-ridden Indian society was different from the European civil society because caste was opposed to the basic premises of individualism as well as the collective identity of a nation. The salience of this pre-colonial identity and sense of loyalty could easily be used to justify the rule by the colonial modern administrators. So, according to Dirks, it was the colonial rule of India that organised the ‘social difference and deference’ solely in terms of caste. • But at the same time, the attempts to downplay or dismiss the significance of Brahmins and Brahmanical order are not in accordance with familiar historical records and persistence of caste-identities even in the contemporary Indian social life. starting from the Vedas and the Great Epics, from Manu and other dharmasastras, from puranas, from ritual practices, the penal system of PeshwaGSGSGS rulers who SCORESCORE SCOREpunished culprits according to caste-principles, to the denunciations of anti-Brahmanical‘ reformers’ of all ages, everything points towards the legacy of pre-colonial times. Caste was also a characteristic marker of identity and a prevailing social-metaphor. Caste was not merely a fabrication of British rulers designed to demean and subjugate Indians. It did serve the colonial interests by condemning the ‘Brahmanical tyranny’, colonial administration could easily justify their codes to ‘civilise’ and ‘improve’ the ‘fallen people’. Moreover, strengthening of the caste-hierarchy could also act as a bulwark against anarchy.
5. (c) What are the major issues and challenges of environmental movements in India? Discuss its nature, strategies and methods of protest. • Approach Required: Pointwise discuss the major areas of concern under this movement, major issues and limitations it faces and also comment on its overall methodology and nature of participation.
Hints: Political Science [27] • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not fixate on any one example of environmental movement, rather provide a holistic analysis of their overall agenda. The environmental movement is a broad generic term which is generally used to describe and understand different types of local struggles and conflicts concerned with livelihood issues and ecological security within the larger context of the development debate. As far as the nature of the movement is concerned, there has been no single unified and homogenous environmental discourse in India. There has been what Guha calls ‘varieties of environmentalism’. In India Agrarian or working class movements have had a long historical trajectory, environmental or ecological movements gained worldwide attention only in the second half of the twentieth century. These movements focus not only on basic survival issues but also on larger ecological concerns. 1. These movements are grouped under tribal and peasant movements and as well under New Social movements. This is so because ecological aspects are generally associated with peasant and tribal whose survival is associated with the state of natural resources like forests, water etc. 2. Sometimes scholars termed them as middle class or elite movements because of leadership as the problems and concerns of the local communities, indigenous people or non–tribal poor are generally articulated by the urban middle class elite. 3. The Indian environmental movement is critical of the colonial model of development pursued by the post–colonial state. The post–independent state failed to build up a development agenda based on the needs of the people and continued to advocate the modern capitalist agenda which led to the destruction of environment, poverty and marginalisation of rural communities. 4. Conventional in nature—Formation of national parks, sanctuaries, protected areas in India represents the conventional environmentalism which the Indian state advocated with the aim of preserving wildlife and biodiversity by pushing people out of these areas. In response to this conventional environmentalism which considered the Indian state to be the custodian of natural resources, the environmental movement in India advocated the ideology of ‘environmentalism of the poor’. It not only criticised modern develop mentalism but also strongly advocated the revival of traditional ‘self – sufficient village economy’. It brought communities to the centre stage of Indian environmental discourse. 5. Community centric approach in struggle-The environmentalist stated that local communities were best suited to conserve natural resources as their survival depended in the sustainable use of such resources. They argued that in order to make the sustainable use of the resource the customary rights or GStraditionalGSGS rights SCORESCORESCORE should be given back to the people who were taken away by the State, and traditional institutions should also be recognised. In a nutshell, the environmental movement in India concentrates on the issue of equity in relation to access and use of natural resources. 6. Unlike in the West, a significant characteristic of environmental movements in India is that they have mainly involved the women, the poor and disadvantaged masses who have been directly affected by or are victims of environmental degradation. Thus these movements are primarily political expressions of the struggle of local communities and people who are victims of environmental degradation or abuse of resources. Methods and strategies of environmental protection are not uniform in nature as in India there is a transition from social movement to new social movement. Many new social movements at initial stage adopted methods and content of social movement but gradually converted in new social movement. For example- Chipko movement, Apiko movement-were stared to protect livelihood of forest people against commercialization of natural resource but later on prevention of environmental
[28] Hints: Political Science pollution, maintenance of ecological balance become core theme. Protest methods ranged from holding trees to conducting national and International seminars and conferences. Similarly mass protest, lock out, band, kaam rook were primary methods but awareness programme by involving celebrities, conduction conference and research seminars, publishing reports, writing in Newspapers are popularly used methods. In urban areas participants and protest methodology has stark difference. Unlike in rural areas in urban areas environmental movement was result of collective action taken by the civil society organisations, NGOs, concerned individuals, especially lawyers, scientists, environmentalists and social activists. They sought the intervention of the judiciary and drew the attention of the state for showing concern to the pollution caused by the process of modernisation. The judiciary has become the arbiter of people’s rights which include their protection from the environmental protection also since the emergence of the device of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Reacting to the court order which was result of a PIL, the government made it compulsory to introduce the CNG vehicles and make the pollution check mandatory for all private vehicles. Similarly, the Delhi government has been force to shift the polluting industries out of the city and launch the Yamuna River cleaning operation.
5. (d) Party system is in transition in India.
• Approach Required: Provide a chronological description of the evolution of party system in India in phase wise manner and include actual examples from Indian politics. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to include the views of eminent Indian political experts to validate your statements. • Maurice Duverger aptly defined that electoral system leaves its impression on the political life of the country through political parties only. In Indian competitive party system, political party’s gains power through competitive electoral battle. In order to win election, political parties, indulge in all sorts of manoeverality like arousing passion in the name of caste, region, religion etc. • The Indian party system of the period from 1947to the middle of the 1960s has been described by two researchers, Rajni Kothari and W. H. Morris-Jones. Kothari described the Indian party system of this period as the “Congress System” or as “a system of one party dominance”. Morris Jones also developed the same kind of model. He characterized the Indian party system until the 1960s as “dominance coexisting with competition but without trace of alternation”. • The Congress-OppositionGS System : SCOREThe 1970s and the 1980s –Loksabha elections, voting behaviour of the electorateGSGSGS tended SCORESCORESCOREto be influenced by a single national issue, and the electoral politics was described as “plebiscitary politics”[Rudolph and Rudolph].The opposition parties were planning to cooperate with each other against the Congress Party. In the Loksabha election held in 1971, though defeated, major opposition parties formed the “Grand Alliance” to fight the Congress Party. Yogendra Yadav, who is well-known in the field of election studies, called the Indian party system in the 1970s and the 1980s the “Congress-Opposition system”. According to Yadav, the Indian party system “was still characterized by one-party salience though no longer dominance parties provided a real alternate veto the Congress Party. • In view of this, as Norio Kondo points out, it can be said that the 1970swas the most important turning point in the political history of India. The party system is now said to be moving from a one party dominance system to a multi-party competition, from social cohesion to fragmentation, from a stable pattern to fluidity, from order to chaos as the principle of party competition.
Hints: Political Science [29] • One party dominance has been replaced by coalition government it has led to the emergence of regional centres of power. Regional political parties are playing very crucial role in the national politics. Initially, Congress party played a very vital role in shaping Indian party system. The ‘catch- all’ character of the Congress party won helped it to win election, without forcing any change in its policies or leadership pattern. The Congress party was supported by masses from diverse background but as pointed out by Yogendra Yadav, the party’s upper class- upper caste leadership remained the legitimate representative of the masses. • Fragmentation and Regionalization of the Indian Party System in the 1980s Because of the “plebiscitary politics”, the power of each party changed significantly every time the Loksabha election was held during the period marked by the “Congress- Opposition system”. During this period, however, the cooperative relationships among the opposition parties were not stable. Fragmentation of the party system in India has a lot to do with “regionalization “of the support base of each party. Currently, the support bases of most parties, except the Congress Party and the BJP, tend to the most important factor responsible for the change in federal political arrangement is nationalization of regional issues and regionalization of national issues and it is largely because modernization, politicization and economic development and on the other hand because of mandal-mandir controversy. • In post 1989 period we observe a new trend towards regionalization of Indian politics and it reflects the representative character of Indian polity. Participation of weaker section especially S.C. and S.T. has increased manifold thereby consolidating democratic process. The pattern of representation to Loksabha and Rajyasabha reflects that every segment of the population is getting represented. Earlier, only educated middle class used to get chance to be elected as people’s representative. However, in recent years, the trend has changed and women, S.C., S.T. and farmers too, are getting chance to contest and win election. Political participation of minorities, Scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribes have increased. • The Indian party system in the first half of the 1990sshowedthe feature of polarized pluralism, however, the Indian party system has been changing from polarized pluralism to moderate pluralisms. On the whole, Indian party system is passing through a transitional phase and the pace of change is very fast. On the one hand many issues have been addressed, some new issues have cropped up and some old issues remain to be resolved. The need of the hour is that divisive tendencies are closely monitored and evaluated and long term and lasting strategy should be devised to address the socio- economic problem then only we would be able to establish a successful, egalitarian republic. 5. (e) The evolving profileGSGSGS of legislators SCORESCORESCORE in the Indian parliament. • Approach Required: As in the previous question, follow a chronological approach to explain how the socio economic profile of legislators have been changing over the years and how it has come to closely reflect the Indian social setup. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not pass value judgement on the legislators. Simply assess the changes which have occurred in terms of their background. • In the period between 1952 to 1971 the parliament was ‘elitist’ in its character, dominated mainly by urban, middle class, educated, elite. The LokSabhas of the period, particularly till that of 1967 were characterized primarily by the presence of two categories of members: the modernizing elite consisting of the urban, educated and successful professional classes and members of the traditional elite (including capitalists and landed gentry), with the former dominating. More than half of the members of the Lok Sabha belonged to the classes that had had the benefit of higher and even professional education. Lawyers constituted a third of the Lok Sabha membership. In addition, military, police and civil service personnel,
[30] Hints: Political Science journalist and writers, were also a part of the LokSabhas of the period. Each of these occupational groups formed a part of the urban, professional class • Apart from the urban middle class, those with agricultural interests constituted a substantial segment of the Lok Sabha membership. A large number of MPs were full time social activists drawing their sustenance in all probability, from agricultural property. Traders and industrialists constituted nearly one tenth of the total membership of the Lok Sabha during the entire period. The entry of workers, peasants, landless labourers and others appeared almost impossible, given the fact that a western model of democracy, with which common Indians were unfamiliar, was adopted. • Between 1971-1989, the socio- economic profile of the members underwent some changes. This period witnessed the emergence of regional elite at the national level. Generally, the members were older, more educated, with agricultural interest and experience at the state level. The Lok Sabha continued to remain, a body consisting of members with a reasonably high level of education. Occupationally, however, there was change in the composition of the Lok Sabha. Agriculturists began to dominate the Lok Sabha membership. Their presence in the Lok Sabha was continuously on the rise till 1989. Urban middle class professionals continued to have a sizeable presence in the Lok Sabha, though there was a decline in the presence of Lawyer members Workers and trade unionists were still conspicuous by their absence. • The post 1989 period has witnessed significant changes in the composition of the Lok Sabha MPs in terms of their social profile, though economically they still belong to the affluent sections of the society. The educational qualification of the MPs was better than their earlier counterpart. Interestingly, many of the postgraduates were from state parties like the BSP, the AIADMK, the DMK, etc. The SC, ST, and OBC members appeared to be as educated as general category members were. • In terms of occupation, majority of MPs were either agriculturist or full time social and political workers. This change made the legislature more representatives in its character. Urban professional classes too had not altogether lost interest in the political process. When taken together, lawyers, businesspersons, educationists, and other urban professionals still constituted nearly 40 per cent of the Lok Sabha membership. • These small but significant changes in the socio-economic composition of the Lok Sabha indicate the emergence to a new leadership. A large number of these members of the new political elite had made gradual progress from grass root level to national politics through the democratic process.GS An increasing SCORE number of them belong to state parties, or have considerable legislative GSGSexperienceGS at SCORE SCORESCOREstate level. It may therefore be assumed reasonably that there was a gradual transition of state elite to national politics. They appear to have brought the influence of state politics to national level. Their view of politics and political institutions is fundamentally different from their predecessors, who were imbued with political idealism inspired by the west and nationalist spirit.
6. (a) Discuss the major functions and performance of mechanisms designated to resolve inter-state conflicts.
• Approach Required: Simply explain the various platforms/bodies which can be used to resolve disputes between states. Do not limit your content to only constitutional mechanisms. • Mistakes to be avoided: Try to diversify your answer by including lesser known avenues of conflict resolution. Do not only fixate on ISC.
Hints: Political Science [31] Since the States, in every federation, normally act as independent units in the exercise of their internal sovereignty, conflicts of interest between the units are sure to arise.Hence, in order to maintain the strength of the Union, it is essential that there should be an adequate provision for judicial determination of disputes between the units and for settlement of disputes by extra judicial bodies as well as their prevention by consultation and joint action. While Art. 131 provides for the judicial determination of disputes between States by vesting the Supreme Court with exclusive jurisdiction in the matter, Art. 262 provides for the adjudication of one class of such dispute by an extrajudicial tribunal, while Art. 263 provides for the prevention of inter-State disputes by investiga-tion and recommendations by an administrative body. Inter-State Councils:The power of the President to set up Inter-State Councils may be exercised not only for advising upon disputes, but also for the purpose of investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States or the Union and one or more of the States, or the Union have a common interest. In the exercise of this power the President has already constituted the Central Council of Health, the Central Council of Local Self-Government, the Central Council of Indian Medicine, the Central Coun-cil of Homeopathy the changing role of inter-state council The inter- State Council was set up under Article 263 of the Constitution of India vide Presidential Order May 28, 1990.If at any time it appears to the President that the public would be served by the establishment of a Council charged with the duty of: (a) Inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between states; (b) Investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States or the Union and one or more of the states, have a common interest; or (c) Making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action with respect to that subject; It shall be lawful for the President by order to establish such a council, and to define the nature of the duties to be performed by it and its organisation and procedure. Composition of Inter-State Council: The composition of the Inter-State Council as set out in the above mentioned Presidential Order includes the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers of all States, Chief Ministers of Union territories having Legislative Assemblies and Administrators of Union territories not having Legislative Assemblies, Governors of States under Presidents Rule, six Ministers of Cabinet rank in the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister and two Ministers of Cabinet rank in the Union Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister as permanent invitees. Duties of the Council: (a) To investigate and discussGSGSGS subjects ofSCORESCORESCORE common interest; (b) Make recommendations for the better coordination of policy and actions on such subjects; and (c) Deliberate on such matters of general interest to the States referred by the Chairman to the Council. It shall have its own Secretariat. The legislative power to make a law for imposing a tax is divided as between the Union and the States by means of specific entries in the Union and the state Lists in Schedule VII of the Constitution. The legislative power, in regard to taxation, belongs to the Parliament. The Constitution clearly makes the provision, of sharing the distribution of the tax revenue between the Union and the States. The Union has a share of taxes like the Income tax, the corporation tax the customs tax, etc. The States collect the land revenue, the stamp-duty, the succession duty, the estate duty, the sales taxes, etc. Further, the mandatory provision for establishing a Finance Commission once in five years is meant to ensure a fair and equitable sharing of revenues between the Centre and States
[32] Hints: Political Science The Real Status: The growing sense of regionalism, the inter-state disparity the misuse of the office of the Governors in the State the extreme centralization and concentration of executive legislative and financial pow-ers at the Kinds of Centre the dissatisfaction over the functioning of the extra- constitutional bodies like Planning Commission, National Development Council, National Integration Council, the declin-ing role of Finance Commission, Inter-State Council, Zonal Council, the exclusive power of the Centre to negotiate with foreign government and funding agencies, the growing water and border disputes have made it imperative to redefine the Centre—State relations. A number of Committees and Commissions have suggested various remedies to get rid of this tormenting state of nature, the more notable of them being the Administrative Reforms Commission, the P.V. Rajamannar Committee, and the Sarkaria Commission. The Srinagar conclave of the Inter-State Council arrived at a consensus on preventing the mis-use of Article 356. The ISC finally arrived at a conclusion that the report of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) must be implemented. The NCRWC clearly recommended that (a) Article 356 should not be deleted; but it must he used sparingly and it should be used only as a remedy of the last resort; and after exhausting action under other Articles like 256, 257 and 355; (b) In case of political breakdown, necessitated invoking of Article 356, before issuing a proclamation there under, the concerned state should be given an opportunity to explain its posi-tion and redress the situation, unless the situation is such, that following the above course would not be in the interest of security of state, or defence of the country, or for other reasons necessitating urgent action; and (c) the Governor’s report should be a speaking document, containing a precise and clear statement of all material facts and grounds, on the basis of which the president may satisfy himself, as to the existence or otherwise of the situation contemplated in Article 356. There is no need to amend the Constitution. The Article 356 must be seen in the light with Article 355, 256, 257, 353 and 365. Zonal Council: Each zonal council consists of the Chief Minister and two other Minister of each of the States in the zone and the Administrator in the case of a Union Territory. Zonal Councils have been established by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 to advice on matters of common interest to each of the five zones into which the territory of India has been divided-Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western and Central. These Zonal Councils do not owe their origin to the Constitution but to an Act of Parliament, having been introduced by the States Reorganisation Act, with a view to securing co-operation and co-ordination as between the States, the Union Territories and the Union, particularly in respect of economic and social development. If properly worked these councils would thus foster the ‘federal sentiment’ by resisting the separatist tendencies of linguism and provincialism.GSGSGS SCORESCORE SCOREThe zones covered by these Councils are as follows. (i) The Central Zone, comprising the States of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. (ii) The Northern Zone, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, and the Union Territories of Delhi & Chandigarh. (iii) The Eastern Zone, comprising the States of Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa and Sikkim. (iv) The Western Zone, comprising the States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and the Union Territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. (v) The Southern Zone, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Besides these, there is the North Eastern Council set up in 1971, to deal with the common problems of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
Hints: Political Science [33] Each Zonal Council consists of the Chief Minister and two other Ministers of each of the States in the Zone and the Administrator in the case of a Union Territory. There is also provision for holding joint meetings of two or more Zonal Councils. The Union Home Minister has been nominated to be the common chairman of all the Zonal Councils. The Zonal Councils discuss matters of common concern to the States and Territories comprising to each Zone, such as, economic and social planning, border disputes, inter-State transport, matters arising out of the reorganisation of States and the like and give advice to the Governments of the States concerned as well as the Government of India. River Board: The River Boards Act, 1956, provides for the establishment of a River Board for the purpose of advising the Governments interested in relation to the regulation or development of an inter-State river or river valley. Water Disputes Tribunal: The Water Disputes Act, 1956, provides for the reference of an inter- State river dispute for arbitration by a Water Disputes Tribunal, whose award should be final according to Art. 262 (2A).
6. (b) Critically analyse the impact of Green Revolution on Indian Agriculture.
• Approach Required: First describe what Green Revolution was, then pointwise assess the positive and negative aspects of its performance. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your critical analysis should be backed by some factual evidence. Do not just analyse the issue from an economics or agricultural point of view. The dramatic transformation in agriculture practices that involves the use of new methods of cultivation and inputs refers to as Green Revolution in India. The green revolution consists of technological improvements which were mainly adopted to increase agriculture productivity. The green revolution occurs as a result of adoption of new agriculture strategy during mid 60’s by Government of India to achieve self-sufficiency in the food grains production. These changes bring about a substantial increase in agriculture production in a short span of time. Components of Green Revolution The core components of new agriculture strategy are: • Use of High-Yielding Variety(HYV) seeds that matures in short span of time. • Application of fertilizers, manures and chemicals in the agriculture production. • Multiple Cropping Patterns that allows farmers to grow two or more crops on the same land as HYV seeds matures GSGSquickly.GS This SCORE SCORESCOREhelped the increase of total production. • Mechanization of farming with the use of machines like tractors, harvesters pump sets etc. in the agriculture occur in a big way. • Better Infrastructure facilities in terms of better transportation, irrigation, warehousing, marketing facilities, rural electrification were developed during the period of green revolution. • Price Incentives involving provision of the minimum support prices for various crops so as to allow reasonable price to farmers for their produce. This offers inventive to the farmers to adopt new practices. • Better financial assistance through spread of credit facilities with the development of wide network of commercial banks, cooperative banks and establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as an apex bank to coordinate the rural finance in India.
[34] Hints: Political Science Impact of Green Revolution The green revolution resulted quantitative and qualitative development in the agriculture in India. The quantitative improvement occurs as a result of steep increase in the production of agriculture output. The qualitative improvement resulted into adoption of modernized technology in the agriculture. The impact of green revolution can be discussed as follows: • Spectacular increase in agriculture production:The dependence on food imports is eliminated with the increase in agriculture production. The country becomes self-sufficient in food grains. In fact India was the second largest importer in 1966 and it imported no food grain in subsequent decades except during late 80’s and early 90’s mainly due to failure of monsoons or untimely rains or floods in different regions. However, it may be noted that in recent years annual growth in the food grain production is losing its momentum. • Improvement in productivity: The tremendous increase in agriculture production occurred as a result of improvements in productivity. The productivity was quite low in the pre-green revolution period. The substantial increase in the productivity occurred in wheat and rice in the earlier periods but later on it spread to other crops also. • Increase in Employment: Green revolution generated employment opportunities into diverse activities which were created as a result of multiple cropping and mechanization of farming. It helped to stimulate non-farm economy that generated newer employment in various services such as milling, marketing, warehousing etc. • Food grain Price Stability: The adoption of new agricultural technology has led to the increased production and marketable surplus of crops especially food grains that have resulted into price stability of food items. • Strengthening of forward and backward linkages with industry: The increase in agriculture production has strengthened the forward linkage of agriculture sector with industry in the sense of supplying inputs to the industry. The backward linkage with the industry has also received a boost as agricultural modernization created larger demand for inputs produced by industry. Problems with Green Revolution The new agriculture strategy has resulted into increased productivity and returns for farmers. This has resulted in decline in rural poverty to an extent. However, the revolution resulted into increased income, wide interpersonal and regional inequality and inequitable asset distribution. The major problems associated with green revolution are as follows: 1. Increase in personal inequalitiesGSGSGS inSCORESCORESCORE rural areas: The income inequality between rich and poor increases due to: (i) The owners of large farms were the main adopters’ of new technology because of their better access to irrigation water, fertilizers, seeds and credit. In other words, given the need for complex agricultural techniques and inputs, the green revolution benefits the large farmers. The small farmers lagged behind the larger farmer as small farmers had to depend upon traditional production method. Since the rich farmers were already better equipped, the green revolution accentuate the income inequalities between rich and poor. (ii) Green revolution resulted into lower product price and higher input prices which also encouraged landlords to increase rents or force tenants to evict the land. (iii) The mechanization pushed down the wages of and employment opportunities for unskilled labour in the rural areas thereby further widening the income disparities.
Hints: Political Science [35] 2. Increased Regional disparities: Green revolution spread only in irrigated and high-potential rain fed areas. The villages or regions without the access of sufficient water were left out that widened the regional disparities between adopters and non-adopters. Since, the HYV seeds technically can be applied only in land with assured water supply and availability of other inputs like chemicals, fertilizers etc. The application of the new technology in the dry-land areas is simply ruled out. The states like Punjab, Haryana, Western UP etc. having good irrigation and other infrastructure facilities were able to derive the benefits of green revolution and achieve faster economic development while other states have recorded slow growth in agriculture production. 3. Environmental Damage: Excessive and inappropriate use of fertilizers and pesticides has polluted waterway, killed beneficial insects and wild life. It has caused over-use of soil and rapidly depleted its nutrients. The rampant irrigation practices have led to eventually soil degradation. Groundwater practices have fallen dramatically. Further, heavy dependence on few major crops has led to loss of biodiversity of farmers. These problems were aggravated due to absence of training to use modern technology and vast illiteracy leading to excessive use of chemicals. 4. Restrictive Crop Coverage: The new agriculture strategy involving use of HYV seeds was initially limited to wheat, maize and bajra. The other major crop i.e. rice responded much later. The progress of developing and application of HYV seeds in other crops especially commercial crops like oilseeds, jute etc. has been very slow. In fact, in certain period a decline in the output of commercial crops is witnessed because of diversion of area under commercial crop to food crop production. The basic factor for non-spread of green revolution to many crops was that in the early 1960’s the severe shortage in food grains existed and imports were resorted to overcame the shortage. Government initiated green revolution to increase food grain productivity and non-food grain crops were not covered. The substantial rise in one or two food grain crop cannot make big difference in the total agricultural production. Thus new technology contributed insignificantly in raising the overall agricultural production due to limited crop coverage. So it is important that the revolutionary efforts should be made in all major crops. It can be concluded that green revolution is a major achievement for India which has given it a food-security. It has involved the adaptation of scientific practices in the agriculture to improve its production and productivity. It has provided benefits to poor in the form of lower food prices, increased migration opportunities and greater employment in the rural non-farm economy. However, the inequalities between region and individuals that adopted green revolution and those who failed to adopt has worsened. Further, green revolution has led to many negative environmental impacts. The policy makers and scientistsGSGSGS are urged SCORESCORE SCOREto develop and encourage the new technologies that are environmentally and socially sustainable.
6. (c) Religion was used as force for supporting or opposing the British in India or for separating which led to different political functions of religion during the colonial rule. Examine the given statement. • Approach Required: Need to assess the role of Religion in both establishing and elimination of British rule in India. Quote examples from episodes and events from freedom struggle. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content should talk about the role of both Hinduism and Islam. Avoid passing value judgements. During British period , on one hand, there was a revolutionary situation in India against a single enemy and on the other, there was such a profound cleavage between Muslim and Hindu and Muslims tried to separate their homeland. However, each group tried to use religion as a weapon in
[36] Hints: Political Science the line of their goals; for supporting or for opposing the British in India or for separating. Tiled to different political functions of religion during the colonial rule and the freedom struggle as following: • This function was a negative function for Indian freedom movement as it segmented the society so that it was difficult to unify the people, especially with the already existing conflict between Muslims and Hindus. • On the other hand, this function worked in favor of the British Governors. On the surface, the religious politics of British government was neutrality and they used the religious terms like ‘mercy of divine providence’ and ‘gift of God’ to describe their government and expected all Indians to support and to be loyal to it. But in reality they were afraid of the unity among the Indian people. So quite conveniently, they used religious cleavages in the Indian population and pursued a policy of ‘divide and rule’ to the effect that Muslims and Hindus hated each other. • Hinduism and Islam were at the center of the nationalist and freedom movement. The nationalists either theoretically or practically used the religions, their symbols and religious sentiments of people to unify and mobilize masses, especially during Hindu festivals and the Khilafat movement. Indeed, the Indian nationalism was unlike the secular nationalism in Europe. However, they used the power of religion in communal solidarity and unity for nationalistic goals. Each religion has been and was a factor to inter-community harmony and the internal unity and it united a large number of people. Although, here, simultaneously, the negative function of religion was also observed in the form of conflict between the two communities, where leaders from both sides sometimes acted against each other instead of the main enemy, the British. • Religion played an important role in Gandhi’s charismatic influence, authority and leadership in the line of Indian nationalism and freedom movement. Gandhi related religion with nationalism. Indeed, Gandhi outlined his ideas in the religious framework to affect and mobilize the masses. Because of the existence of a traditional society, Gandhi also used a traditional religious idiom to mobilize his unorganized society to fight British. • The instruments to achieve his political objective were prayer, fasting, immovable faith in God and ‘God strategy.’ He used the concept of ‘Rama Rajya’ (the rule of Rama) for ‘self- rule’ and independence. It enhanced his influence as a charismatic leader. • Religion and religious beliefs provided a ground for Gandhi to emerge as a charismatic leader among masses in a way that he was regarded as a God, prophet and ‘a great soul’ and people idolized himGSGSGS and this legitimizedSCORESCORESCORE his national leadership. • Against the scientific definition of ‘nation’, some Muslim politicians used religion to separate and create a nation-state on the basis of Islam. Therefore, religion was seen as a criterion for creating a nation. They used the Islamic sentiment, communal solidarity and unity of the Indian Muslim. They roused the Muslim masses with the slogan of ‘Islam in danger’ to create a pure and faithful Muslim state. • Among Hindus also, a few people advocated the Two- Nation Theory and they agreed with separation of Muslims. So, the two religions, Islam and Hinduism, were seen as the bases of two different nations. This was a positive function for the Muslims as they used it to create their • State, while it was a negative function for Indian politics, as it partitioned the country. The function of religion in partition, itself, as mentioned, comes out in the form of segmentation derived of religion. In this stage of Indian history, under the impact of religion, partition occurred twice, but the second time there was actual separation with drastic effects. Hints: Political Science [37] • Religion was a basis for creating some of the political parties. Even though some of the parties are not overtly religious, but religion as a social structure has been the reason or one of the important reasons in creating them. Some parties or organizations were created for followers of special religion and following the benefit of that community in politics. Clearly, without the existence of religion, religious minds and religious demands there was no need for them. • Although during this period, religious forces, often, especially among Muslim, applied this function, but it was not confined to only religious parties or politicians. Using religion became a common practice in mobilizing people for electoral purposes. The Muslim leaders appealed communal electorates as through this they could win elections by appealing to the interests and loyalties of the Muslims. Among parties, Muslim League more than others used the electoral function of religion. • The religious groups as a demand and pressure groups used religious issues and sentiments to affect policies and creating Acts in their benefits, for instance, acts of 1909, 1919 and 1935 related to reservation, and Muslim Personal Law. • The communal riots and violence were the negative aspects of function of religion. Conflict and violence between Muslims and Hindus had an important effect on Indian polity and society as they resulted in political disorder. Apart from the religious conflict per se, the separatist thoughts and using religion in the line of political goals by political elites paved a way for conflict between the two communities. Besides, there was also some religious violence against British as a foreign power with a different religion.
7. (a) Analyse the various issues and challenges of Human rights movement in India? • Approach Required: Simply enumerate all the major limitations, criticisms and challenges which the movement faces today including issues of NHRC. • Mistakes to be avoided: Avoid controversial or debatable examples. Provide an overall analysis of the movement rather than fixating on one or two events. • First, with the deepening of democracy on the one hand, and associated intrusion of state/ individual actors into the hitherto untouched areas like commercial ventures in the coastal areas, rising level of environmental pollution in the metro cities, acquisition of land for industrial development form the unwilling farmers etc. have provided the favourable circumstances for the proliferation of human rights groups in most of the areas. • Second, the growing professionalization of the human rights movement with the advent of numerous non-governmentalGSGSGS organizations SCORESCORESCORE has raised doubts about the sincere objectives with which the human rights movement was started in the country even before the dawn of independence. • The human rights movement has to respond to the charge that the human rights groups are oversensitive to the acts of violations by the state agencies but turns a blind eye to the heinous crimes being committed by the terrorist organizations. • Another challenge having a deep impact on the working of the human rights groups in the country pertains to the adequacy of organizational structure and functional professionalism needed for the efficient and effective performance of their functions • There appears need for some sort of basic infrastructural facilities and functional skill enhancement for the human rights bodies so that they are able to discharge their functions of acting as watchdog for the protection and promotion of human rights of the people effectively.
[38] Hints: Political Science • threat to the sanctity and respect to the human rights bodies seems to have come from the growing cases of corruption and misappropriation of funds by few such bodies • Today, a number of human rights bodies have been charged with coming into existence to provide a lucrative career option to its founder. Moreover, having remained into existence for a few years as crusaders for the cause of human rights, many of such bodies turn into money minting machine for their custodians, keeping in mind the huge amount of money coming in the form of grants and financial assistance to these NGOs. • The human rights movement also faces the challenge of taking a balanced view of the things in cases where the vital interests of society at large seem to be at stake in face of the opposition being mounted by the minority people. Having secured the protection of the legitimate grievances of the people, the human rights groups need to afford space to the government to effect substantial economic gains for the people of region and outside as well. • Finally, with the installation of a number of governmental agencies like the National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights Commissions, the National Commissions for Women, Minorities etc., for the ostensible purpose of promoting and protecting the human rights of their targeted people, the human rights movement in the country is likely to face the challenge of retaining their credibility as well as exposing the dysfunctionalities of these bodies. In such cases, the human rights bodies would need to exercise extra caution in highlight the other part of the story because the verdict of the governmental commission is also likely to carry credibility in the eyes of the people. Therefore, in order to keep their credibility intact, the human rights NGOs must put forth their case with irrefutable evidence and keeping the public good in mind. • However, this must not dissuade these NGOs to become a passive recipient of the verdicts given by one or the other governmental commission. If they find that the governmental machinery seems to have failed to address the issues of the violations of the human rights adequately, they must carry out their own investigations and put before the public the real facts and issues of the case. Thus, in the form of the governmental agencies, the human rights bodies have found a sort of competitor in espousing the cause of promotion and protection of human rights in the country.
7. (b) Is it correct to say that the interstate water dispute tribunals have become a barrier to development? What role does the constitutional exception given by Supreme Court to tribunals played in this context? • Approach Required: Elaborate on the original role envisaged for the tribunals and how they have actually performed.GSGSGS Also SCORESCORESCOREelaborate on the logic and rationale of why this issue was excluded from the jurisdiction of SC. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not provide GS type analysis of the performance ISWT. You need to go into the background of the problem. • At the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers of States and Chief Justices of High Courts held in April this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wondered if tribunals especially Interstate water dispute have become ‘barriers’ to delivering justice. At the moment, there are multiple tribunals in place to resolve interstate water disputes, but the National Water Policy 2012 proposed setting up a permanent tribunal to replace them. • The Constitution attaches a special status to interstate water disputes, whereby they neither fall under the Supreme Court’s nor any other court’s jurisdiction. These disputes can only be adjudicated by temporary and ad hoc interstate water dispute tribunals. This constitutional exception is why water tribunals cannot be bundled with other tribunals and
Hints: Political Science [39] need careful consideration before any reforms. Seeing tribunals as ‘barriers’ may set their reform on a wrong path — repeating a history of hasty and shallow responses. • It is known that the inefficiency in interstate water dispute resolutions extends to factors beyond the functioning of the tribunals. These are linked to legal ambiguities, an institutional vacuum for implementing awards, noncompliant States, politicisation and so on. Yet, at the core of the entanglement is the Gordian knot of the constitutional anomaly, or the exception to the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. But the immediate question is that of the tribunal’s arrangement, which, of course, cannot be detached from the bar. • The permanent tribunal, while complying with this bar on the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, will primarily act as a circuitous route to address the problem of disputes, as they will recur even after the ad hoc and temporary tribunals are disbanded. • The arrangement of having ad hoc, exclusive, temporary tribunals for interstate water dispute resolution has its roots in similar provisions during the colonial rule (including a bar on the Federal Court’s jurisdiction). The Interstate Water Disputes Act, 1956, is essentially a reworked arrangement proposed in the draft Constitution, which in turn derived from Articles 130- 134 of the Government of India Act 1935. The Constituent Assembly rejected these arrangements, calling for a more permanent arrangement for dispute resolution. B.R. Ambedkar felt there would be ‘very many’ disputes, and the proposed arrangements were too ‘hidebound’ to respond to the evolving context of independent India. • Thus, the Constituent Assembly deferred the responsibility of an appropriate legislation to Parliament via Article 262(1), while providing for the jurisdictional bar via Article 262(2). When Parliament took up the task, the proponents of the Interstate Water Disputes Bill 1955, Gulzarilal Nanda, Minister for Planning, Irrigation and Power, and his deputy, JaisukhlalHathi, chose to contradict the Constituent Assembly’s premises and resurrect these tribunal arrangements. They argued that it was unlikely that there would be many disputes, relying on the seven or eight years of experience after independence. This debatable premise, certainly ill-informed in hindsight, was the reason why tribunals were resurrected. • However, Nanda and Hathi’s intentions were clear and their objectives valid: to ensure swift and definitive decision-making in interstate water disputes. The parliamentarians debated over these arrangements and agreed that tribunal’s suit water disputes best. They believed that tribunal arrangements would help speedy resolution, with the Supreme Court’s jurisdictional bar providing finality to their decisions. They wanted to avoid States litigating amongst themselves, leading to protracted court proceedings. They believed tribunal arrangements would alsoGS enable deliberative SCORE and discretionary decision-making for ‘mutually negotiated settlements’.GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • This was the fairly well-intentioned rationale for favouring tribunals over courts, contingent to a particular historical moment. It translated well in the functioning of the first generation tribunals of Krishna, Narmada and Godavari. However, these functional arrangements unfortunately degenerated into the present form, with all the trappings that the parliamentarians wanted to avoid. They turned out to be litigatory and adversarial proceedings with protracted delays. FaliNariman pointed to this degeneration in an incisive note to the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State relations. • The degeneration was aided by rather poor records of subsequent parliamentarians in allowing several amendments to the 1956 act. The amendments, reactionary in nature, diluted the spirit and rationale of the tribunal arrangements. The history of the Act is filled with short- sighted and sutured responses to the symptoms of the degeneration and have avoided a comprehensive engagement with the problem of interstate water disputes.
[40] Hints: Political Science • Reforming interstate water dispute tribunals cannot be approached without considering their historical exception and the associated pitfalls. The discourse on ‘barriers’ and the drive for hasty reforms can set us on a wrong path, eclipsing the actual barriers that lie beyond the tribunal arrangement itself. After all, the present arrangement was driven by precisely the same concern for swift and definitive outcomes as the objections are. It is imperative to have a comprehensive review of interstate water dispute resolution, and also reconsider the Supreme Court’s jurisdictional bar.
7. (c) Discuss the stages in Relationship Between Caste and Politics. • Approach Required: Discuss how caste intervenes into politics and how caste driven politics eventually emerges across all the strata’s of society. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep your content very specific to the views of Kothari who gave the Three Stage analysis. Avoid generic content. Rajni Kothari, a political scientist has specified three typical stages in the relationship between caste and politicin a region: Stage 1 • This involves the politicization of a powerful elite caste, usually one which responded earliest to the opportunities for western education. In Maharashtra and Tamilnadu, this was the Brahmann, in Bihar it was the Kaysthas (Traditionally scribes). • With some political success on the part of the entrenched caste, the members of other high castes in the area would respond with resentment, feelings of relative deprivation and possibly antagonism. Those castes then challenge the entrenched caste what Kothari calls an “ascendant cask”. • In three examples given in Kothari’s edited book, the ascendent caste is one of respectable cultivators who had been slower than the entrenched caste in accepting western introduction. In Rajasthan, the Rajputs were the entrenched and the Jatcultivators)the ascendant caste. In Tamilnadu, the non-Brahmins were ascendent, and in Maharashtra, the Brahmans were the entrenched, and the Marathas were the ascendant. Stage 2 • Factionalism and fragmentation take place within the competing caste and multicaste and muItifactional alignments develops. • Lower caste are often broughtGSGSGS into SCOREsupportSCORESCORE high caste leaders and to strengthen a faction. Stage 3 • Caste identify trends to languish with education, urbanisation, and the development of an orientation toward individual achievement and modern status symbol. • Individual participate in networks which includes persons of several castes. In Kothari’s word, ‘The structure of particularistic loyalties” has been “Overlaid a more sophisticated system of social and political participation with crosscutting alligience. • Institutional differentiation and specialisation has progressed, so that economic, political, educational institution are distinctly different”. • The Indian sociologist, G.S. Ghulye, raised the spectra of a future with Indian society fixed in stage 2 - composed of a few blocks of coalitions of castes. • This could be between castes of neighbouring rank, so that each connubium was enlarged to include several castes of adjoining rank. Hints: Political Science [41] 8. (a) Through political party competition, the social divisions of a deeply divided society get expressed. Discuss the above statement with specific reference to social mobilization by political parties in India. • Approach Required: Elaborate on how political parties mirror the existing caste and other divisions in the society. Also elaborate how the rise of regional and small parties has further deepened the fissures in society. • Mistakes to be avoided: Try to organize your content around the views of eminent political experts. Do not quote your own personal views. • In a sense the increasingly competitive party system is a product of the rise and assertion of regional and state based parties. However to overstretch this point would mean an uncritical acceptance of the social cleavage theory of party systems. In case of Congress some alignments of party organisations were found to be associated with acute social divisions. Congress was found not to be a heterogeneous national party but a coalition of state (and ultimately local) groups whose political rationale are the divisions and conflicts of the state and community in question. • However, equally important is the geographical specificity of inter group conflicts. The political significance of group conflicts varies from state to state, to the extent there is variation in the strength of the link between social groups and the parties. • In different ways the characterisations of Indian democracy as ‘Consociational’, and ‘adversarial’ admit that through political party competition, the social divisions of a deeply divided society get expressed. • Almost together with the acceptance of the Mandal Commission’s recommendations, recent years have witnessed the emergence of the Dalit-Bahujan castes, often trying to encompass the Muslim minority in its fold. The political parties representing these social groups are identified as the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), the Samajwadi Party, and sections of the Janata Dal—a phenomenal increase in caste based parties since the old Justice Party, to the point that social pluralism in India gets increasingly reflected in the competitive party system which serves as the agent of political participation. • That is to say, a given political party while acting as the agent of political participation often shows internal pluralism in its organisation. In a recent study of Dravidian parties, Narendra Subramanian demonstrates that the internal pluralism of parties, and not simply social pluralism, promotes greater representation and participation of emergent groups, the reconstruction of publicGS culture and SCOREtolerance. This does not of course mean that in India all parties show equal amountGSGSGS of organisational SCORESCORESCORE or internal pluralism. • The social nature of the increased voter’s turnout has not followed many clear patterns. The turnout among men has always been higher than women but the participation rate has improved faster among women than among men. • However, it has been noted that the involvement of women in politics is still largely separate from men .Both the number of women contestants and of representatives show a declining trend in parliamentary and assembly elections, though at local level, due to reservations, women’s participation has increased. Since the 1980’s there has been a proliferation of autonomous women’s groups in most parts of the country and this has added a new social dimension to political participation in India. • Voter turnout in urban areas was higher than in rural areas. The state-wise turnout figures broadly indicate that turnout tends to be higher in the southern states, Kerala, in particular, and West Bengal . [42] Hints: Political Science • YogendraYadav, however, notes that one of the characteristics of the new democratic upsurge has been that practically everywhere rural constituencies report a higher turnout. While Muslim turnout in Muslim concentrated constituencies and turnout in reserved (SC) constituencies were not higher than the past, the reserved (ST) constituencies recorded higher than average turnout in Andhra, Gujarat and Maharashtra. So did some backward regions like Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra, east Delhi and Bundelkhand in UP. • If the theory of new social constituency participating in Indian elections is not fully borne out at least there is hardly any doubt that such a constituency is now more intensively mobilised by political parties wherever possible.
8. (b) Comment on the trends in coalition politics in India after 1967. How has disappearance of Congress Dominance and emergence of coalition politics impacted contemporary Indian politics?
• Approach Required: Simply analyse the evolution of the coalition system in India backed by phase wise and chronological analysis. Need to provide a lot of factual examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: Simply elaborate on the impact of coalition politics on political discourse in India without being too critical towards coalition politics. The coalition politics operates in two ways - one, by the coalition of the political parties outside the government; two, formation of the government by two or more political parties. ‘The latter is known as a coalition government. The basic aim of a coalition government is to ensure majority control of the legislative assembly/ parliamentary as well as the implementation of common minimum programme. Coalition Government may receive support from outside also. The term coalition has been derived from the Latin word ‘Coalitio’ which is the verbal substantive of “Coalescere’-co together, and ‘alescere’-to grow up, which means to grow or together. Coalition, thus, means an act of coalescing, or uniting into one body: a union of parties. In the specific political sense the term coalition denotes an alliance or temporary union of political forces for forming a single Government. A coalition is a grouping of rival political actor’s brought together either through the perception of a common threat, or the recognition that their goals cannot be achieved by working separately. In general terms a coalition is regarded as parliamentary or political grouping which is less permanent than a party or faction or an interest group. • Indian politics in the period from 1947 to 1967 was coalitional in nature. This was at the level of political parties or political formations. Enormous organizational size, regional spread and ideological diversity of the Congress transformed congress in a loose organization with ideologically diverse groups.GSGSGS These ideologicallySCORESCORESCORE and regionally divergent groups played the role of opposition in tandem with the opposition parties with whom they shared homogeneity in terms of ideology interests, as Kothari argues ‘Congress system has always been a system of coalition multi-group in character, and informed by a continuous process of internal bargaining and mobility’. Functionalist political scientists like Rajni Kothari, Morris-Jones and Myron Weiner developed a theoretical model for this level through the idea of a one-party dominant system or Congress system. Rajni Kothari has also highlighted the consensual politics based on pluralism, accommodation and bargaining followed by Congress party. • The 1967 elections witnessed the coalition politics in another form, now involving the non- congress opposition parties. Opposition parties were able to defeat congress in the assembly elections in six States by joining into an electoral coalition and formed coalition in nine states. 1967 elections; according to Morris-Jones, led to the emergence of a ‘market polity’ leading to a ‘pretty regular and continuous defectors market’.
Hints: Political Science [43] • The third phase in the evolution of coalition politics was marked by the defeat of the Congress in 1977 parliamentary as well as assembly elections (in as many as six States). Populist, bureaucratic and authoritarian mode of politics in the party had led to the emergency imposed by the Congress government. Janata Party was formed after four opposition parties- come together. • In 1980 decade the coalition politics came to an end at the centre. At the state level, however the coalition politics continued. Congress, for instance, entered in to an alliance with National Conference in J and K and with the DMK in 1980 and with AIADMK till 1984 elections in Tamil Nadu. The left parties-led coalition governments were formed in the States of Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal during this period. It was during this period that the seeds of future coalition politics emerged. • In 1989 elections hastily coalition was formed in the form of formation of Janata Dal which came into existence as a result of the merger of several parties like the Janata Party, Lok Dal (A), Lok Dal (B), Janata Dal, subsequently formed an electoral alliance with the parties like DMK, Congress (S), AGP, CPI, CPI (M) and other small regional parties. National Front Government failed to lay down a strong foundation of consensual polity, based on democratic power sharing at wider level. It suffered from internal crisis of leadership as well as external crisis built up over the confrontation with the BJP over Ayodliya issue. • After 1996 Coalition politics in India has taken an Institutional form, there is pre-poll alliance around two major political parties Congress (UPA), BJP (NDA) that is more or less stable although entry and exit of small regional parties are regular phenomena. There is interesting pattern, initially this broader coalition was at centre level but same coalition has been reflected in state elections too. The working of the Coalition Governments has been affected by the need to secure inter-party Consensus. The heterogeneity of the Coalition partners in trellis of their social basis and ideologies often has been resulting into disagreements between the Cabinet ministers on political and departmental matters. Impact on political spectrum and political discourses • This has been hampering the deliberative and decision-making process of the Cabinet as preservation of the unity of Government as well as their separated identity as a partner in the Coalition become priority for parties. • Ideological lines are gradually becoming blurred and parties are turning out as ‘Catch all Parties’ as the Coalition Governments at centre have been formed, not on the positive basis of ideological or programmatic homogeneity but on the negative basis of capturing power (like BJP led coalition GovernmentGSGSGS inSCORESCORESCORE 1998) or to keep Congress and BJP out of power (like United Front Government in 1996). • The presence of regional parties in the Coalition has also led to a perception that the national outlook has often sought to be over shadowed by a regional outlook( AIDMK on LTTE Issue), and also that person or party gains have often received precedence over collective ones (Trinmool congress on Water sharing). Regional agendas started become part of national agenda. (Coalition politics undermine the position of PM) • The Steering Committee of the Coalition partners, rather than Cabinet often ‘act as the de- facto deliberative body thus undermining the process of Governance. • The Governance also has suffered because of the weakened position of the Prime Minister in the coalition Governments formed in the recent years. Prime Minister has been in no position to choose those as ministers in the Council of ministers who do not belong to his
[44] Hints: Political Science own party as they are chosen by their respective party leaders. This has undermined the authority of the Prime Minister more so as he feels constrained even to dismiss them without inviting the wrath of the concerned party.
8. (c) Discuss the differences between social movement and new social movements between developing and industrialised country. • Approach Required: First discuss the differentiation of Social Movement in the two regions and then move on to New Social Movement. • Mistakes to be avoided: This is NOT a question on differences between SM and NSM. Follow the exact framework suggested in the hints. Social movement in advance industrial countries versus Social movement in Developing countries. • Social movements in developing countries continue to focus on primary issues like basic amenities like food, shelter, health and employment while the movement’s in advance industrial countries have shifted their focus on issues like better wages, good working conditions, Better and affordable health facilities and insurance. Since the basic needs of citizens is already fulfilled in the developed countries, movements focus on the next stage of demands and further improvement. • Social movements in developing countries continue to be governed by feudal structures and often show violent tendencies. They are still influenced by various divisions like caste, religion, race and gender. On the other hand social movement’s in advance industrial countries have become democratic and secular in nature and very progressive in their approach. • Movements in developing countries continue to depend on political institutions and suffer from their vested interference while the movement in developed countries have an independent existence and usually their actions have a major influence on the domestic and international politics and not the other way round as in the case of former. New Social movements in advance industrial countries versus New Social movements in Developing countries. • NSM in developing countries still continue to focus on issues pertaining to basic needs of life and they have no independent evolution as they appear to be a continuance of the conventional social movement, having barely a separate identity and organization of their own. While NSM has now concentrated its focus towards issues of Quality of life like clean and safe environment for all. They have relatively moved on to an advanced stage of activism and have adopted the latestGS methodologies SCORE to attain their goals. • For NSM in developingGSGSGS countries SCORE,SCORESCORE the strategies of articulating their demands remains almost identical to that of social movements namely strikes, dharna, protests. For e.g. Narmada BachaoAndolan and Anti-corruption movement. But the strategies of NSM in advanced industrial countries have become majorly sophisticated in comparison for e.g. they are using the mediums like Research, Conferences and Seminars and discussion / debates. • The NSM in developing countries continues to derive its leadership from either the political class or the old experienced leaders of the social movement while in case of NSM in developed countries, the leadership constitutes of highly educated & elite members of the society. • NSM in developing countries are restricting their outreach and interest to only those issues which directly affect them while their counterparts have also started entertaining issues which might not even concern them in very direct manner like issues concerning global commons like climate change, GHG emissions, wild life protection and conservation of the art and culture of developing countries as well. Their scope is much larger than NSM in the third world. Hints: Political Science [45] IAS 2020 POLITICAL SCIENCE TEST SERIES
By: Dr. PIYUSH CHAUBEY
TEST: 5
www.iasscore.in Political Science Test Series 2020 TEST - 05
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250
SECTION - A
1. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: (a) David Easton's Input Output Model (10) (b) Concept of Globalism. (10) (c) Major Limitations of System Approach (10) (d) What do you understand by the term "trans-nationalization of political advocacy" in context of relationship between globalization and new social movements? (10) (e) Comparative Government/Traditional Approach vs. Comparative Politics (10) 2. Attempt all the questions: (a) Salient features and evolution of the Comparative method. (15) (b) Do social and new social movements lead greater democratization necessarily? Do you think that social movements form a link between mobilization and democracy? (15) (c) What are the characteristics of the Democratic regimes of Developed world and is their nature and structure uniform? (20) 3. Attempt all the questions: (a) The 'end of ideology' debate was designed to project the supremacy of liberal democratic system inGSGSGS theory as SCORESCORESCOREwell as in practice. Comment. (15) (b) What do you understand by political economy approach to study the comparative politics? Discuss major paradigms of political economy approach. (15) (c) Globalization not only eroded nation-state sovereignty but enhanced it too. Discuss. (20) 4. Attempt all the questions: (a) What are social movements/New Social Movements? Compare and contrast these movements' in advance industrial countries and developing countries? (15) (b) Is globalization diminishing the role of the state in the world economy? (15) (c) It has been well established notion that third world has its own unique political and economic traditions but there was persistent effort to identify and prescribe general models of the political process. In light of above statement, discusses the dominant and distinctive features of non-western political process. (20)
Political Science [1] SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: (a) What are the major advantages of the Behavioural Approach in studying International relations? Describe its major attributes as per the views of David Easton? (10) (b) Existing World Order promotes US hegemony. Comment. (10) (c) Critically Examine the Institutional approach of Comparative politics. (10) (d) New social movement is not completely new in India. Comment. (10) (e) Discuss the intricacies of Globalisation and Human Rights? (10) 6. Attempt all the questions: (a) Discuss the features of political parties in third world countries. (15) (b) What are the different meanings of system in international relations. Explain the Mortan Kaplan model? (15) (c) Discuss Globalization and its basic tenets; identify response of developing countries at various levels? (20) 7. Attempt all the questions: (a) What is Almond's classification of pressure groups? How are pressure groups different from Interest groups in their structure and function? (15) (b) Evaluate one party, two party and multi-party systems in context of their nature and functional aspects. (15) (c) Analyse the Political Sociology Approach to Comparative Politics. (20) 8. Attempt all the questions: (a) Globalization has significant impact on different international theoretical prospectives. Analyse. (15) (b) Conceptions of clash of civilization offers cultural understanding of International Relations. Explain. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE (15) (c) Discuss the role of GSMultinational SCORE companies as political actors. (20)
[2] Political Science Political Science Test Series 2020
www.iasscore.in POLITICAL SCIENCE Answer Hints: Test No.5
SECTION - A
1. (a) David Easton's Input Output Model
• Approach Required : Elaborate on the major aspects of David Easton’s Model with clear segregation of content regarding each component of his Model. Do not forget to emphasize on the role of Feedback. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content should be very concise and specific to Easton’s model. No need to comment on the general aspects of System Theory. • David Easton presented the input-output analysis in his article “ The Analysis of Political Systems” published in “World Politics” in 1957. It is like a small box consists of two sets of inputs, one output and feedback mechanism to the input side. • On the input side, Easton includes demands and supports. Demand is the name of pressure which flow from the environment to the political system to bring about a change in the allocation of values. And support is the second input. It is the energy in the form of actions or orientation promoting and resisting a political system. • But here the question arises what it does for the society. The answer is policy making. Here comes Easton’s concept of outputs. Outputs are the decisions or policy made by authorities. Further the policies made by the authorities are supported by the people or not. Thus the response or reaction of the public to the outputs are feed back into, the output system. Again the system convert it into ouput. This cyclic process of input, output and feedback mechanism constitute the Easton’s Input-Output analysis, which make decision for the society. • The inputs are the pressures of all kinds which are exercised on the system. David Easton was the first political scientist who analysed political system in explicit system terms distinguishes two types of inputs into the political system, demand and supports. Demands and supports are received by the system from the environment. • Demands: Demand according to Easton as an expression of opinion that an authoritative allocation with regard to particular subject matter should or should not be made by those responsible for doing so. The demands may include the demand for wage and working hour, laws, educational opportunities, recreational facilities, road and transports etc. There may be demands of behaviour, demand of the right to vote, right to hold office, right to be elected for the office, to petition government bodies and officials and to organize political associations. The demands keep the system operating. • Support: For survival of the political system , Easton prescribes the concept of support. No political system could last long without the support of the society of which it is a part. The support may be, by accepting the decision of the political system or by obeying them, is the most common way of showing support. Inputs of demands are called as the raw materials, out of which finished products called decisions are manufactured. • They are not enough to keep a political system operating. Thus, a political system receives considerable support from the environment. The support is both overt and covert. The overt supports are forms of actions which are clearly and manifestly supportive. The covert supports are attitudes and sentiments towards the political system. The political system also face support stress by several ways. According to Easton support stress is due to failure of output. The political support decline if the political system fails to deliver the goods. • Conversion Process: A process through which a political system converts input into output is called the conversion process. It comes through the process of selection, limitation or rearrangement. The conversion process operates dynamically because the selection can take place over a period of time. This conversion process depends upon the capability of the political system for extraction of resources, regulation and control over individuals and goods. • Outputs: The outputs of the political system are the decisions of the authorities. It may be rules, regulation, action, laws and so on. In the first place, authoritative decisions affect the environment of the political system. Outputs help to maintain support for the political system. • Feedback : Feedback is a process through which information about the performance of the system is communicated back to it. This information is essential to the authorities who take decision for the system. Through feedback loop the system may take advantage of adjusting its future behaviour. Without information feedback, about what is happening in the system, the authorities would have to operate in the dark. It consists of production of outputs by the authorities, a response by the members of the society to these outputs, the communication of information about the response to the authorities and possible succeeding actions by the authorities. • This is a cyclical process. This has been described as a ‘flow model’ of the political system. Easton says that the outputs are not the terminal points. They feedback into the system and which in turn shapes the subsequent behaviour. The feedback thus has a profound influence on the capacity of the system to persist and to cope up with the stress.
1. (b) Concept of Globalism. • Approach Required : Start your answer by defining what is Globalism and how it is different from the conventional term ‘Globalization’. Comment in detail how Globalism improves on the limitations of Globalization. • Mistakes to be avoided: Globalism is not to be confused with liberalism , and students need to specifically focusGSGSGS on the humaneSCORESCORESCORE aspect of Globalism. Globalism is best understood when compared to the more familiar concept of globalisation. The technological, economic and cultural processes, which lead to globalisation, are often believed to be objective and impersonal, independent of the preferences, attitudes and actions of those political actors whose interests they deeply affect. Those who benefit from them can accelerate them at the most only marginally. They can be stopped or reversed even more marginally by those who suffer the consequences.Globalism, on the other hand, is a perspective consciously promoted by rationalist, humanist and Universalist actors and thinkers of both liberal and socialist political persuasions. At the core of all globalist positions are the following shared assumptions. • Globalists believe the problems which the world faces are global in nature. The urgency, immediacy or intensity of these problems may vary, but they are not restricted to any particular locality, community, state or region, and therefore, if left unattended, all would suffer from their consequences, Problems of environmental degradation, population explosion, nuclear war, terrorism, narcotics and spread of HIV/AIDS are global in this sense.
[2] Hints: Political Science • Secondly, all globalists believe that the solutions to these global problems also have to be global in scope. That is so because the resources required for handling these problems are beyond the reach of any nation, region or community. Not only financial and material resources need to be pooled globally, human inputs also have to be coordinated in order to achieve required levels of efficiency and cost-effectiveness. • Thirdly, all globalists believe that such coordination is possible on a sustained basis only when there is global consensus on the definition of problems as well as prioritization of preferred solutions. Such consensus in turn requires that decision-making processes are transparent and based on democratic equality of participants. • Given these assumptions, it is easy to see the objections, which globalists have against the kind of globalisation presently taking place. They characterise it as “globalisation from above” because it is being shaped by the rich and the powerful states and corporations. They exploit the tremendous concentration of wealth and power in their hands to force unequal integration on the weak and poor states and communities to further marginalise them. Globalists are not against globalisation as such. But they prefer what they call “globalisation from below” which would truly reflect the philosophy of globalism.
1. (c) Major Limitations of System Approach • Approach Required : Students need to pointwise elaborate on the various limitations of the System approach. You can take help of the criticism levelled against the models given by Easton, Almond and Kaplan. • Mistakes to be avoided: Be very specific to what is being asked. Do not explain what is systems approach. The Systems Theory in general and Morton Kaplan’s six Models of International System in particular have been severely criticized by several scholars. Robert J. Lieber has summarisalised the major limitations of the Systems Approach as under: 1. Only Frameworks: The first limitation is, as Easton and Kaplan have acknowledged, that the systems approaches are not yet theories but only conceptual frameworks. As such, these cannot lay down an intellectual policy of international relations. 2. Inadequate: The second major limitation is its methodological inadequacy. There is lack of operationalization of concepts in a way that can make them accessible to empirical testing. 3. Gap between Theory and Research: The third major limitation is the gap between theory and research. Systems oriented theorizing has not, until very recently, led to great deal of empirical work. In the GSGSGSopinion of J.SCORESCORESCORE David Singer, “the unfortunate bifurcation between theory and research has sharply limited the usefulness and value of systems theory.” 4. A Limited Approach: Systems Approach is a limited approach because it does not accept the study of political institutions and important domestic variables of international relations. It wrongly ignores the value of historical and ideological factors. 5. Introduces Jargon and unnecessary technicalities: The terminology is needlessly heavy and jargonic and introduces numerous new terms to the observer.
1. (d) What do you understand by the term "trans-nationalization of political advocacy" in context of relationship between globalization and new social movements? • Approach Required : Need to first explain the meaning of the term “trans nationalization of political advocacy”. Explain how exactly has Globalization is providing assistance to NSM specially in developing nations.
Hints: Political Science [3] • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t explain what is NSM. Instead simply focus on how the nature and impact of NSM is getting transformed with emergence of transnational links. • In a globalized world, the trend is towards the Trans nationalization of political advocacy. It focuses on the movements for human rights, women and environment in particular. The Trans nationalization of these movements appears to be closely linked to the development of public forums and other channels of communication that contests the politics of states, both at the individual and collective level. • Transnational advocacy clearly has a transformative dimension, and its links in public politics and democracy are relatively well recognized. In this sense, it may be argued that liberalism carries with it the seeds of its own expansion, rather than its destruction. Transnational and local activism has thereby continued to expand the public sphere. Many of the NSMs have pressurised governments to change their policies and practices. They pose a metaphysical challenge to modernity, through a variety of strategies and protests. • Global political opportunities have expanded in the last few decades, as international institutions and elite have become sympathetic to local struggles by disadvantaged and disaffected populations. In the global south for e.g. the social movements have been particularly influenced by the histories of colonization, decolonization and the national liberation struggles. Today the term ‘ Global Justice Movement´ is being increasingly employed. This is reflected in the larger number of mass demonstrations that have taken place at the major conferences like G8, G20, and WTO etc. • At the global level, the international society provides the new resources for mobilization. This takes the shape of both material and human resources. Grants from the major funding sources like the Ford Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation for example are the sources for such material support. The international NGOs provide human resources and tactical support to ensure effective mobilization, like sending professional activists to assist the local organizations and movements. Such human and material resources tend to propel the social movements across the globe. • The transnational human and organization networks assist the social movements much the same way as the neighbourhood networks and local interpersonal ties mobilise people into the social movements. Hence the global networking to protect the rights of indigenous peoples has created the international activist networks from which the indigenous peoples draw resources for their political mobilization. Similar trends connect the environmental organizations across the global landscape. 1. (e) Comparative Government/TraditionalGSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE Approach vs. Comparative Politics • Approach Required : Adopt a comparative approach/tabular approach. Try to point out all the limitations of the Traditional approach and pointwise elaborate how Comparative Politics approach improves on each of them. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep the content very specific to the differences between the two. No need to explain the general aspects of both. • While the term comparative government is quite old, the term comparative politics as mentioned above is relatively new. In 1955 R.C. Macridis clearly differentiated the two when he pointed out that the traditional approach was non comparative, descriptive, parochial, static and monographic • The traditional approach was non-comparative and descriptive. In that standard textbooks described a number of countries one after the other in detail, but attempted little comparison. It was hence monographic in character i.e. we had excellent country studies but no attempt
[4] Hints: Political Science to understand why particular countries had a multi-party system or why democracy worked better in one country than another. This was because the traditional approach was much narrower in scope as it was based on the formal legal approach that characterised political science as a whole. Consequently, as its name implies, it was restricted to the study of the formal processes of ‘ governments and institutions. • In contrast, comparative politics is wider in scope and encompasses not merely institutions but political processes as well i.e., it covers political parties, pressure groups and a wide range of informal institutions and processes as well. This enables better analysis of institutions and processes within states and between states. Hence, it can be comparative in a way that the traditional approach could not be. • Second, comparative politics, in contrast to the traditional approach, is multi-disciplinary in outlook, meaning that it draws not only on political science but also on history, economics and sociology. Part of this was due to changes in the discipline of political science as a whole, and partly due to the behavioural approach. • Third, the traditional approach was parochial i.e. restricted to European governments and therefore Eurocentric in its outlook and analysis. The post-war period saw a broadening of the field as after decolonisation, the number of states increased throwing up fresh theoretical and methodological questions. • Finally the traditional approach was static; it did not try to understand why systems change. Comparative politics in contrast, has been preoccupied with questions of how political systems change from tradition to modernity and the problems that rapid change can produce, and also why some systems change more slowly than others and retain traditional features.
2. (a) Salient features and evolution of the Comparative method.
• Approach Required : Need to identify what are the major areas covered under the method and what major questions it attempts to answer. Need to comment on the evolution of the method and how it has specially transformed after Decolonization. • Mistakes to be avoided: Comment in a holistic manner. Don’t over elaborate on any one specific sub approach. Also need to include the major changes that happened after Decolonization which propelled the evolution of the Comparative method. • Comparative politics is concerned with the study of all forms of political activity, governmental as well as nongovernmental. The field of comparative politics has an ‘all encompassing’ nature and comparativeGSGS GSpolitics specialists SCORESCORESCORE tend to view it as the study of everything political. • The distinctiveness of comparative politics, most comparativists would argue, lies in a conscious and systematic use of comparisons to study two or more countries with the purpose of identifying, and eventually explaining differences or similarities between them with respect to the particular phenomena being analysed. • For a long time comparative politics appeared merely to look for similarities and differences, and directed this towards classifying, dichotomising or polarising political phenomena. Comparative political analysis is however, not simply about identifying similarities and differences. The purpose of using comparisons, it is felt by several scholars, is going beyond ‘identifying similarities and differences’ or the ‘compare and contrast approach’, to ultimately study political phenomena in a larger framework of relationships. • This, it is felt, would help deepen our understanding and broaden the levels of answering and explaining political phenomena.It may, however, be pointed out that for long comparative politics concerned itself with the study of governments and regime types, and confined itself
Hints: Political Science [5] to studying western countries. The process of decolonisation especially in the wake of the Second World War, generated interest in the study of ‘new nations’. The increase in and diversity of unit cases that could be brought into the gamut of comparison, was accompanied also by the urge to formulate abstract universal models, which could explain political phenomena and processes in all the units. • Simultaneous to the increase and diversification of cases to be studied was also expansion in the sphere of politics so as to allow the examination of politics as a total system, including not merely the state and its institutions but also individuals. Social groupings, political parties, interest groups, social movements etc. • Certain aspects of institutions and political process were especially in focus for what was seen as their usefulness in explaining political processes, e.g., political socialisation, patterns of political culture, techniques of interest articulation and interest aggregation, styles of political recruitment, extent of political efficacy and political apathy, ruling elites etc. These systemic studies were often built around the concern with nation-building i.e., providing a politico-cultural identity to a population, state-building i.e., providing institutional structure and processes for politics and modernisation i.e., to initiate a process of change along the western path of development. • The presence of divergent ideological poles in world politics (Western capitalism and Soviet socialism), the rejection of western imperialism by most newly liberated countries, the concern with maintaining their distinct identity in the form of the non-aligned movement and the sympathy among most countries with a socialist path of development, gradually led to the irrelevance of most modernisation models for purposes of global large level comparisons. Whereas the fifties and sixties were the period where attempts to explain political reality were made through the construction of large scale models, the seventies saw the assertion of Third World-ism and the rolling back of these models. The Eighties saw the constriction of the levels of comparison with studies based on regions or smaller numbers of units became prevalent. With globalisation, however, the imperatives for large level comparisons increased and the field of comparisons has diversified with the proliferation of non-state, ‘non- governmental actors and the increased interconnections between nations with economic linkages and information technology revolution.
2. (b) Do social and new social movements lead greater democratization necessarily? Do you think that social movements form a link between mobilization and democracy? • Approach Required: YouGS have to explainSCORE what is the extent of linkage and dependency between the New SocialGSGSGS Movements SCORESCORESCORE and greater democratization of the society. Do they always share a positive correlation or they also work against each other? Focus more on positive aspects and examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to provide counter arguments. Also your arguments need to be supported by examples, both in case of supportive and critical arguments. • If democratization promotes democracy via the broadening of citizens’ rights and the public accountability of ruling elites, most, but not all, social movements support democracy. In fact, in pushing for suffrage enlargement or the recognition of associational rights, social movements contribute to democratization – “Gains in the democratization of state processes are perhaps the most important that social movements can influence and have the greatest systemic impacts”. • This was not always the case: some movements– e.g., fascist and neofascist ones – denied democracy altogether, while others – e.g., some New Left movements in Latin America – had [6] Hints: Political Science the unwanted effect of producing a backlash in democratic rights. Identity politics, such as those driving ethnic conflicts, often ended up in religious war and racial violence. • Two different conceptions of the role played by social movements in the process of democratization have been singled out. According to a “populist approach to democracy,” emphasizing participation from below, “social movements contribute to the creation of a public space – social settings, separate both from governing institutions and from organizations devoted to production or reproduction, in which consequential deliberation over public affairs takes place – as well as sometimes contributing to transfers of power over states. Public space and transfers of power then supposedly promote democracy, at least under some conditions.” • To the “populist” approach is counterpoised an “elitist” approach according to which democratization must be a top-down process, while an excess of mobilization leads to new forms of authoritarianism, since the elites feel afraid of too many and too rapid changes. We can agree that social movements contribute to democratization only under certain conditions. In particular, only those movements that explicitly demand increased equality and protection for minorities promote democratic development. • In fact, looking at the process of democratization it can be observed that collective mobilization has frequently created the conditions for a destabilization of authoritarian regimes, but it can also lead to an intensification of repression or the collapse of weak democratic regimes, particularly when social movements do not stick to democratic conceptions. • While labour, student, and ethnic movements brought about a crisis in the Franco regime in Spain in the 1960s and 1970s, the worker and peasant movements and the fascist counter movements contributed to the failure of the process of democratization in Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. • However, social movements often openly mobilized for democracy. They formed transnational alliances in order to overthrow authoritarian regimes. In Latin America as well as in Eastern Europe, although in different forms, social movements asked for democratization, producing a final breakdown of neofascism as well as socialist authoritarian governments. Research in various regions has stressed that the first steps of democratization include a demobilization of civil society and the developments of more institutionalized political actors, following the opening up of institutional opportunities. • In recent democratization processes, the availability of public and private funds in the third sector contributed to an early institutionalization of movement organization. However, this does not necessarily seemGSGSGS to be the fateSCORESCORESCORE of movements in phases of democratic consolidation. • Presence of a tradition of mobilization, as well as movements that are independent from political parties, can facilitate the maintenance of a high level of protest – as illustrated by the shantytown dwellers’ movement in Chile; the urban movement in Brazil; or the environmental movements in Eastern Europe. • Although with breaks and irregularities, democracy has brought about decreasing inequalities and protection from arbitrary government interventions. Can we say that, in struggling for democracy, social movements have succeeded in radically changing the power distribution in society? • Many signs discourage one from excessive optimism. Protest goes in cycles, and what is won during peaks of mobilization is once again jeopardized during moments of latency. The labour movement contributed to creating many social and political rights, but the neoliberal turn at the end of the twentieth century called into question the welfare state that had
Hints: Political Science [7] appeared to be an institutionalized achievement from the 1970s. Social inequalities are again on the rise. If protest is more and more accepted as “normal politics,” some forms of contentious politics are more and more stigmatized as uncivilized in public opinion and are repressed by the police. • Most social movements survive the decline of mobilization, oscillating between visibility and latency, continuing within a larger family of movements, the organizational infrastructures and mobilization potential of which they help to increase. • The “force” of collective identities can vary, some stronger (the women’s movement), others weaker (the youth movement); some relatively visible (the environmentalist movement), others less so (the peace movement); some have a stronger presence at the national level (the antinuclear movement), others at local level (the urban movements); some are more political (federalist movements), others cultural (punks and skinheads). • It rarely happens that a movement disappears leaving no cultural or organizational trace whatsoever. Instead, movements tend to reproduce themselves in sorts of virtuous (or vicious) circles. As mentioned, during cycles of protest early-riser movements set the examples for activating other movements either in support, imitation, or opposition to themselves. • Some movements depart from others, in order to pursue more specific or otherwise related aims, with a spill over effect; other rise from internal splits, as spin-offs. • Social movement resources increase over time, therefore, and movements become institutionalized, construct subcultural networks, create channels of access to policymakers, and form alliances. This organizational continuity means that the experiences of “early- riser” movements are both resources and constraints for those that follow. Processes of imitation and differentiation, enforced repetition and learning, take place contemporaneously. • Movement activists inherit structures and models from their predecessors. At the same time, however, they learn from the errors of movements that have preceded them and seek to go beyond them. The greater the success achieved by early-riser movements and the greater the participation of ex-activists in subsequent mobilizations, the greater will be the continuity with the past. • The tendency towards the institutionalization of social movements and their diffusion as a form of organizing and mediating interests can be explained by the diffusion, with each wave of mobilization, of the capacities required for collective action. In fact, mobilization is facilitated by the presence of networks of activists willing to mobilize around new issues – where these are “compatible”GSGSGS with theirSCORESCORESCORE original identities, naturally. • Moreover, the substantive gains made by one movement can have beneficial consequences for the demands of other movements, and their success encourages further mobilizations. It can be concluded, therefore, that the importance of social movements tends to grow inasmuch as there is an ever-increasing amount of resources (both technical and structural) available for collective action. This surely contributed to the spread of participatory conceptions of democracy.
2. (c) What are the characteristics of the Democratic regimes of Developed world and is their nature and structure uniform?
• Approach Required : Try to identify the major similarities between the Democratic regimes of the Developed World but also discuss the subtle differences they have with each other. Need to explain the structural and organizational differences between the various types of Democratic regimes across the world.
[8] Hints: Political Science • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not consider that all Democratic regimes in the world are exactly alike. Try to identify the general common features and point out the specific differences they have with each other. The liberal democratic regimes in the developed states have been categorised as polyarchical regimes by Robert Dahl in his work ‘Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition’. The term ‘Polyarchy’ has been preferred to ‘liberal democracy’ by the western comparative political theorists primarily because of two reasons. First, liberal democracy as a concept has been treated mostly as a political ideal than a form of regime, and is thus invested with broader normative implications. Second, the usage of the concept of ‘Polyarchy’ tends to acknowledge that the democratic regimes in the developed countries, mostly western, still fall short, In significant ways, of the goal of democracy as theorised in political theory. The liberal democratic or polyarchical regimes are to be found in the states of North America, Western Europe and Australia. However, there are states like Japan and South Africa who also exhibit the same characteristics. Some of these characteristics may be identified in a brief manner as given below: • These democratic regimes represent political institutions and practices which include universal suffrage. Elections of representatives for a specified period makes them directly responsible to people. These regimes also provide equal opportunities to the citizens to compete for public office. The political parties and the political leaders enjoy the rights to compete publicly for support. • Free and fair elections are the basis of the formation of governments. A competitive party system is supplemented by the pressure groups and the lobbying organisations. These pressure groups influence the conduct of the government by mobilising the people. • The democratic regimes reflect a high level of tolerance of opposition that is sufficient to check the arbitrary inclination of the government. The existence of alternative sources of information independent of the control of the government and of one another is helpful in this regard. Institutionally guaranteed and protected civil and political. Rights are further strengthened by the presence of the new social movements. It all results into a vigorous and democratically conscious civil society. • The democratic regimes accept the presence of political cleavages due to diversity in the civil society. As such political conflicts are seen as an inevitable aspect of political life. Political thought and practice, enshrined in these democratic regimes accept conflict as a normal and not aberrant ‘feature. These democratic regimes derive their underpinnings from the western liberal individualistic tradition of political thought thus besides guaranteeing the individual rights they also support free competitive market society. The cultural and ideological orientation of these regimes likewiseGSGSGS is also derived SCORESCORESCORE from western liberalism. • The democratic regimes in the developed World are not considered all alike. Some of them tend to favour centralisation and majority rule whereas others favour fragmentation and pluralism. ‘Thus the comparative political theorists like Lijphart distinguishes these regimes between ‘majority’ democratic regimes and the ‘pluralist’ democratic regimes. • The ‘majority’ democratic regimes are organised along parliamentary lines in accordance with the Westminster model. Such democratic regimes are to be found in United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Israel. Some of the significant features these regimes share are single party government, a lack of separation of powers between the executive and the legislature, a simple plurality or first past the post electoral system, unitary or quasi- federal government, legislative supremacy, etc. • The pluralist democratic regimes based on the US model represent the separation of power and checks and balance. The provisions of the Constitution allow institutional fragmentation. Hints: Political Science [9] The states like Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland which are divided by deep religious, ideological, regional, linguistic and cultural diversities have adopted such regimes which are also called the consociational democratic regimes. These regimes promote the value of bargaining and power sharing which can ensure consensus. • The common features these regimes share are coalition Government, A separation of power between the legislature and executive, an effective bicameral system, a multiparty system, Proportional representation. Federalism or devolution of political power, a Bill of rights, etc
3. (a) The 'end of ideology' debate was designed to project the supremacy of liberal democratic system in theory as well as in practice. Comment. • Approach Required : Elaborate on the major aspects of the debate/theory by quoting the numerous scholars associated with it. Give arguments as to why ideology is no longer relevant in developed economies. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to quote multiple scholars. Do not limit your content only to Daniel Bell. • In western liberal democratic countries, it was declared that the age of ideology had come to an end. These countries looked at ideology as a tool of totalitarianism which had no place in open societies. End of ideology also implied that the advanced stage of industrial development, a country’s social-economic organization is determined by its level of development, and not by its political ideology. In other words, capitalist and communist countries were bound to evolve similar characteristics at the advanced stage of their industrial development, irrespective of their ideological differences. • Daniel Bell, in his noted work the end of Ideology have lesser proportion of workers in industry than in services. In other words , at the advanced stage of industrial development in any country the services sector expands at a faster rate than the manufacturing sector, besides it is also characterized by the increasing dominance of technical elites. The change in this direction is not affected by its political ideology. • Seymour M. Lipset observed that in western democracies the differences between the left and right are no longer profound, the only issues before politics are concerned with marginal increase in wages, marginal rise in prices, and extension of old age pensions etc. He maintained that the fundamental political problems of the industrial revolution have been solved: the workers have achieved industrial and political citizenship; the conservatives have accepted the welfare state; and the democratic left has recognised that an increase in overall state power carries with it moreGSGSGS dangers SCORESCOREtoSCORE freedom than solutions to economic problems. The triumph of democracy in the west has made the intellectuals realize that they no longer need ideologies or utopias to motivate them into political action. • W.W Rostow built a one-dimensional model of economic growth which was applicable to all countries irrespective of their political ideologies. He suggested that all societies pass through five stages of growth; traditional society , preconditions for take-off, road to maturity and the age of high mass consumption. He asserted that the adoption of different political ideologies played no role in determining the course of economic development in different countries. • J.K. Galbraith identified that all industrialized societies are having greater centralization, bureaucratization, professionalization and technocratization. These characteristics were visible in the Russian as well as American systems although they had adopted as divergent ideologies as communism and capitalism respectively. He claimed that a new ruling class consisting of bureaucratic and technocratic elite had emerged in all advanced industrial societies. This
[10] Hints: Political Science class belonged neither to the working class nor to the capitalists.in liberal societies, the members of this class occupied high positions in open meritocratic system. Because of high rate of social mobility, they are not attached to particular capitalists. Power in society is vested in bureaucracy and technocracy, and not in capitalists. Galbraith comes to the conclusion that in the contemporary world, emancipation of humanity should be sought in anti-bureaucratism rather than in anti-capitalism. • With the collapse of communist system in east European countries in 1989 and Soviet Union in 1991 this view got a new impetus in the form of the ‘End of History´ thesis. Francis Fukuyama, his paper entitled ‘The End of History’, argued that the failure of socialism meant an unabashed victory of economic and political liberalism. It marked the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. Fukuyama maintained that the liberal democracy contains no basic contradictions and that it is capable of fulfilling deepest aspirations of mankind. Its victory has heralded an end to the long historical struggle which had obstructed its expansion in the past.
3. (b) What do you understand by political economy approach to study the comparative politics? Discuss major paradigms of political economy approach. • Approach Required : Discuss the major areas of focus of the political economy approach and with special emphasis on the Liberal and Marxist sub-approaches. Try to include views of as many scholars as you can. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t limit the views to only Marx and Adam Smith. Try to include the views of scholars with contradictory views from the same tradition. • Third New International Dictionary has defined political economy as a social science which deals with the economics of political process. Economists stress the economic ramifications of political economy. Mandel traced ‘its origin to “the development of a society based on petty commodity production.” Marx’s major work, Capital, is subtitled “A Critique of Political Economy” and emphasizes commodities, money, surplus value, and accumulation of capital. Focused on “all material production by individuals as determined by society”. He criticized Adam Smith and Proudhon for basing their conclusions based on the freedom of the individual and free competition, which were illusory. • However, in contemporary political science, no great tradition of political economy had developed. Actually, radical economists and sociologists have done more to revive the current interest in political economy and to make it more relevant to political analysis. Most of these writers have promotedGS GSGSa Marxist understandingSCORESCORESCORE of political economy. • In 1845 and 1846, Marx related his conception of the state to the productive base of society through various stages of history. He says: “this conception of history depends on our ability to expound the real processor history, starting out the material production of life itself....and to show in its action as state, to explain all the different theoretical products...religion, philosophy, ethics and trace their origins and growth from that basis.” According to this, the base or economic structure of society becomes the real foundation on which people enter into essential relations over which they exercise little control. In contrast, the legal and political superstructure is a reflection of that base. Only, political economy can restore the connection between an analysis of the economic base and exposition of its political and ideological super-structures. • Almond and others thought that the concept of the state was limited by legal and institutional meanings. The neutral concept of ‘system’ diverted attention from class society, from the relationship of different classes to the means of production and productive forces. Today the
Hints: Political Science [11] use of system usually pertains to a nation and comparative politics tends toward country based configurative studies. • Similarly, international politics is dealt with the systems approach or the conventional historic, behavioural, geopolitical, balance of power or equilibrium approaches. They emphasize political aspects, overlooking economic considerations. When international politics takes up questions of imperialism and dependency, perspectives on political economy can be applied. There is another problem.in the developed, industrial nations and underdeveloped, agrarian societies are studies in contrast and separate divided into the metropoles and satellites the centre and the periphery. No attempt is to integrate and synthesize study of these so-called dichotomous entities. • Marxist approach to political economy makes the following points: First, it has advocated that political inquiry is holistically and historically oriented rather than limited to segments and current affairs. It should seek synthesis in the search for an understanding of social problems and issues. Second, the study of politics should be combined with economics. • Distinctions between politics and economics and also between comparative and international politics in political science lead to a distortion of reality and confusion. The dichotomy between the centre and the periphery also leads to theoretical difficulties. The dialectical method will help in an integrated and dynamic analysis of politics. • We find contrasting methodologies in the study of political economy. They may be identified as orthodox and radical methodologies, which generate sharply different questions and explanations. A distinction between Marxist and non-Marxist criteria should be made to perceive the differences between these approaches. Marxism in this context should be seen as a methodology rather than an ideology. • Ernest Mandel has provided the most recent interpretation of developments in political economy. Petty production was the first stage that lasted the middle Ages. The transformation of Europe from feudalism to a profit-oriented economy of buyers and sellers led to the school of political economy. They assumed regulation and control were necessary in’ order to constrain the selfish individualism. They argued that wealth was produced, not by trade and industry, but by agriculture. Liberals believed that private property should be protected and that the production of wealth based on the incentive to work, and the right to property instilled in the individual. They suggested that individual initiative must be free from mercantilist constraints. • Adam Smith consolidated these ideas into classical political economy. In his into the Nature and Causes of the WealthGSGSGS of nations, SCORESCORESCORE he discussed the major themes of commodity, capital and values, simple and complex labour. He was the first to formulate labour theory of value, “which reduces the value of commodities to the amounts of labour contained in them.” Adam Smith also identified laws market that explain the drive of individual self-interest in a competitive milieu and how this results in goods desired by society according to the and the price it is willing to pay. Smith envisaged competitive market equilibrium because individualism promoted order, not chaos, in the market economy. • Ricardo in the Political Economy and was both a pupil and critic of Adam Smith. Ricardo advocated the accumulation of capital as the basis for economic expansion. He thought that restrictions on private be abolished and that governments should not intervene in the economy. Ricardo also noted the conflict between the interest of landlords and capitalists. • Utopian socialists like Robert Owen, and Charles Fourier criticized the liberals for defending capitalism by giving a twist to Ricardo’s theory of labour. In so far as modern socialism, no of what tendency, starts out from bourgeois economy, it almost exclusively links itself to the
[12] Hints: Political Science Ricardian theory of value. The two which Ricardo (I) the value is purely solely determined by the quantity of required for its and (2) that the product of the entire social labour is divided among the three classes: landowners (rent), capitalists and workers (wages), had ever since 1821 been utilized in England for socialist conclusions.” • Marx transcended the theory of the utopian socialists as well as the classical economists. He worked out a theory of surplus value and class struggle. He set both basic laws of development and theory of economic crises. He thus achieved a practical synthesis of micro-economic and macroeconomic ideas. He also said that the of every society form a whole; the parts cannot be separated from the whole so that one can explain society in terms of all relations coexisting and supporting one another. • The advent of socialism led to the marginality theory of value and neo-classical political economy. The labour theory of value was attacked along with a bourgeois onslaught on Marxism. The neo-classical theory was rigorous, detailed and abstract. Marxism was attacked by the historical school in Germany and also by the Austrian and Swiss economists. The neo- classicists emphasize equilibrium and are criticized for being unable to account for the disturbances that affect equilibrium. There is static, not dynamic. It does not deal with economic crises and does not relate imperialism to capitalism. . These problems led some economists like Schumpeter to study structural crises. • After the great depression of 1929-1933, Keynes wrote General Theory of Employment Interest and Money and changed an apologetic view of capitalism to a pragmatic one. Instead of justifying capitalism in theory, he suggested a way to preserve it in practice by mitigations, the extent of its frequent fluctuations. Marxist and Neo-Marxist writers like Kautsky, Hilferding, and Rosa Luxemburg and others continued the radical tradition of political economy. Imperialism: The Last Phase of was a good example of the application of the political economy approach to analysis of imperialism as a world system. • Paul Leo Huberman and Paul Sweezy made a great contribution to the development of political economy since about 1960. Mandel continued their tradition and predicted an end to what he called the bourgeois, ideological approach to political economy. • The examination of the theory, method and concept suggests dichotomy between bourgeois and Marxist political economy. Attention to capitalist accumulation permits the consideration of both political and economic issues. The study of capitalist accumulation with emphasis on precapitalist and capitalist modes of production can integrate the inquiry that has so far led the economists to investigate questions about the material base of society and political scientists to study the issues of the political and ideological super-structure. • Some might say that economistsGSGSGS shouldSCORESCORESCORE be concerned with theories of imperialism and political scientists should deal with the theories of state and class. However, all these concerns should be integrated by the political economist. The solution is the reconstitution of economies and political science into economy. Political economy fundamentally addresses the broad historical sweep of capitalism, especially over the past hundred years. In the Das Marx gave us the foundations for such study. • Wallerstein, in The Modern World elaborated Andre Gunder Frank’s theory of capitalist development and underdevelopment and emphasized market relations. Three thinkers - Mandel, Anderson, and Wallerstein- among others have rekindled an interest in the history of political economy. It orients us toward old and new issues neglected by most contemporary economists and political scientists. All four borrowed from Marxist tradition of political economy and enriched it by their valuable contributions. • Mandel explained that the entire capitalist system is a hierarchical structure of different levels of productivity and the outcome of the uneven and combined development of states,
Hints: Political Science [13] religions, branches of industry and firms, unleashed by the search for super-profits. In this system, unity coexists with lack of homogeneity, development with underdevelopment and super profit with poverty, given these variations, features of lower stages combine with those of upper stages to produce a formation of contradictory character and allow a qualitative leap in the social backward people. Brenner criticises this approach he thinks it has neglected relations of production and class struggle. He doubts whether national solution will prevail over the problems of worldwide accumulation.
3. (c) Globalization not only eroded nation-state sovereignty but enhanced it too. Discuss. • Approach Required : Simply compare and contrast the views of Sceptics and Hyper- Globalists on the issue and quote examples as evidence for both sides. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to include views of multiple scholars from both sides of the debate. Your conclusion should not show bias towards any one side of the debate. Keep your content scholarly and balanced. • There has been much debate about whether globalization is undermining state sovereignty in the study of world politics today. This is due to the fact that the term ‘globalization’ itself is rather subjective and broad. There are two rather distinct arguments used in this debate. Hyper globalists, such as Ohmae and Scholte, hold a pessimistic view and argues that globalization brings about the demise of the sovereign nation state: global forces undermine the ability of governments to control their own economics and societies. • In contrast, by emphasizing the continuing importance of states in world politics, academics such as Krasner and Gilpin argue that states and geopolitics remain the principal agents and forces shaping world order today. • One view of globalization is that it is ‘simply the widening, deepening, and speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness’. Using this definition, hyperglobalist Rosenau argues that the cumulative scale, scope, velocity, and depth of contemporary interconnectedness is dissolving the significance of the borders and boundaries that separate the world into it many constituent states or national economic and political spaces. It then follows that this is undermining the territorial notion of the sovereign state, and thus agrees that globalization is undermining state sovereignty internationally. • To be more specific in relations to state sovereignty, states have been interconnected more politically, economically and socially on a national scale. Politically, one aspect of globalization is the evolving and expanding of global governance. Although there isn’t a world government to officially strip state sovereignty of its prevention of external intervention, global governance in effect does that job.GSGS GSThis form ofSCORESCORESCORE international system embraces states, international institutions and transnational networks together. By doing so, its scopes and impact have expanded dramatically. In result, its activities have become significantly politicized, as the G20 London Summit and recent Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change attest. • With this global governance complex, private and non-governmental agencies have become increasingly influential in the formation and implementation of global policy. For example, major credit-ratings agencies, such as Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, determine the credit statues of governments and corporation around the globe. Therefore in that sense, political authority at home having sole influence on its people has decreased. In addition, the state is not shielded from external influences. • Thus the state domestically has to conform to the norms of this international system in order to participate. Whether this is a choice or being forced to be irrelevant because at the end of the day, globalization in this sense undermines state sovereignty by exerting external influences and impacts on the State. [14] Hints: Political Science • Another political aspect of globalization, as defined by Brown, is the focus on the global structures and processes of rulemaking, problem solving, the maintenance of security and order in the world system. This clearly undermines the characteristic of state sovereignty in relation to having supreme legitimacy over politics within its state. Although these global structures acknowledge the continuing centrality of states and geopolitics, it does not give them the authority to decline laws that are employed on them. • Under condition of political globalization, states are increasingly embedded in worldwide webs of: multilateral institutions and multilateral politics from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the World Bank to the G20; transnational associations and networks like the International Chamber of Commerce. Worldwide economic integration has intensified due to the expansion of global commerce, finance, and production binding together the economic fortunes of nations and communities across the world. The effect of this integration is that no national economy, in theory, is able to insulate itself from the contagion effect of turmoil in the world’s financial market. The credit crunch of 2008, initiated within the USA yet affected by many counties worldwide like Germany and Japan, illustrates this perfectly. • This undermines state sovereignty in that there is external influence on the individual state. In addition, it also creates a sort of “dependency” on other states, thus undermining state’s potential to rule its territory as a self-sufficient unit. Furthermore, they are compelled to adapt to the new global economic situation or have been pressured to do so. • However, there are counterarguments to hyper globalist theories. Hirst argues that although there are changes in supra-national organization (such as the World Trade Organization) and governance, the sovereign territorial state is not being undermined even if its role is changing. The new standardized rules, reached by agreement between states, can only work if there are territorial agencies that enforce them locally and have the power to do so. Those agencies can only be, and are, states. Moreover, in order for international treaties to be implemented, they have to be deliberated, signed and delivered domestically and internationally by the states. • Due to their territory and legitimacy, states still hold the authority to speak on behalf of their populations on global issues. One could say that they are better at sustaining the global order than these Trans territorial and apparently more “global” bodies. For example, globalization economically such as ‘free trade and financial flows do not remove the need for international action by states, rather they reinforce it’. Some scholars believe that globalization is a by- product of the multilateral economic order created by USA in post-world war period. They believe that there is no restructuring of the economy, most of the trade and investment still favours the North and GSGStheGS South is SCOREstillSCORESCORE marginalized. There is no global governance which hides behind the convenient slogan of globalization. • Keeping these issues in view we can safely say that globalization has not only eroded national sovereignty but also enhanced it in many cases, and this difference continues to be particular and country specific
4. (a) What are social movements/New Social Movements? Compare and contrast these movements' in advance industrial countries and developing countries?
• Approach Required: Be careful in regard to the structuring of the content. First discuss the differentiation in terms of Social Movement and then New Social Movement between the developed and developing countries. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not make the mistake of assuming that this is a question simply asking for differentiation between Social movement and New Social Movement.
Hints: Political Science [15] Social movements are a type of group action. They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues. In other words, they carry out, resist or undo a social change whereas The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy) which are claimed to depart significantly from the conventional social movement paradigm. Social movement in advance industrial countries versus Social movement in Developing countries. • Social movements in developing countries continue to focus on primary issues like basic amenities like food, shelter, health and employment while the movement’s in advance industrial countries have shifted their focus on issues like better wages, good working conditions, Better and affordable health facilities and insurance. Since the basic needs of citizens is already fulfilled in the developed countries, movements focus on the next stage of demands and further improvement.
• Social movements in developing countries continue to be governed by feudal structures and often show violent tendencies. They are still influenced by various divisions like caste, religion, race and gender. On the other hand social movement’s in advance industrial countries have become democratic and secular in nature and very progressive in their approach.
• Movements in developing countries continue to depend on political institutions and suffer from their vested interference while the movement in developed countries have an independent existence and usually their actions have a major influence on the domestic and international politics and not the other way round as in the case of former.
New Social movements in advance industrial countries versus New Social movements in Developing countries. • NSM in developing countries still continue to focus on issues pertaining to basic needs of life and they have no independent evolution as they appear to be a continuance of the conventional social movement, having barely a separate identity and organization of their own. While NSM has now concentrated its focus towards issues of Quality of life like clean and safe environment for all. They have relatively moved on to an advanced stage of activism and have adopted the latest methodologies to attain their goals.
• For NSM in developing countries , the strategies of articulating their demands remains almost identical to thatGSGSGS of social movementsSCORESCORESCORE namely strikes, dharnas, protests. For e.g. Narmada Bachao Andolan and Anti-corruption movement. But the strategies of NSM in advanced industrial countries have become majorly sophisticated in comparison for e.g. they are using the mediums like Research, Conferences and Seminars and discussion / debates.
• The NSM in developing countries continues to derive its leadership from either the political class or the old experienced leaders of the social movement while in case of NSM in developed countries, the leadership constitutes of highly educated & elite members of the society.
• NSM in developing countries are restricting their outreach and interest to only those issues which directly affect them while their counterparts have also started entertaining issues which might not even concern them in very direct manner like issues concerning global commons like climate change, GHG emissions, wild life protection and conservation of the art and culture of developing countries as well. Their scope is much larger than NSM in the third world. [16] Hints: Political Science 4. (b) Is globalization diminishing the role of the state in the world economy? • Approach Required : You need to address the question on the basis of debate among the key schools of Globalization. Try to compare and contrast the views of Sceptic and Hyper Globalist schools of Globalization. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep your content specific to the economic aspect. Avoid a generic discussion on the impact of Globalization on state sovereignty. The Globalization debate in International Political Economy • The nature and impact of globalization is the subject of profound debate within IPE. The term globalization is used to refer to at least three different sets of forces processes in the world economy. Internationalization describes the increase in economic transactions across borders which has been taking place since the turn of the century but which some argue has undergone a quantitative leap in recent decades. The technological revolution is a second aspect of globalization, describing the effect of new electronic communication which permits firms and other actors to operate globally with much less regard for location, distance, and borders. Finally, liberalization describes the policies undertaken by states which have made a new global economy possible. This includes both the rules and institutions created by powerful states to facilitate a new scale of transnational economic activity in certain sectors (but by no means all) of the world economy. It also includes the policies of smaller and less powerful states in the system who, by liberalizing trade, investment and production, have integrated into the world economy. • In IPE several competing claims are made about globalization. For example, while some scholars argue that globalization is nothing new, others posit that globalization is dramatically diminishing the role of the state. Still others claim that globalization is exacerbating inequalities and giving rise to a more unequal and unjust world. To make sense of these different arguments and the evidence adduced to support them, it is worth thinking about the approaches to IPE covered in previous sections, for they help to identify key differences in emphasis which give rise to conflicting interpretations of globalization. • For example, sceptics who deny that globalization is transforming world politics tend to focus on the ‘internationalization ‘element of globalization. They can then draw upon evidence which throws into doubt whether the number of transactions taking place among states has indeed risen (UNDP 1997), and make the argument that there is ‘nothing new’ in the growing interdependence of states. • By contrast, liberal enthusiasts of globalization focus on technological innovation and the non-political‘ ‘objective’GSGS GSforces which SCORESCORE SCOREare shrinking the world economy. They argue that this is creating a less political, more efficient, more unified world order. Their optimism and emphasis is rejected by critics who focus on liberalization and the role of states’ policies in shaping globalization. These critics highlight the role of powerful states in setting the rules of the new globalized international economy, and their increasing influence over less powerful states. Is globalization diminishing the role of the state in the world economy? The globalists ‘A global economy is emerging’ claim those who depict a world in which multinational trade, production, investment, and financing moves in and out of countries ever more easily. The ‘globalists’ tell us that as a result, governments and states are losing their capacity to control economic interactions. This is partly because the quantity and rapidity of flows make it more difficult for governments to regulate trade, investment or capital. Equally important is the fact that firms and investors can more easily take their business elsewhere puts new constraints on Hints: Political Science [17] governments trying to retain and encourage investment. The argument here is that ‘footloose’ modern businesses will simply exit from a country if a government does not pursue liberalizing policies which foster corporate profitability and flexibility. For this reason, governments are under pressure to reduce taxes and to cut back state expenditure on health, education, pensions and so forth. When it comes to regulating international business, governments are permitting investors themselves to set the rules and these private actors are doing so though new private international networks and self-regulatory agencies. In sum, states are losing power in a global economic order in which state borders and governments are less influential. This eventuality is, of course, embraced by those interpreting it from a ‘liberal’ starting point. The sceptics Countering the ‘global economy’ view are a variety of sceptics who highlight flaws in the argument and the evidence proposed by those who argue that the state is losing power. The proposition that states are under pressure to cut taxes and reduce expenditure is attacked by scholars who examine data of industrialized countries and demonstrates that the evidence does not back up this claim. Nor does the evidence suggest that MNEs relocate investment to areas where there are lower wages and lower taxes. Rather contemporary research into actual patterns of MNE investment discloses that in the new knowledge-intensive economy, factors such as the availability of skilled and semi-skilled labour, good infrastructure and proximity to market are crucial ingredients to choices of location. The conclusion drawn from this evidence is that the role of states is not eroding. To the contrary, states and government still have a very important and substantial role to play in a successful economy. New constraints on states While sceptics knock holes in some of the arguments about the erosion of state power in the face of global multinational enterprises, other aspects of globalization do constrain all states. In particular, the fact that billions of dollars can flood in, or out, of a country overnight sets a new constraint on monetary policy and opens up new vulnerabilities in the financial sectors of all countries. In other words governments have to be very careful in managing interest rates and managing or floating exchange rates. Equally they need robust domestic banking and financial systems to weather the onslaught or recession of a tidal wave of capital. The punishment for poor policy is instantaneous and devastating. Furthermore, as the Asian financial crisis of 1997 showed, it is not only the culprit country who bears the punishment. The financial crisis in Asia highlighted the potential vulnerability of all countries to massive inflows and outflows of capital. It also underlined that some states suffer the impact of globalization more than others. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE The impact of globalization on different kinds of states • The Asian crisis highlights that states have different capacities to respond to globalization. Even though all states in the region were affected by the crisis, their responses suggested that some enjoyed more choice or ‘sovereignty’ than others. Indonesia, Thailand and Korea turned to the IMF for assistance conditional on a raft of policies mostly defined in Washington DC. Meanwhile Malaysia formulated its own policies of adjustment and imposed policies such as capital controls which were greatly disapproved of in Washington DC. Although globalists and sceptics treat all states as equal in their arguments about globalization, it is worth questioning this. • One way to think about the impact of globalization is to distinguish between ‘strong states’ and ‘weak states’. At the extreme end of strong states are those which shape the rules and institutions which have made a global economy possible: we have already seen the way US policies shaped the creation, implementation, and breakdown of the Bretton Woods system.
[18] Hints: Political Science • A more general description of strong states is that they can control - to some degree - the nature and speed of their integration into the world economy. Into this category we might place not only relatively strong industrialized countries, but also developing countries such as Brazil, Malaysia, China, Iraq, and Iran. In all of these cases, globalization is having a powerful effect, as is evidenced by the restructuring of national and private industries in industrialized countries, the past decade of economic liberalization in Brazil, and in a radically different way, through international coercive interventions in Iraq. Yet at the same time, in each of these countries there are high protective barriers in important sectors of the economy, and measures such as capital controls or the regulation of international capital are seriously debated. The capacity of these countries to control their integration into the world economy is doubtless related to their size, resources, geostrategic advantages, and economic strength. • However, interestingly, it seems also to be related to their national ideology and the domestic power of the state. One thing that all ‘strong states’ have in common is that they guard with equal ferocity their independence in economic policy, foreign policy, human rights and security issues. • ‘Weak states’ by contrast suffer from a lack of choice in their international economic relations. They have little or no influence in the creation and enforcement of rules in the system and they have exercised little control over their own integration into the world economy. For example, in the aftermath of the debt crisis of the 1980s, many ‘weak states’ opened up their economies, liberalized and deregulated, more as a result of coercive liberalization than of democratic policy choice. In the 1990s, this continued with what an international economist called ‘forced harmonization’, whereby, for instance, in the case of trade negotiations on intellectual property, developing countries were coerced into an agreement which transfers ‘billions of dollars’ worth of monopoly profits from poor countries to rich countries under the guise of protecting the property rights of inventors’. • Distinguishing among states according to their capacity to shape and respond to globalization is vital in analysing the impact on IPE. The example of the international financial system demonstrates that some states, in particular the United States, are rule-makers in the world economy, while less powerful states are rule-takers.
4. (c) It has been well established notion that third world has its own unique political and economic traditions but there was persistent effort to identify and prescribe general models of the political process. In light of above statement, discusses the dominant and distinctive features of non-western political process. • Approach Required : YouGSGSGS need to SCORESCOREspecificallySCORE quote Lucian Pye analysis of third world political process and give a lot of examples. Try to specifically focus on those aspects which make the third world political processes unique. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not confuse this with Post Colonial theory of IR. Your observation should be objective and should not fixate too much only on India-specific political phenomena. • Persistent efforts are being made to identify and prescribe generalized models of the political processes more or less common to non-Western systems. These might serve as the yardsticks by which to measure the particular systems by way of comparison, and to account for variations. Lucian Pye has given an exhaustive outline of the some of the dominant and distinctive characteristics of the non-Western Political process. Some of them are: • In non-western societies, the political sphere is not sharply differentiated from the social and personal sphere, but follows from the latter. Power, prestige and influences are based largely
Hints: Political Science [19] on social status. The fundamental framework of politics is communal, and national politics is dominated by an educated urban and upper class elite. • Political parties or groups are not oriented to a distinct political arena or particular political principles, but tend to take on a world view and represent a way of life. Successful parties tend to become social movements so to say. • The political process is characterized by a prevalence of cliques. Since the social structure is characterized by functionally diffuse relationships, decision making is largely influenced by judgements about personality and the particular relations of the various actors to each other. The pattern of political relationships is largely determined by decisions made at the personal level. • Political loyalty is governed more by a sense of identification with the concrete group than by identification with the professed policy goals of the group, and leadership has a high degree of freedom in determining matters of strategy and tactics. • Since the leadership and the ruling party are committed to a total change in society or fundamental questions about its destiny or the interest of the whole nation, the role of opposition parties is dubbed as obstructive of progress and hence is considered to be revolutionary seeking to disrupt the progress of the nation. • The political process is fragmented and is characterized by a lack of integration among the participants on account of the absence of a communications system in society. This limits the types of political issues than can arise in such societies. For example, the value and concepts of the rural element are not effectively represented in the national political process. • The political process is characterized by a high rate of recruitment of new elements into political roles. There is a constant increase in the number of participants and types of organizations involved in the political process. Also the existence of multiple channels of contact with the national government tends to increase the number of people anxious to participate in national decision making. • The political process is characterized by sharp differences in the political orientation of the generations. The younger generation, who are the aspiring elite, put pressure on the current leaders who took part in the revolutionary movement, for inclusion in the circle of national politics, but are thwarted by them. This results in a clash of views and consequent tensions. • There is little consensus regarding the legitimate ends and means of political action. Since the urban elite and the village peasant live in different worlds and have different attitudes, outlook and orientation, they can rarely exhibit a common approach towards political activity. The relationship of theGSGSGS means to theSCORESCORESCORE ends tends to be more organic than rational and functional. • There is a wide divergence between the level of information and knowledge through discussion of the masses, and their actual participation in political decision making. They keep themselves informed of the political development without trying to influence such developments. • There is a high degree of interchangeability of roles which are not clearly differentiated, but are functionally diffuse. There are no sharply defined divisions of labour in any sphere of life. • Following from the above, there are relatively few organized interest groups with functionally specific roles. Trade unions and peasant association, for example, are merely agents of the government or of a dominant party or movement. Although the process of social change is creating the basis for new interests, the formation of explicit interests groups rarely moves at the same pace. Many interests are not explicitly organized, and when organized, they act more as protective associations than as pressure groups.
[20] Hints: Political Science • The national leadership have to appeal to an undifferentiated public, and have no means for calculating the relative distribution of values and attitudes throughout society. They have few guides to how the public opinion is divided over particular issues. • The unstructured character of the non-Western political process encourages leaders to adopt more clearly defined positions in international issues than on domestic issues. They seek a role in world politics that is out of proportion to their nation’s power. • The affective or expressive aspect of politics tends to override its problem-solving or public policy aspect. • Charismatic leaders tend to prevail in non-Western politics because societies experiencing cultural change are characterized by a confusion over values providing an ideal setting for such leaders. The problem of political communications further reinforces the position of the charismatic leader. • The non-Western political process operates largely without benefits of political ‘brokers’. The articulation function and the bargaining operation in the West as performed by the influential members of the competing political parties or constitutional government have, with a few exceptions found instability to be the dominant feature of politics.
SECTION - B
5. (a) What are the major advantages of the Behavioural Approach in studying International relations? Describe its major attributes as per the views of David Easton?
• Approach Required: Simply elaborate on the major merits of the Behavioural Approach in a point wise manner. Also simply enumerate the major 8 aspects of Behaviouralism by Easton without over elaborating on any of them. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be very specific to Easton’s views. Do not provide your own views on key aspects of Behaviouralism. Advantages of behavioural approach are as follows: • This approach attempts to make Political Science as a scientific method and brings it closer to the day to day life of the individuals. • Behaviouralism has bought human behaviour into the arena of Political Science and thereby makes the study more GSGSGSrelevant to theSCORESCORESCORE society. • This approach helps in predicting future political events. • The behavioural approach has been supported by different political philosophers. However, the Behavioural approach also gripped under various criticisms for its scienticism also. The main criticisms of this approach are mentioned below: • This approach has been criticized for its dependence on techniques and methods and ignoring the subject matter. • The supporters of this approach were mistaken when they thought that human beings behave in similar ways in similar circumstances. Moreover, it is a difficult task to study human behaviour and to get a certain result. • Most of the political phenomena are immeasurable. Therefore, it is always difficult to use scientific method in the study of Political Science. Hints: Political Science [21] • Furthermore, the researcher being a human being is not always value neutral as believed by the behaviouralists. • Behaviouralism over emphasizes on techniques. • It is criticized as Pseudo-politics as it aims at upholding only American institutions as the best in the world. • It stresses behavioural effect at the cost of institutional effect. • It emphasizes static rather than current situations. • It is a value free research, as its debate is not possible. Behaviouralism also disappointed people as it is unsuccessful in providing solutions to many social and political problems. Such dissatisfaction has led to the emergence of post- behaviouralism. This new approach believed that mere use of refined techniques and research tools would not solve the social and political problems of the world. Therefore, post-behaviouralists criticized the idea of behaviouralists to make Political Science a value-free science like other natural sciences. Post-behaviouralists attempted to make Political Science pertinent to the society. However, it must be recalled that post-behaviouralism cannot be separated from behviouralism as it has arose from behaviouralism. Through, using different techniques and methods, post-behaviouralists try to overcome the disadvantages of behaviouralism and make the study of Political Science more applicable to the society. David Easton has described certain key features of behaviouralism which are regarded as its intellectual foundations. These are: • Regularities: This approach believes that there are certain consistencies in political behaviour which can be expressed in generalizations or theories in order to elucidate and predict political phenomena. In a particular situation, the Political behaviour of individuals may be more or less similar. Such regularities of behaviour may help the researcher to analyse a political situation as well as to predict the future political phenomena. Study of such regularities makes Political Science more scientific with some predictive value. • Verification: The behaviouralists do not want to accept everything as established. Therefore, they stress testing and verifying everything. According to them, if phenomenon is not verified then it will not be scientific. • Techniques: The behaviouralists stress on the use of those research tools and methods which generate valid, reliable and comparative data. A researcher must make use of refined tools like sample surveys, mathematicalGSGSGS models,SCORESCORESCORE simulation. • Quantification: After collecting data, the researcher should measure and quantify those data. • Values: The behaviouralists have emphasised on separation of facts from values. They believe that to do objective research, one has to be value free. It means that the researcher should not have any pre-conceived idea or a prejudiced view. • Systematization: According to the behaviouralists, research in Political Science must be systematic. Theory and research should go together. • Pure Science: Another feature of behaviouralism has been its aim to make Political Science a “pure science”. It believes that the study of Political Science should be verified by evidence. • Integration: behaviouralists stated that political Science should not be detached from various other social sciences such as history, sociology and economics. This approach denotes that political events are formed by various other factors in the society and therefore, it would be incorrect to separate Political Science from other disciplines.
[22] Hints: Political Science • Consequently, with the development of behaviouralism, novel thinking and new method of study were evolved in the field of Political Science.
5. (b) Existing World Order promotes US hegemony. Comment.
• Approach Required : Provide arguments and evidences which support and explain the causes of US domination of the world order. Need to specially elaborate on the factors which promote US “Hegemony” and not just its overt domination of global affairs. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content needs to be fact driven rather than opinion driven. No need to critically examine the US position in the global affairs. • The notion of hegemony as military preponderance that is especially germane to the current position and role of the US in world politics. The bedrock of contemporary US power lies in the overwhelming superiority of its military power. American military dominance today is both absolute and relative. In absolute terms, the US today has military capabilities that can reach any point on the planet accurately, lethally and in real time, thereby crippling the adversary while its own forces are sheltered to the maximum extent possible from the dangers of war. • But even more awesome than the absolute capabilities of the US is the fact that no other power today can remotely match them. The US today spends more on its military capability than the next 12 powers combined. Furthermore, a large chunk of the Pentagon’s budget goes into military research and development, or, in other words, technology. Thus, the military dominance of the US is not just based on higher military spending, but on a qualitative gap, a technological chasm that no other power can at present conceivably span. • Imperial powers through history have used military forces to accomplish only four tasks: to conquer, deter, punish and police. As the Iraq invasion shows, the American capacity to conquer is formidable. Similarly, the US capability to deter and to punish is self-evident. Where US military capability has thus far been shown to have possess both the ability and the desire to establish certain norms for order and must sustain the global structure. The hegemon usually does this to its own advantage but often to its relative detriment, as its competitors take advantage of the openness of the world economy without paying the costs of maintaining its openness. • Hegemony in this second sense is reflected in the role played by the US in providing global public goods. The second notion of hegemony is very different from the first. It emerges from a particular understanding of the world economy. The basic idea is that an open world economy requires a hegemonGSGSGS or dominant SCORESCORESCORE power to support its creation and existence. The hegemon must possess both the ability and the desire to establish certain norms for order and must sustain the global structure. • The hegemon usually does this to its own advantage but often to its relative detriment, as its competitors take advantage of the openness of the world economy without paying the costs of maintaining its openness. • It is the naval power of the hegemon that underwrites the law of the sea and ensures freedom of navigation in international waters. Since the decline of British naval power after the Second World War, the multi-oceanic US Navy has played this role. • Although it is seen today as making the virtual world of the World Wide Web possible, we should not forget that the Internet is the direct outcome of a US military research project that began in 1950. Even today, the Internet relies on a global network of satellites, most of which are owned by the US government.
Hints: Political Science [23] • As we know, the US is present in all parts of the world, in all sectors of the world economy and in all areas of technology. The US share of the world economy remains an enormous 28 per cent. The US also accounts for 15 per cent of world trade, if intra- European Union trade is included in world trade data. There is not a single sector of the world economy in which an American firm does not feature in the “top three” list. • It is important to remember that the economic preponderance of the US is inseparable from its structural power, which is the power to shape the global economy in a particular way. After all, the Bretton Woods system, set up by the US after the Second World War, still constitutes the basic structure of the world economy. Thus, we can regard the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) as the products of American hegemony. • It would however be a mistake to see US hegemony in purely military and economic terms without considering the ideological or the cultural dimension of US hegemony. The predominance of the US in the world today is based not only on its military power and economic prowess, but also on its cultural presence. Whether we choose to recognise the fact or not, all ideas of the good life and personal success, most of the dreams of individuals and societies across the globe, are dreams churned out by practices prevailing in twentieth- century America. America is the most seductive, and in this sense the most powerful, culture on earth.
5. (c) Critically Examine the Institutional approach of Comparative politics.
• Approach Required : Simply enumerate all the major limitations of the Institutional approach of Comparative politics • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to describe what the Institutional approach is, simply provide a brief introduction and switch to criticism. Criticisms of the institutional approach in comparative political analysis have come in successive waves, in the early part of the twentieth century and then again in the nineteen fifties. There has been after each wave of criticism a resurgence of the approach in a replenished form. Before the study of institutions acquired a comparative character (however limited) at the turn of the century, the approach was criticised, • As given to speculation; • As largely prescriptive GSGSandGS normative; SCORESCORESCORE • concerned only with irregularities and regularities without looking for relationships; • Configurative and non-comparative focussing asit did on individual countries; • Ethnocentric as it concentrated on western European ‘democracies’; • Descriptive as it focussed on formal (constitutional and governmental) structure; • Historical without being analytical • Contributors within this framework were so absorbed with the study of institutions that differences in cultural settings and ideological frameworks were completely ignored while comparing, say, the upper chambers of the UK, USA and USSR; • Methodologically they were accused as being partially incomplete and theoretically, it was said they missed the substance of political life.
[24] Hints: Political Science 5. (d) New social movement is not completely new in India. Comment. • Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the distinct aspects of NSM in India. Identify how NSM has evolved in India with example and views of scholars. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t define what is NSM. Also do not confuse the unique aspects of Indian NSM with traditional understanding of Social Movements. Unlike traditional social movements the new social movements are highly participative and have strong programme of actions. This phenomenon of new social movement can be traced back to the post world war II period. The end of World War II witnessed the emergence of a number of new states in the Third World. These states were formed with high expectations and thus there was a larger demand for political participation and power distribution .However many of these states failed to meet the demands of the citizen. This can be understood as a major cause for the emergence of new social movements. Social deprivation remains widespread in the developing countries in spite of substantial improvements during the post-war period. Almost half of the developing world’s children are still not protected by immunization against communicable diseases. Over-centralization, limited administrative capabilities, laxity of tax administration and authoritarian tendencies has combined to provide fertile conditions for corruption in many countries. All these factors promoted the cause of social protest in the states. Although new social movements developed in the west, their incorporation in India has its beginning in the social movements at the initial stage and later culminating into the ‘new’ elements as seen in the west. • Firstly, while in west, the NSM is about quality of life, in India it is a fused concept beginning from demand of basic amenities of life and then developing towards quality of life. For instance, the recent Narmada Bachao Andolan started with demand of basic necessities like proper rehabilitation of land and resettlement issue and only in the later stage it envisaged the environmental concerns and disturbed aquatic life of the place (quality of life). • It is in this context how Manoranjan Mohanty examines case studies from Asia wherein rather than locating rights in the individualist tradition of Western liberalism, they are viewed as an affirmation of the political conditions of human existence, involving a struggle against class exploitation and social oppression by assertion of civil society. • Secondly, regarding the class character of the NSM in India, at the initial stage it mainly concerns with lower middle class(unlike new elite middle class of west) who are directly affected by the movement until the later stage when it spreads to a larger scale which incorporates people across class, caste, religion and gender. For instance, the India against Corruption was a movementGSGSGS which SCORESCORESCORE included protestors across different strata of society (lower classes, educated middle class and upper class). • Thirdly, while the strategies involving NSM in west is mostly education through journals, national seminars and conferences, in India it generally includes site-occupations, sit-in , protests, fast until death, largely influenced by Gandhian practice which has already been part of Indian society since independence. • In context of women’s movement, the west has witnessed independent women’s movement concerning with radical demands and prolonged struggle, in India, it is still problematic since no independent women’s movement has emerged yet. This is because women issue is dealt in consonance with environment or caste movement and yet to develop as a separate and long lived movement. In “The Staying Alive”, Vandana Shiva defines the links between ecological crises, colonialism, and the oppression of women and focuses on how rural Indian women experience and perceive the causes and effects of ecological destruction, and how they conceive of and initiate processes to stop the destruction and begin regeneration.
Hints: Political Science [25] • Gadgil and Guha identities environment movement as ‘varieties of environmentalism’ saying that these movements focus on both survival issue and ecological concerns, not let by professionals but grouped under tribals and peasant movements.
5. (e) Discuss the intricacies of Globalisation and Human Rights? • Approach Required: The content needs to be scholarly view based and try to include as much as diverse views as possible. • Mistakes to be avoided: Scholarly views should include critical viewpoints as well and examples of the same. The globalisation of human rights Richard Falk has spoken of two trends in the, globalization process: 1. Globalization-from-above: This involves economic and political collaboration among state actors and, agents of capital formation such as financial and corporate agents-the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, transnational corporations, etc. Such collaboration has led to the institutionalization of such policies and strategies which have impacted negatively on local peoples cultures and economies: 2. ‘Globalization from below’: This refers to social, political and cultural collaboration among local, national and international agencies such as the United Nations and non-governmental organizations. Both these levels of globalization are significant. Today international human rights and the phenomenon, of globalization have created an environment that puts pressure on states to respect constitutional rights and international human rights, both by state and private actors. Herbert Morais argues that ‘the formidable body of international conventions and declarations can truly be said to have finally elevated individuals to the status of subjects of international law, whose human rights are entitled to full protection under both national and international law’. Such a globalized world has manifested itself in a variety of ways: • The Communist regimes in former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have been replaced by democratic regimes, with respect for rule of law and human rights. These have paved the way for free market systems, leading to a greater recognition of the dignity and rights of individuals. • The rise of multinational corporations have given private economic actors the possibility to partake in the promotion of human rights through their investments and operations worldwide. This has alsoGSGSGS given rise SCORESCORESCOREto the rise of various human rights organizations. • Technological globalization, especially the internet; has’ increased the power of human world over. This prevents states from concealing their human rights violations. • A major factor in the promotion of human rights the world over has been the emergence of human rights NGOs, like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, Asia Watch, etc. David Held perceives human rights as the rights of individuals. Such a perception of Rights itself is contested by many Asian and African scholars, who emphasize the collective rights of individuals and their responsibilities; over individual human rights of western conventions. He argues that there would be less resistance to the discourse on human rights, if the developing world has a greater say in the farming and process of global governance. In this case, rights would no longer be perceived as a means of gaining socio-economic dominance, but they would rather have universal legitimacy. This is because the rights to health, welfare, freedom of cultural
[26] Hints: Political Science expression; freedom of association and information, right to participation in public deliberation and elections, etc. are rights which are of direct, concern to the Third World. Human rights cannot be taken as established and it calls for a democratic discussion and a cosmopolitan approach. In terms of the impact of globalization on human rights, two important dimensions/models can be discussed: 1. The positive optimistic model: The focus here is on how globalization might result in economic development and, hence, better protection of civil, political and economic rights. The assertion here is that globalization results in the creation of new opportunities for growth and development. 2. The negative model: It focuses: on how globalization could result in ‘under-development’, ‘ de-development’ and lesser protection of human rights. The critics of globalization emphasize de-development, rather than wealth as vening variable between globalization and human rights. Joseph Stieglitz for example is critical of the way the International Monetary Fund (IMF) encourages ‘hot money’ investments, often disregarding then national economic goals. Scholars have argued that the trend of globalization, privatization and deregulation of the economy could be at the expense of social and economic rights of the citizens and hence could weaken human rights. Moreover, it is argued that the rapid globalization of markets increases the gap between the haves and the have not’s, shields capital and disenfranchises the masses.
6. (a) Discuss the features of political parties in third world countries. • Approach Required: While the content specifically asks for elaboration of the nature of political parties in developing world, but also need to comment on the nature of the environment in which they operate and factors which impact their decision making process. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t be too India centric but do include examples if possible. Political parties considering as the “Back bone” of democracy which is most prevailing system. Throughout the world. But their role is different from the parties playing in the developing countries. In the developing countries, despite of having manifesto poll. Parties revolve around personalities and exploit the name of the party founders i.e. Muslim league exploit the name Quied-e-Azam but on the other hand in developing state the masses do not care about the personalities but having care about the programme ( manifesto ). Some features of political partiesGSGSGS in third SCORESCORESCORE world are: • No differentiation in functions. In the developing countries the political sphere is not sharply differentiated from the spheres of social and personal relations. In the western countries there is functional specialization. The religious duties functions confined only to the priests and they have no relation or involvement with economic or political affairs. But in the developing countries there is no differentiation of function i.e. the religious elites not only holding religious affairs but also involve in polities. • Clique role in Decision Making. (Small group of likeminded people within party or large group which serve for their own interest). Political parties are dominated by the clique. They serve for their own interests, although these parties having executive bodies and control excretive committer but these meetings are symbolic. • Charismatic leadership. The leadership in all the developing countries are charismatic. They are having advantages over their opponents because of charismatic qualities. The whole political of the state revolve around them. These kinds of leaders play pivotal role in
Hints: Political Science [27] the developing countries political. For instance Mahatma Gandhi (India) & Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (Pakistan). • Character of opposition. In all the developing countries the character of opposition is one and same in all the developing countries. In these countries opposition always regard herself as revolutionary and consider their party as movement. They wanted over night changes in the present setup. • Character of Government. In all the developing countries the character of government towards opposition is same. The government doesn’t consider opposition as a part of democratic process. The government called them as “obstructionists” in the way of progress and prosperity of the state. There is no consensus among the government and opposition in the developing countries over any political issue. • Rural- Urban Political. In all the developing states population divided into urban political dominated by the westernized education elites and where as the rural political dominated by the traditional elites. • Gap between Modernized Elites and Indigenous People. The people in the developing societies are at two extremes i.e. modernized Traditional. At the one and are those who have got western education and assimilated with western culture. At the other hand, there are the villagers who have not touched such things. It is very difficult to bring these two poles for some sort of understanding. For example in Pakistan, PML (Q) – (Modernized) MMA (Traditional). • Bureaucracy. In all the developing countries bureaucracy not only perform its allotted functions but at times it also works as political party, without any exception who control power, whenever military take over occur, bureaucracy perform or support army to stay in power. • Army. In all the developing states army somewhat indulged in political by not only controlling the government power but also perform the role of beaker of civilian government or dictate civilian govt. that what military wants. In Bangladesh khalida Zia was supported by the army. • No interest groups. In all the developing countries there is no interest groups which play a role of lobby In America no interest group in parliament to represent the interest of particular section of society. • Lack of Continuity in Development Change. The process of social change is hampered in most of the developing GScountriesGSGS due SCORE SCORESCOREto lean of continuity in the developmental change. The developmental projects brought by one political party is often stopped by her successor which lead to blockage. • Interest Articulation and interest Aggregation. In most of the developing countries there is no such organization or pole parties which perform these fountains i.e. interest articulations and interest aggregations. • Curse of foreign aid. Most of the developing countries are fully under the grip of foreign aid which provided by the international finance agencies. For example IMF, WorldBank, Paris club – IBRD. It is said that the country which is depended on economically cannot be independent political. Often huge corruption occurs in its spending. • Thus, one could see that developing model of third world is more tied to distinct culture and traditional ties thereby recalling the political structure as more towards appeasing such traditional ties and mobilisation through minority, religion, caste or ethnic differences.
[28] Hints: Political Science 6. (b) What are the different meanings of system in international relations. Explain the Mortan Kaplan model? • Approach Required: Provide a brief introduction of the usage of the term ‘system’ in IR and then simply elaborate on the various models/systems given by Morton Kaplan. • Mistakes to be avoided: Try to comment briefly on each of the models/systems, also comment on the latest four models/systems introduced by him later on. According to Jay Goodman the renowned professor of political science, the word system has been used in context of international theory very often yet the word carries varying meanings and there was always a possibility that the contribution of the word to the theory might have been exaggerated. He postulated that the word “system” is used in three ways basically: • Descriptively as in providing explanation for a group of bonded units interacting with each other • Explanatively as in where the system itself is assumed to have an impact on the elements of the system • And in the last methodologically i.e. where a theorist is claiming to utilise or improve a particular system of investigation. For Kenneth Waltz and other structural realists, the word system is always used explanatively. The nature of the international system affects the interactions of the elements within it and understanding of the nature of the system is essential to theorising , describing , explaining and predicting events within the system. Mortan Kaplan model M. K. believes that the most important system is the international system. M. K. has made the greatest effort to specify the rules and pattern of interactions within his models of international system. He holds that the physical force is necessary at least as the last resort to keep the political system intact. The role of decision making in the international system is subordinate to their role in the national actor system. He divides the set of international action into two categories: 1. National Actors – The US, France, Italy 2. Super national actors: NATO, WARSAW, UN etc. According to Kaplan International action takes place between National actors whom he regards as elements of international system. Kaplan has constructed six models of international system. Within each model he has GSGSdevelopedGS 5 SCORESCOREsetsSCORE of variables which are: • The essential rules • The transformation rules • The actor classification variables. • The capability variables • The information variables. Models of system theory According to Kaplan, international system could be divided into six models on the basis of functions and stability. 1. The Balance of power system: The actors who worked within this system are international actors. There would be 5-6 essential actors in the system. The balance of power system is Hints: Political Science [29] subject to change and remains unstable. The conditions which may make the balance of power unstable are. (a) Any national actor who does not play according to the rules of the game. (b) If international actors are oriented towards the establishment of some form of super national organization. The balance of power system according to Kaplan has six important rules. • Each essential actor increases its capabilities through negotiations and not through wars. • Actors stop fighting rather than eliminating an essential actor. • Actors must fight rather than pass upon opportunities to increase their capability to other actors. • The national actor should oppose any grouping of actors. • The national actors should prevent other actor from subscribing to super national principles. • Defeated essential national actors should be permitted to re-enter in the system. If the balance of power system becomes unstable, it is bound to be transferred into a different system. A world war or the rise of totalitarian block may alter the balance. According to Kaplan, the most likely transformation of balance of power is bi-polar system. 2. Bi-polar System/Model: The bi-polar system has two categories i.e. the loose bi-polar system and the tight bi-polar system. A. The loose bi-polar system is that which corresponds roughly in which two super powers are surrounded by a group of smaller powers and non-aligned states and in which existence of non-aligned states makes the power of two major actors loose. This system can be transformed into a tight bi-polar system into a hierarchical international system into a universal international system or into a unit–veto system. According to Kaplan, the loose bi-polar system is most likely to be transformed into tight bi-polar system. B. The tight bi-polar system: - In the tight bi-polar system the non-aligned actors disappear. Most likely, they will align themselves with any of t two blocks. The structure of blocks affects the stabilityGSGSGS of a system. SCORESCORESCORE In this system, block actors are non-hierarchically organized. This system could transform itself either into loose bi-polar or into the universal international system. 3. Universal International system: The universal international system could develop as a result of the extension of the essential actors in a loose bi-polar system. In other words essential actor’s average power gets declined. In this system, the universal actor, the UNO is sufficiently powerful to prevent tension among national actors but national actors retain their individual and sovereignty. The universal international system to be int6egrated system, it will possess integrated mechanism and will perform the judicial, economic, political and administrative functions. National actors will try to achieve their objectives only within the framework of the universal actor. This system will be a system within which prestige and reward will be allocated to the national actors and also to individual human being. 4. The hierarchical international system: The 5th model of Kaplan’s scheme of international system is the hierarchal international system in which a universal actor absorbs practically
[30] Hints: Political Science the whole would and only one nation is left out. This hierarchical international system can be both directive and non-directive. It will be directive e if it is formed as a consequence of world conquest by a national actor system and it is be non-directive if it is based upon political rules generally operate in democracies. 5. The Unit Veto System: The 6th and the last international system in Kaplan’s scheme is the unit veto system in which the weapons that exist are of such a nature that any national actor can destroy any other before being destroyed itself. The essence of this system will be that each state will be equally able to destroy the other. Universal actors cannot exist in such a system. The unit veto system can develop from any other international system. Besides these categories Kaplan later on added 4 new categories of international system which are as below: • The very loose bi-polar system: It is characterized by an ever going search for arms control and for accommodation between the various blocks. • The Détente System: - It means that one super power becomes more open and less aggressive and the other one becomes less defensive. • The Unstable Block System: It refers to highly conflict situation of power blocks. Areas of conflict could increase and the policies of the super-powers would become too interventionist. • The incomplete Nuclear Diffusion system: This system exists due to diffusion of nuclear technology. There would be 15-20 Nuclear powers having minimum deterrence except two super-powers.
6. (c) Discuss Globalization and its basic tenets; identify response of developing countries at various levels? • Approach Required : Simply elaborate on the major phenomena, aspects and events occurring with Globalization. Comment on the changes it is bringing, both positive and negative and also elaborate on how it is creating unique challenges for the developing nations. • Mistakes to be avoided: In the second part of answer, you don’t have to elaborate on the negative impacts but need to explain how third world is attempting to mitigate or resist the same. Focus on measures being taken by third world in this context. • Globalization has closelyGSGS intertwined SCORESCOREeconomic, political, cultural and institutional dimensions whose social impact isGSGS often not easySCORESCORE to disentangle. Notwithstanding the breadth and complexity of the process, its principal elements are well known. Technological advancements, especially in the field of information and communication technologies, have had the effect of connecting and bringing the world closer together in time and space, making possible new ways of doing business and profoundly altering social interactions. • Domestic deregulation and liberalization of external capital controls have propelled a vast increase in the volume and speed of capital flows of all types, ranging from foreign direct investment (FDI) to short-term banking flows, worldwide. • Competition has catalyzed a reorganization of production networks, and a wave of mergers and acquisitions have fostered the restructuring of corporations on a global scale, giving them unprecedented size and power. • At the same time, venture capital-financed “startups” are burgeoning in “high tech” sectors in several developed as well as some developing countries. New mass media, such as satellite Hints: Political Science [31] television and the Internet, have contributed to globalization and the spread of a culture of consumerism. • Some of these processes are driven by the logic of new technologies or market forces which are difficult to control, while others may be more amenable to management. Policy decisions oriented towards liberalization, deregulation and privatization have been at least as important as market forces and technology in the spread of globalization in both its positive and negative aspects. • As a result of greater access to markets, new technologies and new ways of doing business, many aspects of globalization have stimulated growth and prosperity and expanded possibilities for millions of people all over the world. At the same time, it has been accompanied by anxiety about its disruptive effects and a sense that the opportunities provided by the process of globalization have not been accessible to many. • It has enhanced choices for some people but diminished prospects for others and reinforced inequalities within and across nations. Perceptions of globalization depend a great deal on the ability of people to take advantage of the opportunities offered by it. Typically, it is most positive for people with adequate education and access to financial resources. • For various reasons, the liberalization of trade and capital flows has been a dominating theme in the economic policies pursued by developing countries and countries with economies in transition during the last 10 to 20 years. As a result, nearly all countries at all levels of development have taken steps to remove or weaken policy instruments that direct and control cross-border transactions. They have also given market mechanisms greater scope internally and reshaped or restructured institutional frameworks, including labor and financial markets and taxation systems, to enable the freer play of market forces. • The actual experience of globalization has, to a great degree, varied with the level of development at which a country has engaged with it. Some developing countries and countries with economies in transition have been well positioned to take advantage of the new opportunities for trade and investment, and building on domestic savings, foreign investment and capital inflows, technology transfers, human resource development and export orientation, have achieved rapid economic growth. • Others, particularly the least developed countries, have not been able to achieve the same levels of foreign investment or access to world markets, primarily due to an inadequate economic and social infrastructure. Not only have they been unable to grasp the opportunities offered by globalizationGSGS GSbut they have SCORESCORESCORE also had to cope with its impacts, particularly the volatility of internationalGS commodity SCORE prices, and the reduction of effective preferential treatment for their exports owing to falling overall tariffs and the decline of official development assistance (ODA). • The degree and nature of participation of different categories of countries in global markets varies substantially. For most developing countries, trade in a limited number of goods and services constitute the major form of international economic activity. For others, private capital inflows supplement their foreign exchange earnings, either through FDI or through portfolio investment. • In only a few developing countries, mostly in Asia and Latin America, have domestic companies joined the integrated networks of transnational corporations and, in some cases, forged strategic alliances to exploit dynamic trade and investment inter-linkages. Most developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and most of Africa, remain outsiders to that process.
[32] Hints: Political Science • In general, liberalization has led to greater inequality of primary incomes. While the participation rate or share of the economically active population increased, the employment situation in most countries was characterized by reduced wages, underemployment, informalization of labor and adverse impact on unskilled labor, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Virtually without exception, wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers rose with liberalization. • Most countries experienced an erosion of the tax base and a fiscal squeeze, which was reflected in static or reduced social spending. In some cases, social services were privatized or there was increased recourse to user fees. Fiscal and administrative limitations made it difficult to put in place countervailing social policies. Capital flows increased substantially, in some cases prior to crises. While exports did tend to rise with liberalization, the export stimulus for growth was weaker than expected partly because of an increase in imports. • Although globalization raises particular concern for developing countries, apprehensions regarding it abound and have been vocally expressed even in developed countries. Concerns in the industrial world revolve around employment insecurity as firms respond to competitive pressures and technological advancements, which are to some extent also reflected in the frequent restructuring of firms and corporations. The growing power and global reach of mega-corporations has also raised questions regarding economic governance in a global economy. • The experience of countries with economies in transition has been mixed. In general, when these countries began their transition, they faced an abrupt deterioration of their previously elaborate social support systems, as well as the handicap of competing in a more open global economy with incomplete and underdeveloped market institutions. Some countries in Central and Eastern Europe have traversed the transition more rapidly spurred by prospects of integration to the European Union. In others, social disruption, sudden poverty and vulnerability to economic change along with the dissolution of barriers to trade and capital mobility have led the development of a parallel shadow economy and a criminal underworld of transnational proportions. Response of developing countries • The current process of globalization in terms of its accent is more towards integration of national economies across the world specially integrating their systems of production and finance. This process is driven by a package of policies unleashed by the industrially advanced countries seeking liberalization of trade and investment of capital across the world. The impact of the current process of globalization is extremely uneven, both within and between nations. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • Consequently, it has resulted in rising income inequalities within as well as between countries. The less developed countries experience a more skewed income distribution which is attributed largely to shift in labor demand. It has also led to greater polarization across countries because technology – the prime factor responsible for economic globalization still remains concentrated with already industrially advanced countries. • Most of the policy concerns of the less developed countries are largely a response to the structural divide between them and the industrially advanced countries. Some among the less developed countries feel that the current globalization process has led to the worsening of the structural poverty in many countries. • Keeping in view the adverse impact of the economic globalization and the constraints in which the less developed countries are placed, most of these countries are engaged in devising policy measures which aim at engaging with the process of globalization effectively.
Hints: Political Science [33] Policy decisions are being aimed at developing countries having access to the positive benefits of globalization and at the same time avoiding the adverse consequences. • In respect of the adverse effects of the current economic globalization, many of the developing countries are engaging their attention on reforming, to the extent Possible, the international trading and financial institutions to cater to their critical Economic needs. Leading among these are countries such as India which have Taken initiatives to re-examine the evolving rules of the W T O in respect of issues Such as intellectual property rights, anti-dumping restrictions, subsidies to Agriculture and other countervailing measures. • Another concern relates to enlarging the developing countries’ market access in the industrially advanced Countries of the world. Cumulatively their demands are in respect of expanding their access to international trade through seeking lowering of tariff, and Exemptions on a number of non-tariff barriers. In this connection, mention may be made of the less developed countries seeking support in the W T O to seek Revision in the standards of sanitary and photo-sanitary requirements regarding their exports especially towards the European Union. • The less developed countries are also making demands in respect of issues relating to foreign direct investment. The highly indebted poor countries are seeking methods that would minimize their debt burdens. They are demanding debt relief measures that would help reduce the levels of poverty and economic hardships in their domestic economy. Also they are also making efforts that would bring about increasing rate of flow of private foreign direct investment in order to meet their current economic needs.
7. (a) What is Almond's classification of pressure groups? How are pressure groups different from Interest groups in their structure and function?
• Approach Required : In the first part of question, elaborate on the four types of Pressure groups defined by Almond on the basis of membership. Then discuss the differentiation between the Pressure and interest groups based strictly on the views of scholars. • Mistakes to be avoided: The second part of the question should contain views of scholars and a generic discussion should be avoided. In detailed analysis of interest groups, Almond says that there can be four different types of groups. This classification has generally been supported by Hitchner and Levine also. According to Almond, the interest groups are of following types: i) Institutional Interest Groups; ii) Anomic Interest Groups; iii) Associational Interest Groups; and iv) Non-Associational Interest Groups. • The institutional interestGSGS groups are SCORESCOREclosely connected with various institution, and even political parties. These GSGSgroups also SCORESCOREexist within the legislatures, bureaucracies, churches, corporations and even armed forces. They are very active in the bureaucracy, for it is there that most of decision-making is done. They are equally close to legislatures. They form part of a highly organised structure, but this structure has been created for purposes other than what these groups articulate. These groups do not need any other organisation to articulate their demands. Such groups are very influential and powerful. In some of the third world countries, they are not satisfied only by exercising influence. They even seize power, as, for example, the military clique did in Burma, or Bangladesh (After Sheikh Mujib’s murder), or Pakistan, or Nigeria. These are exceptions. These groups are generally concerned with better conditions for their members. • The anomic interest groups, Almond said, are “more or less spontaneous penetrations into the political system from the society.” These groups often appear when normal means of expressing dissatisfaction prove ineffective. They may be concerned with religious or linguistic or ethnic disturbances, or demonstrations, even assassinations and hijackings. They are [34] Hints: Political Science generally characterised by unconventional, usually violent means. Such groups may influence the political system in numerous unconventional ways. They are occasionally found even in the western developed nations. • The associational interest groups are closely associated with formally organised institutions. They are functionally specialised, and they articulate the interests of specific groups, such as management, labour, business and agriculture. These groups are found in those countries where right to association is constitutionally recognised. The Federation of Economic Organisations, and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry are some of the examples of associational groups. The associations of teachers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals all come in this category. • Unlike the well-organised associational system, the non-associational groups are based on factors like kinship, ethnicity, status and religious. They articulate the interests informally and irregularly. They do not have any permanent organisation. Interest Groups and Pressure Groups • Almond and Powell say: “By ‘interest group’ we mean a group of individuals who are linked by particular bonds of concern or advantage, and who have some awareness of these bonds. Thus, an interest group is an association of people to achieve certain specific objectives, and for this purpose it may even pressurise the institutions of the state. • Discussing the pressure groups, David Truman describes them thus, ”Pressure groups are attitude groups that make certain claims upon other groups in the society.” The activities of the government have direct impact on the lives of people. On the other hand, activities of the individuals cannot help affecting the decisions of the government. This work can be effectively done only by organised groups of people. • Hitchner& Levine prefer the use of the term interest groups. They say that, “An interest group is a collection of individuals who try to realise their common objectives by influencing public policy.” • Interest groups are organisations of people for the achievement of certain specific goals, who, if necessary, pressurise the state. They may be regularly involved in the pressure politics, or may at times involve themselves in pressure politics, and at other times perform other functions to promote their interests. • It is generally believed that the pressure groups try to bring about changes in policies of the government either by influencingGSGSGS its SCORESCORE SCOREinstitutions, or even otherwise. However, the pressure groups do not enter theGS legislature SCOREon their own. • Carter &Herz had argued that the modern pluralist society, full of economic, professional, religious, ethical and other interest groups, is faced with the major problem of how to coordinate the activities of different groups on the one hand and government and politics on the other. Interest groups enjoy freedom to be established and function in a free democratic society. When these groups endeavour to influence the political process, and thereby get favourable decisions in matters such as enactment of legislation, imposition of taxes and duties, framing of rules and issuance of licences, etc. then these interest groups transform themselves into pressure groups. • S.E. Finer had opined that, “…the pressure groups are, by and large, autonomous and politically neutral bodies, which bargain with the political parties and the bureaucracy irrespective of the political complexion of the government in power.” The groups can adopt various methods of bargaining, in their interests, including even unconventional or corrupt methods.
Hints: Political Science [35] • According to H. Zeigler, it is ”an organised aggregate which seeks to influence the context of governmental decisions without attempting to place its members in formal governmental capacities.” Every society is divided into a number of groups. With the passage of time, they have become more and more specialised. While there are numerous groups like those of industrialists, bank employees, university teachers, workers in industry and commerce, which operate within a country, there are other groups that transcend national borders.
7. (b) Evaluate one party, two party and multi-party systems in context of their nature and functional aspects. • Approach Required : Discuss the differences between the three types of party systems based on the structures, functions, nature of leadership. Also provide the examples of each type of party system. • Mistakes to be avoided: Avoid bias in your content. Need to examine the issue objectively and identify the merits and demerits of each type of system. One Party Systems • The one party or single party system is found upon the assumption that the sovereign will of the state reposes in the leader and the political elite. This authoritarian principle found expression first in monarchies, later in dictatorships and more recently in some democracies. As the dictatorship needs a monopoly of power for its survival, it abolishes all political parties. Though elections are conducted even in such a regime if only to show the facade of popular support, the voter’s choice is limited to only one candidate. • There may be some variations in the single party system prevailing in different countries, but some of the common features of dictatorial parties in these countries make them unique. These features are: 1. Such party is an official party in the sense that it has a monopoly and is led by the same persons who rule; 2. Membership of such a party is usually made an essential requirement for acquiring at least important government jobs; 3. This kind of party supervises the governmental efforts to ideologically indoctrinate people; and 4. It is characterized by its elite personality. The essential function of one-partyGSGSGS system SCORESCORESCORE thus is not to elicit decisions from the mass electorate on the big issue of politics, but to ensure discipline and obedience among the people. In its organization and methods is more like an army than a political party. Obviously, therefore, a one-party system becomes necessarily totalitarian. As the sole operator of a political system, the party extends its authority everywhere. The general policy is decided by the dictates of the party. The source of all laws is the party, and no aspect of individual and social life is immune from its potential control. Not surprisingly, a single-party system involves the abolition of freedom of speech and expression, press and association. Accordingly, the line of distinction between society and the state is blurred and the latter completely swallows up the former. This type of party system was found in Fascist Italy under Mussolini who assumed power in 1922 and systematically destroyed all parties except his own Fascist Party. In Germany, Hitler came to power in 1933 and destroyed all opposition. In 1934, the party purged itself of scores of prominent members of the party by shooting them down under the pretence that they were resisting arrest. Similarly, there was only Communist Party rule in former USSR and there were several purges between 1936 and 1938 by the Communist Party.
[36] Hints: Political Science Two Party Systems A two-party system is one where only two parties, despite the presence of other parties, have substantial support of the electorate and expectation of forming the government. Under this system, the majority of the elected candidates at a given time belong to any one of the two major parties which form the government, while the other party remains in the opposition. In such a system, there may exist more than two parties, but actual or likely transfer of power takes place between two giant parties only. The United States and the United Kingdom provide good examples of two-party system. In the former, the Democratic and Republican parties are two giant parties. In the UK, the transfer of power takes place between the two major parties, the Labour and the Conservative. There are, of course, certain differences between the American and British party systems. While the American parties are not ideologically very much different from each other-they are broker- bargaining parties to the point that each party achieves a basically similar political consensus- the British parties, though also pragmatic, are, generally speaking, ideologically distinct from each other.Recognising these differences the two party system may be divided into (a) indistinct two-party system in the US, and (b) distinct two-party system in Britain. Multi-Party System A multi-party system is one in which more than two major parties exist, who struggle with each other for power but no party can alone secure absolute majority to rule. In countries like India and several countries on the Continental Europe, such a system exists, though in a variety of forms. One can discern two kinds of multi-party systems from the point of view of stability of government: (a) unstable multi-party-systems; and (b) working multiparty systems. As its name indicates, the former does not provide stability. India today provides one of the best examples of this, where recurring ‘hung’ Parliaments due to plethora of parties has caused political instability at the union level since 1996. France under the Third and Fourth Republics provides another example of this kind of party system, where governments formed by coalition of parties rose and fell with dismaying regularity. Italy provides yet another example, where hardly any party since the Second World War has been able to win a majority of the seats in the Italian Parliament. The working multi-party systems, on the other hand, behaves like two-party system and thereby tend to provide stability to government, even though they have more than two major political parties. Former West Germany, before the rise of the Social Democratic Party as the government party, had characteristics o f a two-party system as two of the three major parties, working together, provided the government and the Social Democrats remained in the opposition. In Norway, Sweden, Belgium and Israel also the existence of various parties have not caused instability. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE 7. (c) Analyse the Political Sociology Approach to Comparative Politics. • Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the need,background, features , methodology and scope of Political Sociology Approach. Need to include views of as many scholars from within and outside the tradition. Need to specially elaborate on the hybrid nature of the discipline and how scholars have viewed it. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t limit your content to only methods and objective of the approach. Need to specifically comment on the nature and how it moves beyond both Political Science and Sociology. Political Sociology Approach to Comparative Politics • Political sociology as a discipline aims to examine the interaction between politics and society. In basic term, political sociology explores to understand the process of interaction between Hints: Political Science [37] government and society, decision making authorities and conflicting social forces and interests. It is the study of interactions and relationships between politics and civilisation; between a political system and its social, economic and cultural environment. • Political sociology is a linking bridge between sociology and political science. It believes in a two-way relationship between sociology and political science, giving equal importance on social and political variables. For example, in the party system, political sociology does not describe the working of party system only in terms of its response to and reflection of the socio-economic scene, but also investigates how the society is as much conditioned by the party system. • Since the Second World War, western scholars, especially the American scholars were more interested to undertake empirical research of various political phenomena related with sociology. These research activity expanded in the area of sociology. It was comprehended that these novel research findings were neither pure politics nor pure sociology and, therefore, they were ultimately placed under the new title termed as Political sociology. • Political sociology deals with the study of the social source of political competition (including social cleavages and identities), of social and political approaches (including political culture), of processes of political engagement and competition (including elections and protest politics), of the social basis for the formation, change, and maintenance of political institutions (including democracy and welfare states). • Both Lipset and Runchimen have fixed the timing of the emergence of political sociology at about the middle of 19th century when under the impact of industrialised revolution the traditional European social order gave in to modern society. Their proposition is that the emergence of modern society in Europe amply exhibited the difference between state and society when political sociology originated. • Other political scientists such as A.K.Mukhopadhyaya proclaimed that “political sociology is the child from the marriage between sociology and political science and as in human issues, cannot be solely characterized by its parental qualities alone”. Political science is fundamentally a study of the state, the development and organization of state power, the way it operates through a network of political institutions, the manner of its affecting the individual’s life by means of various functions are the things political science enquires and explains. Sociology stresses on the area disregarded by political science. Society being its central concern, Sociology examines the pattern and operation of interactive social relations, looks into the progress and working of social institutions and attempts at an evaluative description of social power and social progress. It can be said that the distinction between political science and sociologyGSGSGS evidently SCORESCORESCORE relates to the distinction between state and society. • Political science begins with the state and inspects how it affects society, while political Sociology starts with society and investigates how it affects the state. Political sociologists debate that the state is just one of many clusters of social institutions and clusters of institutions are the subject of sociology in general, and that the relationship between political institutions and other institutions is the special sphere of political sociology. Eminent political sociologist such as Lipset and Bendix discussed two features of political sociology, first, that political sociology studies the relation between the social and the political, and second that the political sociology cannot be understood unless it is related to the social. The main argument revolve to this definition of political sociology- political sociology is a discipline that tries to understand political phenomena by necessarily relating them to their social determinants. • In theoretical studies, it has been shown that political sociology believes in a two way relations between sociology and political science, giving equal emphasis on both the social and political variables.
[38] Hints: Political Science Vital features of political sociology are as under: • Political sociology‘ is not political science since, unlike the latter, it is not a state discipline or a study of the state craft. • Political sociology is associated with not only with social but with the political as well. • Political sociology spins round the conviction that there exists identify of form between the social process and the political process. Political sociology tries to resolve the traditional dichotomy between state and society. • Political Sociology is principally concerned with the evolution of the political community, to which political science assumes as existent, and with the development and functioning of all the organs of social control, of which the state is only the most prominent among many. It is also instantly interested in the modifications effected by the organs of social control, among them the state, in the structure of society. It is also concerned with the skirmish of contending social interests and the adjustment which they seek and secure through the political institutions of society. • Political sociology offers a new panorama in comparative political analysis. The standpoint of political sociology is distinguished from that of institutionalism and behaviouralism. The institutionalists have been concerned chiefly with institutional types of political organisation, and their study has been characterized by legality and formality. The behaviouralists have focused on the individual actor in the political ground. Their primary concern are motives, attitudes, perceptions and the role of individuals. The task of political sociologist is to study the political process as a continuum of interactions between society and its decision makers, and between the decision making institutions and social forces. • Since the evolution of sociology, the analysis of political processes and institutions has been one of its most important concerns. Sociologists debated and many political researchers agree that it is difficult to study political processes expect as special cases of more general psychological and sociological relationships. The term “Political Sociology” has been recognized both within sociology and political science as encircling the overlap between two sciences. However, the political scientist is principally concerned with the dimension of power and factors affecting its distribution. The sociologist, on other hand, is more concerned with social control, with the way in which the values and norms of a society regulate relations. Their emphasis is on social ties, rather than on formal structures and legal definitions. • Robert. E. Dowse and John.A.Hughes explicated political sociology as “political sociology is the study of politicalGSGSGS behaviour SCORESCORE SCOREwithin a sociological perspective of framework”. • Michal Rush and Philip Althoff in their mutual work attempted to define political sociology when they wrote that political sociology is the interactions and linkages between society and polity, between social structure and political structure and between social behaviour and political behaviour. • In the view of As Smelser N. J., “Political Sociology is study of the interrelationship between society and polity, between social structures and political institutions”. Political sociology is not exclusively the study of the social factors condition the political order. Scope of political sociology: • Political sociology is related with the way in which political arrangements depend on social organisations and cultural values. This subject is in fact less concerned with the formal aspects of government and law than with the underlying support of these institutions. In comparative politics, political sociologists are also interested in studying the participation of
Hints: Political Science [39] individuals in politics. The discipline is concerned with why and how an individual’s vote has public opinion, from and belongs to political associations and groups that support political movements. The scope of the discipline also includes different types of organised groups in politics and the interactions among them, and the influence of parties and movements in changing or bringing about stability in the political system. An important factor of political sociology is the decision-making process through public means. In this process, it takes into account not only the social forces but also includes the economic factors that are controlled by forces such as money, market and other resources scarcities. Political sociology also analyses whether the person inhabiting the decision- making process has enough grip over the people on whom they are exercising authority. • Political sociology also embraces the concept of political system, which introduces enthusiasm in political analysis. It not only stress on the study of the major structures of the government such as legislature, courts and administrative agencies, but also embassies on all the structure in their political aspects such as caste groupings, relationship groups and formal organisations such as parties and interest groups. The political system deals with the political phenomena in any society without taking into account its size, culture and degree of modernisation. Political sociology deals with the analysis of the functions of various political structures in the political system from a structural functionalist standpoint. • Political sociology focuses on the phenomenon of power and its related aspects. • Power is a widespread and an important aspect of social interaction, which is necessary in determining the relationship between individuals and members of a group. Political sociology also deals with the study of elites and their leadership styles. These elites govern the masses as well as provide them leadership. The discipline also focuses on the patterns and styles of leadership displayed by the elites, which are necessary to maintain their positions of power. • The study of the political process is also the domain of political sociology. Political process refers to activities of those underlying tendencies in society that give meaning and order to the political system. Another major element of political sociology is to study the impact of the political culture on the political system. The concepts of political culture refer to those underlying propensities that quicken or retard the speed of performance of the political system. • Political participation and political mobilization also included in scope of political sociology. • Another important aspect that is enclosed by political sociology is social stratification. It studies different social stratification systems, such as class, caste, gender and status, and analysis their impact on GSGSGSorganized politics. SCORESCORESCORE Political sociology also do analysis on the political dynamics, which consists of the study of political parties, pressure groups, interest groups, public opinion and propaganda that influences and manipulate the attitude and political behaviour of individuals. The process of change, which in the social dimension refers to ‘modernisation’, is also another principal point of political sociology. Political development is an important area of debate in political sociology. It refers to a process through which a political system acquires new roles and value in a civilization.
8. (a) Globalization has significant impact on different international theoretical prospectives. Analyse.
• Approach Required: Need to elaborate at least on the views of the three key schools/ theories of IR namely Realist, Liberal and Critical on the phenomenon of Globalization. While discussing the viewpoint of Critical school, don’t just limit your content to Critical Marxist school but also include the views of Feminist school. [40] Hints: Political Science • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not confuse international theoretical prospective or International relations theories with “ Sceptic, Hyperglobalist and Transformationalist Schools views on Globalization”. Realist view Realists have typically adopted a sceptical stance towards globalization, seeing it more in terms of intensifying economic interdependence (that is, ‘more of the same’) rather than the creation of an interlocking global economy. Most importantly, the state continues to be the dominant unit in world politics. Instead of being threatened by globalization, the state’s capacity for regulation and surveillance may have increased rather than decreased. However, realists are not simply globalization deniers. In assessing the nature and significance of globalization, they emphasize that globalization and the international system are not separate, still less rival, structures. Rather, the former should be seen as a manifestation of the latter. Globalization has been made by states, for states, particularly dominant states. Developments such as an open trading system, global financial markets and the advent of transnational production were all put in place to advance the interests of western states in general and the USA in particular. Furthermore, realists question the notion that globalization is associated with a shift towards peace and cooperation. Instead, heightened economic interdependence is as likely to breed ‘mutual vulnerability’, leading to conflict rather than cooperation. Liberal view Liberals adopt a consistently positive attitude towards globalization. For economic liberals, globalization reflects the victory of the market over ‘irrational’ national allegiances and ‘arbitrary’ state borders. The miracle of the market is that it draws resources towards their most profitable use, thus bringing prosperity to individuals, families, companies and societies. The attraction of economic globalization is therefore that it allows markets to operate on a global scale, replacing the ‘shallow’ integration of free trade and intensified interdependence with the ‘deep’ integration of a single global economy. The increased productivity and intensified competition that this produces benefits all the societies that participate within it, demonstrating that economic globalization is a positive-sum game, a game of winners and winners. Liberals also believe that globalization brings social and political benefits. The freer flow of information and ideas around the world both widens opportunities for personal self-development and creates more dynamic and vigorous societies. Moreover, from a liberal standpoint, the spread of market capitalism is invariably associated with the advance of liberal democracy, economic freedom breeding a demand for political freedom. For liberals, globalization marks a watershed in world history, in that it ends the period during which the nation-state was the dominant global actor, world order being determined by an (inherently unstable) balance of power. The global era, by contrast, is characterized by a tendencyGSGSGS towards peaceSCORESCORESCORE and international cooperation as well as by the dispersal of global power, in particular through the emergence of global civil society and the growing importance of international organizations. Critical views Critical theorists have adopted a negative or oppositional stance towards globalization. Often drawing on an established socialist or specifically Marxist critique of capitalism, this portrays the essence of globalization as the establishment of a global capitalist order. (Indeed, Marx can be said to have prefigured much ‘hyper globalist’ literature, in having highlighted the intrinsically transnational character of the capitalist mode of production.) Like liberals, critical theorists usually accept that globalization marks a historically significant shift, not least in the relationship between states and markets. States have lost power over the economy, being reduced to little more than instruments for the restructuring of national economies in the interests of global capitalism. Globalization is thus viewed as an uneven, hierarchical process, characterized both by the growing polarization between the rich and the poor, explained by world systems Hints: Political Science [41] theorists in terms of a structural imbalance between ‘core’ and ‘peripheral’ areas in the global economy, and by a weakening of democratic accountability and popular responsiveness due to burgeoning corporate power. Feminist analysts have sometimes linked globalization to growing gender inequalities, associated, for example, with the disruption of small scale farming in the developing world, largely carried out by women, and growing pressure on them to support their families by seeking work abroad, leading to the ‘feminization of migration’. Postcolonial theorists, for their part, have taken particular exception to cultural globalization, interpreted as a form of western imperialism which subverts indigenous cultures and ways of life and leads to the spread of soulless consumerism.
8. (b) Conceptions of clash of civilization offers cultural understanding of International Relations. Explain.
• Approach Required: Discuss the theory given by Huntington in detail with special emphasis on the factors determining the nature of the conflict between Western and Islamic civilization. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to discuss the nature of response suggested/ predicted by Huntington for Non-western civilizations against Western Civilization. The Clash of Civilizations (COC) is a theory that people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. It was proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington in a 1992 lecture [1] at the American Enterprise Institute, which was then developed in a 1993 Foreign Affairs article titled “The Clash of Civilizations?” Huntington believed that while the age of ideology had ended, the world had only reverted to a normal state of affairs characterized by cultural conflict. In his thesis, he argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along cultural and religious lines. Huntington divided the world into the “major civilizations” in his thesis as such: • Western civilization • Latin American • The Orthodox world of the former Soviet Union • The Eastern world is the mix of the Buddhist, Chinese, Hindu, and Japanese civilizations. • The Muslim world of the Greater Middle East • The civilization of Sub-SaharanGSGSGS Africa SCORESCORESCORE In his thesis, he argues that Russia and India are what ‘swing civilizations’ and may favour either side. Russia, for example, clashes with the many Muslim ethnic groups on its southern border (such as Chechnya) but—according to Huntington—cooperates with Iran to avoid further Muslim-Orthodox violence in Southern Russia, and to help continue the flow of oil. Huntington argues that a “Sino-Islamic connection” is emerging in which China will cooperate more closely with Iran, Pakistan, and other states to augment its international position. Huntington also argues that civilizational conflicts are “particularly prevalent between Muslims and non-Muslims”, identifying the “bloody borders” between Islamic and non-Islamic civilizations. This conflict dates back as far as the initial thrust of Islam into Europe, its eventual expulsion in the Iberian reconquest and the attacks of the Ottoman Turks on Eastern Europe and Vienna. Huntington also believes that some of the factors contributing to this conflict are that both Christianity (which has influenced Western civilization) and Islam are: • Missionary religions, seeking conversion of others
[42] Hints: Political Science • Universal, “all-or-nothing” religions, in the sense that it is believed by both sides that only their faith is the correct one • Teleological religions, that is, that their values and beliefs represent the goals of existence and purpose in human existence. • Religions that perceive irreligious people who violate the base principles of those religions to be furthering their own pointless aims, which leads to violent interactions. More recent factors contributing to a Western-Islamic clash, Huntington wrote, are the Islamic Resurgence and demographic explosion in Islam, coupled with the values of Western universalism— that is, the view that all civilizations should adopt Western values—that infuriate Islamic fundamentalists. Huntington suggests that in the future the central axis of world politics tends to be the conflict between Western and non-Western civilizations. He offers three forms of general actions that non-Western civilization can take in response to Western countries. • Non-Western countries can attempt to achieve isolation in order to preserve their own values and protect themselves from Western invasion. However, Huntington argues that the costs of this action are high and only a few states can pursue it. For E.g. Middle East • According to the theory of “band-wagoning” non-Western countries can join and accept Western values. • Non-Western countries can make an effort to balance Western power through modernization. They can develop economic, military power and cooperate with other non-Western countries against the West while still preserving their own values and institutions. Huntington believes that the increasing power of non-Western civilizations in international society will make the West begin to develop a better understanding of the cultural fundamentals underlying other civilizations. Therefore, Western civilization will cease to be regarded as “universal” but different civilizations will learn to coexist and join to shape the future world. For e.g. the rise of India and China. His projection of the future clash resembles very closely that of issues which dominate the scenario of international politics and threaten international peace. Also his theory of general actions is very relevant in understanding the post-cold war international dynamics and how the world is moving forward to a multi polar era where each pole might represent a different civilization group. 8. (c) Discuss the role GSofGSGS Multinational SCORESCORESCORE companies as political actors. • Approach Required: With help of examples, comment on the diverse ways by which MNC’s are impacting the states and their decision making capacity. You need to specifically elaborate how they are shifting beyond the regulatory powers of the state and how collective action by states can only limit the negative impacts of MNC’s as political actors. • Mistakes to be avoided: Focus on the diverse tactics adopted by MNC’s and the diverse types of negative impacts they are creating . Do not only fixate on environmental damage, poverty or Human right violations. Focus on more on the political aspect of their role. All companies that import or export are engaging in transnational economic activities. Often Changes in health and safety standards, regulation of communication facilities or the general economic policy of foreign governments will affect their ability to trade. If this is beneficial, they will not necessarily respond, but, if they expect to lose financially, they may well decide to lobby the foreign government. This can be done by four common routes:
Hints: Political Science [43] 1. Indirectly by the company asking its own government to put pressure on the foreign government; 2. Indirectly by raising a general policy question in an international organization; 3. Directly at home via the diplomatic embassy; or 4. Directly in the other country via the government ministries. • Several other routes to apply pressure, such as trade associations and more complex indirect routes, can also be used. Thus even a company that is based in a single country may be a significant transnational political actor. • The first companies that expanded beyond their home country to become transnational companies (TNCs), in the fullest sense, did so in the European empires or the quasi-empire of the United States in Latin America and Asia. The classic cases were companies in agriculture, mining, or oil. After decolonization the companies often had to be split up, so that the overseas branches became separate legal entities, but still under central control of the headquarters. From the 1960s there has been a massive expansion, with many of the major industrial manufacturers establishing overseas subsidiaries. Some financial services, like banking, had moved into the empires as the colonies began to develop, but from the 1970s onwards most of the service industries, including advertising, market research, auditing, and computing, also set up new operations around the world or formed global structures by mergers and acquisitions. • Through the globalization of companies, the nature of the transnational companies has changed. Originally there was a clear demarcation with production occurring at the headquarters and secondary activities occurring in the subsidiary branches. A TNC such as IBM could be regarded as an American company with many foreign branches. Now the companies can be truly global, with the headquarters merely being a convenient site for strategic decision-making. Global communications are so efficient and sales can be so widely spread that production does not need to be located at the headquarters. There are several indicators of a company moving from being a multinational federation to a unified global company. Production can be diversified so that different stages of production are located in different countries. Marketing can promote a uniform brand image in all countries. The management personnel may develop their careers across the whole company. Full globalization has occurred when the top management includes people from several countries, with no single country predominating, and when all managers have to speak a single language, usually English. • The growth in the numberGSGSGS of TNCs, SCORESCORESCOREthe scale of their activities and the complexity of their transactions has had a major political impact. We will now see how TNCs have the ability to evade government attempts to control financial flows, to impose trade sanctions or to regulate production. TNCs also make intergovernmental relations more complicated. The sovereignty of most governments is significantly reduced. Financial Flows and Loss of Sovereignty • The consequences of the extensive Trans nationalization of major companies are profound. It is no longer possible to regard each country as having its own separate economy. Two of the most fundamental attributes of sovereignty, control over the currency and control over foreign trade have been substantially diminished. The two factors combined mean governments have lost control of financial flows. In the case of the currency, the successive crises since the early 1980s for the dollar, the pound, the French franc, and the yen have established that even the governments with the greatest financial resources are helpless against the transnational banks and other speculators.
[44] Hints: Political Science • The effects of trade on domestic and international finance are less obvious. When goods move physically across frontiers, it is usually seen as being trade between the relevant countries, but it may also be intra-firm trade. It has been estimated that intra-firm trade accounts for around one third of all world trade in goods, with the proportion reaching over a half in some high-technology manufacturing industries. As the logic of intra-firm trade is quite different from inter-country trade, governments cannot have clear expectations of the effects of their financial and fiscal policies on TNCs. Triangulation of Trade and Loss of Sovereignty • Governments have great difficulty regulating international transactions. If one government is antagonistic to another and wishes to impose a trade boycott, it is totally impossible for the government on its own to prevent movement of information or people for business purposes. Even the so-called ‘superpower’, the USA, was unable to prevent its citizens visiting communist Cuba during the cold war. It may be possible to prevent the direct import or export of goods. However, there is no guaranteed method of preventing indirect trade from one country to another. • Only if a UN Security Council resolution obliges all the countries of the world to impose sanctions is there a reasonable prospect of a determined government preventing TNCs from evading sanctions. However, in such a situation sovereignty over the relevant trade then lies with the Security Council and not with the individual governments. Regulatory Arbitrage and Loss of Sovereignty • It is difficult for governments to regulate the commercial activities of companies within their country, because companies may choose to engage in regulatory arbitrage. If a company objects to one government’s policy, it may threaten to limit or close down its local production and increase production in another country. The government that imposes the least demanding health, safety, welfare, or environmental standards will offer competitive advantages to less socially responsible companies. It thus becomes difficult for any government to set high standards. In the case of banking the political dangers inherent in the risks of a bank collapsing through imprudent or criminal behaviour are so great that the major governments have set common capital standards. Under the Basle Committee rules all commercial banks must protect their viability by having capital to the value of 8 per cent of their outstanding loans. Similarly in the European Community the desire not to leave markets unregulated provides a political impetus towards harmonization of standards and creation of a joint social policy. While the Basle Committee and the EC are very effective, both these international regimes are limited by not covering all countries or all closely related activities. • Nevertheless, whateverGSGSGS control is achievedSCORESCORESCORE does not represent the successful exercise of sovereignty over companies: it is the partial surrender of sovereignty to an intergovernmental body. Extraterritoriality and Sovereignty • In addition transnational companies generate clashes of sovereignty between different governments. Let us consider the example of a company that has its headquarters in the United States and a subsidiary company that it owns in the United Kingdom. Three lines of authority exist. The United States government can control the main company and the United Kingdom government can control the subsidiary. Each process would be the standard exercise of a government’s sovereignty over its internal affairs. In addition, both governments would accept that the TNC can, within certain limits, control its own policies on purchasing, production, and sales. Under normal circumstances these three lines of authority can be exercised simultaneously and in harmony. However, when the US government decisions cover the global operations of the TNC, there can be a clash of sovereignty. Does the
Hints: Political Science [45] subsidiary obey the UK government or the orders of the US government issued via its headquarters? This problem of extraterritoriality, is inherent in the structure of all TNCs. From Domestic Deregulation to Global Re-regulation • For most companies most of the time, their interests in expanding their production, increasing their market share and maximizing their profits will be in accord with the government’s policy of increasing employment and promoting economic growth. Conflicts will arise over the regulation of markets to avoid the risks of market failures or externalization of social and environmental costs of production, but often these conflicts will be negotiable. The most serious conflicts occur over the desire of companies to minimize their tax burden and the desire of governments to influence the patterns of trade and investment decisions. All these questions have been features of domestic politics in modern times. Globalization of economic activity has moved the questions from the domestic agendas of each country to the global political agenda. Domestic deregulation of the economy has become a global phenomenon. • As there were many strong political pressures that led to regulation in the past, it is to be expected that reactions against deregulation will grow in strength after some years. However, the contemporary political process will be different. The examples of the International Baby Foods Action Network (IBFAN), the World Rainforest Movement and the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) indicate how the reaction against irresponsible behaviour by TNCs now is focused on the United Nations and its agencies. Re-regulation (governments again seeking to control markets) is more likely to be at the global level than within individual countries. One push towards the globalization of politics is that governments can only reassert control over transnational companies by acting collectively.
GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE
[46] Hints: Political Science IAS 2020 POLITICAL SCIENCE TEST SERIES
By: Dr. PIYUSH CHAUBEY
TEST: 6
www.iasscore.in Political Science Test Series 2020 TEST - 06
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250
SECTION - A
1. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) Discuss on religion as a political philosophy of Terrorism. (10) (b) Critically examine the major arguments of Democratic Peace Theory. (10) (c) Elaborate on the basic Assumptions of Systems theory in general (10) (d) Comment on the idea of Neo-colonialism offered by Nkrumah. (10) (e) Elaborate on the Post-Colonial viewpoint on IR. (10) 2. Attempt all the questions:
(a) New rules and institutions of global governance will need to take into account several fundamental changes in world politics. Discuss. (15)
(b) Comment on the Role of Robert Cox and Andrew Linklater to the Post-Marxist tradition of International Relations? (15)
(c) Discuss the major assumptions of Sociological Liberalism. (20)
3. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Security Dilemma actually results in an atmosphere of ‘insecurity’ in the long run. Elaborate. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE (15) (b) What do you understand by the term “Liberal Institutionalism”? (15)
(c) Critically assess the notion of “Collective Security”. (20)
4. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Comment on the Neo-Realism vs. Neo-Liberalism Debate. (15)
(b) How do liberal, realist and constructivist approaches perceive the role played by Nuclear weapons in international politics? Comment. (15)
(c) Analyse how National Interest and National security are deeply interlinked concepts where national security has expanded into new dimensions. (20)
Political Science [1] SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) Meanings and Dimensions of Human Security (10)
(b) Collective Security and Collective Defense. (10)
(c) Multiple approaches for conceptualizing National Interest. (10)
(d) Functionalism vs Neo-Functionalism. (10)
(e) Third World Security. (10)
6. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Discuss the major arguments of Feminist perspective of IR. (15)
(b) Do you think that the strategy of developing countries on environmental issue is majorly centred on economic development and they perceive both issues as deeply linked? (15)
(c) Comment on the Dependency theory and its divergence with classical Marxist IR view? (20)
7. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Provide a functional and scholarly critique of Realist theory. (15)
(b) Critically examine the notion of Balance of Power in IR. (15)
(c) How do critical, feminist and post-Structuralist approaches view the concept of 'security'? (20)
8. Attempt all the questions:
(a) What are the major reasons behind the demands for disarmament and Arms control in the present world? To what extent are they justified? Examine in detail. (15)
(b) Examine the notion ‘national interest’ in light of the different tradition/ perspective of international relationsGS theory? SCORE (15) (c) Critically analyse theGSGSGS functioning SCORESCORESCORE of modern democracies in context of operational challenges. The election system is most criticized arena and a host of factors are at play apart from the elector’s choice in determining the outcome of elections. Comment. (15)
[2] Political Science Political Science Test Series 2020
www.iasscore.in POLITICAL SCIENCE Answer Hints: Test No.6
SECTION - A
1. (a) Discuss on religion as a political philosophy of Terrorism. • Approach Required : You need to use widely accepted examples to prove how religion based terrorism functions, its belief systems and specially the unique ideological and motivational support provided by religion to terrorism. • Mistakes to be avoided: Avoid controversial examples, your analysis needs to be argumentative and factual and devoid of passionate arguments showing bias. How does Religion function as a political philosophy of Terrorism? • Most of the religious systems of belief convince their believers to exterminate evils through militant means for the test of their faith or part of God’s plan. They believe that it is demand of God that’s why their actions are legitimized and for the protection of their religion in present and future. Under this sense aspiration for vengeance works as driving force for terrorism in the form of suicide bombing, war against other the faiths and imperialism. They consider these acts as test of their sincerity with the religion and accomplishment of assigned duty by God and the way to achieve the will of God and a way towards heaven. • Criminology further explains these religious creeds mingled with political interests. In this regard, for the achievement of their political will, the religious figures first blame their own country’s politicians for neglecting the important historical part and lessons of their religious issues then they blame foreign influence/prevailing international system for influencing their religious culture. These blames are inclusive of three reasons. – First, the foreign influence/system doesn’t serve the religion’s survival interests. – Second, the system competes and has animosity with world’s different religion and – The third the system is depicted as evil like force or influence. • Simply the militant religion considers secularization, modernization and westernization as the most specific enemies. Therefore, the religious movements start violent campaign against it as the legitimate defender of faith and they justify their actions posing themselves only accountable to God who has chosen them for the sacred mission. • Religious movements can be quite violent, ferocious, extreme and carrying pre-emptive attacks in its nature. Simply, in its extremist form religious groups adopt terrorism as a last resort to its campaign. In its tactics religious terrorism is quite extremist and full of injustices and maltreatment. Strategically it supports pre-emptive attacks for the fear of an existing threat from the opposite faith and ideology. • Because of applying this tactic religious groups and leaders cannot plan their actions rationally and select inappropriate time and places of target that causes human sufferings. Most of the religious attacks and avenges are related to the historical events; religious terrorism is based on the idea of never forget the past wounds and previous grievances, they are more rigid in their actions and more dangerous in consequence of failure of actions; in this term here is the example of Irish terrorism. • In fact, terrorism in the name of religion aims at political motives. Believers of the religious group consider it righteous to adopt violent means in defines of their faith against other religions. They consider their religion universal and assume it their great responsibility to propagate their faith by all violent means. Current Terrorism is mostly religion based; suicide bombing, martyrdom and the use of weapons are symbolic features of it. The significant means of these terrorist networks are Internet, international media and satellites.
1. (b) Critically examine the major arguments of Democratic Peace Theory. • Approach Required : First, briefly introduce the main idea of Democratic Peace Theory (Be much more concise than the content given below), then provide factual examples of democracies actually going to war and realist arguments as to how it is too early to proclaim the success of the above mentioned theory. • Mistakes to be avoided: Be careful to quote examples of the failure of the theory only in those case where both the adversaries are Democracies (widely recognized). The theory does not apply to cases where one of the parties in conflict is not a democracy. • Immanuel Kant’s theory is based on the assumption that democracies will not go to war with one another due to the role of the public; he favours a republican constitution as the basis of the creation of perpetual peace, which would require citizen consent. He believes the decision to use force against another state is based on whether the public is prepared to deal with the consequences. • Over a century after Kant, the victory of democracies, at the end of the First World War, created the widespread consensus that a democratic regime was the most favourable regime type. These ideas proved especially influential after the Cold War. When Francis Fukuyama published his book entitled The End of History? (1989), new light was cast on the idea of the democratic peace. Fukuyama claimed that we had reached “the end point of man’s ideological evolution” and that our final form of human government would be a universal liberal democracy. • Michael Doyle based his theory on Kant’s ‘perpetual peace’. In his book, Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs (1983), Kant states that the spread of democracy makes the elimination of war possible. The belief in freedom of the individual and the idea that democratic people will treat each other ethicallyGSGS is at theSCORESCORE heart of his theory. Doyle claims that democracy is what defines a liberal state;GSGS this would SCORESCORE mean that peace is defined by democracy. Furthermore, he considers the factor of regime type to be the explanatory mechanism and deciding element in a democracy’s choice to use force. The Realist Counter-argument • Realism dictates that states seek to maximize their power in relation to their rivals. Unsurprisingly, then, war is a common phenomenon in the realist arena. Layne examines examples of situations when two states came to the brink of war. One of these is the Trent Affair, During the War Between the States, the conflict between Great Britain and the Union arose due to the action of the USS San Jacinto, which intercepted the British mail ship Trent. • The second example can be that of tensions and almost warlike situation between USA and India, the worlds most powerful and world’s largest democracy. 1949 and 1969 shifts in relations between India and the United States can be identified due to the nature of US political administration. When the republican Richard Nixon became President this relationship
[2] Hints: Political Science became especially turbulent. At this time the US viewed India as an aggressive foreign power rather than a fellow democracy. On the one side were the US, China and Pakistan, and on the other, India and the Soviet Union. Several events such as the deployment of a US Navy aircraft carrier to the Bay of Bengal and India’s control of East Pakistan escalated tensions. • The post-Cold War era, although there have been three democratic wars (the Croatian War of Independence, the Fourth India-Pakistan War, and the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War) • Realist theorists may also argue that the statistical evidence provided in support of the democratic peace theory is inconclusive. This is because until after the end of the Cold War there were not many democratic states to base such research on. • John Mearsheimer, a neorealist, noted that “democracies have been few in number over the past two centuries, and thus there have not been many cases where two democracies were in a position to fight each other”. • Therefore we can safely assume on the basis of the above examples that although the democratic peace theory has held ground for most of the post war era but there are notable exceptions to it and it definitely can’t be called the final explanation of the behaviour of liberal democracies and their military decisions.
1. (c) Elaborate on the basic Assumptions of Systems theory in general • Approach Required : Define what is system and provide the context of the System approach in International Relations. You need to majorly emphasize on the views of scholars from this tradtition. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to comment on the overall viewpoints of Systems approach. Need to be careful not to fixate on any one particular model. • Before we discuss the System Approach, it is important that we should have a clear understanding of the concept ‘System’. There is no unanimity on the exact meaning and implications of the term ‘system’. • However, it refers to a structure of its own, having different parts which are inter-related and inter-dependent, which undergoes various processes to maintain its existence. • A system implies not only the inter-dependence of parts but also the acceptance of influence from environment and vice versa. Inter-dependence means that when the properties of a component in a system change, all other components and the system as a whole are affected. • There are various kindsGS GSGSof systems. DavidSCORESCORESCORE Easton and G. A. Almond have used this approach for the study of politicalGS system while SCORE Mortan Kaplan has used it for the study of international system. • Defining international system, Stanley Hoffman regards it as “a pattern of relations among the basic units of world politics, characterised by the scope of the objectives pursued by those units and of the task performed among them as well as by the means used to achieve those goals and perform these tasks.” • Spiro holds that the idea of international system is abstract, descriptive and theoretical. It contributes a perspective. The international system constitutes an expression to stimulate thought about a certain generalis-ed image. Thus, the nations of the world are conceived to be in contact and association in a complicated framework of relationships which is formed through the process of interaction.” • In this way, we find that the systems theory regards the world phenomenon in its totality through those processes of interaction operating at various levels. It is on this account that
Hints: Political Science [3] Mc Cleland calls Systems Theory “as a way of thinking having the proportion of a world view.” • The Systems Theory views the world as a system involving an organised complexity. This system is regulative and adoptive. Each system exists for certain purposes. And, it is for the attainment of these purposes that it adopts and regulates itself to the environment. • The Systems Approach conceives of nations which come in contact to form a complicated relationship resulting from the phenomenon of interaction. The activities of a nation are always directed towards the preservation of its national interest. • But at the same time nations live with one another. They live in an international environment and parti-cipate in that environment. The behaviour of a nation is thus a “two way activity of taking from and giving to the international environ-ment.” This process of exchange is called the International System. • Although Mortan Kaplan is the chief exponent of the system theory, there have been many others who have contributed to the system approach. They include Karl Deutsch, Charles Mc Cleland, J. David Singer, Kenneth Boulding, David Easton and Anatole Rapport.
1. (d) Comment on the idea of Neo-colonialism offered by Nkrumah.
• Approach Required : Simply Elaborate on the background of the idea of Neo-Colonialism by Nkrumah by a brief explanation of how it is being implemented by USA through unique methodologies. Give as many factual examples as you can. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be specific to the views of Nkrumah, avoid generic analysis of the topic. • At the time he published Neo-Colonialism, the last Stage of Imperialism, Kwame Nkrumah was the President of Ghana, the first African country to achieve independence from colonial rule. One year later he would be deposed by a military coup that was supported by the American CIA. The name of Nkrumah’s book is a variation on Lenin’s own study of imperialism written 50 years before and named Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. This is fitting because Nkrumah’s contribution remains the best single update on imperialism since Lenin. • Nkrumah explains in great detail how the West, and especially the United States, was responding to the success of national liberation movements, such as the one he led in Ghana, by shifting its tactics fromGSGSGS colonialism SCORESCORESCORE to neo-colonialism. • The neo-colonial powers pursue their actions in the name of the United Nations by using two UN agencies that they established after World War and that they fully control without any pretext of democracy, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund: “Still another neo-colonialist trap on the economic front has come to be known as ‘multilateral aid’ through international organisations: the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-national Bank for Reconstruction and Development (known as the World Bank), the International Finance Corporation and the International Development Association are examples, all, significantly, having U.S. capital as their major backing. These agencies have the habit of forcing would-be borrowers to submit to various offensive conditions, such as supplying information about their economies, submitting their policy and plans to review by the World Bank and accepting agency supervision of their use of loans” • Among the “innumerable ways” of neo-colonialist exploitation, Nkrumah describes the following. There are conditions which hedge it around: the conclusion of commerce and
[4] Hints: Political Science navigation treaties; agreements for economic co-operation; the right to meddle in internal finances, including currency and foreign exchange, to lower trade barriers in favour of the donor country’s goods and capital; to protect the interests of private investments; determination of how the funds are to be used; forcing the recipient to set up counterpart funds; to supply raw materials to the donor; and use of such funds a majority of it, in fact to buy goods from the donor nation. These conditions apply to industry, commerce, agriculture, shipping and insurance, apart from others which are political and military. So-called ‘invisible trade’ furnishes the Western monopolies with yet another means of economic penetration. Over 90 per cent of world ocean shipping is controlled by me imperialist countries.
1. (e) Elaborate on the Post-Colonial viewpoint on IR.
• Approach Required : Need to explain the Post-Colonial viewpoint specially based on views of scholars from the tradition. Need to explain the unique arguments raised by the tradition. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep your content as scholarly view based as possible. Avoid generic explanation of the nature of post-colonial societies. • In the context of international relations, the term ‘Post-colonial’ is generally used in the popular sense of designating a rupture, i.e., a radical break from the past. As a result, the two terms “Third World” and “Postcolonial World” are often used interchangeably in the literature of international relations. This is so because most of the Third World countries with a few exceptions are former- colonies. • Several theorist in international relations is increasingly use the term ‘postcolonial’ to depict the “postcolonial” nature of state, nationalism, society, and culture of once-colonized countries, or newly independent countries, or the Third World countries. • In a recent perceptive study, Bhupinder Brar proposes to replace the term ‘’Third World” by an alternative term, “Post-Colonial World”. According to him: ‘‘the basic problem with the term Third World is that it describes essentially the starting position at which the newly independent countries found themselves. It does not clarify why they continue to be poor and backward”. Brar argues that the perspective of post-colonialist can illuminate certain areas in international relations which had earlier been neglected. • The “post-coloniality” argument in the field of international relations can be particularly helpful in discerning a new pattern of dependency which is social, cultural, and psychological as againstGSGSGS the narrow SCOREeconomicSCORESCORE focus of the world system and core-periphery models. GS SCORE • The strength of the postcolonial theory, for him lies in the fact that it, “focuses on a peculiar relationship which former colonies historically came to develop with their colonial masters. This relationship has been aptly described as that of an ‘intimate enemy’. This relationship, much before the enemy is recognized as enemy, its values, beliefs and forms are internalized by the victim, so that the more the victim opposes the enemy the more it acts like the enemy itself, producing its mirror images in the name of rebellion. • The hegemony of western developmental and modernization project overwhelmingly gripped the “national elite” in the postcolonial societies that they could never come out with an alternative developmental agenda. Despite their insistence on pursuing the principle of self- reliance, they could never break the shackles of Western mind-set. As a result, they ended up imitating the Western model of development, privileging thereby Western modernity and rationalism.
Hints: Political Science [5] 2. (a) New rules and institutions of global governance will need to take into account several fundamental changes in world politics. Discuss. • Approach Required : Need to elaborate on the various examples and arguments which portray how the global order has recently changed. Focus on elaborating the new challenges and actors which should be taken into cognizance by institutions of global governance • Mistakes to be avoided: Diversify your arguments and need to elaborate on both positive and negative phenomenon which are impacting the decision making capacity of the states. New rules and institutions of global governance will need to take into account several fundamental changes in world politics. These include: • A shift in power to the global “South: While the United States remains at the apex of the international system, the global distribution of power—political, economic, demographic, technological, and to some degree military— is shifting toward the developing world, driven by the rise of China, India, Brazil, and other nations (and the relative decline of Europe). Core international institutions, from the UN Security Council to the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G-8), have not yet adapted to accommodate these seismic shifts, reducing both their perceived legitimacy and their practical effectiveness. • The rise of transnational threats: While great power war will always be possible in a system of sovereign states, the principal foreign policy challenges of the twenty-first century are likely to be transnational threats—from terrorism to pandemics to climate change. Such challenges will necessitate new forms of institutionalized cooperation and pose particular challenges to the United States, historically ambivalent toward multilateral institutions. • The spectre of weak and failing states: For the first time in modern history, the main threats to world security emanate less from states with too much power (e.g., Nazi Germany) than from states with too little (e.g., Afghanistan). The goal of collective security has thus shifted from counter-balancing aggressive powers to assisting fragile and post-conflict countries in achieving effective sovereign statehood, including control over “ungoverned spaces.” • The mounting influence of non-state actors: A corollary to state weakness is the rise of non-state groups and individuals that are capable of operating across multiple sovereign jurisdictions. These include illicit organizations motivated by political grievance (e.g., al-Qaeda or ISIS) or simple greed (e.g., Russian crime syndicates). But non-state actors also include more benign forces, such as humanitarian NGOs and civil society actors, philanthropic institutions like the Gates Foundation all clamouring for entrée into decision-making forums that have traditionallyGSGS GSbeen the purview SCORESCORESCORE of states alone. How to integrate these new stakeholders into multilateral deliberations remains a major challenge for global governance. • Evolving norms of sovereignty and intervention: There is growing recognition that each state owes certain fundamental obligations to its own citizens and to wider international society. These responsibilities include an obligation not to commit atrocities against one’s own population; a prohibition against sponsoring or providing a safe haven to transnational terrorist groups; and a duty to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Yet the effort to make these new norms operational and enforceable remains a Herculean challenge. • The increasing prominence of transnational government networks: In past decades, the process of multilateral cooperation and rule-making tended to be hierarchical and centralized, reflecting formal negotiations among high-level national delegations. In the twenty-first century, multilateral cooperation frequently unfolds in a distributed and networked manner, through the collaboration of transnational networks of government officials from regulatory agencies, executives, legislatures, and courts.
[6] Hints: Political Science • A growing reliance on coalitions of the willing: A recent trend in global governance has been to rely less on large, formal organizations (like the UN), which are vulnerable to paralysis and inaction, than on narrower collective action among like-minded countries, as in the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). • International Trade: The stagnation of the current Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and the ongoing expansion of bilateral and regional trade arrangements have called into question the commitment of the United States and other major countries to the vision of an open, reciprocal, and non-discriminatory system of international trade and payments. Stumbling blocks in the current WTO round include the resistance of wealthy countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to liberalize trade in protected agricultural commodities and the unwillingness of developing countries to quicken their own embrace of Western standards on foreign investment, intellectual property, and trade in manufactures. In the absence of sustained forward movement on global trade liberalization, we are likely to see an increased fragmentation of world trade into regional—and potentially discriminatory and protectionist—blocs. • International Investment: The economic gains from cross-border investment are as great as those from cross-border trade, and corporate investment in multi-country supply chains is a large driver of growing trade flows. Moreover, the rapidly growing sovereign wealth funds of several East Asian countries and energy-exporting states are complicating the picture. The huge capital surpluses now in the hands of foreign governments may trigger a political backlash in the countries where these funds are invested). Yet international investment is not subject to any multilateral regime comparable to the World Trade Organization. Instead, a crazy-quilt of bilateral investment treaties, together with an OECD-effort led by the OECD, attempt to set global norms for investment rules. In the 1990s an effort to upgrade this framework with a Multilateral Agreement on Investment was defeated by civil society critics. • Global Development Policy: Contemporary policy discourse concerning global development has been dominated by two extreme camps: advocates of enormous expenditures of foreign aid to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, on the one hand, and sceptics of development assistance, on the other, who contend that it is wasteful, redundant (given private sources of investment) and often counterproductive (since it breeds dependency). Often missing from this dialogue of the deaf is a careful appraisal of what targeted foreign aid can (and cannot) accomplish, as well as a recognition that aid is but one component— and rarely the most important—in development outcomes.
2. (b) Comment on the Role of Robert Cox and Andrew Linklater to the Post-Marxist tradition of InternationalGSGSGS Relations? SCORESCORESCORE • Approach Required : Need to detail the views of both scholars and elaborate on how it is a critique of existing dominant notions of Realism and conventional Marxism. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be very specific to the points raised by the two scholars. Do not offer a generic discussion on the basis assumptions of the Post- Marxist tradition. Robert Cox • Canadian Scholar Robert Cox has developed a Gramscian approach that involves both a critique of prevailing theories of International Relation and International Political Economy and the development of an alternative framework for the analysis of world politics. • In his 1981 article, ‘Social Forces, States, and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory’, he says “Theory is always for someone, and for some purpose’. If ideas and Hints: Political Science [7] values are ultimately a reflection of a particular set of social relations, and are transformed as those relations are themselves transformed, then this suggests that all of knowledge must reflect a certain context, a certain time and a certain space. • He subjects realism, and in particular its contemporary variant neo-realism, to thoroughgoing critique on these grounds. According to Cox, these theories are for – or serve the interests of – those who prosper under the prevailing order that is the inhabitants of the developed states, and in particular the ruling elites. Their purpose, whether consciously or not, is to reinforce and legitimate the status quo. They do this by making the current configuration of international relations appear natural and immutable. When realists (falsely) claim to be describing the world as it is, as it has been, and as it always will be, what they are in fact doing is reinforcing the ruling hegemony in the current world order. • Cox contrasts problem solving theory that is theory that accepts the parameters of the present order, and thus helps legitimate an unjust and deeply iniquitous system, with critical theory. Critical theory attempts to challenge the prevailing order by seeking out, analysing, and where possible, assisting social processes that can potentially lead to emancipatory change. • According to Cox, successive dominant powers in the international system have shaped a world order that suits their interests , and have done so not only as a result of their coercive capabilities but also because they managed to generate broad consent for that order even among those who are disadvantaged by it. • For the two hegemons that Cox analyses (the UK and the USA), the ruling, hegemonic ideas has been ‘free trade’. The claim that this system benefits everybody has been so widely accepted that it has attained ‘common sense’ status. Yet the reality is that while ‘free trade’ is very much in the interest of the hegemon which is the most efficient producer in the global economy , can produce goods which are competitive in all markets, so long as they have access to them, its benefits for peripheral states and regions are far less apparent. • The degree to which a state can successfully produce and reproduce its hegemony is an indication of the extent of its power. The success of the USA in gaining worldwide acceptance for neo-liberalism suggests just how dominant the current hegemon has become. • But despite the domination of the present world order, Cox does not expect it to remain unchallenged. Rather, he maintains Marx’s views that capitalism is an inherently unstable system, riven by inescapable contradictions. Inevitable economic crisis will act as a catalyst for the emergence of the counter-hegemonic movements. Andrew Linklater • New forms of politicalGS GSGSidentification SCORESCORESCORE and expressions of transnational ‘community’ have prompted Critical Theorists to pose questions about the extent to which human beings owe obligations to the people of the world rather than simply fellow-citizens. Andrew Linklater argues that Critical Theorists remain committed to the creation of ‘the good society’, which is not limited to the nation-state. • His point of departure is the need for a return to the classical understanding of politics as orientated towards the emancipation of people. The first stage in this project is to understand the way people learn how to exclude those deemed to be ‘different’ from the moral community. This necessarily involves moving beyond a conventional Marxist concern with social class to consider how people of different races, ethnic backgrounds and gender have been, or continue to be, discriminated against. • As well as understanding the dynamics of social exclusion, however, it is also important to recognise that these practices are challenged by groups involved in both national and transnational political action. Moreover, there are many arenas where people think about [8] Hints: Political Science and debate moral and political issues. Drawing upon Habermasian ideas about the importance of communication and dialogue in achieving an emancipatory politics, Linklater highlights the multiple‘public spheres ‘in which these kinds of debates take place. He claims that political communities are already being transformed by, for example, struggles over equality, rights, claims to resources and notions of obligations to others, and how they might change more radically in the future.
2. (c) Discuss the major assumptions of Sociological Liberalism. • Approach Required : Simply elaborate on the major arguments of the approach based on views of scholars. Need to justify the methodology and also elaborate specifically on the views of Rosenau and Burton. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be specific to Sociological Liberalism and not a general discussion on Liberal theory of IR. • Transnational relations are considered by sociological to be an increasingly important aspect of international relations. James Rosenau defines transnationalism as follows: ‘the processes whereby international relations conducted by governments have been supplemented by relations among private individuals, groups, and societies that can and do have important consequences for the course of events‘ • In focusing on transnational relations, sociological liberals return to an old theme in liberal thinking: the notion that relations between people are more cooperative and more supportive of peace than are relations between national governments. • Richard Cobden, A leading nineteenth-century liberal thinker, put the idea as follows: ‘As little intercourse between the Governments, as much connection as possible between the nations of the world’. By ‘nations’ Cobden was referring to societies and their membership. • Karl Deutsch was a leading figure in the study of transnational relations during the 1950s. He and his associates attempted to measure the extent of communication and transactions between societies. Deutsch argues that a high degree of transnational ties between societies leads to peaceful relations that amount to more than the mere absence of war It leads to a security community: ‘a group of people which has become “integrated” ‘.Integration means that a ‘sense of community ‘has been achieved; people have come to agree that their conflicts and problems can be resolved ‘without resort to large-scale physical force. • Such a security community has emerged, argues Deutsch, among the Western countries in the North Atlantic area. He lists a number of conditions that are conducive to the emergence of security communities:GSGSGS increased social SCORESCORESCORE communication; greater mobility of persons; stronger economic ties; and a wider range of mutual human transactions. • Many sociological liberals hold the idea that transnational relations between people from different countries help create new forms of human society which exist alongside or even in competition with the nation-state. In a book called World Society John Burton proposes a ‘cobweb model’ of transnational relationships. The purpose is to demonstrate how any nation- state consists of many different groups of people which have different types of interest: religious groups, Business groups, labour groups and soon. In marked contrast, the realist model of the world often depicts the system of states as a set-of billiard balls: i.e. as a number of independent, self-contained units. • According to sociological liberals like Burton, if we map the patterns of communication and transactions between various groups we will get a more accurate picture of the world because it would represent actual patterns of human behaviour rather than artificial boundaries of states. Hints: Political Science [9] • Burton implies that the cobweb model points to a world driven more by mutually beneficial cooperation than by antagonistic conflict. In this way the cobweb model builds on an earlier liberal idea about the beneficial edicts of cross-cutting or overlapping group memberships. Because individuals are members of many divergent groups. “Conflict will be muted if not eliminated; overlapping memberships minimize the risk of serious conflict between any two groups. • James Rosenau has further developed the sociological liberal approach to transnational relations. He focused on transnational relations at the macro-level of human populations in addition to those conducted at the micro-level by individuals. • Rosenau argues that individual transactions have important implications and consequences for global affairs. First. Individuals have greatly extended their activities owing to better education and access to electronic means of communication as well as foreign travel. Second, states ‘capacity for control and regulation is decreasing in an ever more complex world. The consequence is a world of better-informed and more mobile individuals who are far less tied than before to ‘their ‘states. • Rosenau thus sees a profound transformation of the international system that is underway: the state-centric, anarchic system has not disappeared but a new ‘multi-centric world has emerged that is composed of diverse ‘sovereignty-free” collectivities which exist apart from and in competition with the state- centric world of “sovereignty-bound” actors’ Rosenau thus supports the liberal idea that an increasingly pluralist world characterized by transnational networks of individuals and groups, will be more peaceful. • In some respects, it will be a more unstable world, because the old order built on state power has broken down; but only rarely will conflicts lead to the use of force, because the numerous new cosmopolitan individuals that are members of many overlapping groups will not easily become enemies divided into antagonistic camps. • We can summarize sociological liberalism as follows. lR is not only a study of relations between national governments; IR scholars also study relations between private individuals, groups and societies. Overlapping interdependent relations between people are bound to be more cooperative than relations between states because states are exclusive and, according to sociological liberalism, their interests do not overlap and cross-cut. A world with a large number of transnational networks will thus be more peaceful.
3. (a) Security Dilemma actually results in an atmosphere of ‘insecurity’ in the long run. Elaborate. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • Approach Required : YouGS need to explainSCORE the concept thoroughly and elaborate on how Security Dilemma occurs, what factors determine its intensity and scope and how even defensive measures in the long run will eventually culminate into a scenario of insecurity. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t just explain what the concept is, you need to provide a detailed and example based analysis here. What exactly is “Security Dilemma”? • This concept rests on the assumption that security is something for which states compete. In an anarchical international system lacking any authority capable of ensuring order, states have to look to their own efforts for protection. Striving to obtain this, they are driven to acquire more and more power in order to escape the impact of the power of other states. This, in turn, makes the others more insecure and encourages them to prepare for the worst. Since no state can ever feel entirely secure in such a world of competing states, competition follows, and the result is a rising spiral of insecurity among states.
[10] Hints: Political Science • The security dilemma describes a condition in which efforts to improve national security have the effect of appearing to threaten other states, thereby provoking military counter- moves. This in turn can lead to ante decrease in security for all states. The security dilemma encapsulates one of the many difficult choices facing some governments. On the one hand, they can relax defence efforts in order to facilitate peaceful relations; the problem here is that they may make their country more vulnerable to attack. • On the other hand, they can strengthen defence preparations, but this can have the unintended consequence of undermining long-term security by exacerbating international suspicions and reinforcing pressures for arms racing. The result can be military conflict, and many commentators have argued that a paradigmatic example of the security dilemma led to the First World War (1914–18). • It is important to note that the security dilemma arises primarily from the alleged structure of the international system rather than the aggressive motives or intentions of states. This structural basis is exacerbated by the understandably conservative inclinations of defence planners to prepare for the worst and focus on the capabilities of their rivals rather than rely on their benign intentions. • Ignorance and competition among different branches of the armed forces for government funds can fuel worst-case analysis. Thus while the structure of the international system must be seen as a fundamental precondition for the security dilemma, its intensity is a consequence both of the inherently violent nature of military capabilities and the degree to which states perceive others as threats rather than allies. Since these two factors are variable over space and time, the intensity of the security dilemma is very unevenly distributed among states. • It is worth noting how each of them can vary. First, the intensity of the security dilemma varies depending both on the degree to which one can distinguish between defensive and offensive weapons, as well as the relationship between them. Other things being equal, and acknowledging that weapons can be used offensively and defensively, some types of weapons are more suited to defence than offence. Defensive force configurations emphasise firepower with limited mobility and range (e.g. anti-tank missiles), and offensive configurations emphasise mobility and range (e.g. fighter-bombers). • Advocates of what is called non-offensive defence believe that the security dilemma can be muted by the adoption of force configurations that are least likely to provoke counter-measures by other states. In part this depends on the degree to which defensive military technology is superior to offensive capabilities. If potential enemies each believe that the best form of defence (and deterrence) is preparing to attack, it is not difficult to see how they could be locked into a vicious circle of mutuallyGSGSGS reinforcing SCORESCORESCORE suspicions. • Second, the intensity of the security dilemma varies depending on the political relationship between states. Capabilities should not be examined in a political vacuum. The degree of trust and sense of common interest in the international system is neither fixed nor uniform. There is no security dilemma between Australia and New Zealand because neither state considers the other a threat to its national security. • At the end of the twentieth century there remains no consensus about the severity of the security dilemma, particularly between states that possess nuclear weapons. On the one hand, the phenomenon of mutually assured destruction on the basis of a secure second-strike capability would seem to ensure the supremacy of defence over offence. • On the other hand, there remains doubt over the credibility of defensive capability that offers little choice between suicide and surrender. Some scholars argue that the security dilemma is particularly amongst the great powers, simply because the strategic and economic
Hints: Political Science [11] gains from expanding one’s territorial control are very few. In an age of economic interdependence, and in light of the degree of economic integration that exists today, it could be argued that what is called a security community exists, at least in North America, Western Europe, Australasia, and among some states in East Asia. A security community is one whose members are confident that the likelihood of force being used to resolve conflicts between them is extremely low. Another parts of the world, however, particularly in sub- Saharan Africa and the Middle East, the dynamics of the security dilemma remain potent danger.
3. (b) What do you understand by the term “Liberal Institutionalism”?
• Approach Required: Need to simply elaborate on the major assumptions/arguments of the tradition along with views of scholars. Need to elaborate on the unique role which can be played by Institutions in maintaining international peace and facing challenges of global commons. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to focus specifically on the role of institutions and need to avoid a general discussion on the Liberal theory of IR. The basic tenets of Liberal institutionalism are as follows: • Liberal institutionalism argues that emphasis should be placed on global governance and international organizations as a way of explaining international relations. Institutionalism places emphasis on the role that common goals play in the international system and the ability of international organizations to get states to cooperate. • Institutionalism therefore rejects the realist assumption that international politics is a struggle for power in which military security issues are top priority and argues that instead we can ‘imagine a world in which actors other than states participate directly in world politics, in which a clear hierarchy of issues does not exist, and in which force is an ineffective instrument of policy.’ • Liberal institutionalism argues that in order for there to be peace in international affairs states must cooperate together and in effect yield some of their sovereignty to create ‘integrated communities’ to promote economic growth and respond to regional and international security issues. • Liberal institutionalism focuses on the idea of complex interdependence as first argued by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye in the 1970’s placing emphasis on four characteristics which differentiate institutionalismGSGSGS SCOREfromSCORESCORE realism these include: multiple channels which allow for interaction amongGS actors SCORE across national borders and which increases the interaction and links between actors and non-state actors; attention is given equally to all issues, that is there is no distinction between high and low politics unlike realism in which the emphasis is placed on security issues and the decline of military force as a means by which policy is determined. • Furthermore within a liberal institutionalism model states seek to maximize absolute gains through cooperation, states are therefore less concerned about the advantages achieved by other states in cooperative arrangements. The greatest obstacle to cooperation in world affairs is non-compliance or cheating by states. • By focusing on International organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank, liberal institutionalism argues for greater emphasis on soft power and cooperation through ‘the forms and procedures of international law, the machinery of diplomacy and general international organization.
[12] Hints: Political Science • Institutionalists like Graham Allison argue that the rise in globalization and concerns over terrorism, drug trafficking and pandemics such as HIV/AIDS has shown that states can no longer react unilaterally to these threats and that it is only through regional and global regimes that policy responses can be coordinated to deal with new security threats.[ • Whilst the development and growth of the European Union raises questions about state sovereignty and the legitimacy of states claims on unilateral action in dealing with world problems, liberal institutionalism as a theory remains within the paradigms of a rationalistic and modernist system. Liberal institutionalism still recognizes that states are the key actors in international relations and that states seek to maximize absolute gains through cooperation.
3. (c) Critically assess the notion of “Collective Security”. • Approach Required : Need to elaborate on all arguments which show the limitations of Collective Security as a practical approach to maintain peace in IR. Focus on the intrinsic shortcomings of the concept as well as role played by the realist nature of international politics. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your analysis has to be critical. No need to go for a detailed elaboration of the concept which is not asked in the question. What are the major limitations of Collective Security? • Collective security failed to find a compromise between national and world sovereignty because sovereignty is inherently indivisible. Sovereign states cannot be fully bound by pledges to act in some hypothetical future case, especially where such pledges involve the risk of war. Plans for collective security demand such ironclad commitments, or the system decays into just another instrument of national policy (as the United Nations has tended to become). • United Nations actions do not supersede politics among nations; they become a branch of these politics. The United Nations only mirrors the existing international society. National sovereignties remain the basis of world politics, and in the last analysis these sovereignties will agree to cooperate only so far as that serves their interests. Such cooperation may indeed accord with their interests at times, but there is no assurance that it will. • The larger powers (who, after all, must bear the major burdens of enforcing peace under a collective security system) have never been willing to give an unconditional commitment to carry out the commands of the world organization; they have always reserved for themselves some escape hatch. They have never been willing to set up an international army of any significant strength, under direct control of the League of Nations or the United Nations without strings attached.GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • This is to say that it still is a world of nationalism and national states. If a world superstate could somehow be set up, this would obviate and supersede collective security, which in theory is a hypothetical stage somewhere in between. In the terminology of the German sociologist Karl Mannheim, collective security is a “relative utopia”—one that tries to be realistic but retains elements of fantasy. • An army under the direct control of the international organization, one that could be used without asking permission of the various member states, seems necessary to collective security; otherwise, as has been the case, it must make ad hoc requests for military contingents, which the various governments may or may not choose to honour, depending on their interests. If it had its own army, the United Nations would already be a world government, possessing sovereign powers over the subordinate member units. • One of the illusions of collective security, as was observed, seems to be that conflict is relatively rare, is a product of criminality, and can readily be recognized as “aggression” and as such Hints: Political Science [13] suppressed by the great majority of law-abiding, peace-loving peoples. But conflict is both much more endemic in the world and much less possible to categorize as good and evil than this theory concedes. • Aggression has proved much more difficult to identify and to define than collective security plans foresaw. In such clashes as those between Israel and the Arab states, North and South Vietnam, North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, and perhaps most others, there is great difficulty in ascertaining who in fact struck the first blow, as well as a certain aridity in making this the crux of the matter. • Does aggression include indirect attacks such as subversion and propaganda? How far back in time should one carry the feud? What states were ever at war and did not each charge the other with the aggression? Historians still debate the responsibility for World War I and most other wars. • Although some have argued that any “breach of the peace” ought to be a signal for a “police action” by the world organization, regardless of who is responsible, or have suggested formal tests such as willingness to submit the dispute to an arbitrator or mediator, in fact the validity of the theory seems to depend on clear criteria of aggression. • But attempts to reach a satisfactory definition of aggression failed in long years of debate, first in the League of Nations and then in the United Nations. Some argued that a definition is undesirable, because it could not cover all the contingencies and would be “a signpost for the guilty and a trap for the innocent.” States might find themselves in the position of having to act against a friend or defend a foe. • The reality of international relations in a world of particular sovereignties thus again confuses and thwarts the ideal of a pure collective security system. (After twenty-four years of effort, the United Nations Special Committee in 1974 did finally agree on a tortuous definition of aggression, but one too full of exceptions to be very helpful.) • There is also the argument of redundancy. A workable collective security order is one in which most of the powers are in harmony, and which has enough unity to agree on basic definitions, for example, of justice and aggression. • But if there is this much unity, there is hardly any need to install a system of collective security, for the problem will virtually solve itself. To create the formal institution of a League of Nations or United Nations does not alter the existing order of power and international relations. • Insofar as collective security is based on a firm defines of existing borders, it is open to criticism on the ground that this freezesGSGSGS the status SCORESCORESCORE quo. This raises the problem of justice. Many states will not accept the justice of existing boundaries, which probably reflect the results of recent war and may contain arrangements clearly unacceptable to the losers. Many groups fervently advance claims for the revision of frontiers at all times, as, for example, at the beginning of the twenty-first century with the Arabs and Pakistanis. • Collective security thus was in danger of being labelled the selfish policy of satiated or victor states. (Germany consistently viewed it in that light between the world wars.) One must allow for some method of revising existing boundaries or one has condemned a dynamic world to immobility, which clearly is impossible. Proponents of collective security may urge “peaceful change,” but how is this to come about? Their theory contains no specific answer. • In a world without a single government possessing laws and courts that are binding on and acceptable to all, war must remain a possible last-resort remedy for injustice. Here we impinge upon arguments against pure pacifism and confront again the nonexistence of world government. [14] Hints: Political Science • It may be noted that support for wars of revolution and “liberation” runs counter to collective security’s immobilism. Those who believe that there is indeed a “just war” for national independence, recovery of a region forcibly seized in the past by another state, overthrow of an oppressive government, or some other such compelling cause will defend the right to resort to it rather than submit indefinitely to an unjust peace. (In the late 1960s and early 1970s the United Nations General Assembly, with a Third World majority, voted that nations should wage war on the “racist” government of Rhodesia, not for violating any frontier, but for being unjust.) • Insofar as it is based on guaranteeing frontiers, collective security assumes not only that these frontiers are just but also that they are well-defined. Collective security was more suited to the classical European state system than to much of the world today, where boundaries are ill defined or even non-existent, and where civil wars, wars of secession, and wars of “liberation”—sometimes with outside aid—are the most usual types of violent conflict. • Finally, the basic dilemma of collective security is—assuming its efficacy—that of waging of war to prevent war. War by any other name, including “police action,” is still war. Of course, the advocates of collective security hoped that vigilant international police work performed in time would nip a potential war in the bud—stamp out the brush fire before it became a raging inferno. But experiences such as Vietnam suggest that well-intentioned interventions of this sort may result not in diminishing war but intensifying it. Intervention by outside powers, even if acting in the name of an international organization, is, after all, not usually apt to reduce a conflict. • In principle, collective security abolishes neutrality; no state may stand aside and observe, all must become involved to stop a war. (The 1930s saw a considerable debate on the implications of the new doctrine for traditional neutrality.) But the venerable principle of neutrality may be valuable in confining the scope of a war. To abandon it may involve the risk of widening wars. • In this connection, “limited war” theorists and strategists advise accepting the inevitability of war while seeking to keep it as confined and limited as possible, rather than trying vainly to abolish it. Collective security has been accused of unrealistically demanding the total suppression of war, and in its anxiety to achieve that goal, blowing up every skirmish into an international crisis. • The criticisms have calledGSGSGS seriously intoSCORESCORESCORE question the workability of collective security, perhaps the chief idea of the twentieth century addressed to the problem of war. It was born of the shock of 1914 and nourished by the further horror of World War II. Its goal was to bring an end to the “international anarchy” of blindly competing states, acknowledging no limitations on their powers except those of brute force. Recognizing the existence of nationalism as a powerful fact not likely soon to be extinguished, followers of collective security conceded to realism that dreams of a world state are as yet wholly premature; they tried to build on the foundation of independent sovereignties a society or league of nations to which these sovereign powers would offer their voluntary cooperation, in the common interest of suppressing war. • In the last analysis such a compromise between national and international sovereignty seems impossible—the gulf is unbridgeable. Those who are unprepared to accept continuing prospects of rivalry between nations and peoples, mitigated only by diplomacy and leading intermittently to war, must face the formidable task of creating a world community able to support a world government.
Hints: Political Science [15] 4. (a) Comment on the Neo-Realism vs. Neo-Liberalism Debate.
• Approach Required : Simply do a point wise or tabular analysis of the major areas of divergence between the two traditions. Need to quote views of key scholars from both approaches. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content should be specific to only points of contention. No need to explain in detail first what Neo-Realism and Neo-Liberalism are. • The debate between neorealism and neoliberal institutionalism has dominated IR debate for decades. The debate is characterized by their disagreement over specific issues such as: the nature and consequences of anarchy, international cooperation, relative versus absolute gains, intentions versus capabilities, institutions and regimes, and priority of state goals. • Kenneth Waltz is one of many scholars responsible for expanding the ideas of traditional realists such as Hans Morgenthau, who looked at the actions and interactions between states in the system, in an attempt to explain international politics. • Neorealism looks to separate the internal factors of the international political systems from the external. This separation isolates one realm from another, allowing theorists to deal with each at an intellectual level. Neorealists focus on the structure of the system, analysing the variations, how they affect the interacting units, and the outcomes they produce. • Waltz claims that the anarchic international system was a force that fashioned the states which constitute the system. The structure of the anarchic system compelled states to worry about security and take adequate measures achieve it. • Where neorealist were seen to focus on security measures, neoliberal institutionalisms are believed to have placed greater emphasis upon environmental and economic issues, with a specific focus on the latter. Keohane and Nye argue that interdependence, particularly economic interdependence, is now an important feature of world politics. • Furthermore, Keohane and Nye argue that states are dominant actors in international relations; equally there is an assumption that hierarchy exists within international politics and force can be used as an effective instrument of policy. Globalization represents an increase in interconnectedness and linkages; this mutual interdependence between states positively affects behavioural patterns and changes the way states cooperate. • The realist view on international cooperation is rather more pessimistic. As man by nature has a restless desire forGS GSGSpower and self-interest,SCORESCORESCORE cooperation becomes difficult to achieve as this strive for power is GSlikely to upset SCORE the status-quo. According to Mearsheimer, the two main obstructions to international cooperation are relative gains considerations and cheating, both of which stem from the logic of anarchy. Since international relations are a zero-sum game, states compete with each other to ensure their own benefits outweigh that of others. • For realists, survival within the anarchic international system is paramount. The intentions of states are unknown and subsequently state actors are cautious about the gains of others when cooperating; a friend may gain from cooperation one day and use it as a threat the next. • Waltz argues, under global anarchy, “When faced with the possibility of cooperating for mutual gains, states that feel insecure must ask how the gain will be divided. They are compelled to ask not ‘Will both of us gain?’ but ‘Who will gain more?’”. For neorealism’s, balance of power is essential to understanding world politics; when states have such concerns about the balance of power cooperation is much more difficult to achieve.
[16] Hints: Political Science • Neoliberals show more concern as to how a state benefits overall, as opposed to how a state will benefit in comparison to others; it is suggested that policy makers will consider absolute gains to be made from an agreement, including potential longer-term gains. Neoliberals argue that to focus on relative gains is misguided as economic interdependence ensures that neither side can effectively exploit the economic relationship and take advantage of the other politically. • Neoliberal institutionalisms agree that states act in their own interests, yet hold a much more optimistic view on cooperation. Keohane recognized that cooperation is not an easy feat and can lead to tension, but states could potentially benefit from cooperative strategies. Like realists, institutionalisms are concerned about cheating, but unlike neorealist, they place great faith in institutions themselves. Institutions provide a coordinating mechanism to help states capture potential gains from cooperation. • Furthermore, institutions provide an arbitrary body that is able to provide states with information preventing states from cheating. As explained in the game theory, more specifically Prisoners dilemma, states seek to maximize individual pay-offs, and so institutions offer a platform through which greater coordination and cooperation can be executed, subsequently benefitting both parties. • In Mearsheimer article The False Promise of International Institutions, he purports that institutions reflect the distribution of power in the world; moreover, institutions have little influence on state behaviour and offer diminutive opportunity for holding stability in a post- Cold War period. Where neoliberals believe there to be strong correlation between institutions, economic cooperation and peace, neorealist doubt the link made between cooperation and stability as neoliberal theorists avoid military issues. • Driven by survival, neorealist are sensitive to any erosion of their relative capabilities as these factors are the basis for security and independence. Similarly, Krasner criticizes the neoliberal school of thought for placing too much emphasis upon intentions, interests, and information, paying little attention to the distribution of capabilities
4. (b) How do liberal, realist and constructivist approaches perceive the role played by Nuclear weapons in international politics? Comment.
• Approach Required : Clearly differentiate your answer into three distinct sections and discuss the views of each approach in such a manner that their most fundamental differences on the issueGSGSGS of Nuclear SCORESCORESCORE Weapons is clearly evident. • Mistakes to be avoided: Answer should focus on the issue of Nuclear Weapons. Avoid unnecessary elaboration on the approaches themselves. The Realist Approach • Seen as the ultimate weapon in this era, nuclear weapons would become the answer to enhance military capability according to the realists. For this reason, these weapons become a guarantor for the state’s survival. Consequently, nuclear weapons become a number one instrument to acquire the national interests. • In offensive realists view, nuclear weapons have become the key to survival. The anarchy conditions make a state vulnerable to invasion. To avoid this condition, pursuing the highest military capability is needed. Subsequently, this condition would affect the behaviour of the nuclear states. As the anarchy condition makes an invasion more visible, states must behave aggressively. Based on this condition, no first use policy could be denied.
Hints: Political Science [17] • The defensive realists believe that because of anarchy conditions, states will enhance their military capability. When all states have high military capability, invasion will be rare because the price of invasion is costly. In contrast with the offensive realists, defensive realists suggest states to adopted moderate strategy in order to avoid expansion behaviour. According to this view, nuclear states must apply moderate nuclear strategy such as the no first use principle. The Liberalist Approach • The Liberalists believe that the interdependence condition among the international politics will reduce conflict. In terms of nuclear weapons, the ownership of these weapons among nuclear states would prevent these countries from waging a war among each other. • As the liberalists believe that international institutions play an essential part in international politics, nuclear regime is a necessity. It will regulate the behaviour of the states toward nuclear weapon. • Further, the liberalists suggest that high military spending must be avoided. States must be concerned about fulfilling public needs rather than military spending. Even though proliferation of nuclear weapons is considered an expensive project, it has a potential for dual-use. The technology of nuclear weapons could be used to build nuclear energy resources. The Constructivists Approach • The constructivists believe that anarchy is a product of a state’s own perception. It includes threat perception as something that is measured by the actor. Reputation becomes an important part of it. Jonathan Mercer argued that reputation is what someone else thinks about you. In other words, it is not something that you own and control. It is needed in developing a deterrence strategy against the adversaries in order gain the objective. • The role of nuclear weapons in international politics becomes more important, since threat perception is based on the other states measurement. Nuclear weapons become essential because the fear of weapons destruction power is obvious. The dropping of atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II was the horrific example of these weapons.
4. (c) Analyse how National Interest and National security are deeply interlinked concepts where national security has expanded into new dimensions. • Approach Required : With the help of an example based analysis, bring out the changes which are occurring in theGS meaning ofSCORE National Security especially in context of emergence of new threats. Also elaborateGSGSGS on theSCORESCORESCORE debate associated with the meaning of the terms like National Interest and National Security. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to do an argument based analysis, avoid generic elaboration on the meaning of the terms. Try to focus more on their rapidly evolving nature. • With the end of the cold war, there has been something of a revolution in the field of security studies, with scholars and policymakers beginning to move away from the traditional state- centric approach to a more expansive understanding of the concept of security. Some regime theorists, for example, are beginning to examine emerging regional security arrangements in Asia and Europe. • A more radical perspective, however, suggests that security should be conceived in such a way as to embrace all of humanity, not just states, and should focus on sources of harm other than just military threats to states. The rationale for this shift in perspective relies on two main arguments.
[18] Hints: Political Science • First, while interstate war is still possible, the most violent conflicts in the world today are within states. It is not the national interest that is at stake in many of these conflicts but group identity and culture. This perspective suggests that the realist view of security is too narrowly formulated. • Second, the capacity of the state to provide security for its citizens has been eroded by a range of non-military threats such as environmental problems, population growth, disease, refugees, and resource scarcity. • This more radical approach to the issue of human security reflects holistic concern with human life and dignity. The idea of human security invites us to focus on the individual’s need to be safe from hunger, disease, and repression, as well as protected against events likely to undermine the normal pattern of everyday existence. It also implies need for a significant redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor at a global level. • One of the interesting aspects of this new articulation of security is the extent to which it has been embraced by some middle powers. Canada, for example, has developed the idea of human security into a major foreign policy objective. Whether this is ultimately compatible with Canadian sovereignty is something that realists would undoubtedly question. But for those who believe that this way of thinking about security promises much, the fact that some states are beginning to take it seriously must be a satisfying development. Within intellectual circles, however, the story is far less clear-cut. • Fierce debate is under way between those who argue that security can only be meaningfully discussed in terms of interstate behaviour who seek to push our understanding of security in a more universal direction. Regardless of the outcome of this debate, there is no doubt that many of the threats that affect states today are global threats that require a global effort to overcome them. • Many security scholars are now accepting that our understanding of what national security means, what constitute threats to national security, and how best to achieve national security, is changing in important ways. The concept still remains ambiguous, having originated from simpler definitions which initially emphasised the freedom from military threat and political coercion to later increase in sophistication and include other forms of non-military security as suited the circumstances of the time. • Initially focusing on military might, it now encompasses a broad range of facets, all of which impinge on the non-military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society. Accordingly, in order to possess national security, a nation needs to possess economic security,GSGSGS energy security,SCORESCORESCORE environmental security, etc. • Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non- state actors such as violent non-state actors, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and nongovernmental organisations; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category. • In present scenario human security and environmental security have become major components of national security. Human security is affected by poverty, health issues, communal tensions etc. and in turn makes national security vulnerable as it radicalizes civil society and makes it prone to terrorism, crime and other threats for e.g. IS has posed a threat of radicalization of society. Environmental security basically undermines military and technological capability. On one hand it makes existing security infrastructure non-functional and also poses threat to the land etc., for e.g. the climate change today puts the whole nation of Maldives at risk. Nature disasters like tsunami jeopardise the surveillance and protection capabilities of the modern navies.
Hints: Political Science [19] SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: 5. (a) Meanings and Dimensions of Human Security
• Approach Required : Talk in a pointwise manner about the new challenges for human security which have emerged after the end of Cold War. Focus should be on trans-national and intra-state challenges. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not limit your content to terrorism only. Focus on challenges in economic and environmental domain as well. • The post-Cold War international system is beset with greater instability and lesser predictability. Threats to international peace and security today are more diffuse and multidimensional. Nature of threats and sources of threats have changed. The challenges and dangers in today’s world threaten more and directly, the safety and wellbeing of individuals and communities. • Some old threats and conflicts, which the overarching rivalry between the two superpowers had kept under covers during the Cold War, have resurfaced with greater intensity. These are ethnic, racial and tribal animosities which, in the post-Cold War World, have taken the form of intrastate conflicts and civil wars. Not separated from the above, rather making them deadlier, are some new types and sources of violence and conflict such as those emanating from terrorism, religious fundamentalism, narco-trafficking and money laundering activities. • Besides, one also witnesses as intensity in these conflicts, reflected in ‘ethnic cleansings’, ‘hate campaigns’ and nationalist xenophobia, etc. It hardly needs to be stressed that many of such conflicts threaten not only the safety of human beings but also the security of the states. • Significantly, such conflicts of today are more often intra- than inter-state. Then there are other features too of such conflicts. Such as, they affect the civilian populations more than the armed combatants. Of the total 86 armed conflicts recorded in 1997, as many as 84 were intra-state. Eight out of ten casualties in recent conflicts have been civilians. More people have died in local-often intra-state-conflicts than in wars between states. Also, more casualties have been on the account of the use of small weapons that are easily available, and have remained beyond all discussions on disarmament. • Today, about 500 millionGSGSGS small weapons, SCORESCORESCORE which have an unusual longevity of life, are in use. Or, some such weapons are cheap and available in abundance, for instance the anti-personnel landmines, which are used by the terrorists, insurgents and all kinds of groups. Worst, these ‘wars’ are often being fought with ‘child soldiers’. In intra-state conflicts during the 1990s, the world has remained a mute spectator to the use of children as armed combatants and as suicide bombers. Another notable aspect of today’s conflicts is that while they may be local in nature, they have wider regional and international dimensions. • International networks dealing in illicit trades in arms, narcotics, and money laundering are in some complex ways linked to these seemingly local conflicts. Even the support of diaspora communities has been enlisted to carry out campaigns of ‘ethnic cleansing’, terrorist violence, arms procurement and money transfers. • A second source challenging the safety of human beings is the current unbridled process of economic globalization. Globalization has both positive and negative aspects. What is being witnessed today is perhaps more of the negative aspects of globalization. Particularly the
[20] Hints: Political Science developing economies are getting adversely affected. As national economies integrate with the global market forces, traditional productive structures are getting destroyed and distorted, causing deprivation and displacement of large populations. • Patterns of investment and mega-development projects, such as hydro-electrical projects, and economic policies of ‘export promotion’ are directly responsible for the degradation and destruction of environment. Large populations, particularly the indigenous communities in many countries, have lost their livelihood and, were forced to migrate elsewhere including across national borders. Large volume of speculative capital now operates through the international financial system. The new international banking practices allow the speculative capital rapid mobility across national borders and financial barriers. • The pressing needs for foreign investment and the liberalization of financial markets in most of the developing countries have facilitated the movements of speculative capital in and out of the national economies almost at will. Consequently, national stock markets soar one day only to bottom out the next day. Countries such as Mexico in 1994, Indonesia and other countries of South East Asia in 1997 and Brazil in 1998 have experienced the onslaught of the speculative capital which shook their economies to its foundation and has rendered the notions of national sovereignty and national control infructuous. • Admittedly, the financial crises of this type have ‘contagion’ effect for the health of the regional and international economies. Human security is an attempt to respond to the new global realities. It takes the individual as the nexus of its concerns, as the true lens through which to view politics, economy, environment and the society. It is an effort to construct a global society where the safety of individual is the priority, and where global, regional and bilateral institutions are built and equipped to enhance human security.
5. (b) Collective Security and Collective Defense.
• Approach Required : While the hints provide a detailed explanation of both the concepts, you need to emphasize more on the areas of difference and similarities between the two concepts. • Mistakes to be avoided: Read the question carefully. It does not ask for a comparison, but only a simple and concise elaboration of the concepts one by one. • Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement in which all states cooperate collectively to provide security for all by the actions of all against any states within the groups which might challenge the existing order by using force. This contrasts with self-help strategies of engaging in war for purelyGSGSGS immediate SCORESCORESCORE national interest. While collective security is possible, several prerequisites have to be met for it to work. • Sovereign nations eager to maintain the status quo, willingly cooperate, accepting a degree of vulnerability and in some cases of minor nations, also accede to the interests of the chief contributing nations organizing the collective security. Collective Security is achieved by setting up an international cooperative organization, under the auspices of international law and this gives rise to a form of international collective governance, albeit limited in scope and effectiveness. The collective security organization then becomes an arena for diplomacy and exercise of soft power. • The use of hard power by states, unless legitimized by the Collective Security organization, is considered illegitimate, reprehensible and needing remediation of some kind. The collective security organization not only gives cheaper security, but also may be the only practicable means of security for smaller nations against more powerful threatening neighbors without the need of joining the camp of the nation’s balancing their neighbors.
Hints: Political Science [21] • The concept of “collective security” forwarded by men such as Michael Joseph Savage, Martin Wight, Immanuel Kant, and Woodrow Wilson, are deemed to apply interests in security in a broad manner, to “avoid grouping powers into opposing camps, and refusing to draw dividing lines that would leave anyone out.” The term “collective security” has also been cited as a principle of the United Nations, and the League of Nations before that. By employing a system of collective security, the UN hopes to dissuade any member state from acting in a manner likely to threaten peace, thereby avoiding any conflict. Basic assumptions: Organski lists five basic assumptions underlying the theory of collective security: • In an armed conflict, member nation-states will be able to agree on which nation the aggressor is. • All member nation-states are equally committed to contain and constrain the aggression, irrespective of its source or origin. • All member nation-states have identical freedom of action and ability to join in proceedings against the aggressor. • The cumulative power of the cooperating members of the alliance for collective security will be adequate and sufficient to overpower the might of the aggressor. • In the light of the threat posed by the collective might of the nations of a collective security coalition, the aggressor nation will modify its policies, or if unwilling to do so, will be defeated. Prerequisites: Morgenthau states that three prerequisites must be met for collective security to successfully prevent war: • The collective security system must be able to assemble military force in strength greatly in excess to that assembled by the aggressor(s) thereby deterring the aggressor(s) from attempting to change the world order defended by the collective security system. • Those nations, whose combined strength would be used for deterrence as mentioned in the first prerequisite, should have identical beliefs about the security of the world order that the collective is defending. • Nations must be willing to subordinate their conflicting interests to the common good defined in terms of the common defense of all member-states. Collective defense • Collective defense is an arrangement, usually formalized by a treaty and an organization, among participant states that commit support in defense of a member state if it is attacked by another state outside theGS GSGSorganization. SCORE SCORESCORENATO is the best known collective defense organization; its famous Article 5 calls on (but does not fully commit) member states to assist another member under attack. This article was invoked after the September 11 attacks on the United States, after which other NATO members provided assistance to the US War on Terror in Afghanistan. • Collective defense has its roots in multiparty alliances and entails benefits as well as risks. On the one hand, by combining and pooling resources, it can reduce any single state’s cost of providing fully for its security. Smaller members of NATO, for example, have leeway to invest a greater proportion of their budget on non-military priorities, such as education or health, since they can count on other members to come to their defense, if needed. • On the other hand, collective defense also involves risky commitments. Member states can become embroiled in costly wars benefiting neither the direct victim nor the aggressor. In World War I, countries in the collective defense arrangement known as the Triple Entente (France, Britain, Russia) were pulled into war quickly when Russia started full mobilization against Austria-Hungary, whose ally Germany subsequently declared war on Russia. [22] Hints: Political Science 5. (c) Multiple approaches for conceptualizing National Interest.
• Approach Required : Discuss the various processes/factors which are used to determine the content of National Interest. Need to elaborate on the challenges and complexities of the same. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t simply explain what national interest is. Your content needs to have sufficient analysis and depth beyond a generic elaboration of the concept. • To claim that a particular foreign policy is in the national interest imparts a degree of authority and legitimacy to that policy. Although the concept attracted a great deal of scholarly attention soon after the Second World War, particularly in the United States, this is no longer the case today. • Without an accepted notion of the national interest, those who are called upon to evaluate their leader’s performance have no helpful criteria by which to do so. The concept is usually used in two related ways. • On the one hand, the word interest implies a need that has, by some standard of justification, attained the status of an acceptable claim on behalf of the state. On the other hand, the national interest is also used to describe and support particular policies. The problem is how to determine the criteria that can establish a correspondence between the national interests expressed as a principle and the sorts of policies by which it is advanced. • In formal terms, one can identify two attributes of such policies. The first is one of inclusiveness, according to which the policies should concern the country as a whole, or at least a sufficiently substantial subset of its membership to transcend the specific interests of particular groups. • In contrast, the second attribute is one of the exclusiveness. The national interest does not necessarily include the interests of groups outside the state, although it may do so. Given these attributes, what criteria link the concept to specific policies? Those who tackle the question do so in one of three ways: • First, one may simply equate the national interest with the policies of those officially responsible for the conduct of foreign policy. The national interest is what decision making at the highest levels of government say it is. They are the best judges of various policy trade-offs, therefore the national interest is something to be dispassionately defined and defended by those who possess the appropriate expertise and authority for the whole country. The difficulty with this elitist approach is that it is does not help in distinguishing a good foreign policy from a bad one. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • A second approach mostly identified with the Realists, conceives the national interest in terms of anarchy and concern for national security. It makes anarchy makes security the paramount foreign policy concern of states. Security in turn, requires the acquisition and rational management of power (which can never be wholly divorced from military force), and only policies conducted in this spirit can serve the national interest. • At the risk of over simplifying a very complex debate, there are at least two problems with this approach. First, it often suffers from the resort to repetition in that interest is often defined in terms of power, and power In terms of interest. • Second, for if international relations are indeed determined by a struggle of power, it should not be necessary to urge leaders to abide by the national interests as defined by the realists. If it is necessary to do so, the alleged constraints of anarchy cannot be invoked as the basis for identifying the national interest.
Hints: Political Science [23] 5. (d) Functionalism vs Neo-Functionalism.
• Approach Required : Simply elaborate on the key differences between the two approaches and also quote the viewpoint of major proponents of both tradition. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep content specific to areas of differences rather than general elaboration of the concepts. The basic difference between Functionalism and Neo-Functionalism on idea of peace based on international ties is as follows: • Functionalist David Mittrany argues that greater interdependence in form of transnational ties between countries can lead to peace. Functionalists focus on common interests and needs shared by states (but also by non-state actors) in a process of global integration and the increasing weight of knowledge and hence of scientists and experts in the process of policy- making. International integration – the collective governance and ‘material interdependence’ between states – develops on its own as states integrate in limited functional, technical, and/ or economic areas. • Unlike the functionalists , which seek to create new world order in which the sovereign state takes a backseat and their institutions integrate and cooperate, Neo-functionalists are integrationist in nature, who seek to create new states through integration of existing states. This is achieved initially at regional level , eventually culminating in the long run in the creation of single world order. Ernest haas the chief proponent rejects the notion that technical and economic matters can be separated from politics as argued by the functionalists. Neofunctionalism reintroduced territorialism in the functional theory and downplayed its global dimension.
5. (e) Third World Security.
• Approach Required : Discuss in detail all the factors which make the Third world Security scenario distinct from that of first world. Need to elaborate on the role played by the domestic and external factors specific to the third world. • Mistakes to be avoided: You need to specifically quote the views of Mohammed Ayoob & Amitav Acharya else it will be generic discussion on third world security issues. In the international system nearly all the states are concerned about their security against the other power, in order to removeGSGSGS those vulnerabilities SCORESCORESCORE the security they need strengthen and when they try to achieve it, this processGS creates insecuritySCORE for other because insecurity of one is insecurity of other, and thus the vicious cycle of security and power begins. One of dilemma is that no state is sure whether the security measure of other is just for security or for aggression. • Mohammed Ayoob in The Third World Security Predicament defines the term Third World as describing “the underdeveloped, poor, weak states of Asia, Africa, and Latin America that together make up a substantial numerical majority among the members of the international system. Ayoob cites Robert Gilpin in claiming that what characterizes the Third World is its weakness towards “the two organizing principles of international social life - the sovereign state and the international market. • Mohamad Ayoob has levied the particular claim that traditional security studies lacks the adequate theoretical tools to analyze the Third World and that it requires an alternative frame of analysis that takes into account its (Third World’s) particular historical, political, social and cultural context. [24] Hints: Political Science • Amitav Acharya in “The Periphery as the Core: The Third World and Security Studies”, sees the “emergence of the Third World as the dominant understanding of security in three important respects – Its focus on the interstate level as the point of origin of security threats – Its exclusion of non-military phenomena from the security studies agenda. – Its belief in the global balance of power as the legitimate and effective instrument of international order. • Thomas claims that unlike the West where society is often seen as coherently structured to be compatible with the boundaries of the state, in the Third World context this process has been particularly problematic. The author notes that owing to arbitrary creation of state boundaries by European colonizers the resulting “territorial boundaries pay insufficient attention to ethnicity, indigenous historical divisions or even at times geography, leading to Security conflict.” • Amitav Acharya argued that Cold war Era heavily armed third world without democratic filters. The “security dilemma” of Third World states is the core concept. This is applied to states without cohesive nationalism, with weak institutional capacitates to maintain peace and order, with a preoccupation with internal threats rather than external ones and with legitimacy problems, all these elements make the survival of third world countries vulnerable. • Limited resources, poverty, need for modernization and weak political institutions, lack of consensus on national issues, expectations of dignity and respect, contribute towards security dilemma of third world. • Most of the third world countries are dependent over great power for protection of their economics, technological gains, and financial aid. Mohammad Ayoob defines it as “the security and developments concerns of individual Third World states make most if not all of them dependent on varying degrees on the super powers and its allies for arms, political support, capital, and technology. These ties are in most cases strong enough to neutralize, for all practical purposed save occasional rhetoric, the confrontational tendencies of Third World ruling elites.” • Another important source of instability in the Third World is also not directly linked or attributable to the end of bipolarity or the Cold War. This is the closely inter-related problems of overpopulation, resource scarcity and environmental degradation, viewed by many as the chief source of what KaplanGSGSGS has called SCORESCORESCORE the “coming anarchy. • Homer-Dixon, in a particularly sophisticated analysis of such conflicts, identifies three categories: “simple scarcity conflicts” (conflict over natural resources such as river, water, fish, and agriculturally-productive land), and “relative deprivation conflicts” (the impact of environmental degradation in limiting growth and thereby causing popular discontent and conflict), and “group-identity conflicts” (the problems of social assimilation of the migrant population) in the host countries.” • It can be safely argued that in the post-Cold War era, essentially local factors related to weak national integration, economic underdevelopment and competition for political legitimacy and control, rather than the changing structure of the international system from bipolarity to multipolarity, would remain the major sources of Third World instability. • Peripheral Realist view that major security threat to third word come from within third word, developed nations remain mere facilitator. Hints: Political Science [25] 6. (a) Discuss the major arguments of Feminist perspective of IR. • Approach Required : Need to elaborate on how the discourse of IR has excluded women from decision making and how the events of IR specially related to security and conflict impact women. Also need to discuss the major demands this perspective places on women. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to include some of the landmark statements made by Feminists. Any discussion on perspectives will not be complete unless views are mentioned. • Feminist scholars depicted that ideas of state is mainly power state, power relations are organised on the basis of gender. In fact the concept of power is given masculine traits. Power is constructed through possessing force and the ability to influence others. • Those without power, especially during conflict are termed as “impotent” or “wimps” and their weakness is associated with femininity. For example in South Asia, men who oppose military action are asked to wear bangles. Men are naturally associated with leadership and women are accepted as leaders if they accept masculine notions of power. • State institutions and associations are organized around the central idea of power and women have been considering powerless and not fit for these institutions. Masculinity had become a base for these institutions. • Wars are seen as the activity of men and women are positioned as secondary during war. For instance, the opening sentence of the UNESCO Charter that states since wars are made in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that peace should be made. This assumes that those who make war are the ones who make the peace and the nation. Since wars are seen as “nation- building” exercises, it is men who appear to be most involved in this task. • Feminists see war as a gendering activity. War marks the gender of all members of society whether they are or not combatants. Men and women suffer war but as unequal’s they suffer unequally under the state oppressive system. Feminist see war not just as the impact on women approach, but as a system where the gender stereotypes are reinforced and gender relations restructured. During wars women’s identities get coded in a system of nationalist and gender politics (like mothers of the nation) and their status and rights gets linked to their nation. • Women have participated in wars in different ways. Women are concerned with war and militarisation for a number of reasons. First, because women and children are victims of policies that they did not plan or execute. It is men who participate in and define public life, and take decisions about war and militarisation. Even today, there are less than ten percent of women in most parliaments.GSGSGS In manySCORESCORESCORE countries, especially in the Third World, there are no women at all in the higher decision making bodies of the executive like the cabinet. • War impacts men and women differently. Military training and military casualties in conventional wars have been men. Women too constitute direct casualties of war. Wars increasingly are carried out in civilian areas and current statistics show that more than 75per cent of the causalities are non-combatants that include large number of women and children. • Modern Wartime sexual violence against women has occurred in almost all wars through history. It is used as an instrument of coercion against the enemy in war, inter-community conflict as well as during ethnic and sectarian conflicts. The relationship between conflicts and the violation of women’s bodies has been repeatedly established in all wars and conflicts. ‘This phenomenon was widespread whether it was the partition of India in 1947, or when the fleeing Pakistani army raped 200,000 Bengali women in Bangladesh in 1971 or, more recently during ethnic conflicts that marked the emergence of the breakaway republics of former Yugoslavia
[26] Hints: Political Science • So feminists in IR do not argue for women equal rights to be part of the military or for the right to dominate. But they want the right to speak for peace and be in positions where they call put this point of view. • Feminists want a change in the theory of Realism and argue for broadening the very concept of security, to decrease the military aspects and to valorise the democratic aspect instead. Real security should be less stale centric and more society centred for more equitable economic needs and geared to social justice, political liberty and egalitarian democratisation. This broadening of the concept of security, beyond the assumptions of Realism based security must take place. • The feminist critique of the state, power and international politics is more relevant for third world. Political theory and International Relations give a central role to men and place women as secondary actors within state systems. • The international political system is hegemonic and has hierarchies of power that bind states together. States tend to use similar strategic concepts. Post-colonial states like those in South Asia are vulnerable to the international political system and thus tend to follow the traditional discourse of international relations. Feminist approach provide as alternative understanding that could be beneficial for developing societies. • Patriotic discourse in all of South Asia refers to the nation as the “Mother” and the symbol of mother/women has been used interchangeably with the nation. Women have been signifiers of identity and identity politics is marked on ‘the bodies of women who are victims of rape and abuse during conflicts. The feminist critique helps deconstruct the security policy of the state and shows its impact on larger social issues. • For feminists, peace is when women can control their autonomy and peace is not restricted to a public peace. ‘For women, peace is an absence of domestic, social and public violence.Security for women is security outside and within the home. Developing societies are more prone to war and violence. Statements by Feminists • Dianna Thorburn: “There can never be a truly singular voice of feminist foreign policysimply because of diversity of use within feminist itself”. • Lorraine Code: She explained International System by identifying patriarchal structure. “It is right and purpose for men to command and women to obey” • C.Ann Tickner: IR is gendered to marginalised women’s voice and stresses that women have knowledge, perspectiveGSGSGS and experiences SCORESCORESCORE that should be brought to bear on study of IR. • Catherine A. MacKinnon : “Feminism has no theory of state. It has a theory of power, sexuality is gendered as gender is sexualized.” Further she asserts: “Feminism distinctively as such comprehends that what counts as truth is produced in the interest of those with power to shape reality, and that this process is as pervasive as it is necessary as it is changeable.”
6. (b) Do you think that the strategy of developing countries on environmental issue is majorly centred on economic development and they perceive both issues as deeply linked? • Approach Required : Provide example base arguments as to how the approach of third world on environmental issues is majorly driven by their need to achieve economic growth and poverty alleviation and how they are placing a greater responsibility on the developed nations not only for environmental protection but also for financing the environmental initiatives in third world as well.
Hints: Political Science [27] • Mistakes to be avoided: Avoid generic analysis of the issue, need to focus on the unique challenges the third world is facing the environmental aspect of IR. • UN held the first global conference on the human environment (UNCHE) in Stockholm in June 1972. The discussion was dominated by pollution, deforestation and whaling. But the meeting, in particular a speech made by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi where she asked if poverty was the biggest polluter, was a foundation stone for much of the co-operation, disagreement and politics that would develop around climate change. • Continuing industrialization and technological advances benefit many (though not all) of the people in the developed countries, but the gap between the rich and poor countries is significant and increasing. • In general, poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care, and of life’s most basic necessities—safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world’s population but control about 80 percent of the world’s wealth. Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. • Regardless of the reason or the area of the world in which a poor population lives, certain reciprocal elements will act on the population and its environment. Lack of education, oppression, lack of appropriate infrastructure—from water-treatment facilities to better roads and communication—all aggravate the twin problems of poverty and environmental degradation. • One cannot ask people to heal the environment, or even just mind it, if they can barely sustain themselves. Agricultural practices that tax the soil lead to soil erosion, which lowers crop yields and pollutes rivers and streams with silt. The accumulation of the silt—from the loose eroded soil—kills the fish in the river and streams. Another cause of soil erosion is the cutting down of trees, in massive numbers, either for use as firewood (because the winters are harsh and there is no other way to stay warm) or to sell for much needed cash. Eventually, not only will the soil erode to a point where it can no longer sustain agriculture, but the trees would be gone too. The above examples show that practices that fail to consider environmental health perpetuate the poverty cycle, thereby further destroying the environment. • Globally, the large industries find the same advantage in poor nations. Pollution controls and hazardous-waste-disposal regulations are stricter, and more expensive, in the developed nations. Many companies find it cheaper to export their waste to the developing countries, which are starving for cash. The hazardous waste disposal in those countries is unsafe and dangerously polluting. The people handling the waste are poorly educated, and therefore may suffer severe healthGSGSGS consequences SCORESCORESCORE as a result of their work. However, if they are paid a salary they are better off than many others. In addition, the developing countries themselves, eager to grow economically may develop heavy industry but not the controls or infrastructure necessary to contain the pollution. It is easy to see, therefore, that there is direct and deep relationship between poverty and occurrence of pollution especially in the context of developing and undeveloped countries. • When it comes to pollution and environmental preservation, the North and South have different priorities that seem to put them at odds with each other. The concept of sustainable development is crucial to understanding the conflict between the North and South. • As mentioned above, the most pressing priority for the southern hemisphere nations is economic growth: the poverty rate in the developing countries can reach 90 percent (by comparison, the North has a poverty rate, on average, of 15 percent). Environmental conservation and pollution control are far less a priority in the South. The priority in the North is sustainable development—the ability to continue on the course of consumption and
[28] Hints: Political Science energy use while ensuring a healthy environment. The developing countries feel this attitude is elitist, even racist (most poor nations or groups are not white). They contend that the developed countries’ demands for environmental regulations place an undue burden on the developing nations. Worse yet, the largest polluters are the developed countries, which also consume the most global resources. Many of the problems of environmental destruction in the poor countries are a direct result of consumption levels in the developed countries (poaching for ivory in Africa is but one example, albeit extreme).
6. (c) Comment on the Dependency theory and its divergence with classical Marxist IR view? • Approach Required : Need to elaborate on the background, major assumptions and views of scholars of the Dependency theory. Elaborate specially on the contribution of Latin American School. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to elaborate carefully on how the above theory argues against the classical Marxist notion that proletariat across can unite easily on common grounds of exploitation. • Dependency theory came to prominence in the 1960s. It developed as a critique of liberal modernisation theory. During the 1950s and 1960s developing countries threw off the yoke of colonialism/imperialism; they demanded and achieved independence. However, this was happening in the context of the Cold War. Western countries were keen to ensure that former colonial (or Third World) states did not fall into the hands of communist regimes, and encouraged newly independent states to develop capitalist economies. • Walt Rostow’s influential text on economic growth/modernisation was subtitled ‘a non- communist manifesto’. Developing countries were encouraged to allow free enterprise to flourish and to engage in free trade with the rest of the world to encourage competition, economic dynamism and growth. • The Dependencia School emerged from the efforts of Latin American intellectuals to account for their societies’ demonstrable inability to ‘catch up’ with the rich countries of North America and Western Europe, even though they had largely followed the advice of the West and endeavoured to ‘modernise’ their societies and move to free-market economies. • Dependency theory attacked modernisation theory, because it was severely misleading in terms of its predictions about the development prospects of the Third World. Indeed, with the notable exception of parts of East Asia, by the mid-1960s much of the developing world found that its relative economic performance was extremely disappointing. The economic and political climate of GSGSGSthe late 1960s SCORESCORESCORE and early 1970s was such that developing countries in particular were receptive to critiques of Western-led development models. • A key idea of modernisation theorists was that all states would pass through stages of development and that sooner or later all would become advanced, high-consumption countries. However, modernisation theory rejected/ignored the possibility that deep structural factors might prevent economic progress and, more important, that the nature of the international system itself might be an obstacle to development. • Accordingly, dependency theory developed a critique of modernisation theory which emphasised the structural constraints to development in Latin America. Key writers in the Dependencia School, including Andre Gunder Frank, Raul Prebisch, Henrique Fernando Cardoso and Enzo Faletto, undertook a detailed historical analysis of the pattern of growth and development in Latin America and claimed to find that Latin America actually achieved its most impressive levels of growth and development at times when there was a slow-down in world trade and trading links with developed countries were disrupted.
Hints: Political Science [29] • Taking this empirical observation as a starting point, dependency theorists suggested this was because the basic structure of the global economy was such that it worked to further the interests of the already rich, developed economies of the West (or North) and to progressively impoverish already poor countries (the South or Third World). The basic structure of the world economy, the trading regimes that existed, the nature of the markets for basic commodities and so on fundamentally determined the development trajectory of individual countries. • Therefore, even as large parts of the world emerged from imperialism and colonialism, the West continued to dominate the Third World – hence the terms neo-imperialism and neo- colonialism. Dependency theory can be considered a variant of structuralist thought because it suggests that we can only understand, in this example, the Latin American part of the world economy in terms of its relation to the world economic system as a whole. • Dependency theory can also be considered a form of economic determinism, in so far as Dependencia scholars frequently suggested that the political institutions and social relations which characterised developing countries were a reflection of the economic ‘base’ – dominated by élites who actually benefited from this exploitative economic system. • Liberal economic theory suggests that successful modernisation depends to some extent upon the growth of an indigenous entrepreneurial class. Accordingly, development strategies frequently targeted resources at a ‘modernising élite’, believing that as countries underwent industrialisation and economic growth, wealth would ‘trickle down’ from this élite to the masses. They also believed that this élite would imbue liberal social and political values and these would gradually spread from the ‘advanced’ middle classes to the rest of society. • Dependency theorists contended, to the contrary that, while élites did indeed benefit from their particular position in the system, the promised ‘trickle down’ did not materialise and was unlikely to do so.In fact, as a country ostensibly ‘advanced’, the masses became progressively more impoverished. Divergence from Classical Marxist Notion • While dependency theory owes much to structuralist analysis, it also offers a critique of the Marxist notion that certain classes have common interests regardless of their nationality. • Dependency theorists recognise that transnational élites share some common interests, but they also argue that to some extent the workers in developed countries, while relatively impoverished and exploited, have actually benefited to some degree from the exploitation of the developing world. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • Earlier theorists of imperialism had recognised that the working classes had rallied to nationalist causes (particularly in war) and were, in some cases, enthusiastic supporters of empire. Taking this further, dependency theorists have shown how the bourgeoisie in the rich countries can exploit the poorer countries and use the profits to dampen the demands of its own proletariat, by providing limited welfare for instance. • In this way, dependency theorists have suggested, there might well be obstacles to international worker solidarity. They have questioned Marx’s notion of a simple divergence of interests between the proletariat (all workers) and the bourgeoisie (all owners).
7. (a) Provide a functional and scholarly critique of Realist theory.
• Approach Required : Need to provide a detailed critique of the Realist theory, both from within the tradition and outside of it. Go through the content provided below for relevant content. [30] Hints: Political Science • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to mention a few landmark critical statements by renowned scholars. Major Critiques of Realism Subaltern Realism • The subaltern realism theory given by Mohammed Ayoob is a critical rejoinder to the neorealism of Kenneth Waltz and others, including the domestic analogies that neorealism employs. It aims to provide an analytical tool for grasping the major determinants of Third World state behaviour, the dominant concerns of Third World state elites, and the root causes of conflict in the Third World. • The theory emphasizes the divergence of Third World conditions from those of industrialized core states, and has gone on to criticize mainstream International Relations theory for excluding the Third World. It proposes an alternative conceptualization of security and emphasizes the inequality in IR theorizing. Peripheral Realism • Escudo dedicates a considerable portion of Foreign Policy Theory in Menem’s Argentina to refuting both the relevance and normative assumptions of international relations theory Developed in the English-speaking world. • Escudo points to GATT, the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, the Missile Technology Control Regime, and, the veto power of permanent members of the U.N. Security Council as clear indications that different states are not only unequal in terms of economic and military power, but are also unequal in terms of the normal functioning of major international institutions. • Escudo counters with a call for a foreign policy based on the welfare of the majority of average citizens, rather than the issues of national “pride” that consistently benefit elites at the expense of non-elites. Relatedly, he argues that governments of less powerful states should build foreign policies around the recognition that their populations suffer significantly more than those of powerful states in international confrontations due to the disruptive effects of sanctions, the inflation of military budgets, and shaken investor confidence. Functional Critiques of Realism In more recent years realism has been subjected to complicated critiques from Critical Theorists, postmodernists, feminists, social constructivists and Green theorists amongst others. Some of the major points of Criticisms againstGSGSGS Realism SCORESCORESCORE are: • The fact that realism is simple and understandable is presented as a strength of the perspective. However, an opposing argument would suggest that realism is too simplistic, reducing the complex reality of international relations to a few general laws which are said to be applicable over time and space and which therefore omit much of interest and importance from our analyses. • Realism, in emphasising the principle of power politics and the enduring features of the international system, fails to allow for the possibility of real change. Realists accept that great powers rise and fall, and wars come and go, but insist that the basic rules of the game cannot be changed. In failing to embrace the idea of substantive changes, realism is inherently conservative and anti--innovative, meaning that it is highly attractive to, and politically malleable by, those who would have things continue as they are. Whether intentionally or not, realism may also serve to justify injustice on the grounds that nothing can be done to change things.
Hints: Political Science [31] • By considering states to be the only important type of actor in international relations and by only viewing the agency of non-state actors such as MNCs as part of state agency, realists have been criticised for not being able to fully account for a range of issues and processes in international relations. • While realism has a cyclical view of history (a repetition of patterns of behaviour) it has failed to successfully make any specific predictions. Most startlingly, realists failed to predict the end of the Cold War; given its pretensions to be, if not scientific, then at least useful, this is a very serious weakness. Feminist Critique of Realist Theory • The feminist theory brings new perspectives as Tickner argues that IR is gendered to “marginalize women’s voices,” and stresses “that women have knowledge, perspectives and experiences that should be brought to bear on the study of international relations.” Tickner further argued that security, a main topic in IR, should not only be understood as “defending the state from attack,” but should also consider that security for women “might be different because women are more likely to be attacked by men they know, rather than strangers from other states. • Another feminist critique of realism concerns how realists define and emphasize power in IR discussions. Feminists would ask: who defines power, who has it, and how is it used? If power is defined by a patriarchal and realist society, which seeks global balances of power, then power is equated with military and economic strength Post-modernist critique of Realist Theory • Realist paradigms of international relations rest upon a set of core ontological givens, first among them being the normative and existential priority of the territorial nation state as privileged container for being and a structuring fact of the international system or society. This digs its ground in two influential stories about modernity. • The first is the narrative of the creation of political society we know as the “social contract,” in which humans emerge from an ungoverned state of nature characterized by permanent insecurity into a unified political community known as the body politic, which enforces sameness and identity by suppressing internal differences, projecting others (such as those of indigenous societies) into fading horizon of backwardness and nature, and warding off external differences with borders, diplomacy, and weapons. • The second is the appropriation of the Hobbesian metaphor to describe the international system of states— rivenGSGS GSby differences SCORESCORESCORE and conflicts—as “anarchic” and thus ungovernable by laws made within state based political communities. • Well before Alexander Wendt (1992) published his constructivist critique of anarchy, postmodern writers were challenging many of the most fundamental claims about sovereignty, the state, and global politics in ways that both liberal and constructivist analysis has proven reluctant to. Richard Ashley , for example, used a deconstructive reading to show how realist assertions about anarchy depended on a fictive imagination of the sovereign state as a source of the order, homogeneity, and identity that is absent outside its borders. Scholarly Critiques of Realist Theory • R. Ashley says that Structural realist portray the structure of the international system as though there is only one structure (that of power) and its existence is independent of states (rather than constructed by them). For this reason. Contemporary structural realism is a static, conservative theory.
[32] Hints: Political Science • Blitz argues that “The analogy between individuals in a state of nature and states in international anarchy is misplaced for four reasons. States are not the only actors; the power of states is massively unequal; states are not Independent of each other; patterns of cooperation exist (even if motivated by self-interest) despite the absence of a global government capable of enforcing rule”. • K. Boom holds that Realism cannot speak to our world. Survival for the majority of individuals in global politics is threatened not by armies of ‘foreign’ states but more often by their own governments, or more broadly, structures of global capitalism which produce and reproduce the daily round of ‘human wrongs’ such as malnutrition, death from preventable diseases, slavery, prostitution, and exploitation. • For R. Cox Realism is problem-solving theory. It accepts the prevailing order, and seeks only to isolate aspects of the system in order to understand how it world. The idea of theory serving an emancipatory purpose—i.e. contemplating alterative world orders -is not in the structural realist ‘vocabulary. • V. Spike Peterson opines that the realist emphasis upon national security is contradictory for women, since it masks over ‘women’s systemic insecurity’. Taking feminism seriously requires a radical rethinking of the way in which security is framed by a form of sovereignty which legitimizes violence against women and gendered divisions of resources and identities. • Sylvester: From Machiavelli to the early twenty first century. The qualities ‘men’ have ascribed to ‘women’- such as irrationality, Intuition, temptation have been regarded as a danger to international affairs. For this rea- son, historical realists argue that statecraft should remain ‘man craft. • Vasquez in A statistical analysis of International Relations literature In the 1950s and 1960: underscores the dominance of the realist paradigm in terms of the overwhelming reliance on the core assumptions of Realism. However, although Realism dominated the field. It did not adequately explain international politics from a social science perspective. For example, of7, 044 realist hypotheses tested in the field, only 157 of these fail to be falsified
7. (b) Critically examine the notion of Balance of Power in IR.
• Approach Required : Provide detailed arguments both scholarly and factual to show the limitations and challenges of BoP. Elaborate with examples if possible to show how this model is slowing losingGSGSGS its relevance SCORESCORESCORE in context of transnational challenges. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t simply elaborate the concept. Your content needs to be more critical than descriptive. The balance of power theory in international relations suggests that national security is enhanced when military capability is distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others. If one state becomes much stronger than others, the theory predicts that it will take advantage of its strength and attack weaker neighbours, thereby providing an incentive for those threatened to unite in a defensive coalition. Some realists maintain that this would be more stable as aggression would appear unattractive and would be averted if there was equilibrium of power between the rival coalitions. When confronted by a significant external threat, states that wish to form alliances may “balance” or “bandwagon”. Balancing is defined as allying with others against the prevailing threat, while states that have bandwagoned have aligned with the threat.
Hints: Political Science [33] Popular Definitions of Balance of Power: • “Balance of Power is such a ‘just equilibrium’ in power among the members of the family of nations as will prevent any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon others.” —Sidney B. Fay • “Balance of Power is an equilibrium or a certain amount of stability in power relations that under favourable conditions is produced by an alliance of states or by other devices.” — George Schwarzenberger • “Balance of Power is such a system in which some nations regulate their power relations without any interference by any big power. As such it is a decentralized system in which power and policies remain in the hands of constituting units.” —Inis Claude Balance of Power has been strongly praised as well as severely criticized. Some Scholars observe: “Balance of Power is nearly a fundamental law of politics as is possible to find,” —Martin Wright “Balance of Power is a basic principle of international relations.” —Palmer and Perkins As against this several others like Richard Cobden criticize it as unreal, inadequate and uncertain system. They hold that Balance of Power admits war in the have balance and makes the nations power hungry. Balance of Power: Arguments Against: • Balance of Power cannot ensure Peace: Balance of Power does not necessarily bring peace. Even during its golden days, it failed to prevent the domination of small states by the big states. It was not successful in preserving the security of small states. The three periods of stability—one starting from 1648, the second from 1815 and the third from Treaty of Versailles (1918), were preceded by continuous warfare and by the wholesale elimination of small states starting with the destruction of Poland, and followed by a large number of isolated acts of a similar nature. • States are not Static Units: Each state always tries to secure more and more national power. It does not really belong to any balance of power system. • Preponderance of One State in the world can also secure Peace: A preponderance of power in the hands of one state or group of states does not necessarily threaten world peace or the independence of any nation. The unipolarism resulting from the collapse of one super power (USSR) and the GScontinuedGSGS presence SCORESCORESCORE of the other super power (USA) has not in any way disturbed international peace and security or power balance. • Narrow Basis: The concept of Balance of Power is based upon a narrow view of international relations. It regards power relations as the whole of international relations. It gives near total importance to preservation of self and national interest as the motives of all state actions. It fails to give proper weight age to other ends—social, economic, cultural and moral, that provide strong motives to international relations. • A Mechanical view of Peace: Balance of Power wrongly takes a mechanistic view of world peace as a situation of balance or equilibrium in power relations. Peace does not depend upon balance in power relations. It really depends upon international consciousness and morality. • Equality of a number of States is a Myth: Balance of Power presupposes the existence of a number of equally powerful states. In practice no two states have or can have equal power.
[34] Hints: Political Science It involves the conception of equilibrium which is in fact disequilibrium and is subject to continuous change. • Nations are not free to break Alliances: The theory of the balance of power can also be criticized on the ground that it wrongly assumes that nations are free to make or break alliances as and when they may desire for the main consideration of balance of power. • Uncertainty of Balance of Power: Morgenthau criticizes Balance of Power for its uncertainty. Balance of Power is uncertain because its operation depends upon an evaluation of power of various nations. In practice it is not possible to have an absolutely correct evaluation of power of a state. • Balance of Power is Unreal: Since the evaluation of the national power of a nation is always uncertain, no nation can afford dependence upon the balance of power. Each nation always keeps a secret about its power. Since all nations keep safe margins, the balance of power at a particular time is always unreal. • Inadequacy of Balance of Power: Balance of Power in itself is an inadequate device of international peace and security. It even accepts war as a means for maintaining a balance. Fear cannot be a real basis of international relations. Finally, the critics argue that now Balance of Power it is not a relevant principle of international relations. • The big changes in the international system as well as in the balance of power system have made it almost an obsolete system. Undoubtedly, in contemporary times the balance of power has lost its utility and much of its importance due to changes in the international system. This calls for an emergence of an alternative in form of collective security.
7. (c) How do critical, feminist and post-Structuralist approaches view the concept of 'security'? • Approach Required : Focus more on depth of analysis rather than length of content. Need to elaborate on how the traditional state centric understanding of security is viewed by the approaches mentioned in question. Read carefully on all three viewpoints and identify their common areas of concern. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to pay special emphasis on elaborating the post-structuralist understanding of IR. Critical Approach on Security Robert Cox draws a distinction between problem solving theories and critical theories. Problem solving theorists work withinGSGSGS the prevailing SCORESCORESCORE system. They take the existing social and political relations and institutions as starting points for analysis and then see how the problems arising from these can be solved. In contrast, critical theorists focus their attention on the way these existing relationships and institutions emerged and what might be done to change them. For critical security theorists, states should not be centre for analysis because they are not only extremely diverse in character but they are often part of the problem of insecurity in international relations. They can be providers of security but they can also be a source of threat to their own people. According to this view, therefore, attention should be focused on the individual rather than the state. This has led to greater attention being given to what has been called human security and has resulted in a further broadening of the conception of security to include areas such as health security. Feminist Approach on Security Feminist writers also challenge the traditional emphasis on the central role of the state in studies of international security. While there are significant differences between feminist theorists, all
Hints: Political Science [35] share the view that works on international politics in general, and international security in particular, have been written from a ‘masculine’ point of view. In her work, Tickner argues that women have seldom been recognised by the security literature despite the fact that conflicts affect women as much as, if not more than men. The vast majority of causalities and refugees in war are women and children and the rape of women is often used as a tool of war. In a major feminist study of security, Bananas , Beaches and Bombs Cynthia Enloe points to the patriarchal structure of privilege and control at all levels that in her view , effectively legitimized all forms of violence. She highlights the traditional exclusion of women from international relations, suggesting that they are in fact more gendered in the sense of how power is dispersed than in the security apparatus. She also challenges the concept of ‘national security’, arguing that the use of violence is often designed to preserve the prevailing male –dominated order rather than protect the state from external attack. Feminist writers argue that if gender is brought more explicitly into the study of security , not only will new issues and alternative perspectives be added to the security agenda, but the result will be a fundamentally different view of the nature of international security. Post-Structuralist Approach on Security They share the view that ideas, discourse and ‘the logic of interpretation’ are crucial in understanding international politics and security. They see ‘realism’ as one of the central problems of international security. This is because realism is a discourse of power and rule that has been dominant in international politics in the past and has encouraged security competition between states. Power politics is seen as an image of the world that encourages behaviour that helps bring about war. As such the attempt to balance power is itself part of the very behaviour that leads to war. According to this view, alliances do not produce peace, but lead to war. The aim, for many post structuralists, therefore, is to replace the discourse and alternative interpretations of threats to ‘national security’. The idea is that once the ‘software’ programme of realism that people carry around in their heads has been replaced by a new ‘software’ program based on cooperative norms, individuals, states and regions will learn to work with each other and global politics will become more peaceful.
8. (a) What are the major reasons behind the demands for disarmament and Arms control in the present world? To what extent are they justified? Examine in detail. • Approach Required : Simply elaborate on the major arguments both in favour and against the idea of Disarmament along with views of scholars. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to balance your supportive and critical content as the question asks only for an examinationGSGSGS and notSCORESCORESCORE critical examination. 21st century is riding on nuclear age and race of arms is uncontrolled which can lead toward total destruction of this green planet. Albert Einstein narrated that 3rd world war will be fought by nuclear arsenals that will destroy human race and the next war will be fought through sticks and stones.” Above statement clearly narrates the need or cause of disarmament. These causes can be explained as below: • Possibility of War: Armaments and arm race leads toward war. Inis Clude said that the instant availability of armaments makes it feasible or even tempting for statesman to plunge into war. • Armament Creates International Tension: Armaments and Arms race creates possibility of insecurity and instability of world order. Arm’s race itself is a manifestation of inherent tension and hence disarmament can be brought only in the wake of political agreements. [36] Hints: Political Science • Unlimited spending on Armament lead towards Roll back of states: Armament creates a gap among poor and rich because it destroys unlimited resources and provides benefit to war mongers only. Seymow Melman provided an alternative of arms race as peace race and suggested that the spending on armaments must be diverted to world industrialization and co-operation in the international arena. • Armament is against morality: Armament is always pregnant with war and there is a possibility that its delivery could push human race towards destruction. • Armament leads towards interference: Armament reduces the value of peach co-operation, co-ordination and harmonious relations and increases the possibilities of tension and intervention. Quincy Wright, suggested that armament creates a false impression on leaders which lead towards war and intervention. • Armament Restricted the Path of Development: Armaments accumulates all resources a less is remained for development. It not only causes unbalance development but leads towards dependency of other aspects of economy. • Concept of Balance of Terror in Illogical: Armament has been justified on the basis of its capacity of containing war. Quincy Wright suggested that disarmament leads towards the possibility of war. He suggested that enemies don’t dare to attack each other because theyrecognize each other’s capacity of destruct but it is illogical. In wake of tension of there is no alternative their occurrence of war leads towards total destruction. Criticism of Disarmament: • Disarmament leads towards recession: Armament has been criticized in several basis but it supports several economies. It has substantial figures is international trade. Disarmament will not only destroy these economies but also economic recession is possible. • It discourages innovations and Research and Development- Disarmament prohibits innovations and technological advancements. • Disarmament is a problem in itself: It has been estimated that the spending of armament is equal to spending of disarmament. Furthermore, for monitoring at least 10 lacks workers and officers are needed. • Most of the Disarmament Treaties are Discriminatory: • Disarmament is not the guarantee of World Peace: It’s a one dimensional logic that disarmament will establishGSGSGS international SCORESCORESCORE peace because international peace depends on other factors also e.g. Co-operation and co-ordination among countries, farsightedness of leadership, Healthy Political culture, Economic development etc. • Disarmament is imaginary in modern world: World has developed in every dimension of life. It is not promoted co-operation and co-ordination but also created tensions. To continue the pace of development of the world there is great need of security. That is why armament is essential and integral part of multi-dimensional developments. So, through disarmament, we cannot pull the process of development back.
8. (b) Examine the notion ‘national interest’ in light of the different tradition/ perspective of international relations theory? • Approach Required : Attempt to discuss the various meanings and interpretations of National Interest as given by Realism & Liberalism( their various sub-divisions), Marxism, Constructivism and Critical School. Try to include as many views of scholars as possible.
Hints: Political Science [37] • Mistakes to be avoided: Content needs to be as diversified as possible in terms of arguments and views of scholars. Notion of National-Interest • Without ignoring the relationship between the perspective and the knowledge about the nature of truth, it can be claimed that there is no point in insisting on only one definition of the national interest. On the contrary, every actor in the society will understand the concept in relation with its position in the system. • At first, we will analyze realistic approach to the national interest. Realism is widely regarded as the most influential theoretical tradition in International Relations, even by its harshest critics. Hans J. Morgenthau is the most important representative of the ‘realist’ school in the discipline of international politics. He can be regarded as one of the most significant pioneers of the modern form of the classical realism. • For Morgenthau, there is no escape from power which is ubiquitous in every aspect of life and the “concept of interest is defined in terms of power.” Thus, power politics can be used as another name for Morgenthau’s realism. Morgenthau argues that “interest is the perennial standard by which political action must be judged and directed” because the “objective of foreign policy must be defined in terms of the national interest”. Although he recognized that at any particular point in time the interest of a nation should be informed by the “political and cultural context within which foreign policy formulated”, defining interest in terms of power would largely overcome the problem of subjectivity. • The relative power of nation-states can be assessed and measured, and is therefore an important objective reality. The national interest is normally defined in terms of strategic and economic capability because international politics is seen primarily as a struggle for power between states. However, Morgenthau concedes that the definition of power will change over time: on some occasions economic power will be crucial, at other times military or cultural power will be decisive. • Although morality cannot be the basis of forming national interests, Morgenthau refers to the “moral dignity of the national interest”, implying that at the very least the term is morally defensible guide to foreign policy formulation. However he emphasizes over and over, the detachment of the national interest from political and ethical perspectives: “The national interest of great powers and in good measure the methods by which it is to be secured are impervious to ideological and institutional changes”. • Kenneth Waltz parts company with what he calls the “traditional realism” of Morgenthau by arguing that internationalGSGSGS politics SCORESCORESCORE can be thought of a system with a precisely defined structure. Traditional or classical realism, in his view, is unable to conceptualize the international system in this way because it is limited by its behavioral methodology which “explains political systems”. • According to this approach, “the characteristics and the interactions of behavioral units are taken to be the direct cause of political events” .Waltz has a different conception of the national interest to Morgenthau. Like most foreign policy, he regards the national interest as a product of the structure of the international system rather than something which is the personal responsibility and management of political leaders. According to Jackson and Sorensen: •“For classical realists the national interest is the basic guide of responsible foreign policy: it is a moral idea that must be defended and promoted by state leaders. For Waltz, however, the national interest seems to operate like an automatic signal commanding state leaders when and where to move.” [38] Hints: Political Science • The difference here is: Morgenthau believes that state leaders are duty bound to conduct their foreign policies by reference to the guidelines laid down by the national interest, and they may be condemned for failing to do that. Waltz‘s neorealist theory hypothesizes that they will always do that more or less automatically. Morgenthau thus sees states as organizations guided by leaders whose foreign policies are successful or unsuccessful, depending on the astuteness and wisdom of their decisions. Waltz sees states as structures that respond to the impersonal Constraints and dictates of the international system”. • According to Waltz, the statesman is not an actor with high power to change or regulate the international structure as he wishes because of the systemic constraints imposed on him. These systemic constraints are the anarchy, the distribution of capabilities and functional similarity. • Three imperatives proposed by Waltz can be regarded as constituting the breaking point between Morgenthau’s modern form of realism and neo-realism. They are the systemic imperatives rather than being deliberative products of the statesman. That means the statesman must take these systemic constraints into consideration when he is on the threshold of taking significant decisions related to the interests of his country. In the light of these knowledge about the neorealist strand, it is argued that its national interest understanding is system- centric rather agent-centric. • The state is still the most important actor; but it operates under the conditions of anarchy and must obey the competitive logic of the system, acting in line with the systemic signals in order to ensure its survival. Neo-realism argues that the state must adapt itself to the anarchical international system in order to fulfill its national interests. If the state ignores the systemic constraints and the competitive nature of politics, it can be punished because the system demands uniform behavioral patterns. Thus, the national interest of the state, for neo-realism, can be described as to adapt to the international structure and defend its position in the system. • Liberalism is one of the main schools of international relations theory. There will be analyzed the national interest understandings in the liberal thought of three schools (Liberal internationalism, idealist school, (neo) liberal institutionalism). • The interest conception of liberal internationalism is defined as the community interest. The community here signifies the context composed of the liberal democratic states. Defending democracy and free trade, liberal internationalism is more inclined to believe in the potential goodness of individuals than realism. • For the liberal internationalists, it is not because of the human nature the world is in a miserable situation; butGSGS GSit is because SCORESCORE SCOREof the undemocratic states, which distort the harmony of the world. Thus, the internationalists advise free trade and the spread of democracy in order to improve the conditions of all the humanity and to create a community of liberal democratic states. • Idealism, regarded a variant of liberalism, is much more state-centric than liberal internationalism because it analyses the world politics more at the state level than at the individual level. As will be seen, for the liberal internationalists, the individual is prior to the state. • On the contrary, the idealists do not aim to transcend the state. The solutions idealism has proposed to regulate the world events show its state-centric characteristics. The League of Nations, the collective security system and the national self-determination are evident signs of the statism of the idealist thought. The national interest understanding of idealism is state- centric like realism; but it is more prone to prevent hostility among states by creating international institutions than to accept the competition and conflict as the permanent features of the international politics.
Hints: Political Science [39] • The Institutionalists see the international environment as anarchical like the neo-realists; but they differ with regard to their approaches to cooperation among states. For the neo-realists, international cooperation is not much possible, while the (neo) liberals insist that cooperation can be achieved by means of creating international regimes. • Because of the institutionalism emphasis on cooperation, its national interest understanding will be constructed in reference to the notion of cooperation under the heading of the cooperative interest. • The constructivist thought, for the sake of analysis, is divided into three subgroups: state- centric Constructivism, international society-centric constructivism and critical constructivism. • The first strand called as state-centric constructivism borrows many concepts from realism. Thus, there is a relationship between state-centric constructivism and realism. State-centric version of constructivism analyses anarchy and investigates the ways for collective identity formation among states. • Although it claims that the identities and interests of states are defined in inter subjective manner, it still takes some features of the state as fixed. For example, the state’s interests are said to be constructed in accordance with inter subjective constraints, but these interests represent subjective preferences. In addition to these subjective interests, there are also objective interests, which all states must fulfill in order to survive. The distinction the state centric constructivism makes between the subjective and the objective interests may cause to think of it as a bridge between neo realism and neo liberalism. • The second variant of constructivism called as international society-centric constructivism claims that the normative structure of international politics has a constraining effect on state behavior and determines its interests. According to this view, which is influenced from the English School, the structure of international society has two tiers: normative and surface. • The first represents the dominant norms in the international society and the second tier is thought to consist of international organizations, which are practical agents, which teach states about the validity and influence of international norms. For the society-centric version of constructivism, the state is a normative-adaptive entity and its national interests are inevitably norm-bound. • The last variant is critical constructivism, which tries to deconstruct the constructed character of politics. For this variant, the state is not the representative of the society and not a subject which naturally has some interests and identities. Rather, the state’s well-being depends on the success of its ideological hegemony over its citizens. The state, in that sense, is an apparatus of repression constructingGSGSGS itself on the SCORESCORE SCOREexclusion of some groups and individuals in the society. • For critical constructivism, the state cannot have pre-given (national) interests and identities. Being interested in the construction process of the national interest only as a discourse, the critical constructivists see the national interest as a subjective preference and regard it the reflection of the dominant discourse in the society. • Marxism and its national interest understanding; it transforms the national interest into the socialist interest because Marxism analyses the politics with regard to the notion of class. For Marxism, nationalism is an invention required to meet the demands of the capitalist market. • Thus, the territorial body of the state refers to its commercial capacity while its borders are its tariff walls. Ideology is seen as the dominant discourse of the Dominant class in the society. Hegemony is described as the leading capacity of the dominant class to gain the consent of the subordinated people in the society in order to reproduce its legitimacy in the eyes of the oppressed people.
[40] Hints: Political Science • The imperialism theory of Lenin and the world-system theory of Wallerstein are analyzed in the light of which the concept of the socialist interest is constructed. According to Lenin’s theory of imperialism, the world does not have a linear progress; rather, some states will improve its well-being by exploiting some other weak states. Thus, there arises a disproportional relationship between the center and the periphery, as Wallerstein argues. • In the critical thought the national interest is also transformed and has become the humanity’s interest. The humanity’s interest implies a longing for an alternative world order and is composed of two realms. The first one is related to the cosmopolitan level and the other is related to the intra-state level. The concept is developed by means of the dialectical relationship between these two levels. The humanity’s interest is not a concept that was developed before by any critical theorist in an explicit manner. • Rather, it is an eclectic concept developed in the light of the critical arguments. The cosmopolitan level can be seen as a general common denominator on which all the critical theorists can come to agreement. Respect for the difference and the transcendence of the nation-state are the two objectives of this level. The intra-state level is related to more concrete actions within states. It implies that if the internal structures of states acquire democratic features, the world of states will also be democratic. • The result is pluralistic because there is not any consensus among the theories about the content of the national interest. That is inevitable because each theory approaches the concept and analyses it with regard to its own framework. However, the national interest will continue to feature in the political discourse of states because it has important subjective utility.
8. (c) Critically analyse the functioning of modern democracies in context of operational challenges. The election system is most criticized arena and a host of factors are at play apart from the elector’s choice in determining the outcome of elections. Comment.
• Approach Required : Elaborate on the various challenges the idea of democracy is facing in terms of its actual performance and functioning. Need to specially emphasize on the challenges associated with the conduct and subversion of the electoral process. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide as many functional and example based arguments. Content needs to be pointwise. Operational Challenges of democracy • Low voter turnouts: ThereGSGSGS have been SCORESCORESCORE numerous cases where democracies have seen leaders elected on low voter turnouts Does an “elected” official represent the people if turnout is too low? What does it mean for the health of a democracy if 75% of the electorate, for whatever reason, did not actually vote for the “winner”? Such a low voter turnout however, represents a concern for a genuine democracy as a sufficient percentage of the electorate has either chosen not to vote, or not been able to vote (or had their votes rejected).Some countries mandate voting into law, for example, Belgium. Others require a clear percentage of votes to be declared a winner which may result in the formation of coalitions (oftentimes fragile) to get enough votes in total. • People may vote in non-democratic forces: Hitler and his party were voted in. He then got rid of democracy and started his gross human rights violations and genocidal campaigns as a dictator. Hamas was also recently voted in by Palestinians. The “International community” (really the Western countries) withheld funds and aid because Hamas is regarded as a terrorist organization (though most Palestinians would seem to disagree).
Hints: Political Science [41] • Democracies may discriminate the minority in favour of the majority:Another criticism of democracy is that sometimes what the majority votes for or prefers, may not necessarily be good for everyone. A common example plaguing many countries which have diversity in race and religion is that a dominant group may prefer policies that undermine others. Some quick examples include Nigeria which has large Christian and Muslim populations; some Muslims there, and in other countries, want Sharia Law, which not all Muslim necessarily want, let alone people of other faiths. If only a very slight majority can override a very large minority on such an important issue as how one should live, then there is a real chance for tension and conflict. Another example is India, often help us an example of pluralism throughput the ages, despite all manner of challenges. Yet, unfortunately an Indian government report finds that its claims to religious integration and harmony are on far shakier grounds than previously believed. Muslims in India, for example, a large minority, are also under-represented and seem to be seen as India’s new ‘underclass. ’Wealthier countries also have similar problems, ranging from France with its challenge to integrate/assimilate a large foreign population, to Spain which struggles with a large Basque population wanting independence, to the US where large immigrant populations are struggling to integrate. • Those with non-democratic political ambitions may use the ideals of democracy to attain power and influence: People often see democracy as an equalizing factor that should not allow the elite or wealthy in a society to rule in an autocratic, despotic, unaccountable manner. Instead they have to respond to the will of the people, and ultimately be accountable to them. Furthermore and ideally, it should not only be the wealthy or elite that hold the power. There should be some form of equality when representing the nation. However, this has also meant at least two accompanying phenomena: Democracy is seen as a threat to those in power, who worry about the masses, referring to them as a “mob”, or some other derogatory phrase (“tyranny of the majority” is another), and To get votes, parties may appeal to populist issues which are often sensational or aim for short-term goals of elections. • More propaganda may be needed in democracies than some totalitarian regimes, in order to gain/maintain support for some aggressive actions and policies (such as waging war, rolling back hard-won rights, etc.):In a democracy, people are generally accustomed to questioning their government, and should be empowered—and encouraged—to do so.In some countries, healthy cynicism has given way to outright contempt or excessive cynicism at anything a government official promises! What this does mean, however, is that those with ambitions of power and ulterior agendas have to therefore resort to even more propaganda and media savvy manipulation, • Regular elections lead to short government life-time. This seems to result in more emphasis on short term goals andGSGSGS safer issues SCORESCORESCOREthat appeal to populist issues. It also diverts precious time toward re-election campaigns. Many democracies have rules that elections must be held regularly, say every 4 or 5 years. The short life span of governments is there for an important reason: it prevents a party becoming entrenched, dictatorial, stagnant or less caring of the population over time. Competition in elections encourages people to stay on their toes; governments knowing they must deliver, and potential candidates/parties knowing they can participate with a chance. Yet, at the same time, the short-termism that results has its problems too. • Anti-democratic forces may use the democratic process to get voted in or get policies enacted in their favour. (For example, some policies may be voted for or palatable because of immense lobbying and media savvy campaigning by those who have money (individuals and companies) even if some policies in reality may undermine some aspects of democracy; a simple example is how the free speech of extremist/racist groups may be used as an excuse to undermine a democratic regime) In a number of countries, governments may find themselves
[42] Hints: Political Science facing hostile opposition (verbal and/or physical/military). Some governments find this opposition has foreign support, or, because of their own failures has created a vacuum (either a power vacuum, participation vacuum or some other failure that has allowed people to consider alternatives seriously). When a legitimate government is then deliberating, or taking, stronger actions, that government can easily be criticized for rolling back democracy, acting dictatorially or in some way undermining the rights of their people. This can then strengthen the non-democratic opposition further. • There are unfortunately countless examples of such foreign and domestic interference with potential and actual democracies to be listed here. It is common for example, to hear of say the former Soviet Union doing this. Unfortunately, while less common to hear about it in the mainstream, western governments have also been complicit in overthrowing and undermining democracies in other parts of the world in favour of puppet regimes, be they dictatorships or pseudo democracies. • Those with money are more able to advertise and campaign for elections thus favouring elitism and oligarchy instead of real democracy: It is a common concern in many democratic countries that those with sufficient funds, or fund-raising capability are the ones who will become the final candidates that voters choose from. Some criticize candidates for “selling out” to mega donor, who then expect favours in return. Others, who may be more democratic, but are either poor, or lack the finances of the leading contenders, or will not likely support policies that influential mega donors support, will often lose out. • Deliberate confusion of concepts such as economic preferences and political preferences (e.g. Free Markets vs. Communism economic preferences, and liberal vs authoritarian political preferences) may allow for non-democratic policies under the guise of democracy: democracy does not automatically require free markets and free markets does not automatically require democracy. Many western governments supported dictatorships during the Cold War that practiced free market economics in a dictatorial/fascist manner, for example Leading up to World War II, a number of European nations saw their power determined by fascists, often via a democratic process. Today, many European democracies attempt a social model of economic development ranging from socialist to somewhat managed markets. • Democracies may, ironically perhaps, create a more effective military as people chose to willingly support their democratic ideals and are not forced to fight. It may seem ironic to many, considering that one principle underlying democracy is the desire for freedom, but democracies may create a more effective military. Unlike a totalitarian regime, or, in the past, systems that used slaves, democracies that do not have forced military service, might create a more effective militaryGSGSGS because SCORESCORESCORE people have to willingly chose to participate in military institutions, and may have sufficient pride in protecting their democracy.
Hints: Political Science [43] IAS 2020 POLITICAL SCIENCE TEST SERIES
By: Dr. PIYUSH CHAUBEY
TEST: 7
www.iasscore.in Political Science Test Series 2020 TEST - 07
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250
SECTION - A
1. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) India's "Act East" Policy and role of North East in its progress. (10) (b) The Indian Foreign Policy needs to actively adapt to the Rise of China in Asia. Discuss. (10) (c) Pakistan's Tactical Nuclear Weapons. Comment. (10) (d) Write a short note on Indian foreign policy and its evolution over the years. (10) (e) India Foreign Policy and Free Trade Agreements. (10) 2. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Indian Ocean as a zone of Peace. Critically Comment. (15)
(b) Ideologically and strategically, India seems to be utilising its soft powers better than Pakistan in dealing with their resourceful neighbour, Afghanistan. (15)
(c) There is a growing consensus in Nepal on the benefits from the Belt and Road Initiative despite China's debt trap policy. Comment. (20)
3. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Discuss the role of non-governmental institutions in foreign policy development of India. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE (15)
(b) The aid politics cannot be looked at in complete isolation. It is a mechanism to exert influence and power. Discuss the given statement with reference to India's response to Chinese investment in Nepal, Srilanka and Maldives. (15)
(c) With SAARC proving to be a "dysfunctional" grouping, BIMSTEC fit the bill and India started "trying to energize and develop" BIMSTEC "as almost a parallel to SAARC." Throw light on the above statement with reference to India's growing engagement with BIMSTEC. (20)
4. Attempt all the questions:
(a) The engagement of India in multiple forums for varying economic, political and security purposes have made the Non-Aligned Movement "largely incidental" to India's pursuit of its national interest. Comment. (15)
Political Science [1] (b) The progress and achievement of peace in Afghanistan does not guarantees the end of terrorism. Discuss the given question with reference to recent terrorist activity. (15)
(c) Discuss the constrain and challenges of SAARC. Also suggest areas of cooperation among them. (20)
SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) Discuss the achievements of BIMSTEC along with its challenges. (10)
(b) India-Maldives Defense Relations (10)
(c) Indo-Pak Relations in the Post 9/11 Era. Discuss (10)
(d) India as a net security provider in Indian Ocean. Explain. (10)
(e) Discuss Indian Economic diplomacy in 21st century. (10)
6. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Bhutan's significance for Indian Foreign policy. Discuss. (15)
(b) Discuss the geopolitical concerns for India with booming trade between China and Sri-Lanka. (15)
(c) Discuss about the structure and organisation of MEA. Also discuss the function of MEA. (20)
7. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Discuss the goals and achievements of NAM. Also discuss its relevance today. (15)
(b) Explain the traditional determinants of Indian foreign policy. (15)
(c) Illegal migration is one of the bones of the contention between India and Bangladesh. Comment. Also Suggest remedies for the above mentioned issue. (20) 8. Attempt all the questions:GS SCORE (a) Discuss the major dimensionsGSGSGS SCORESCORESCOREof India Sri-Lanka Relations with examples. (15)
(b) Deeper regional trade and connectivity has the potential to more than triple India's trade with its South Asian neighbours. Discuss in the light of recently published report by World Bank. (15)
(c) Discuss India and ASEAN Economic and Trade Relations. Also examine the future potential between India and ASEAN economic relations. (15)
[2] Political Science Political Science Test Series 2020
www.iasscore.in POLITICAL SCIENCE Answer Hints: Test No.7
SECTION - A
1. (a) India's "Act East" Policy and role of North East in its progress. • Approach Required: Discuss the relevance of Act East both in context of our external relations with ASEAN and for domestic development of ASEAN. Emphasize on how India’s North East will specially benefit from this policy and what challenges need to be addressed in this context. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t elaborate on only the factual aspects of Act East. Your analysis needs to be descriptive and analytical specially regarding linkage with North East. • The Act East Policy is the successor to the Look East Policy, which was launched in 1992 by the then PM Narasimha Rao under radically different geopolitical and economic circumstances. The Look East Policy was focused on strengthening ties between India and the ASEAN countries. • The Look East Policy registered impressive gains for 20 years after its inception. India became a sectoral partner of ASEAN in 1992 and a dialogue partner and member of the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996. India and ASEAN entered into a summit partnership in 2002 on the 10th anniversary of the Look East Policy, and launched negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) in goods in 2003. These discussions culminated in a bilateral deal in 2009, which took effect the next year. • In the past few years, however, the relationship has not been able to maintain the same momentum. The NDA government outlined the Act East Policy in November 2014, within six months of assuming power in May 2014. The policy seeks to revive and reinvigorate India’s relations with ASEAN as well as expand the country’s engagement beyond the region to encompass the Koreas in the North to Australia and New Zealand in the South, and from neighboring Bangladesh to Fiji and Pacific Island countries in the Far East. • ASEAN continues to form the central pillar of India’s Act East Policy. This is evident from the active mutual visits in the region over the past years. Myanmar, in particular, occupies a special position in India’s matrix of ties with ASEAN states. After all, it is contiguous to India’s Northeast region, sharing a land boundary of 1,700 km with four states including Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Major infrastructure projects such as the India- Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway could prove to be a game-changer to connect India’s Northeast with ASEAN. India is also party to the ambitious Trans-Asian railway project, though progress has been less than satisfactory because of the weak political will of the stakeholders and differences in alignment of the rail network among participating countries. • Without adequate cross-border connectivity, it would be highly difficult for India’s North- eastern states to reap the full potential of the Act East Policy. The allocation of $1 billion to promote connectivity between India and ASEAN, announced by Prime Minister during his visit to Malaysia in November 2015, will go a long way in bringing India and ASEAN closer together. Connectivity forms an indispensable element of the 3Cs of ‘’culture, commerce and connectivity’’, which will promote economic engagement and strengthen people-to-people, cultural and civilizational contacts between the two regions
1. (b) The Indian Foreign Policy needs to actively adapt to the Rise of China in Asia. Discuss.
• Approach Required : Adopting an examples based analysis, try to assess the Rise of China specially in South Asia and how it is presenting a multi-dimensional foreign policy challenge for India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t give generic arguments only centered on String of Pearls. Your content needs to have a lot of examples of recent Chinese activities. • Ever since the this government took over in New Delhi since May 2014, a number of initiatives were made in the foreign policy directions of the country. While in the last one year, there are no major radical departures from the immediate past India’s foreign policy is definitely acquiring new dimensions. • The triggers for unfolding new directions in the Indian foreign policy are several and are reflected in the many changes occurring both at the global and regional levels – the strategic, diplomatic, political, economic and military domains. • Foremost, China had grown to such an extent that today it is trying to actively influence the global and regional environments and reshape the system to its advantage. This is in the backdrop of China becoming the second largest economy in the world, and with estimates suggesting that China would surpass the United States in terms of gross domestic product figures despite the current “new normal economy” of low growth rates in China. • Also, China has amassed more than $4.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, accumulated through surplus trade with several countries including the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and India. China’s defence budget had also grown to be the second largest in the world after the United States with 2015 allocations going up to $142 billion. As a result of all these developments and new found confidence, China is surprising the international community with its grand initiatives, even as it provides least inclination to the global communities about its intentions. His speeches at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan and in the Indonesian Parliament in late 2013 on the continental and maritime silk roads, and his commentsGSGSGS at the BandungSCORESCORESCORE Conference in April 2015 on South-South and South- North Dialogues surprised many for their sweeping breadth and possible impact on the global and regional orders. • China’s Monroe Doctrine has sway over the East and South China Seas, where with its anti- access and area denial strategies had imposed high costs on the United States even as the regional powers are too busy fending for themselves. Towards the western regions, China’s initiatives today had integrated these regions to feed into China’s rise. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan today are too dependent on China to follow independent policies. Smaller countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan, Malaysia, Mongolia and others are engrossed on domestic issues and worried about possible China’s wrath if they stand up to Beijing. All these are happening when the US rebalance strategy towards the Asia-Pacific remain a whimper so far. • India is also keenly watching and concerned with a number of revisions in China policy vis- à-vis various aspects of South Asia. For instance, China’s revision in Arunachal Pradesh [2] Hints: Political Science policy is shifting from arguing initially (by the then Premier Zhou Enlai in late 1950s) that the McMahon Line is illegal to agreeing to recognize southern portion of McMahon Line [i.e. then the North East Frontier Agency -the current state of Arunachal Pradesh] as a part of the “swap principle” in 1957 and 1980 to the 2005-06 line of asserting [by the then Ambassador of China Sun Yuxi in November 2006] that the “entire state of Arunachal Pradesh is disputed” to Arunachal Pradesh as “southern Tibet”. • With Tibet configured as “core interest” by China and “southern Tibet” added to Tibet in 2005, the writing on the wall is clear for India – that China is willing to wage a war to protect these core interests. While two nuclear states could hardly afford to fight a war in which escalation ladder is unpredictable, the preparations on the part of both China and India suggests that this issue cannot be put on the back-burner. For instance, China had been strengthening its military modernization in Tibet, including missile deployments, while India is in the process of raising a Strike Corps and additional air bases. • China had also revised its Kashmir policy from the division of the sub-continent in 1947 as “unnatural” (as Mao Zedong told visiting Vice President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan) in the 1950s to advocating self-determination of Kashmiris in the 1960s and 1970s, to resolving Kashmir dispute only through bilateral [i.e. India and Pakistan] and peaceful means during the 1980s and 1990s to the current efforts in actively financing strategic projects in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. • President Xi Jinping’s visit to Pakistan in April 2015 – postponed from September 2014 due to insecurity in Islamabad – had yielded $46 billion in infrastructure projects – in connectivity through Gilgit and Baltistan towards Gwadhar and in the energy sector. Pakistan had stated that it will raise a whole Division to protect Chinese construction personnel in these turbulent areas. Others like Selig Harrison argue that China had already deployed 7,000 to 11,000 troops in these areas. This indicated to India that China is no longer concerned about other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity issues and suggests counter-measures in South China Sea and East China Sea areas where China is locked in sovereignty disputes. China’s arms transfers to Pakistan also remain unabated. Indeed, according to a latest report of Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, China had become the largest arms supplier to Pakistan, accounting for more than 40 percent of the Pakistani inventory. • To top it, Pakistan recently had been toying with the idea of giving contract to China for eight conventional submarines, in the largest ever arms purchases from Beijing. China had also already agreed to sell more than 110 JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter aircraft, in addition to four frigates. These GSGSdevelopments SCORESCORE suggest that China intends to continue its balancing approach in South Asia,GSGS regardless ofSCORESCORE improvement in ties with New Delhi. There is also the nuclear and ballistic missile cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad that India could hardly ignore. • Both these regional and global initiatives of Beijing are being viewed by New Delhi for their broad sweep and most significantly to any power transition between Washington and Beijing, as former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton alluded to in a Strategic & Economic Dialogue at Beijing some years ago. This suggest number one that India has to make strategic moves to retain and further its influence at the regional and global levels and nurture its niche areas and interests but also to see to it that it is not marginalized in any contest between the US and China. • In the light of the above factors, this government has been making concerted efforts in the last one year. These are reflected in PM Modi’s visits abroad, specifically to Japan, the US and the Indian Ocean Region as well as in the economic and military domains
Hints: Political Science [3] 1. (c) Pakistan's Tactical Nuclear Weapons. Comment.
• Approach Required : Need to elaborate in detail on what factors are compelling Pakistan to adopt such an aggressive stance and also comment what kind of unprecedented threats does it pose for India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to keep the content specific to Tactical Nuclear Weapons and don’t go for a generic discussion on Nuclear issues and policy of both India and Pakistan. • Pakistan’s decision to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in a battlefield mode along the India- Pakistan border can be surmised from a report by Hans M. Kristensen and Robert Norris of the Federation of American Scientists that identified Pakistan and China as either having or developing nonstrategic nuclear weapons. Pakistan had made clear, Kristensen told the Times of India, that it was developing its nuclear-capable Nasr (or Hatf IX) missile “for use against invading Indian troop formations that Pakistan doesn’t have the conventional capabilities to defeat.” • These weapons, according to Indian experts, are meant to be used along the border in case of any skirmish with the Indian Army. The Nasr is described as “a 60-kilometer [37-mile] ballistic missile launched from a mobile twin-canister launcher.” According to Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations, the Nasr also has “shoot and scoot attributes” to serve as a quick response system to “add deterrence value” to Pakistan’s strategic weapons development program “at shorter ranges . . . to deter evolving threats.” • These developments have highlighted the insufficiency of India’s no-first-use policy to deter Pakistan’s destabilizing strategy. For one thing, this policy articulation frees Pakistan of the uncertainty and angst that India might contemplate the preemptive use of nuclear weapons to deal with terrorist attacks or limited conventional strikes by Pakistan. Pakistan could also go to the extent of deploying its short-range Nasr missile without being concerned that India would target it with its own nuclear missiles. For another, the determinism inherent in India’s nuclear doctrine that any level of nuclear attack will invite massive retaliation is too extreme to gain much credibility. It defies logic to threaten an adversary with nuclear annihilation to deter or defend against a tactical nuclear strike on an advancing military formation. • Moreover, in an adversarial situation between two nuclear powers, recourse to massive retaliation by one side would surely trigger a similar counterattack. How would the mutual annihilation that wouldGS undoubtedly SCORE ensue serve the ends of national security? This is a question that must induceGSGSGS greater reflection SCORESCORESCORE on how to devise a more appropriate strategy to meet Pakistan’s threat of using tactical nuclear weapons in crises along the India-Pakistan border. • Pakistan, for its part, has not countenanced a no-first-use policy on the grounds that the weaker conventionally armed power has to rely on nuclear weapons to ensure its security. However, conventional wisdom warns that deployment of nuclear weapons along the border makes these arms vulnerable to attack, which, in turn, could generate a “use or lose” mentality on the part of their possessor. A related danger that has not been sufficiently articulated is that nuclear missiles situated near the border could become vulnerable to targeting by long-range artillery, apart from special forces operations, highlighting the hair- trigger nature of such deployments. Pakistan argues that locating tactical nuclear weapons along the India-Pakistan border in a state of battle-readiness enables it to counter India’s Cold Start strategy, which envisages positioning offensive, battle-ready forces along the India-Pakistan border to deter any crossborder attack. [4] Hints: Political Science • The particular danger of this deployment pattern is that it creates pressures to delegate to field commanders the authority to use these missiles in a crisis situation. Pakistani authorities insist that no such delegation would be necessary. In the end, and especially with the fog of war intervening, whatever arrangements were thought to control such weapons could never be foolproof. The possibility of human error would have to be accepted. But, with nuclear weapons entering the calculus, such errors could have horrific consequences. • Adding to these uncertainties is the fact that the internal situation in Pakistan has been rapidly deteriorating over the last few years, with extremist and religious fundamentalist groups exercising control over growing areas in the country. Political differences between the military and civilian leaderships in Pakistan are also increasing, with the judiciary functioning not as an umpire but as a third leg in an unstable relationship between elements of the country’s ruling elite. How this increasingly dysfunctional system can implement a responsible nuclear strategy is an open question. • An impasse has now been reached that threatens the stability of India-Pakistan relations. It is arguable that India’s commitment to a no-first-use posture has encouraged Pakistan to adopt its present adventurist strategy, secure in the belief that it could undertake provocative actions without the angst that India might contemplate a nuclear riposte. Its provocative actions would include promoting crossborder militancy and terrorism into India and even brazen actions like the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001 or the Mumbai attacks in 2008. Arguably, the adoption of a deliberately vague policy in regard to nuclear retaliation by India, instead of the certitude of a no-first-use declaration, might have better served India’s overall strategic ends.
1. (d) Write a short note on Indian foreign policy and its evolution over the years.
• Approach Required : Focus on how Indian Foreign Policy has gone under paradigm shifts through the years since Independence. Give factual examples of successes, failures , major challenges and opportunities. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be more descriptive and factual rather than analytical. Try to quote as many factual examples regarding events as possible. 1947-1962: Phase of optimistic non-alignment Where India resisted the constraining of its choices and dilution of its sovereignty in a bipolar world. It saw energetic Indian diplomacy from Korea and Vietnam to the Suez and Hungary. However, India’s focus on diplomatic visibility sometimes led to overlooking the harsher realities of hard security. E.g. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • Going to UN regarding J&K. • Rejecting the offer “east west swap deal” of China where India would recognise Chinese claims on Aksai Chin and China would give up its claims on the eastern sector. • The anticipated 1962 war, yet, the reluctance to attach overriding priority to securing borders. 1962-1971: Phase of recovery and realism: India looked beyond non-alignment making pragmatic choices on security and political challenges E.g. concluding a defence agreement with the US in 1964. Also, domestic challenges were acute, with political turbulence and economic distress.India faced a tense situation with Pakistan in 1965 and finally lead to creation of Bangladesh in 1971. India became more realistic as it signed Indo- Soviet Treaty of 1971. Hints: Political Science [5] 1971-1991: Phase of greater Indian regional assertion and phase of complexity: • E.g. Creation of Bangladesh, but ended with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) misadventure in Sri Lanka. • Sino-US rapprochement of 1971 and role of Pakistan as the interlocutor meant India had to face the US China-Pakistan axis. • India’s optimistic outlook on Pakistan in 1972 at Shimla, resulted in a hostile Pakistan and a continuing problem in Jammu & Kashmir. 1991-1999: Phase of unipolarity • made it a challenging task to retain India’s strategic autonomy. • India responded with upgradation of diplomatic relations with Israel, outreach to Americans were done. • India opened up economically more to the world but fell behind ASEAN and China which opened up a decade earlier. • In 1998, India declared itself as Nuclear weapon power which led to US sanctions. 2000-2013: Vajpayee-Manmohan phase: • India gained the attributes of a balancing power, as China began to emerge as the 2nd pole in world geopolitics and moreover the centre of gravity of world geopolitics shifts towards Asia-Pacific region. • USA moved away from sanctions to Nuclear deal and in Kargil war and Operation Parakaram world community weighted in favour of India as India was a balancing power now. • India also used rising power of Russia and Japan to balance the complex geopolitical scenario. 2014-till now: Phase of Energetic engagement: • India’s rising global stature is evident from the overlooking posture of global community on the issue of abrogation of Article 370. • India’s Act East policy- emphasising a multi-polar Asia at the core of a multi-polar world. 1. (e) India Foreign PolicyGSGSGS and Free SCORESCORESCORETrade Agreements. • Approach Required : Provide a context of RCEP and then provide a general analysis of FTA in context of Indian foreign policy. Analyse how India’s welcoming approach towards FTA’s has worked for our benefit and why India is becoming more cautious towards FTA’s. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide a lot of factual data to prove the merits and demerits of FTA’s. Don’t provide generic vague analysis. • RCEP was Free Trade Agreement (FTA) involving 16 countries, including the 10 ASEAN countries and China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India. • Now, 15 other countries excluding India are set to enter into the trade agreement in February 2020. • According to government, RCEP neither reflected its original intent nor addresses India’s key concerns. [6] Hints: Political Science • India had been raising the issue of market access as well as protected lists of goods mainly to shield its domestic market as there have been fears that the country may be flooded with cheap Chinese agricultural and industrial products once it signs the deal. • Joining RCEP would have meant incurring a greater trade deficit with China which has great competence in the manufacturing sector. • Various sectors like agriculture, dairy, solar industry, seeds, garments, etc have protested against the deal. Now, decision will ensure support to India’s farmers, MSME sector, dairy and manufacturing sectors, among others. • It is an important development for India owing to above concerns of different sectors that the benefits for India have been very limited from FTAs. • Also recently, India had decided to commence the review of India-ASEAN FTA which is pertinent to examine the progress of trade between India and its key FTA partners. • A free trade agreement is a pact between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. • India has viewed FTAs as an important tool to enhance its trade and investment, and signed a number of trade agreements with various countries or groups. • In fact, India is one among top countries in Asia with the maximum number of FTAs either in operation or under negotiation or proposed. • India’s exports to FTA countries has not outperformed overall export growth or exports to rest of the world. • Major FTAs that India has signed and implemented so far include South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), India-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), India-Korea Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), India-Japan CEPA. • With tariff liberalization commitments under FTA, the additional market access propels a process of scale expansion in the domestic manufacturing which help reaping economies of scale • It enhances price-competitiveness which translates trade diversion ultimately into trade creation. It also leads to greater employment generation. • Due to inter-sectoral linkagesGSGSGS, a further SCORESCORESCORE process of greater economic activity in other sectors is unleashed because of backward and forward linkages of the firms. • It generate opportunities that opens up Global Value Chain (GVC) which brings investments and technology besides the other benefits of domestic manufacturing and services. • FTA members co-exist with WTO and help achieve the objectives of liberal trade of the WTO through their building block role. • However, according to NITI Aayog report, in 2017, had pointed out that free trade agreements have not worked well for India. Problems of India with FTA • Widening of India’s Trade Deficit with FTA Partners: The issue of complete tariff elimination remained critical for India as it has already an existing trade deficit of over $106 billion with RCEP negotiators, of which, over $57 billion is alone with China in 2018. Hints: Political Science [7] • India has also witnessed a growing trade deficit with ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea after the agreement is signed, particularly due to the surge in metal and capital goods into the country. • India’s trade deficit with ASEAN from less than US$ 8 billion in 2009-10 to about US$ 22 billion in 2018-19. • Rules of Origin: It is the criteria that are used to determine the national source of a product which is a serious concerns for exporters. • Improper Standards of import: For example: Concerns had been raised by food processing sector about the near absence of quality norms for import of processed food products from ASEAN countries resulting in import and consumption of cheap ASEAN processed food products at the cost of domestic food processing sector. • No major impact of FTAs on exports: If import duty in the partner country is high, there is a likelihood of an increase in exports by 10% when this duty becomes zero (on joining FTA). But chances of exports increasing are low if import duty of the partner country is low at 1-3%. • India’s exports are much more responsive to income changes as compared to price changes and thus a tariff reduction/elimination does not boost exports significantly • Difference in economic efficiency of a country: If a country is not the most efficient economy, some level of an import wall helps in getting external investments. Without an import wall, many firms may shift production to the more efficient FTA partner.
2. (a) Indian Ocean as a zone of Peace. Critically Comment.
• Approach Required : First explain the meaning and context of the term “ Zone of Peace”. Then discuss why it is not in India’s interests to support any such proposal at present and in future. Your reasoning should be very specific to the unique strategic challenges India faces in the Indian Ocean region. • Mistakes to be avoided: Focus on the specific proposal of Indian Ocean as a zone of Peace and avoid a general analysis of the Indian Ocean Region. • The term “declaration of the Indian Ocean” was included in the agenda of the 26th general assembly in 1971 the Indian Ocean, within limits to be determined, together with the airspace above and the ocean floor subjacent thereto was designated for all times as zone of peace. China “called for commonGSGSGS efforts for countries SCORESCORESCORE inside and outside the region to maintain peace and stability in the region and establish the zone of peace at an early date. To that end the major powers outside the region should eliminate the military presence In the Indian ocean region.” • In principle the proposal to declare the Indian ocean region is strikingly apposite. Increasing Chinese and the threat of PLA-N bases in the IOR, the growing interests of major powers(US,UK,Russia,France and Japan) in the region , and many Chinese infrastructure projects in the region, create an imperative for India to actively limit the maritime activity of external powers in the region, but attempting to do so through the IOZOP route will ensure that while no military activity is ever practically curtailed, Indian influence and credibility in the region will stand severely eroded. • The trouble with IOZOP proposal is its flawed premise: that by simply declaring a region a “zone of peace” foreign military presence an activity can be effectively halted. Proponents of the proposal believe that in the absence of military strength and influence to counter the growing Chinese presence in the region. India should use the multilateral route to create a
[8] Hints: Political Science consensus for the military ocean peaceniks of the efficacy of such proposal because the original 1971 proposal of an IOZOP was not so much about peace and tranquillity in the IOR as it was about circumscribing the presence of western powers in the region. • With growing Chinese interest in the Indian ocean. It is almost given that Beijing would actively reject any suggestion that seeks to limit china’s military presence in the Indian ocean, more worryingly, any such proposal would be detrimental to India’s own power projection in the neighbourhood • Paradoxically it I India that has been dichotomous in its security approach to the Indian ocean- the opposing, on the one hand, extra regional military presence and yet depending on US naval power to underwrite regional security. • Expectedly the response to the revival of the IOZOP too has been fanciful on many levels, first of all the Indian navy might be a net security provider in the region but it also honestly admit to a lack of capacity that renders assistance by other maritime players in the region a rank imperative. A principal percept of the Indian navy ‘s maritime strategy is cooperative security and meaningful contributions in this regard have so far come only from the big naval powers in the region. • Secondly the real danger from an Indian standpoint is not increased us interest in the Indian ocean region but the lack of it. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the US pivot to the pacific, American interest in the Indian ocean has been waning. With the shale revolution, the US is losing interest in the middle east, consequently its stakes in securing the flow of energy from the Persian Gulf too have reduced. Regrettably, US naval retrenchment from the region also means a reduced ability to confront larger threats to peace and security in west Asia. This is one reason why many other states are rushing to fill in the vacuum created by impending American withdrawal • If once a zone of peace is declared, Pakistan might revive its proposal for denuclearized Indian ocean-a proposition first raised in the aftermath of India’s nuclear test in 1974 and one that New Delhi strongly resisted. This could be a potentially game changing move that needs to be understood in its entirety before endorsing a zone of peace. Pakistan’s nuclear efforts in the Indian ocean are motivated solely by the presence of India’s strategic submarine capability (the arihant). The Pakistan navy does not quite need a ballistic missile capable submarine as it is not bound by “no first use” and does not consequently need a survivable weapon. It however feels compelled to counter India’s SSBN, which it feels has skewed the balance of power in the Indian ocean. As preliminary measure, the Pakistan navy has invested in a naval tactical nuclear weapons if India were to take away its SSBN out of the equation. To compoundGSGS matters, new SCORESCORE Delhi’s backing of a ZOP in in the IOR will leave it with no moral or politicalGSGS grounds toSCORESCORE justify its opposition to a denuclearized Indian ocean. • In the event that a ZOP is announced it is India that will stand to lose the most because its proposal will be seen as “backdoor” manoeuvre to limit Chinese presence and effective abdication of leadership and responsibility in the IOR.
2. (b) Ideologically and strategically, India seems to be utilising its soft powers better than Pakistan in dealing with their resourceful neighbour, Afghanistan. • Approach Required: Try to draw a comparision between the foreign policy approaches of both India and Pakistan in Afghanistan and bring out the major differences between the two and also specially emphasize on why Indian policy is more successful than that of Pakistan. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t give generic arguments, instead try to give as many recent and factual examples of India’s soft power engagement in Afghanistan. Hints: Political Science [9] • Afghanistan has always been the playground of the ‘great game’, with different nations battling ideologically and strategically to control and guide Afghanistan. While the players of the game have changed over time, the nature of the game has always been not only about exercising hard power but also about soft power influence and its significance in winning the game in Afghanistan. Between India and Pakistan, the soft power great game has played out in favour of India, leaving Pakistan unquestionably behind in the race to gain dominance and extend influence in Afghanistan. • While Afghanistan is known for its geo-strategic importance and abundance of natural resources, India and Pakistan wish to strengthen their relationship with the nation due to various other factors. A stable Afghanistan is crucial for regional and domestic security and stability for India and Pakistan. Both countries feel that exercising their influence in Afghanistan will enhance their strategic space and significance. • To acquire a worthwhile image among the global powers and gain regional hegemony, India believes that first it must exert influence in South Asia. India has for long exercised and extended its influence through art, culture, music, films etc. India’s soft power diplomacy, particularly in Afghanistan involves winning “hearts and minds” and strengthening its cultural as well as political relations with Afghanistan, backed with the ideas of nation building and political stability. While one might say that India’s ulterior motive is to gain regional hegemony or become a global power, it cannot be denied that focusing on soft power methods has benefitted India in Afghanistan and is helping it build trust and support in the nation. • As a knee jerk reaction to India’s success, Pakistan has become overly concerned with the India-Afghan friendship. Although, Pakistan wishes to reduce the Indian influence and tilt Afghan support towards themselves, her narrow state visions have turned out to be self- defeating. • Besides, being Afghanistan’s immediate neighbour, Pakistan has century old ties with the nation which it could use to influence Afghanistan. These include historical, cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic and trading links that naturally tie Pakistan to Afghanistan. Pakistan has failed to capitalise on these advantages in order to strengthen its relations with Afghanistan. • Pakistan primarily relies on military means and hard power and completely neglects the use of soft power methods such as art, culture, education to promote their foreign policy objectives. Moreover, the fact that various terrorist and extremist outfits harbor in Pakistan and the state is believed to support these organisations, plays to its disadvantage and tarnishes its image among other states including Afghanistan. As a result, Indian impact and the sway of soft power has resultedGSGSGS in a much SCORESCORESCORE greater acceptance and support in Afghanistan as compared to that of Pakistan. • India’s involvement and contribution to the development of cricket in Afghanistan has been one of its primary means of soft power influence in the nation. Interestingly, cricket in Afghanistan originated in the refugee camps in Pakistan that were occupied by Afghans escaping the war against the Soviets in the 1980’s. While Afghans took to cricket in a big way, the game faced the hurdles of development, funding and proper infrastructure. Indian contribution to the development of cricket in Afghanistan has been boon for both nations. Due to disturbed conditions within Afghanistan, the Afghan team was quite eager and grateful to choose India as their home base. • Last year India hosted the Indo-Afghanistan Friendship series in Bengaluru, a test cricket format that is longer, highly competitive and prestigious, showcasing the Afghan team’s great capabilities. This series was a milestone for Afghan cricket and strengthened the India- Afghanistan relations. India showed great hospitability and welcomed the Afghanistan team.
[10] Hints: Political Science • Moreover, India declared the Greater Noida Stadium as the Afghan team’s official training facility as they lack one in their own country. Recently, Dehradun has been listed as the second adopted home ground for the Afghanistan cricket team. The Indian government has also provided coaching and technical facilities along with funding to build a stadium in Kandahar. India has used cricket not only as a means of nation building in Afghanistan but for widening their own relationship with the nation. Pakistan, being Afghanistan’s immediate neighbour and originator of Afghan cricket, could have built a strong relation with the nation but instead has watched India take over this position. • The relationship between Bollywood and Afghanistan is joined at the hip for a long time. The nature of this relationship is such that it creates a people-to-people bond that is greater than any governmental efforts. As a society that has been suppressed by the harsh rules of the Taliban, the Afghans love and cherish Bollywood films that display exaggerated images of Bollywood hero’s and revolve around fighting injustice. These films allow the Afghans to engross themselves into the fantasies of Bollywood and enjoy the extravagant lifestyle portrayed in the films. Stories such as the Kabuliwala by Rabindranath Tagore, display the cultural links between India and Afghanistan, further increasing the bond between the two nations. Indian cinema has always been a large market in Afghanistan. Moreover, Bollywood has always portrayed Afghans and particularly Pashtuns as the ‘good guys’. Be it a Pathan devoting his life to protect a girl in Chhalia or a Pathan portrayed as a great friend and an honorable man in Zanjeer. This portrayal also colors the perception in India about the Afghans. Many Bollywood films such as Dharmatma, Kabul Express, KhudaGawah have been shot in Afghanistan further increasing the popularity of Indian cinema in the nation. • The movies develop a feeling of friendship between the Afghans as well as remind them of the kinship with India. Afghan president Ashraf Ghani stated that the impact of Bollywood in Afghanistan is more than even a billion dollars could do. This shows the depth of soft power influence of Bollywood in Afghanistan by winning hearts and minds of the people. Pakistan, with its cultural ties and geographical proximity with Afghanistan, could have used their entertainment sector just like India to win over people and gain trust in Afghanistan. Yet again, favoring hard power over soft power has left Pakistan behind. • India has been heavily involved in and has largely contributed to the educational development in Afghanistan. The education sector in Afghanistan lacks proper infrastructure, suffers from a huge gender disparity and shortage of trained teachers. India has provided multiple scholarships to Afghan students with thousands of Afghan nationals studying in India. Vocational training and skill development classes are also provided to Afghan women and youth. India is currently building and upgrading the Habibia High School, a project that is worth more than 1 million USD. Through educational development, India has also tried to build ties with the ethnicGSGSGS communities SCORESCORESCORE of Afghanistan, specially the Pashtun community that is present on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and serves as a buffer between Pakistan and India. Education as a soft power has worked in favour of India with regards to building trust and influence among the people of Afghanistan. • Another important Indian contribution has been in health and medical care in Afghanistan. India has bestowed an amount of 5 million USD for the Afghan Red Society Programme to treat congenital heart disease in children. Medical tourism has become a large market between India and Afghanistan, enhancing the people-to-people interaction between the two. New Delhi adopted a more liberal visa policy in 2014 for Afghan nationals making it easier for Afghan patients to travel to India due to lack of proper facilities in their own land. Both private and government hospitals in India welcome the inflow of foreign patients and provide them with complete assistance. There are various interpreters who help the patients converse with the hospital staff and some of the staff is also well trained in foreign languages. India’s hospitable and welcoming approach to Afghan patients has increased the influx of patients from Afghanistan.
Hints: Political Science [11] • Simultaneously, Pakistan has been losing Afghan patients to India. Afghans have stopped seeking medical care in Pakistan due to their strict border management policy, stringent visa policy for Afghans and constant security checks at the border. Moreover, although the cost of medical treatment is increasing in India, the increase is more rapid in Pakistan. Thus, India’s comparatively liberal polices in terms of healthcare have attracted Afghans, further widening the relationship between the two nations. • Clearly, India’s use of soft power over hard power in Afghanistan has greatly benefited the nation and its relationship with Afghanistan. Soft power plays an important role in developing friendly and diplomatic relations with nations and cannot be neglected. This is not to say that hard power should be completely neglected. A balance and combination of hard and soft power is required to achieve the required goal. If Pakistan wishes to influence and have stable relations with Afghanistan, it ought to use soft power means rather than solely relying on hard power and military tactics.
2. (c) There is a growing consensus in Nepal on the benefits from the Belt and Road Initiative despite China's debt trap policy. Comment. • Approach Required : Give an example based analysis of how Nepal is slowing moving deeper into the BRI camp of China and what threats does it pose for Nepal as a sovereign nation. • Mistakes to be avoided: The analysis needs to be Nepal centric. No need to analyse the merits and demerits of BRI from an Indian perspective. • The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led government of KP Sharma Oli is slowly but gradually taking steps to benefit economically from China. • Two significant developments in recently clearly show that Nepal wants to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and use Chinese routes and ports in order to lessen its heavy dependence on India. Though there has been some delay in the selection of specific projects under BRI, with the exception of the cross-border Kerung-Kathmandu railway, Nepal has shown unwavering attraction to BRI. • Nepal’s President Bidya Devi Bhandari participated in Second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation held in Beijing in late April. A joint communique issued after the leaders’ roundtable mentions the Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including the Nepal-China cross-border railway, an ambitious connectivity project whichGS is drawing SCORE international attention. • China wants to develop GSGSGSthis railway lineSCORESCORESCORE as a gateway to South Asia. This is a first time that Nepal’s specific project has been mentioned in official BRI documents, but it is still not listed among the deliverables. • Another significant development during Bhandari’s China visit was the signing of a protocol related to the Transit and Transport Treaty signed back in 2016 in the previous tenure of the Oli government. The signing of the protocol allows Nepal to use China’s sea and road infrastructure for third country trade. However, Nepal needs to build some relevant infrastructure to actually make use of Chinese ports. • Both countries have already concluded a pre-feasibility study of the proposed Keyung- Kathmandu railway and are all set to begin the task of preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR); it is estimated that it will take around two years and 35 billion Nepalese rupees (about $312 million) to complete the DPR. • Cost-sharing plans for the DPR have not yet been finalized. [12] Hints: Political Science • Earlier, addressing the BRF, President Bhandari praised China’s BRI project. Her words were a bid to assure the Chinese side that Nepal stands firmly in favor of the BRI despite pressure it faces from other countries. Addressing the forum, she said, “The far-sighted vision of President Xi to build a community of shared future for mankind through Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) carries a huge potential. It is an important framework for collaboration, for cooperation and for connectivity.”She added that the “BRI is the engine for prosperous future where not a single country is excluded from the fruit of development.” • Nepal’s determination to benefit from the BRI comes at a time when there are growing concerns among a number of countries, particularly India and some Western states, about Chinese investment in Nepal. • An analysis of a series of statements made by those countries clearly shows that Nepal is under pressure with regard to taking Chinese loans for infrastructure projects under the BRI. • During his visit to United States in December last year, American officials advised Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali to think about its pay back capacity while taking loans. • In February, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Joe Felter publicly said that Chinese investment in Nepal should serve the interests of Nepal not just of China. Then the Chinese ambassador to Kathmandu, Hou Yanqi, objected to the American statements, saying they were ridiculous. “If a country cannot provide help for developing countries, [it] should at least refrain from obstructing others from assisting these developing countries, even less hurting the benefits of these people to serve its own political needs and sowing discords,” Hou said at a public event. Apparently hinting at the U.S. officials’ remarks, she called them “attempts to interfere [with] the friendly cooperation between China and Nepal, which is very ridiculous.” • It’s not only American officials dropping cautionary comments. In January, when Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono was visiting Nepal, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Natsuko Sakata said that financial support for infrastructure projects should be concessional, raising eyebrows among Chinese officials who interpreted the comments as directed at Chinese projects. • Many countries, directly and indirectly, have been warning the Nepal government about failing into a so-called debt trap, pointing to examples elsewhere in South Asia like Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Experts and observers are also divided. Some say that the issue of “debt traps” in Sri Lanka and Pakistan is simply propaganda, while others say Nepal should seriously think about the risks associated with Chinese loans. • India, Nepal’s other neighbor,GSGSGS boycotted SCORESCORESCORE both BRFs, in 2017 and last month, and has reportedly conveyed similar warnings to Nepal. However, unlike in the past, India has not been so vocal of late about Nepal’s participation in the BRI. • Government officials and leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) saw such earlier efforts and comments as a ploy to prevent Chinese investment in Nepal. In general, there is a consensus among Nepal’s political parties that the country should seek to benefit from the BRI. The government is of the view that Nepal needs massive investment to fulfill the people’s desires for development and prosperity, but grants alone provided by other countries are insufficient to accomplish the tasks. Loans for infrastructure development are thus viewed as necessary. • Foreign Minister Gyawali has countered the argument about a “debt trap” by saying that such warnings about the BRI are motived by bias. Speaking at a public form just before Bhandari’s visit to China, he said, “It would be better on the part of friends wary of Nepal’s future to give us information about charitable organizations that extend loans at zero interest.” Hints: Political Science [13] • He was hinting at the fact that there are no countries that can or will extend such loan support without interest and it is Nepal’s obligation to take loans for its infrastructure development • China is also strongly countering the debt trap discussions that take place in Kathmandu among the media and academic circles. Chinese efforts portray those talking about a possible debt trap as merely spreading Western propaganda. • Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in May 2017 just before the first BRI forum. Then-Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara participated in the first forum. But there was not remarkable progress in the selection of BRI projects and investment modality thereafter. Nevertheless, Nepal has positioned itself as joining the BRI broadly in two areas: connectivity and energy. • The government led by Nepal Communist Party Chairman KP Sharma Oli is making efforts to take other countries into confidence about its participation in the BRI. The Nepal government is trying to convince its other partners that it wishes to enhance bilateral and multilateral collaboration with neighbors, friendly countries and development partners to overcome the development challenges it is facing, especially a lack of sufficient internal resources. Domestically, Oli stands in a very comfortable situation in dealing with China, because all parties, including the opposition Nepali Congress, support dealing with China on the BRI.
3. (a) Discuss the role of non-governmental institutions in foreign policy development of India. • Approach Required : Focus on the role of Business entities, Lobby Groups, International NGO’s, academic institutions and think tanks in foreign policy development in India. Need to give examples for each stakeholder. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t just fixate on role played by Pressure groups. Your answers needs to discuss the positive and negative role played by each stakeholder. • Joining politics and participating political process is not the only way to take part in policy formulation, but the voice of the non-political groups, associations and organisations is also an important source of influence in shaping the governmental policies. These associations known as pressure or interest groups are in some way able to influence the governmental policies to suit their interests using various informal channels. • The groups are visible in all forms of government, though they are highly active in democratic setups. They articulate and carryout the interest of a particular section of people and pressurize the government to addressGSGSGS their concerns SCORESCORESCORE through non-political approaches. While most of the pressure groups participate in domestic issues, some of the organisations do pose interest in Foreign Policy related matters. • However, it is hard to categorize these organisations because of the close link between the domestic and external activities. Due to its organisational and influential activities, the groups are able to enlarge its role in governmental activities and decision making. Being the largest democracy in the world, Indian administrative setups are not far from these influences. • Groups like business houses, arms lobby groups, International Non-Governmental Organisations, overseas Indian religious and cultural associations are some of the organisations that actively work to influence India‘s Foreign Policy. Business Houses • Business groups are the largest, perhaps the most active and the most dominating institution among the interest groups. As Professor Anthony J. Nownes rightly observed ¯any way you
[14] Hints: Political Science silence, business dominates the world of interest groups representation. To support his argument he states that, in Washington DC approximately one fifth of the 20,000 active interest groups are business houses, where nearly one seventh belongs to trade unions and a combined share of the business, trade organisation and business pressure groups comprises nearly half of the interest groups. • Because of shadow proximity to the government machinery and economic influences, these groups are somewhat able to manipulate the policy decision on their favour. In America alone more than 50 percent of the federal Political Action Committees (PACs) are affiliated with the business houses. • The politics of interest groups in India is not far away from the American scenario. Affiliation between business groups and political setups is a well known fact in India. But until 1990s the influence was limited to domestic systems and the business associations hardly showed any interest in India‘s external policies. Business associations like Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have been constantly watching the international trade, fascicle and monetary policies of the government. Using their ¯invisible channels these groups try to influence the MPs, ministers and bureaucrats through money and other means to cleanup administrative interruptions and to create favourable business environment to suit their trade. • But it was not the case before economic liberation, where the Indian business farms were not active in international trade and commerce. Krishna Menon, one of the key technocrats of India‘s external policy during Nehru era also confirms that no business farms tried to influence India‘s foreign policies during his tenure in the Parliament.210 Similarly, other foreign ministers and figure heads also deny any involvement of business houses in the Foreign Policy decision making process. Arms Agents and Lobby Group • Analyzing the statistics, arms trade remains one of the ever growing phenomena. In spite of economic slowdown, the total global military expenditure has been recorded as US $1756 billion,212whereas the total conventional arm trade has touched US$ 28172 million213mark. The SIPRI data base reveals that the US remains the highest arms supplier, whereas India has emerged as the largest arms importer with nearly US $ 4764214 million worth of arms purchase. • While the trend of arms trade is increasing in the third world countries, the mighty military industrial complex has GSreportedly hiredSCORE some local agents to propagate and promote their arms sale in the respectiveGSGSGS countries. MostlySCORESCORESCORE a retired Defence personnel chosen to be appointed as the arms agent, and the influences the decision of the government officials to purchase their weapons by bribing their former colleagues at the Defence establishments. This phenomena is not limited to Indian context, rather has become a global issue. International Nongovernmental Organisations • The role and influence of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), the so called voice of people220 in the Foreign Policy making have drastically increased in the recent past. According to the Union of International Associations (UIA), at present estimated 57721 active organisations are functioning worldwide, while their number was merely 9,521 during 1978. • In India itself there are more than 6239 such organisations working at various sectors. The report says221 that most of such organisations are linked and funded by the foreign sources, though some of them are only limited to the domestic sources. Besides this, the International
Hints: Political Science [15] Nongovernment Organisations (IGO) has their branches in India that are constantly criticizing the policies of Indian government towards its citizens. • These organisations are using various means of pressuring the government to change their policies not only related to developmental activities but also policies on national security and foreign policies. The famous IGO Amnesty International for example has been very critical towards the human rights violation by the Indian security forces in insurgencyprone areas of India and has been pressuring the world community to put sanctions on India against the violation. • These anti-India campaigns constantly pose severe challenges to the Indian Foreign Policy to meet its goal, while the image of the country is damaged due to the adverse propaganda. However, the organisation remains silent about the human rights violation by the insurgents. Later it was found that the information was provided by the Indian NGOs to the Amnesty International. Academia and Think Tanks • In the modern time, decision making is not entirely left to the traditional governmental agencies, but inputs from non-governmental intellectual resources like academia and think- tanks also have been the part of the process. • The vibrant research institutes and professional experts on national security, strategic policy and foreign affairs play a vital role in shaping Foreign Policy of the country. Being independent from all sorts of political and bureaucratic authoritative influences, these civil society organisations give most neutral and dependable inputs to the policy makers to make their choices for the policy formation. James G. McGann, Director of the Thinks and Foreign Policy programme of Foreign Policy Research Institute has categorically analyzed the role of Think Tanks on Foreign Policy.
3. (b) The aid politics cannot be looked at in complete isolation. It is a mechanism to exert influence and power. Discuss the given statement with reference to India's response to Chinese investment in Nepal, Srilanka and Maldives. • Approach Required: Need to provide a comparative analysis of Aid politics of India and China in the three South Asian nations and analyse how the capacity level of India differs with that of China. v Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide as many factual examples about Chinese activities in these three nations. GSFocus on aidSCORE politics rather than overall analysis of relations. • There is as such no aidGSGSGS policy per seSCORESCORESCORE that clarifies how official aid to certain countries is determined or how a decision on investment is taken or why certain countries’ needs get priority over the other. • However, India and China define their grant/aid in an altruistic manner. While India describes its aid/grant and concessional Line of Credit (LoC) as serving ‘mutual interests’ and ‘mutual benefits’ and ‘based on priorities determined by the partner’, China describes its aid as being ‘selfless’. • The aid/LoC policies of the two countries are varied and are motivated by different interests that are not completely unselfish. For example, Indian aid is mostly aimed at its immediate neighbourhood, which is considered as the first circle of its security perimeter and has a direct bearing on its stability. • The policies of the past have raised certain concerns regarding India’s approach in the neighbourhood, undermining its ability to use developmental aid to exert influence. As few
[16] Hints: Political Science parties and regimes emerged as India’s ‘favourite’ ,it alienated powerful and influential elites who constructed a narrative of ‘Indian interference’ in internal affairs. • Contrast to this with China’s statement which reads China accords ‘full respect for the recipient’s sovereignty, without attaching any conditions and not asking for any special privileges, which displayed the true spirit of sincere cooperation.’However this contention is disputed. • Some scholars have labelled China’s development assistance as ‘rogueaid’ based on the huge debt burden it creates for these countries.China’s investments in South Asia received much attention after the debt crisis that forced a debt-equity swap for the Hambantota Port. In spite of China’s claim that ‘China never uses foreign aid as a means to interfere in recipient countries’ internal affairs or seek political privileges for itself.’ • India’s aid policy has evolved over the period of time as India declined to accept foreign aid. Now instead of extending credit lines and loans to peer developing countries it announced ‘India Development Initiative’,‘for providing grants or project assistance to developing countries in Africa, South Asia and other parts of the developing world.’ India’s investment in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives and overcoming China factor • China has been a factor in India–Nepal ties since 1960 when the two countries signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship and China supported Nepal in its bilaterlal conflicts with India. • Nepal has always been wary of its dependency on India, which it feels provides leverage to India to influence Nepal’s politics. Historically, Kathmandu has engaged China to limit India’s influence. For example: Inspite of China’s closeness to the Monarchy, it succeeded in cultivating the anti-Monarchy Maoists against whom it had supplied weapons to Nepal when India stopped its military aid. • China is seen as protector on Nepal’s sovereignty. However in terms of overseas assistance for the year 2015/2016, Nepal received 3.33 per cent of the total assistance from India followed by 3.29 percent assistance from China.Apart from this, there are about 32,000 Gorkha Soldiers from Nepal who are serving in the Indian Army. • China is involved in developing Lumbini—the birth place of Buddha and constructing an international airport in Pokhra.Even Chinese investment would impinge on India’s primacy; India will continue to remain an important politicalactor in Nepal . • India has been a development partner to Maldives for a long time. It played a significant role in supporting the Maumoon Abdul Gayoom regime against the attempted coup in 1988. Both the countries sinceGSGS GSthen have shared SCORESCORESCORE cordial relationship devoid of political friction.The relationship witnessed a downturn during Abdulla Yameen’s presidency and has significantly improved after Ibrahim Mohammad Solih was elected President of Maldives. • In July 2015, the government allowed foreigners who could invest more than US$1 billion to purchase land in the project site provided 70 per cent of the land is reclaimed from the sea which many in Maldives perceive was done to accommodate China.In August 2017, three Chinese warships docked in Maldives. • All these policies were meant to sideline the Western countries and India who are critical of Yameen’s government and have insisted on returning to constitutional politics and freeing political prisoners. • China developed a stake in the continuation of Yameen who promoted Chinese investments under the BRI projects and took a confrontational attitude towards India by not allowing India-funded projects to be implemented and suspending trilateral naval exercises and asking
Hints: Political Science [17] India to withdraw the Dhruv Light Helicopters which many suspect were stationed near an Island that China was interested in to build strategic infrastructure. • However the new President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is taking stock of the debt that his government owes to China. He has in fact asked India to help the government to recover from the debt trap. • The only country in India’s neighbourhood where Chinese debt has resulted in a major takeover of infrastructure in a debt-equity swap resulting in the port management being handed over to China is Sri Lanka. For China, Sri Lanka is the lynchpin of its Indian Ocean maritime strategy. • Sri Lanka and China agreed on a strategic partnership agreement in 2013 and stated: ‘The two countries will maintain high-level exchanges, enhance political communication, and support each other’s efforts in safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.’ • Since 1987, India has made efforts to resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. In fact India’s involvement was not just driven by domestic compulsions arising out of pressure from Tamil Nadu, rather its effort was to prevent any external intervention in the island nation’s affairs that may have implications for its security. • Both the countries also contest to forge close ties with the Sri Lankan military. India is also engaged in capacity-building exercises apart from hosting annual defence dialogues and trilateral exercises with Sri Lanka. • India’s objectives in its approaches to the three countries remain modest. It has been able to prioritise projects that would be completed in time, though the selection of the projects remains the domain of the host government. While recognising China’s presence, India has remained politically constrained in these countries, as it has deep interests in an inclusive government that would provide a modicum of stability. • India’s aim as described in the Parliamentary Committee report is, ‘to assist them in building infrastructure projects which will hopefully also be able to reduce the dependency on China in terms of infrastructure requirement, but that having been said, we have to acknowledge that at this point, the capacity of the Chinese to build those projects is far greater than our capacity, both financially and technically and this has been a constant concern of the Government. We are continuously looking at how we address that concern.’ 3. (c) With SAARC provingGSGSGS to be a "dysfunctional"SCORESCORESCORE grouping, BIMSTEC fit the bill and India started "trying to energize and develop" BIMSTEC "as almost a parallel to SAARC." Throw light on the above statement with reference to India's growing engagement with BIMSTEC.
• Approach Required: Need to first provide reasons and explain why SAARC has become dysfunctional and then provide an explanation for India’s renewed and shifting focus on BIMSTEC. • Mistakes to be avoided: Provide a brief critical analysis of BIMSTEC as well. Elaborate on how many of the expectations of India from the organization are yet to be fulfilled. Changing geopolitical realities in the region have brought about a renewed interest in the Bay of Bengal. As the regional grouping of choice in South Asia — the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — flounders with strained India-Pakistan relations, New Delhi has realized that BIMSTEC will allow for a broader playing field.
[18] Hints: Political Science Strategically located in the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and BIMSTEC not only cater to the wider concept of “Indo-Pacific” and an Indian Ocean community that New Delhi espouses, it also includes two ASEAN member states (Myanmar and Thailand) in its ranks, which is crucial for New Delhi’s key foreign policy priorities, the Act East Policy and Neighborhood First The rercent events suggest that how SAARC is becoming dysfunctional: • The contineous refusal on the part of Pakistan to “abandon the use of cross-border terrorism” against several SAARC members — including India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh — as well as its obstruction of meaningful cooperation among SAARC members has increased India’s frustration with the regional grouping. S.D. Muni and Rahul Mishrahas pointed this in their recent book India’s Eastward Engagement: From Antiquity to Act East Policy. • Pakistan’s obstructive attitude at the SAARC summit at Kathmandu. It vetoed agreements on regional connectivity projects, which all the other SAARC countries were willing to sign. Pakistan’s intransigence stems from its insecurities over Indian goods flooding its markets and apprehensions over allowing India-Afghanistan overland trade and connectivity via its territory. • Although SAFTA came into effect in 2006, intraregional trade continues to stand at a meager 5 percent. • In the wake of the JeM attack at Uri, India and other SAARC members pulled out of the 19th Summit that Islamabad was to host in 2016. The grouping has remained in limbo ever since. India’s growing engagement with BIMSTEC. • BIMSTEC held its first-ever military exercise in September 2018 in Pune and termed it as MILEX-2018.This transnational exercise aimed to boost interoperability among forces and exchange of best practices in counterterrorism. • The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on establishing a BIMSTEC Grid interconnection to enhance energy cooperation among the seven BIMSTEC member states — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. • The invitation of BIMSTEC leaders to the swearing-in, India has signaled that Modi’s second term as prime minister will see India pivoting from its focus on the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to BIMSTEC. The renewed intrests: • The policies like neighbourhoodGSGSGS first SCORESCORE SCOREand Act east aim for connectivity and development in the frontier states of India’s northeast and tackle the issue of cross-border insurgency that has plagued this region for decades. With the northeast sharing borders with four BIMSTEC countries, including Myanmar, the possibility of multiregional cooperation with Southeast Asia and ASEAN makes it an attractive alternative to SAARC. • China’s trillion-dollar project like BRI and increasing footprint in the Indian Ocean have shaped present day domestic politics and foreign policy of countries in the neighbourhood and beyond, including the Bay of Bengal littorals. The interest of other nation state also lies in active BIMSTEC such as: • For Bangladesh, BIMSTEC is a platform for much needed economic development through regional integration. Although the Rohingya issue was not brought up at 2018 summit, the forum does provide an opportunity on the sidelines for Dhaka and Naypyidaw to address outstanding issues.
Hints: Political Science [19] • The landlocked Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan see BIMSTEC as a way to further integrate with the Bay of Bengal region. • For Myanmar and Thailand, which are also part of ASEAN, BIMSTEC allows for a way to address overdependence on China and balance Beijing by providing access to consumer markets in India and other rising BIMSTEC economies. Despite its emergimng importance BIMSTEC failed to generate interest and visibility even within the region in the last 20 years. • Harnessing BIMSTEC potential: • BIMSTEC would be wise if it narrowed down its areas of focus from 14 to six — trade and investment, connectivity, energy, people-to-people exchanges, counterterrorism, and the Blue Economy — and enhanced the institutional capacity of its Secretariat. • BIMSTEC region requires a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), no matter how limited in scope. Even with its members boasting a combined GDP of $2.8 trillion, intraregional trade in BIMSTEC barely exceeds 5 percent of the total, compared to 30 percent within ASEAN. • The lack of connectivity in the region is a major hurdle .The Bay of Bengal is one of the least integrated regions in the world, despite being home to 1.6 billion people, or nearly 23 percent of the world’s population. Thailand has initiated a scheme to “Connect the Connectivities” under the pending BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement aims to connect BIMSTEC members through a network of ports running from Thailand, Bangladesh, India’s Kolkata, Chennai, and Visakhapatnam, and Sri Lanka. • BIMSTEC should prioritize finishing up the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, which will allow for sea-access for India’s landlocked northeastern states via the Kaladan river in Myanmar. While some analysts have interpreted India’s intensified engagement of BIMSTEC as aimed at isolating Pakistan, this would be a flawed reading of India’s foreign policy.According to the views of Dr.Sudha Ramachandran,BIMSTEC should be seen in the context of India’s heightened interest and commitment to its “Act East” policy. Without a strong outreach to BIMSTEC member states, India’s attempts at achieving its Act East policy goals will lack momentum. Likewise, BIMSTEC will boost Thailand’s Look West policy. Smaller members too stand to benefit from the opening up of markets in India and Thailand.
4. (a) The engagement of India in multiple forums for varying economic, political and security purposesGS GSGShave made SCORESCORESCOREthe Non-Aligned Movement "largely incidental" to India's pursuit of GSits national interest.SCORE Comment. • Approach Required: Need to provide a critical analysis of the role played by NAM in furtherance of India’s foreign policy goals. Analyse how NAM has barely ever fulfilled India’s strategic expectations with examples from its time of formation. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to provide a general analysis of relevance of NAM. Your content needs to be very specific to the issue of Indian foreign policy goals. • It is a widely held belief that the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was highly relevant for India and its foreign policy interests during the bipolar era of the Cold War and that it has, since the 1990s, lost this relevance in a unipolar international order. • It is true that NAM played an important role during the Cold War years in furthering many of the causes that India advocated: decolonisation, end to apartheid, global nuclear disarmament, ushering in of new international economic and information orders, etc. [20] Hints: Political Science • One fact is generally ignored that NAM was more or less irrelevant for India in terms of helping to protect and promote its security and interests the principal criterion by which the utility of a multilateral group should be measured. • NAM’s lack of utility for protecting and promoting India’s security and interests is clearly demonstrated by the diplomatic positions adopted by member countries during the various wars in which India has been involved. • On each of these occasions, NAM members invariably adopted diplomatic positions that were not favourable towards or supportive of India. • To begin with, during the 1962 War with China, Ghana and Indonesia – two of the co- founders of NAM, along with India – adopted explicitly pro-China positions. Ghana, which had developed close economic ties with China, even cautioned the United Kingdom against giving military aid to India since it might “aggravate the unfortunate situation”. • In general, most countries of NAM adopted even-handed positions and refused to unequivocally condemn China’s aggression. Astonishing as it may sound for realist ears, Indian leaders and officials were simply dismayed at the behaviour of their nonaligned partners. • That dismay also extended to the so-called Colombo states which had put forward the Colombo Proposals. In the light of this experience, the official history of the 1962 War wryly noted the serious limitations of Afro-Asian solidarity, a statement that, by extension, also reflects on the Non-Aligned Movement. • Three years later came the 1965 War with Pakistan. Again, Indonesia not only adopted an anti-India position but also supplied some arms to Pakistan. NAM members from West Asia, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait, adopted pro-Pakistan positions. • Overall, India had no active supporters and few sympathisers in the world at large. As the Indian Express noted in an editorial at that time, “we do not seem to have many friends abroad”. • The worst, of course, came during the 1971 War. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Kuwait and other Arab states were all fiercely pro-Pakistan. Egypt’s position was particularly dismaying to India, given that it was even unsympathetic to the massive refugee problem that India confronted. • If India was disappointed about the diplomatic positions adopted by NAM members from West Asia, the situationGS was only slightlySCORE better in South East Asia. Indonesia once again stood against India and GSGSGSit even compelled SCORESCORESCORE a more sympathetic Malaysia into backing Pakistan. • Most of the NAM countries adopted anti-India diplomatic positions. This was starkly evident during the vote on the UN General Assembly Resolution of 7 December 1971 calling for a ceasefire and withdrawal of forces. Of the total of 129 members of the UN at that time, 104 countries voted for the resolution, which was unfavourable for India and its position that only the establishment of an independent Bangladesh would put a stop to the brutal repression unleashed by the Pakistan military in East Pakistan and create the necessary condition for the return of the 10 million refugees from Indian territory. • Only 11 votes were cast against the resolution, with almost all of these coming from the Soviet Union and its satellites. The brutal fact is that most NAM members stood completely opposed to India during the 1971 War. • The one exception to this rule was the diplomatic positions adopted by several NAM members during the Kargil conflict. Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Africa highlighted the Hints: Political Science [21] importance of peaceful dialogue under the Simla Agreement as well as maintaining the Line of Control inviolate. • However, the decisions of these countries did not flow from NAM solidarity. Instead, their decisions were a function of the new international diplomatic outreach that India had initiated in the early 1990s as well as in the wake of the 1998 nuclear tests. • In the light of such lack of support from NAM members for India at critical moments in its history, it is astonishing that the dominant view so far has been that NAM was deeply relevant for India during the Cold War years. • In reality, the only use NAM had for India was during the 1970s and 1980s. During this period, NAM served as a forum to channel India’s deep dissatisfaction with the international order, characterised as it was by economic, political, and nuclear hierarchies. • It was through NAM that India articulated the call for a new international economic order that would cater for the special needs of the developing countries. Similarly, it was through NAM that India articulated the call for a new world information and communication order to provide a greater voice for developing countries in global communications. • NAM also served as a forum for India to articulate its views on global nuclear disarmament and the discriminatory nature of the global nuclear order at the centre of which stood the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. • India in particular and most other NAM countries, have integrated themselves to varying degrees within the liberal economic order and have benefited from it. • India today is a member of the G20 and its rising economic profile has contributed to the greater resonance of Indian popular culture around the world. • In addition, India has declared itself as a nuclear weapons power and has for all practical purposes abandoned the call for global nuclear disarmament. Even India’s dissatisfaction with the nuclear order has waned in the wake of its accommodation into global nuclear commerce and the very real prospects of it becoming a member in various nuclear and dual- use technology cartels. • The only dissatisfaction with the international order that India continues to nurture is with respect to a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Even in this case, India has sought to assuage itself by gaining verbal assurances from almost all the countries of the world. • Further, since the end of the Cold War, India has become a key member of various multilateral groupings: BASIC (Brazil,GSGSGS South Africa, SCORESCORESCORE India and China) for protecting and promoting its interests on climate change; G4 for pushing through reforms of the UN Security Council; G20 for managing the world economy; BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) to enhance economic coordination with countries that are similarly placed; and ASEAN-centred institutions, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and Russia-India-China grouping for pursuing political and security interests. • These engagements in multiple forums for varying economic, political and security purposes have, in the words of Shashi Tharoor, made the Non-Aligned Movement “largely incidental” to India’s pursuit of its national interest since the end of the Cold War. • In sum, the Non-Aligned Movement was not relevant for promoting India’s important national interests during the Cold War years. And since the end of the Cold War, India’s increasing integration with international economic, political and security structures has led to NAM losing even its earlier limited usefulness as a vehicle for articulating India’s dissatisfaction with the international order. [22] Hints: Political Science 4. (b) The progress and achievement of peace in Afghanistan does not guarantees the end of terrorism. Discuss the given question with reference to recent terrorist activity. • Approach Required: Give a descriptive analysis of the terrorist forces present in Afghanistan. Need to provide as much example based and factual data to bring out the seriousness of the situation in Afghanistan. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to clearly differentiate between ISIS and Al—Qaeda presence and modus operandi in Afghanistan. • Recent terror attacks in Afghanistan prove that violence continues unabated even as peace talks progress between the Afghan Taliban and the United States. There is ample evidence that terrorist groups are active in the country even as the United States looks to negotiate an exit. • The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) estimated in June 2019 that there are 8,000 to 10,000 foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) in Afghanistan, out of which 2,500 to 4,000 are affiliated with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), which is anti-Taliban and al-Qaeda. • The UN assesses that the Taliban is the “primary partner” of a variety of terrorist groups: al-Qaeda, the Haqqani Network (Miranshah Shura Taliban), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (non-ISKP faction), and the Turkestan Islamic Party, “as well as nearly 20 other regionally and globally focused groups” in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda and ISKP both consider Afghanistan an important region to recuperate and plan their next phase of operations. • In case of a weakened central authority and security vacuum in the country, these groups will increase in strength and influence and might shift their operations abroad, posing regional and global security risks. Al-Qaeda Networks in Afghanistan • According to a UNSC report published in July, al-Qaeda is appearing to make a comeback in Afghanistan under a resurgent Taliban. The July report states in no uncertain terms that al-Qaeda views Afghanistan as a “safe haven for its leadership.” • This is understandable, considering that al-Qaeda-Taliban relations were forged in the throes of the Afghan Civil War in the mid-1990s and the two have cooperated together in fighting their common enemies. Furthermore, the former and present al-Qaeda leaders, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al ZawahiriGS respectively, SCORE each gave an oath of allegiance to all three successive Taliban emirsGSGSGS and also recognized SCORESCORESCORE each of them as the rightful leader(s) of faithful Muslims (Amir al Mu’minin), a title usually reserved for the caliph of an Islamic Caliphate. • Al-Qaeda and the Taliban leadership have publicly and repeatedly stressed the important nature of their alliance and called on all Muslims to participate in their jihad. Unsurprisingly, the July UN report also states that al-Qaeda members regularly act as “military and religious instructors” for the Taliban. • Bin Laden called for the gradual re-establishment of a Caliphate and saw the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the Taliban as an important step in this regard, a view espoused by Zawahiri as well. Though the Taliban have not been in power since 2001, it is closer to re- establishing its emirate today than any point since then and al-Qaeda has been aiding them in this regard. • Afghanistan is an important region for jihadists as the historic name for the wider region, which also includes Pakistan, parts of Iran, India, and Central Asia – Khorasan – is mentioned Hints: Political Science [23] in a hadith of dubious authenticity that prophesizes a Muslim army emerging from the region to conquer the Middle East, including Jerusalem. Both al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) have capitalized on this prophecy to legitimize their activities in the region. • Al-Qaeda has also tagged along with other regional terrorist groups like LeT, the Haqqani Network, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Central Asian groups, and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan among others, to increase its influence. Reports suggest that LeT and JeM have shifted some of their activities and presence to Afghanistan (allegedly in response to Indian retaliatory counterterrorism actions in Pakistan). Kunar province remains a focal point for FTFs, where LeT reportedly continues to act as a key facilitator in recruitment and financial support activities. • Afghan officials stated that approximately 500 LeT members were active in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces and many ISKP members (including its present governor) there were former LeT. • The July UNSC report specifically mentions that al-Qaeda is “keen to strengthen its presence” in Badakhshan province bordering Tajikistan as well as in Paktika province (a Haqqani stronghold bordering North Waziristan, Pakistan). Certain al-Qaeda-affiliated Central Asian terrorist groups operate mainly in Badakhshan. They coordinate with organized crime networks that engage in cross-border narco-trafficking between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and use those smuggling routes to “infiltrate fighters into Central Asia.” • Central Asian jihadists may intend to execute attacks in their native countries, but the Taliban do not currently allow groups under their influence to do anything that could lead to allegations of them supporting international terrorism rather than being a nationalist force. This situation could change in case of progress in the Afghan peace process, as some of these terrorist groups might declare allegiance to IS and mount international attacks rather than lay down their arms. Islamic State in Khorasan • The Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) suffered multiple major military setbacks against U.S., Afghan, and Taliban forces over the last couple of years and has a minimal presence in Afghanistan, being restricted mostly to Nangarhar and Kunar provinces bordering Pakistan. • However, it maintains the capability to carry out country-wide attacks as well as taxation, propaganda, and criminal activities. ISKP’s main resilience comes from its direct links to and resources received fromGSGS GSIS central inSCORESCORESCORE Iraq and Syria even before its inception in 2013. • Fighters in different regions throughout Khorasan, with seven different local leaders, renewed their allegiances to IS Caliph Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in an online video in June 2019. Those regions included Afghanistan, Iran, India, Kashmir, and Pakistan. Many of these commanders have been critical of the Taliban becoming part of the mainstream political and diplomatic process and have appealed to Taliban members to stay true to Islam. • There is apprehension that if any peace agreement is signed by the Taliban it would lead to increased recruitment for ISKP. ISKP reportedly has the highest percentage of FTFs among the group’s affiliates. A July 2018 UN report mentioned that several foiled attacks in Europe originated from ISKP. • Ever since IS lost its caliphate in the Middle East, there are concerns that Tajik and other Central Asian fighters might see Afghanistan as an alternative battleground. Entry into ISKP was made easier for Tajik nationals after it merged with a Tajik terrorist group known as Jamaat Ansarullah in 2017.
[24] Hints: Political Science • The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan blamed the majority of civilian casualties in 2018 (6,980, 63 percent of the total) on anti-government forces, which included the Taliban (37 percent) but also ISKP (20 percent) and others (6 percent). • Casualties attributed to anti-government elements rose by 3 percent compared to 2017. Civilian casualties from attacks deliberately targeting civilians by ISKP more than doubled from 843 in 2017 to 1,871 in 2018, including deliberate sectarian-inspired attacks against Shias. • The peace talks with the Taliban ignore a series of fundamental failures. U.S. and Afghan forces alike have been unable to dismantle and disarm violent nonstate actors, much less force them to cooperate with the Afghan government. Without dealing effectively with external powers that provide these groups active and passive support, any meaningful change will remain elusive.
4. (c) Discuss the constrain and challenges of SAARC. Also suggest areas of cooperation among them. • Approach Required: Provide an analysis of the multiple internal and external challenges which SAARC faces as a regional grouping. Elaborate on the same can be resolved by focusing on areas of mutual benefit among the member nations. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to provide an India-Pakistan and security centric analysis of SAARC. Focus on more holistic issues like trade, commerce and connectivity. • The SAARC countries have historical reasons, and many other factors for non-cooperation. The differences in political as well as mutual suspicion and lack of trust are the greatest enemies of cooperation among the SAARC countries, the problem and issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan, water and refugee disputes between India and Bangladesh, the intervention of India in Sri Lanka’s military, trade and transit treaty between India and Nepal, the ethnic problem between Bhutan and Nepal etc. are some of the troubled spots in the SAARC region where all the countries have to come out open and join for cooperation whole heartedly. • There is also a compulsion and intra-competition among SAARC countries for political factors superseding the economic factors with each other. Some examples like competition between India and Sri Lanka for export of tea, jute market competition between India and Bangladesh, rice export competition between India and Pakistan, cotton textile between Pakistan and Sri Lanka,GS in the world SCORE market. • The fear of the SAARCGSGSGS countries towardsSCORESCORESCORE India is that India dominates in terms of area, population, technological advancement and military which may lead the basic factor for continuous and slow growth of cooperation among SAARC countries. The religious and cultural factors also hinder to some extent the growth of SAARC. Country like Pakistan prefers economic and cultural cooperation with Islamic nations; Nepal and Bhutan are religiously and culturally closer to India as these countries are dominated by the Hindu and Buddhist religions. In the economic perspectives also there are different apprehensions that India and Pakistan are more advanced and developed than Bhutan, Nepal and Maldives as more relatively developed partners would exploit them. • Though there is lack of trust and suspicion irritating one another, yet, still there is vast scope for cooperation among SAARC countries. The SAARC countries must focus on agriculture. There must be constant attempts made to remove the major irritants of mutual apprehension in the form of political and economic domination by India. The best way and the need of the hour is the sincerity of purpose and honesty in efforts. The SAARC countries must
Hints: Political Science [25] realize and learn a lesson that in cooperation we can swim across the turbulent river while individually we may be drowned even in the still waters Potentials for Cooperation • There is great potential area for regional cooperation among South Asian nations. Since the formation of the SAARC in the year 1985 discussion form time to time for future cooperation among them has taken place. The scope of regional cooperation had been identified in twelve areas:(i) agriculture; (ii) health and rural development; (iii) meteorology; (iv) telecommunication; (v) postal services; (vi) transport; (vii) scientific and technological development; (viii) sports; (ix) art and culture; (x) prevention of drug trafficking and abuse; (xi) women and development and (xii) education. • The SAARC countries generally suffer from the common problems of poverty, unemployment inflationary pressure, unfavourable trade balance, high budget deficits and low growth rates. Despite common problems, the policies that have been adopted are contradictory to one another. • The policy issues were more competitively natured than complementary or cooperative. It originated from historical facts that solving their problems through competition among themselves was better. The countries of South Asian linked themselves in the matter of aid and trade with developed economic nations. • Like foreign exchange, advance technology, foreign aid etc. dragged the SAARC countries to the western industrialized countries. In the early stages of economic development there was shortage of capital investment and technology aids from developed nations. The developed nations forces the Third World countries like SAARC to come together and increase their bargaining power with industrially advanced nations of the world in different forums such as WTO, World Bank, IMF, etc., where more concessions can be obtained by the regional block rather than a single country. It has compelled South Asia to form SAARC for economic, social and political advancement. • The SAARC Nations has now realized that it would solve their problems of poverty, unemployment, inflation and low rate of growth, by cooperating among themselves. The mutual fear and apprehensions disappear, to better their economies. After assessing and analysing the solution to their problems becomes more apparent that there are more areas of cooperation than areas of conflict. The best way for the SAARC countries to cooperate would be when intra-regional trade increases through providing facilities to one another. India and Bangladesh could make an example to consider signing a bilateral agreement for free movement of commercial vehicles, and use of southern Chittagong port as transit for ferrying goods to north eastern India to reduce the Indo-Bangladesh trade imbalance. Indo- Sri Lanka could also increaseGSGSGS various SCORESCORESCORE commodities like tea and rubber. • There is a great scope for development within South Asian nations, telecommunication, roads, transport, energy and other infrastructural facilities can easily be developed through mutual cooperation. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan can easily be developed through rail and road transport. • In addition, Bhutan and Nepal have hydro electric power potentials which can easily be exported by India. Like the river valley projects on the river water flowingbetween India and Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, India and Nepal, Bhutan and India, Bhutan and Nepal can be developed in mutual interest as well as mutual benefit. • Moreover, by proper management of water resources, floods and droughts can be minimized for the benefit of their agriculture. Development of common telecommunication services can help in monitoring weather reports, international market fluctuations in prices and products, exchange of scientific information and also regarding the spread of pests and diseases in particular.
[26] Hints: Political Science SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: 5. (a) Discuss the achievements of BIMSTEC along with its challenges. • Approach Required: Simply enumerate the major achievements of BIMSTEC with examples and do the same regarding the challenges and limitations the organization faces. v Mistakes to be avoided: Since its 150 words answer, try to include as many examples possible in pointwise manner. No need to provide a detailed and elaborate analysis. Achievements of BIMSTEC • BIMSTEC Coastal Shipping Agreement and BIMSTEC Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) are being negotiated. • BIMSTEC countries have completed negotiations for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the BIMSTEC Grid Interconnection. • BIMSTEC Agreement on Mutual Assistance on Customs Matters has been signed and is under ratification. • Considerable progress has been achieved in areas such as cooperation among national security agencies, cooperation to check security threats such as smuggling, human trafficking, drugs and piracy, etc. • Secretariat has been established at Dhaka along with few BIMSTEC Centers in the region. Significance of BIMSTEC • Around 22% of the world’s population live in the seven countries around the Bay of Bengal, with a combined GDP close to $2.7 trillion. A fourth of the world’s traded goods cross the bay every year. • It has high economic potential, given the region’s economic dynamism, huge markets and rich natural resources. • It appears as a connector to multiple regional initiatives. Among seven-member countries, five members of BIMSTEC are also members of SAARC, two are part of ASEAN and six are part of SASEC. • Bangladesh views BIMSTECGSGSGS as a platform SCORESCORESCORE to position itself as more than just a small state in the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka sees it as an opportunity to connect with Southeast Asia and serve as the subcontinent’s hub for the wider Indian Ocean and Pacific regions. • For Nepal and Bhutan, BIMSTEC stands to further their aspirations to reconnect with the Bay of Bengal region and escape their landlocked geographic positions. • For Myanmar and Thailand, connecting more deeply with India across the Bay of Bengal would allow them to access a rising consumer market and, at the same time, balance Beijing and develop an alternative to China’s massive inroads into Southeast Asia. • For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’. • Stagnation of SAARC is also a key reason for India to reach out to BIMSTEC as stagnation limited the scope of India’s growing economic aspirations as well as the role it could play in improving regional governance. Hints: Political Science [27] • BIMSTEC provides new battleground for India-China. It could allow India to push a constructive agenda to counter Chinese investments such as in Belt and Road initiative, and follow international norms for connectivity projects which Chinese projects are widely seen as violating. • It could develop codes of conduct that preserve freedom of navigation and apply existing law of the seas regionally. • It could stem the region’s creeping militarisation by instituting, for instance, a Bay of Bengal Zone of Peace that seeks to limit any bellicose behaviour of extra regional power. Challenges • BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement which was negotiated in 2004 to boost the intra-regional trade from its present level of 7% to 21% is yet to be finalized. • India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has yet not been completed, which is crucial to trade movement between the countries. • BIMSTEC has the advantage of having a number of rising economies in the region but it is one of the least integrated parts of the world. • Lack of consistency in the Summit: In its 2 decades, BIMSTEC leaders met only thrice at the summit level. • It has slow pace of growth due to absence of focus on areas of cooperation, weak institutional mechanism, financial constraints etc. • Terrorism is the most significant threat in the Bay of Bengal region as well as South East Asia and there is need for more cooperation amongst the member states on this issue. • 2015 Rohingya refugee crisis has made thousands of ‘boat people’ vulnerable to recruitment by criminal networks, sea pirates, and Islamist militants. The Bay is also prone to some of the most severe natural disasters, incidents of sea piracy, and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. • At present, maritime security cooperation initiatives within the sub-region do not include all the coastal Bay states– for instance, CORPAT exercises, Milan exercises, and the ‘IO-5’ grouping. • To make BIMSTEC further lucrative, there is a need for increasing its membership base. BIMSTEC should consider expanding its membership to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore - the three major AsianGSGS GSpowers SCORESCORESCORE • BIMSTEC shall give special focus on BIMSTEC cross-border e-commerce and digital connectivity. It may also consider opening a negotiation on BIMSTEC Railway Agreement. • More socio-cultural interactions will build greater sense of ownership of BIMSTEC among the people of the region.
5. (b) India-Maldives Defense Relations
• Approach Required: Provide a detailed example based analysis of the strategic cooperation and defence trade between the two nations. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to clarify with your examples the dual nature of this cooperation and how it is fulfilling the strategic expectations of both nations rather than just India.
[28] Hints: Political Science India established formal diplomatic relations with Maldives after the independence of Maldives from the British rule in 1966. Military relations • On April 2006 Indian Navy gifted a Trinkat Class Fast Attack Craft of 46m length to Maldives National Defence Force’s Coast Guard .India started the process to bring the island country into India’s security grid. The move comes after the moderate Islamic nation approached New Delhi earlier in 2009, over fears that one of its island resorts could be taken over by terrorists given its lack of military assets and surveillance capabilities. India has also signed an agreement which includes following things. • India will permanently base two helicopters in the country to enhance its surveillance capabilities and ability to respond swiftly to threats. • Maldives has coastal radars on only two of its 26 atolls. India will help set up radars on all 26 for seamless coverage of approaching vessels and aircraft. • The coastal radar chain in Maldives will be networked with the Indian coastal radar system. India has already undertaken a project to install radars along its entire coastline. The radar chains of the two countries will be interlinked and a central control room in India’s Coastal Command will get a seamless radar picture. • The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will carry out regular Dornier sorties over the island nation to look out for suspicious movements or vessels. The Southern Naval Command will overlook the inclusion of Maldives into the Indian security grid. • Military teams from Maldives will visit the tri-services Andaman Nicobar Command (ANC) to observe how India manages security and surveillance of the critical island chain. • On the areas of defence cooperation, both countries have a track record of strengthening their defence ties through a wide range of activities on multiple fronts. The Maldives and India have been conducting a series of Coast Guard maritime joint training exercises codenamed “DOSTI” since 1991 in addition to other joint defence interactions. These bi- annual Maldives – India DOSTI exercises were initiated with the objective of strengthening cooperation between the Coast Guards of both countries, with a view to enhance mutual capabilities. The joint training exercise expanded to include Sri Lanka which resulted in bi- annual “Trilateral Joint Coast Guard Exercises”. The exercise was also viewed by representatives from maritime forces of Seychelles and Mauritius. • In addition, a joint army training exercise to enhance the close military ties codenamed “Ekuverin” exists betweenGSGSGS the Maldives SCORESCORESCORE and India. A large number of defence services personnel from the Maldives are trained in various defence establishments in India every year. • Consequently, Indian armed forces have played an instrumental role and have closely worked with the Maldivian counterparts to enhance the overall defence and security capability of the Maldives. The focus areas during DOSTI is to exercise the important charter of Coast Guard duties, including Maritime Search and Rescue (M-SAR), Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), Marine Pollution Response (POLRES) and Anti-piracy operations as well as disaster management. • Maldives is a vital component of India’s new maritime strategy, considering its expanding presence in the western Indian Ocean with its commercial and strategic route to the African continent extending to the Western Hemisphere. • The significance of the island nation was reinforced by the 2009 defence pact signed between India and the Maldives to boost strategic ties.India started the process to bring the island Hints: Political Science [29] country into India’s security grid. The move comes after the moderate Islamic nation approached New Delhi earlier in 2009, over fears that one of its island resorts could be taken over by terrorists given its lack of military assets and surveillance capabilities. India has also signed an agreement which includes following things: – India will permanently base two helicopters in the country to enhance its surveillance capabilities and ability to respond swiftly to threats. – Maldives has coastal radars on only two of its 26 atolls. India will help set up radars on all 26 for seamless coverage of approaching vessels and aircraft. – The coastal radar chain in Maldives will be networked with the Indian coastal radar system. India has already undertaken a project to install radars along its entire coastline. The radar chains of the two countries will be interlinked and a central control room in India’s Coastal Command will get a seamless radar picture. – The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) will carry out regular Dornier sorties over the island nation to look out for suspicious movements or vessels. The Southern Naval Command will overlook the inclusion of Maldives into the Indian security grid. – Military teams from Maldives will visit the tri-services Andaman Nicobar Command (ANC) to observe how India manages security and surveillance of the critical island chain. Recent developments exemplifying recalibration of ties • India recently announced $1.4 billion financial assistance to the island nation in a bid to bail out its debt-trapped economy. Backed by India, Maldives recently became Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Member. • Though the Maldivian government has said it will rework the FTA but the huge debt owed to China may force Maldives to tread cautiously without antagonizing China. Thus, India cannot stop its neighbor to engage actively with China due to its growing economic prowess in its backyard.
5. (c) Indo-Pak Relations in the Post 9/11 Era. Discuss • Approach Required: Need to provide a brief commentary on the nature of relations between the two nations specially after the transformation of the global security scenario after the 9/11 attacks. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to identify specifically the areas of tension in the strategic domain based on examplesGSGSGS of hostile SCORESCORESCORE interactions which have occurred between the two neighbours. • In a world forever changed by the infamous September 11 attacks, the most urgent threat to lasting peace is the growing mistrust between Pakistan and India. It is commonly understood that the tribal areas crisscrossing Afghanistan and Pakistan are a breeding ground for terrorists. India has grave concerns of the spill over of radical extremists from this region crossing into Kashmir region. • The US response to the September 11 attacks confronted the political leadership of both Pakistan and India with unique challenges and opportunities. Pakistan had to quickly choose whether it would become an enemy of the U.S. and risk the expected consequences, or side with it, and confront its own Islamic-fundamentalist allies in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It chose to side with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Pakistan decided to join because of predictable economic incentives, the need to save its strategic assets and salvaging its Kashmir policy from total destruction. [30] Hints: Political Science • India on its part was prompt in offering its support in the hope that it can fight its own cross-border terrorism against Pakistan, under the banner of US led “Global War on Terror. • But Indian aspirations were not realized by US to the expectation of India. India watched with concern as Pakistan again emerged as a frontline state in the U.S. led war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan became the battle ground for the American led “Global War on Terrorism”, with Pakistan as an important ally of the US in Afghanistan. • Tensions between long-time rivals in the region have bubbled beneath the surface in Afghanistan as “war on terror has captured most of the attention. India offered unconditional support to the US in the latter’s “War on Terror in Afghanistan with a view not only to minimize Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan and ensure that Afghanistan does not become a source of terrorism against India but also with long-term geo-strategic interests including peace and security in the region. • India and Pakistan have been locked in a bitter rivalry with decades-old roots that have almost erupted into outright war several times. In the post-9/11 world, the threat is even greater as the conflict has, on multiple occasions, threatened to escalate into nuclear war. With the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi and the Mumbai attacks in 2008, relationship between the two countries got further worsened. India is accusing Pakistan for these attacks. • On the other hand, Pakistan is accusing India for internal disturbances and insurgency insurrecting in the tribal areas of Sind and Baluchistan. Both the countries are playing the war of misperceptions. Since 2014, a new terrorist group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has emerged in the tribal areas of Pakistan to threaten Pakistan’s political institutions. • The Pakistani leadership has often accused India of supplying arms and funding to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan who are resorting to terrorist acts against Pakistan, because of Pakistan’s support to the US war on terrorism. In the wake of recent military tensions between Pakistan-India over cross-border firings, it is of utmost importance to defuse tensions by bringing both sides together to discuss the impasse, leading to a resumption of a peace dialogue which has remained suspended since Mumbai attacks in 2008.
5. (d) India as a net security provider in Indian Ocean. Explain.
• Approach Required: Elaborate on the nature of security provider role being played by India in IOR and provide multiple examples of the numerous and unique challenges which India faces in theGSGSGS region. SCORESCORESCORE • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to also elaborate on the limitations India faces in this direction and the steps its been taking to rectify the same. • India’s rising economic and political profile, increasing stakes in and dependence on Indian ocean, along with India’s ambition to be recognized as regional, global power gives India a great deal of responsibility. That is to ensure stability in maritime neighborhood, by accepting the role of Net Security provider. • Net provider of security is the nation that address the security concerns of not only itself but also other countries in the vicinity or beyond. Net security provider is usually meant as enhancing mutual security of more than one country by addressing common security concerns, including dealing with transnational piracy, or responding to disasters, etc. • It comprises of activities like capacity building; military diplomacy; military assistance; and direct deployment of military forces to aid or stabilize a situation.
Hints: Political Science [31] • The Indian Ocean enjoys a privileged location at the crossroads of global trade, connecting the major engines of the international economy. Today, about 40 per cent of the world’s oil supply and 64 per cent of oil trade travel through the Indian Ocean. • Strategic choke points like Straits of Malacca and Hormuz and the Bab-el- Mandeb further underscore the need for unimpeded traffic and safety through the ocean. These factors make Indian Ocean vulnerable to non-traditional threats like piracy; armed robberies at sea; maritime terrorism; trafficking in narcotics, arms and people; illegal fishing; smuggling and the dangers posed by natural disasters and climate-change. • The other threats are also present like the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, increased missile capabilities and power projection by foreign militaries that pose threat to peace in the Indian Ocean Region. • It not only threatens commerce, but also peace and regional stability, international trade and global energy flows. • The countries in the region are more concerned about local issues of governance, poverty, disease and other internal issues rather than strategic concerns. It makes it necessary for a country like India, to take up the role of security provider for safe, free, open sea lines of communication. Challenges • Inefficient production rates hinder the export potential of Indian military equipment. Hence, even while other nations approach India for military hardware, India has limited ability to deliver. • Due to its pending territorial disputes with China and Pakistan, the Indian military is still largely focused on its borders. It results in less of an emphasis for dealing with situations outside its immediate neighbourhood. • China challenges India’s status in the Indian Ocean through its BRI, String of pearls and also in unprecedented ways as demonstrated by the crisis in the Maldives. China inaugurated its first overseas military base in Djibouti, increasing India’s anxiety about China’s growing profile in Indian Ocean. Steps taken by India • India’s maritime strategy 2015, titled “Ensuring Secure Seas: Indian Maritime Security Strategy”: The Indian OceanGS lies at theSCORE core of India’s maritime strategy as it reflects New Delhi’s willingness to playGSGSGS a larger SCOREroleSCORESCORE in the region and India’s intentions to be the net security provider in the region. • It shows the East Coast of Africa littoral regions as areas of primary interest while the West Coast of Africa and their littoral regions as the secondary area of interest. • India also signed a deal with Singapore to expand existing Indian access to Changi naval base. • India also contributes to the development of Agaléga in Mauritius with dual-use logistical facilities.
5. (e) Discuss Indian Economic diplomacy in 21st century.
• Approach Required: Provide a brief context and background and then focus on the major objectives and initiatives being taken under this format of diplomacy. [32] Hints: Political Science • Mistakes to be avoided: Also need to elaborate briefly on the major challenges and shortcomings of Indian economic diplomacy in the recent years. • While economic diplomacy has always been integral part of Indian foreign policy,it has received greater emphasis since the liberalization of the Indian economy in 90s. • Indian economic strategy during first three decade of independence was largely based on import substitution and licence raj, while it focussed on securing economic development assistance. • The policy underwent a change when Rajeev Gandhi initiated a more concerted effort to introduce LPG reforms and increased reliance on the private sector during the 1980s • The end of cold war and BOP crisis triggered a shift in the economic policy ,moving it towards a trade based model and further increasing the importance of economic diplomacy in Indian growth story. • With the onset of 21st century ,Indian business enterprises started playing a more crucial role in advancing Indian economic intrestsabroad.The private sector is today is eager to see the state engaged more deeply in economic diplomacy in order to help acquire new market for Indian goods, to boost India’s international investment.It would pace way to pursue business venture abroad. • Indian state has recently begun playing a greater role in economic diplomacy ,pushing their interest like development cooperation program, greater diaspora engagement and sub national economic diplomacy. Major obstacles in pursuing economic diplomacy • Inflexblity during trade negotiation affects economic intrest • Capacity constraints affect integration of economic and strategic goals • Lack of engagement between government and business • Lack of dispute settlement mechanism • Need for greater role in multilateral financial institution • Poor connectivity within and across border states affect regional economic integration infrastructure Recent Agendas • India took a decisive shiftGSGSGS to embrace SCORESCORESCORE the Indo-Pacific as a policy and a strategy. In the space of a year India signed a COMCASA agreement with the US, a logistics sharing pact with France. A similar one, ACSA, is currently being negotiated with Japan. India negotiated a deep seaport for itself in Sabang, Indonesia, making Jakarta a potential partner, whenever that country finds its strategic feet. • In the Indian Ocean region, India has a mixed record. There were initial setbacks in both Seychelles and Maldives – an opposition and China-backed spanner in the works caused India and Seychelles to delay a deal to develop the Assumption Island in the beginning. • The other big development was an India-China “reset”. After the Wuhan tete-a-tete between Modi and Xi Jinping we entered a “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” with China. Both the leaders met more than any other leader, China is finally importing small things like sugar, rice and some pharmaceutical products, the militaries held counterterror exercises; India accepted renaming of Taipei and even did a behind-the-scenes deal with Beijing to corner Pakistan at FATF. Hints: Political Science [33] • India’s big failure – which has strategic implications – is the government’s inability to make trade, technology and investment an integral part of its foreign policy. In fact, the government has repeatedly shown its ineptness and myopia in trade negotiations. For all the talk the government has fallen prey to twin obstacles – the bureaucracy which has slow-rolled him continuously and India Inc, which is averse to opening up. They haven’t been able to get a trade deal with either EU, or Asia (RCEP) or even a trade understanding with the US. • India is lurching towards a confused approach to technology – the new world order will be determined by rival tech ecosystems in the civilian and military sectors.This is not the time for tech nationalism, it’s the time for leveraging India’s potential for better tech access today.
6. (a) Bhutan's significance for Indian Foreign policy. Discuss.
• Approach Required: Discuss simply with examples all the major factors which make Bhutan a special and significant partner of India. Focus on the unique aspects of the relationship with the most recent examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not forget to discuss the emerging challenges and issues of the relationship and what measures are needed to prevent any decline in the relationship. Bhutan’s significance for Indian Foreign policy • A trusted partner: India Bhutan ties are governed by 1949 Friendship Treaty (amended in 2007) which states that both countries will ensure perpetual peace, friendship and protect each other’s national interests.Bhutan stands out as an exception in South Asia as a country whose relations with India do not oscillate between China and India based on the party in power. • Bhutan has time and again stood by India be it 1971 or the immediate action against Indian insurgents in its territory. Similarly, India has shown its respect by visiting Bhutan first on the state visit or standing beside Bhutan during Dokhlam crisis, both countries has stood the test of good neighborly relations. • Strategic Relevance: Bhutan acts as a buffer between two big powers that is India and China. The Chinese finger problem where it claims Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal to be a part of its territory, jeopardises Indian and Bhutanese sovereignty. Thus, for both Bhutan and India it is imperative to avoid such territorial claims together. • Economic overlapping: India continues to be the largest trade and development partner of Bhutan. India has contributedGSGSGS generously SCORESCORESCORE towards latter’s Five Year Plans since 1961. • Cooperation in hydropower has over the years intensified as main pillar of economic ties and has evolved to become Bhutan’s major export item and a major source of its revenue. The hydro relations has benefitted India to tackle it energy deficiency and helped Bhutan’s economy to grow simultaneously. • Also three Hydropower projects developed with Indian assistance have already been completed, they are 1020 MW Tala Hydroelectric Project, 336 MW Chukha Hydroelectric Project, 60 MW Kurichhu Hydroelectric. Emerging challenges and issues • Friendship under strain: Though the friendship treaty is the bedrock of relationship it is ironical that Bhutan takes it with the pinch of salt. India’s big brotherly attitude in its neighborhood is not taken well even by Bhutan. Though Dokhlam was a diplomatic victory but some political analysts branded it as India’s self image as a protectorate.
[34] Hints: Political Science • Also, the political meddling, regime management and economic arm twisting (blockade in 2013) increases Bhutan’s mistrust for India’s intention. • Biased strategic approach: Bhutan has often accused India of India first approach rather than a bilateral one. Bhutan sees itself a sovereign and often India’s sovereignty comes first anytime when there is instability in the neighbourhood. E.g.To India the most immediate concern is Chinese increasing incursion in the trijunction area in general and its physical presence in Chumbi valley in particular. Chumbi valley is very close to the Siliguri corridor (Chicken neck) to which if China gets complete access from Bhutan and its contested territory settlement; it can give a strategic edge to China threatening Indian sovereignty once and for all. That is why India held its ground during Dokhlam. • Also, China is expanding through Belt Road Initiative (BRI) a mega connectivity project with strategic implication for India particularly. The western contested China-Bhutan territory is essential for the project i.e. for the railway line from Lhasa-Shigatse to Nepal and later to Bhutan. Therefore, China is keen to swap northern part for territories in western Bhutan. • India sees Bhutan from a Chinese prism, increasing sensitivities on the Bhutanese side. Dokhlam upstanding of India was seen by many to protect its own interest not the territorial interest of Bhutan. Bhutan has become skeptical of India protecting its national interest as China looms larger in the region due to its growing military and economic prowess. • Economic Drift: India Bhutan economic ties are stronger but Bhutan now sees itself as a self reliant economy which is being thwarted due to one sided Indian commercial policy. According to Bhutanese analysts, Bhutan’s economy has become auxiliary to India’s economic intervention model. • The study has found that over 60% of government expenditure goes into the import of goods from India. Further, 75 per cent of the country’s external debt is accounted by hydropower loans and India accounts for 80 per cent of Bhutan’s exports. • India’s stranglehold over Bhutan’s economy along with unfair business practices often leads to economic crisis such as the debt and rupee crunch. The fundamentals of economic dependency including the hydropower projects are becoming subjects of debate, with the unfair tariff rates, time runs and a jobless growth. • The remedy they see lies in diversifying its economy from a hydropower based economy to Multidiverse one and China has a great role to play in this diversification being an economic powerhouse.GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE Suggestions and RemediesGS SCORE • Recalibrating the friendship: India should take Bhutan’s perspective of India’s dominant status in south Asia for a balanced approach in implementing the friendship treaty. • It has to build Bhutan’s trust on India’s intention by following the treaty in letter and spirit and not on a chose and pick basis. The carrot and stick policy should be abandoned to rebuild the faith in the friendship treaty. • Strategic balancing: Bhutan and India bilaterally should look at all matters of territorial incursions. India needs to develop a standalone Bhutan policy that is independent of Chinese lens. • In various regional grouping, India-Bhutan should cooperate and coordinate their national interests. The BRI of China can have huge implication for sovereignty and security of both countries therefore both needs to connect by lessening the barriers.
Hints: Political Science [35] • The operationalisation of BBIN motor vehicle agreement (Bhutan Bangladesh India Nepal) can be good for starters. • Inclusive Economic ties: India has to make efforts to reduce Bhutan’s debt fears. Operationalisation of the pending projects can reduce the fears. • Also, the PM came with four agendas i.e. a fair tariff for the 720 MW bilateral Mangdechhu project; seeking India’s support for Bhutan’s 12th Five Year Plan (FYP); starting the 2,560 MW Sunkosh Reservoir project and waiving off the Central GST for Bhutan. These are critical for Bhutan’s economic future and commercial plans and India has to adopt an open, participative approach to achieve them. • There is no harm in diversifying one’s economy and India should see it as a new opportunity to partner with Bhutan and help diversify its economy. It should transform its relation from an aid provider to an investment led developer. Skilling Bhutan’s youth, developing a bilateral tourism policy and increasing private investment can be helpful for both.
6. (b) Discuss the geopolitical concerns for India with booming trade between China and Sri-Lanka. • Approach Required: Analyse with examples the major ramifications of growing Sri- Lanka China commercial proximity with special reference to proposed FTA between the two. Need to discuss how this FTA can impact Indian interests. • Mistakes to be avoided: Also provide a brief assessment of the performance of India’s free trade agreement with Sri-Lanka and suggest measures to rectify its poor performance. • The recent rise of China-Sri Lanka economic relations has been the subject of much discussion, debate, and analysis. Some of these discussions are also rich in misinterpretations, such as common conceptions about Sri Lanka’s debt obligations to China and the link between that debt and the decision to lease Hambantota port to China for 99 years. • However, one significant part of Sri Lanka-China economic relations has not captured the spotlight yet i.e. the fast-growing trade relations between two countries during the last decade . Similar to other countries’ trade relations with China, the expansion of trade with Sri Lanka was driven by a large influx of Chinese imports, resulting in an expanding trade deficit between the two countries. • In 2016, China became Sri Lanka’s largest source of imports, surpassing India. However, in subsequent years, the value of Indian imports has marginally exceeded Chinese imports. On top of the noticeable riseGSGS of Chinese investmentsSCORESCORE in Sri Lanka, this scenario clearly wouldn’t please India — particularlyGSGS when China SCORESCORE is able to export more to Sri Lanka than India does. Rise of Chinese Imports • The rise of Chinese imports in Sri Lanka is a relatively recent phenomenon. In 2000, Chinese imports represented only 3.5 percent of Sri Lanka’s total imports; by 2017 that had risen to 20 percent. There was a particularly significant rise in Chinese imports after 2010; from 2011 to 2018 Chinese imports increased by almost four times. India’s story is different. While Chinese imports have not recorded any negative growth years in Sri Lanka since 2010, Indian imports contracted in several years. • We can get a deeper perspective from the imports-to-GDP ratio, which is considered a better indicator of the trade dynamics of a country. Since 2000, Sri Lanka’s imports-to-GDP ratio has been declining along with the exports-to-GDP ratio. This indicates a clear contraction of trade and a concurrent move toward protectionism, which is a major cause for the economic issues Sri Lanka encounters today. The interesting fact is that Chinese imports to Sri Lanka
[36] Hints: Political Science increased despite Sri Lanka’s overall contraction in international trade and rise of protectionist policies. • Sri Lanka’s imports-to-GDP ratio was 36 percent in 2005; during the same year the Chinese imports-to-GDP ratio was only 2.6 percent. By 2017, the imports-to-GDP ratio had dropped down to 23.8 percent while the Chinese imports-to-GDP ratio had increased to 4.8 percent. This significant increase in Chinese imports came even without China having a free trade agreement (FTA) with Sri Lanka. • That means Chinese imports are subjected to normal tariffs, which might be eliminated under an FTA. Contrary to this, India has an FTA with Sri Lanka, the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA), in effect from 2000. Even with that FTA, the Indian imports-to- GDP ratio for Sri Lanka has been fluctuating around 5 percent and has not seen a significant sustained increase since 2005. The FTA Question • Although Sri Lanka currently doesn’t have an FTA with China, there have been discussions about signing such a bilateral deal. Starting in 2014, Sri Lanka and China completed six rounds of negotiations regarding the proposed FTA. • The talks ended in 2017 due to disagreements regarding the level of trade liberalization under the proposed FTA. China wanted 90 percent of goods to be tariff free, clearly a scenario Sri Lanka is not comfortable with. However, recently Sri Lanka’s International Trade Ministry stated that during the Sri Lanka visit of China’s vice minister of commerce, Wang Shouwen, the two sides held discussions on restarting their FTA negotiations. • India, on the other hand, signed its very first FTA with Sri Lanka in 1998 (though it came into effect in 2000) and despite several shortcomings ISFTA has helped to expand the trade between two countries. • However, neither country is pleased about the level of trade integration achieved through the FTA. In 2017, only around 6 percent of imports from India came through ISFTA (i.e., using the custom duty-free access provided through ISFTA), indicating a heavy underutilization of the free trade agreement. • ISFTA has a number of flaws, including the failure to address non-tariff barriers (NTBs) faced by exporters and other duties and levies applied in addition to custom duties. For example, ISFTA does not eliminate all border taxes. • Sri Lanka imposes twoGS GSGSlevies named SCORESCORESCORE the Cess Levy and Port and Airport Levy (PAL) on a number of imports and these levies sometimes override the custom duty-free benefit offered through ISFTA. • From Sri Lanka’s perspective, more than 60 percent of goods exported to India used the duty-free access provided through ISFTA. Yet export growth to India remains sluggish and exporters have been facing numerous NTBs such as regulation issues in exporting goods to India. • Due to this there had been discussions on expanding the existing FTA and signing what is called an Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ECTA), which would improve the current FTA and include some liberalization of selected services. Eleven rounds of trade negotiations were completed regarding an India-Sri Lanka ETCA. • However, negotiations were disrupted due to Colombo’s political and constitutional crisis in October 2018. Since then there has been no progress on ETCA negotiations.
Hints: Political Science [37] Geopolitical Concern for India • It is clearly not a huge geopolitical concern, unlike Sri Lanka leasing a port to China or allowing Chinese investors to construct an International Financial City on reclaimed land in Colombo. • However, for India this dynamic is an indication of its failure to strengthen trade ties within the South Asian region, a situation that India does not enjoy. In 2015, China became the top trading partner of Bangladesh and that is likely to be the case for Sri Lanka in near future. • This very thought might persuade India to expedite the process of signing the proposed ETCA with Sri Lanka and removing trade barriers to boost bilateral trade. South Asia, led by India, has performed not well when it comes to regional trade integration, with intra- regional trade representing just 5 percent of total trade flows. Maybe the rise of Chinese trade relations in South Asia can help change this dismal situation.
6. (c) Discuss about the structure and organisation of MEA. Also discuss the function of MEA. • Approach Required: Simply describe the Organizational setup of MEA with special reference to the multiple functions the Ministry performs. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content on functions needs to be holistic and should include lesser known functions of MEA. • The Ministry of External Affairs is led by one of the senior and experienced Cabinet Ministers along with one or two Ministers of State (MoS) or Deputy Ministers to assist him. Presently, the Ministry is headed by a Cabinet Minister besides two Ministers of State. • From independence to 1964, except a brief break in 1952, the Secretary General used to be the administrative head of the ministry. He happened to be the prime advisor to the Prime Minister Nehru, who was also leading the Ministry of External Affairs, in the decision making on foreign affairs. • To assist him the foreign secretary and two other secretaries were appointed and assigned with different works. • At Present129, including Foreign Secretary, the ministry consists of eight secretaries namely, Secretary (East), Secretary (Special Assignment), Secretary (DPA & ER), Secretary (West), Special Secretary (Americas & CPV). Below the Secretaries, there are five Additional Secretaries namely, Additional Secretaries (IO), Additional Secretaries (AD), Additional Secretaries (FA), Additional Secretaries, (PrGSGSGS Chief Controller SCORESCORESCORE of Accounts), and Additional Secretaries (L&T), Under the Additional Secretary, numerous Joint Secretaries Directors and Deputy Secretaries, and other administrative staffs have been appointed to assist them in various administrative works. • The ministry is also divided into several administrative divisions, which is broadly Classified into two categories, (i) the Specialized and Support Divisions and (ii) the Territorial Divisions. Each of the Division has been assigned to look after the issues related to their respective Jurisdiction and the Foreign Secretary coordinates these divisions and oversees the functions of the ministry. Functions of MEA Planning and Formulation of Foreign Policy To deal with the increasing complexity of contemporary international relations, there is a need for careful planning and continuous pursuance of foreign policy developments over a period of time.
[38] Hints: Political Science Hence, most of the modern states set up the policy planning units within their Foreign Office long ago and formulated their external policy based on the inputs from these units.After the military disaster of 1962 war, the East Asia Research and Coordination Division was created in 1963 to conduct research and planning on China, which was later institutionalised as the Current Research Division in 1965. Since then, the Policy Planning and Research Division (as it is called now) is engaged in planning and formulation of India‘s foreign and strategic policy. Managing India’s External Relations The prime and foremost duty of MEA is to manage India‘s External Relations with foreign States and international entity, such as United Nations, regional and international institutions and transnational actors. It selects and sends Indian representatives to these international entities to conduct India‘s external policy with the respective institutions and to report the political developments of the region. Besides, it also takes necessary steps to maintain good relations with States which have signed Special Treaty with India like Bhutan, and Nepal and handles the issues related to France and Portugal over their former colonies Pondicherry, Goa, Daman and Diu. Diplomatic and Consular Activities The ministry is responsible to setup and manage India‘s foreign missions, posts and consulates abroad and appoints India‘s representatives to run these missions. Using these diplomatic channels it reaches out to foreign states and conveys India‘s positions and concerns on significant international events. Matters related to VISA, Immigration and Pilgrims Besides managing India‘s external relations, MEA is also responsible for the issuance and cancelation of Passports to the Indian nationals and granting visas and travel documents to the foreign visitors. Similarly, under Reciprocity Act, 1943 (9 of 1943), the ministry also handles the issues related to Immigration to India from the Republic of South Africa or any other countries. The Ministry has the authority to grant or reject the travel permission to foreigners for Himalayan expeditions and travel to Protected Areas other than those with which the Ministry of Home Affairs is concerned. Materialisation of International Treaties and Agreements Since independence, several Political treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign and Commonwealth countries have been signed by government of India to facilitate India‘s national interest. The Ministry of External Affairs has been assigned to conduct all ground work to form the draft and finalize the treaty. Matter Related to Persons of Indian Origin and NRIs The MEA is responsible for the protection of Persons of Indian Origin (PIO)and Nonresident Indians (NRI) residing abroad and dealsGSGSGS with their SCORE SCOREconcernsSCORE and grievances. Before the formation of Ministry of Overseas Indians in 2004, the MEA was also put in charge to oversee all matters relating to Overseas Indians, all emigration under the Emigration Act, 1983 (31 of 1983) from India to overseas countries and the return of emigrants and works relating to totalisation agreements, protection and welfare of Overseas Indians and exemption from payment of Social Security. Matter Related to United Nations The coordination and implementation of all matter related to United Nations, Specialized Agencies and other International Organisations is also one of the primary responsibilities of Ministry of External Affairs. It sends the Indian representatives to the UN and to the specialized agencies and presents India‘s voice at the international forum. Matter Related to Indian Foreign Services Being the primary institution for conducting Foreign Policy, the Ministry of External Affairs is also responsible to manage all matter related to Indian Foreign Service (IFS) including Indian Foreign
Hints: Political Science [39] Service Board. It also deals with issues associated with the appointment and regulation of diplomats and other foreign officers working under the ministry and the management of Foreign Service Training Institute (FPI). Matter Related to Sea and Land Borders It is the responsibility of the ministry to administer the matters related to Law of the Sea, including the Indian Territorial Waters, Contiguous Zone, Continental Shelf and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), questions of international law arising on the high seas including fishery rights; piracies and crimes committed on the High Seas or in the air, offences against the Law of Sovereign States committed on land or the High seas or in the air, legal matters concerning the International Seabed Area and Authority etc.
7. (a) Discuss the goals and achievements of NAM. Also discuss its relevance today. • Approach Required: Enumerate the major achievements of NAM with examples of its actions in the Cold war era. Also elaborate on the major issues and challenges of the present global scenario and link them with NAM i.e. how NAM can be relevant and helpful in resolving the same specially issues and concerns of developing nations. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to be India centric in your content. • A major goal of the Non-aligned Movement was to end colonialism. The conferences of the NAM continuously supported the national liberation movements and the organisations that led those movements were given the status of full members in these conferences. This support greatly facilitated the decolonization process in Asia and Africa. • It also condemned racial discrimination and injustice and lent full support to the antiapartheid movement in South Africa and Namibia. Today in both countries this obnoxious policy has ended with independence and majority rule. • A third area in which the NAM made a significant contribution was towards the preservation of peace and disarmament. Its espousal of peace, of peaceful co-existence and of human brotherhood, opposition to wars of any kind contributed to the lowering of Cold War tensions and expanded areas of peace in the world with less states joining military blocs. • It also continuously strove for disarmament and for an end to the arms race stating that universal peace and security can be assumed only by general and complete disarmament, under effective international control. It underlined that the arms race blocked scarce resources which ought to be used for socio-economic development. They called for a permanent moratorium or nuclear testing and later for the conclusion of a treaty banning the development, production stockpiling andGSGSGS use of allSCORESCORESCORE chemical weapons. • Fourthly, the non-aligned states succeeded in altering the composition of the U.N. and consequently in changing the tenor of the interstate relation conducted through its organs. In the forties and fifties deliberations in the U.N. organs were entirely dominated by the super power and their associate states. The emergence of non-alignment has changed this situation. It has created not only a new voting majority in the General Assembly but also common platform from where the third world can espouse its cause. Relevance Today the world is no longer bipolar. But there is also no consensus about the nature of its configuration. Some writers feel that it is unipolar with the U.S. being the sole Super Power. Other writers argue that it is multipolar with the European Union, Japan, Russia and China being important centres of power together with the U.S. Still others have referred to it as “uni-cum-multipolar. Whatever the terminology, that may be used, there is no doubt that the U.S. and the G-7 powers together are in a position to work in concert and manage the rest of the world.
[40] Hints: Political Science The imperatives for a revitalized Non-aligned Movement springs from many sources: • For the developing countries this multipolarity presents an uncertain, complex and gloomy environment in which there may not be many new opportunities, but increased vulnerability. At present there seems to be no change of the developing countries being able to exploit the differences that are seen among the major economic powers. Of course, the situation may change in the medium or long-term. • The Third World countries are also being pressurised to agree to all the demand of the developed world on the question of opening of markets and intellectual property rights, even though the fact of the matter is that trends towards protectionism are rising in the developed countries at the time when most of the developing countries are seriously reforming their economies and providing for market deregulation. • There is also a tendency on the part of the developed countries to impose stringent restrictions on the transfer of technology to the developing countries. The ever-growing list of items subjected to the so-called dual use restrictions effectively threatens to deprive the developing countries of the fruits of technological progress in many key areas. • The world continues to be divided into the nuclear ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. The nuclear ‘haves’ seem to be determined to retain their arsenals of the nuclear weapons, albeit on a reduced scale and to prevent others from acquiring such weapons. The irony is that the targets of nuclear weapons are now the countries of the Third World as these are being looked upon as the main threat to the security of the nuclear-weapons powers. Instead of being discarded after the end of the Cold War, deterrence is being retained and honed for being used discriminately against the countries of the Third World. • With the end of the Cold War, the threat to and pressure on the independence of the non- aligned countries have assumed new forms. The presentnegative trends in the world are contrary to the aims and objectives of the Non-alignedMovements for a just, equitable and democratic world order. None of the NAMcountries or group of countries, however, big or rich they may be, can face these newrealities alone. Hence, the countries of NAM must continue to stay and act together forcommon thought and action. • The Non-aligned countries can reverse the negative trends in the international scenario by three important ways: reforming and strengthening the United Nations; encouraging South- South Cooperation; and by consolidating the Movement through necessary reforms. Thus the realities of current global politics make non-alignment equally relevant today for the developing ‘countries of the world as it was during the Cold War period.
7. (b) Explain the traditionalGSGSGS determinants SCORESCORESCORE of Indian foreign policy. • Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the most important determiners of IFP. Do not forget to include the role played by economic factors. • Mistakes to be avoided: Since the question pertains to traditional determinants of IFP, your content can avoid any determinant of IFP whose contribution has not been consistent over the years. There are several factors that have influenced, and continue to influence, the shaping of India’sforeign policy. Some of these factors are of permanent nature while others change with the time. They are as follows: Geography • India’s geographical size and location have played vital role in shaping its foreign policy. India isvery big in size; it is the seventh largest in the world with nearly 3 million square
Hints: Political Science [41] kilometres ofterritory. On its north, its boundaries are associated with the world famous Himalayan mountain range. It has 15,000 kms long land boundaries with Pakistan in the West, Bhutan, China andNepal in the North, and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the East. Afghanistan and the former SovietUnion are in the immediate vicinity of Jammu & Kashmir. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has noted often that one can change one’s friends, but not neighbours. Therefore, India has beenkeen to have friendly and tension-free relations with all the neighbours. • The location of the country is also notable. Belonging to South Asia, India lies in the heart of thebiggest continent, Asia. Although India was victim of Chinese and Pakistani military attacks, it isin its interest that the channels of communication are kept open. India therefore seeks that problemswith these neighbours are amicably settled. In keeping with the fact that India is the gateway ofboth South-East Asia and the West Asia, India’s security and vital interests are closely knit withthe peace and stability in the larger region of Asia. Nature of Leadership • The personal qualities of leaders guiding the destiny of a nation at a given time tend to shape thatcountry’s foreign policy in a particular direction. Who can deny the role of, for instance, WoodrowWilson in shaping the foreign policy of the United States in the early decades of the 20th Centuryor that of Mikhail Gorbachev in making the Soviet policy in the closing years of the same century. • Similarly, in the case of India too, the personality of the incumbent prime ministers has come to beidentified in certain measure with a particular flavour given to the country’s foreign policy. • Thecountry’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who steered India’s policy for more than oneand a half decades, was widely regarded as internationalist in outlook, with a preference forenlightened, rather than narrow or self-centred, approach to problems. • He was indeed regardedas among the tallest of visionaries in his times. Understandably, therefore India’s foreign policyduring his tenure was more committed to the collective good of the comity of nations in relationto concerns like world peace and disarmament. Panchsheel was a typical representation of theNehruvian outlook to approaching problems with other countries. Domestic Milieu • No country’s foreign policy can be immune from the influence of the dynamics within. Indeed itis an importantGSGSGS determinant SCORESCORESCORE of foreign policy. • The domestic milieu refers to, inter alia, the nature of governing system, the political culture including the policies of political parties, public opinion, etc. tradition, structure of government and enlightened leadership. • Independent India is a living example of ‘unity in diversity’. Having won freedom from British after non-violent struggle, India chose a democratic system that could offer adequate representation to diversities of all kinds—regional, religious, and cultural. The executive is accountable to people’s representatives who are chosen in periodical exercise of franchise. Economic Conditions • The possession of raw materials and natural resources and the compulsions of economicdevelopment also determine the course of a country’s foreign policy. Low economic profilecould impinge on a country’s ability to play an influential and effective role in foreign affairs. [42] Hints: Political Science • India is a storehouse of vast natural resources with great potential for achieving economic heights in development. Its rivers are capable of generating power and providing enough water for drinking and irrigation. Huge deposits of bauxite, coal, copper, manganese and other mineralsare India’s assets. Equally notable is the base of its skilled and educated work force. • Despite progress made in the fields of agriculture, literacy, science and technology, there is no denying that India lags far behind in development. The bulk of its growing population finds it difficult to cater to basic necessities like food, shelter and clothing. • After Independence, it was clear to our leaders that the country needs help from foreign governments in respect of transfer of funds, import of equipment and finished goods, export of Indian commodities and goods, training of technical personnel, etc.
7. (c) Illegal migration is one of the bones of the contention between India and Bangladesh. Comment. Also Suggest remedies for the above mentioned issue.
• Approach Required: Discuss the extent and nature of illegal migration issue between the two nations and include factual data and examples from India’s north east. Also elaborate on the nature of demographic and security challenges this migration is creating for India. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not just describe the problem, instead also provide detailed suggestions to tackle the problem at a bilateral level. • India played the great role in emergence of Independent Bangladesh, was one of the first country torecognize Bangladesh as separate state. However, there are several main issues such as illegal migration, insurgency,border, water disputes, and dispute over issue of Moore Island etc. • Illegal migration is one of the bones of the contention of these two countries, Since the 1971 war of independencethat created the state of Bangladesh, millions of Bangladeshi immigrants (the vast majority of them illegal) havepoured into neighbouring India. While the Indian government has tried to deport some of these immigrants, thesheer number of them, as well as the porous border between the two countries, has made such an enterprise impossible. It is difficult to assess how many illegal immigrants are currently residing in India. Illegal migration appears in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country from neighbouring Bangladesh, threatto India’s internal security, from Bangladesh is impacted on communal, political, social and economicGSGSGS tensions SCORESCORESCORE and conflicts in several areas of the northeast of India. • Illegal migration appears in the eastern and north-eastern parts of the country from neighbouring Bangladesh, threatto India’s internal security, from Bangladesh is impacted on communal, political, social and economic tensions andconflicts in several areas of the northeast of India. The most affected states are West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya,Nagaland, Bihar, and Tripura, although migrants “have spread to far off states like Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat,Rajasthan and Delhi.” Although the exact figure is not known, it is estimated that there are about 15-20 millionBangladeshis staying illegally in India. • This unfettered illegal migration impacts on national security and socio-economic stability. Intelligence inputsindicate that the Inter Service Intelligence Agency (ISI) of Pakistan is utilising these migrants as conduits to ferry interrorists and arms into India. Counterfeit Indian currency with its origins in Bangladesh has flooded border areas,crippling in these parts.
Hints: Political Science [43] • The illegal Bangladeshi immigrants have not only changed the demography and disturbed the ecology of the north-east but have also encouraged them to exercise their political rights in India as citizens. It has been one of the keyreasons for the rise of insurgent groups in the north-east as some of the insurgent groups like Assam Gana SangramParishad started, and got support of the masses, because of the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Recommendations to solve illegal migration problem • Initially, India can invite Bangladeshi workers to work on bilateral projects like railway infrastructure, roaddevelopment, ICP development and other works undertaken by India in the Northeast region. • Growth of the Bangladesh economy will have a positive impact on flow of illegal migrants to India. At present thereare very few large infrastructural projects undertaken in Bangladesh which could generate large-scale employment. • Greater investment by India would be useful towards that end. Creation of employment opportunities in themigration-prone poor districts of Bangladesh could significantly reduce the flow of economic migrants. • India, without compromising on its economic gains, can address Bangladeshi demands on trade issues. Thelowering of the negative list, especially those 46 items that form components of its ready-made garment industry,will give a greater fillip to its core industry. Bangladesh being a Least Developed Country (LDC), India can make thoseeconomic concessions without any significant impact on its own industries. • There are several other economicopportunities that India could seize upon at the present moment including helping Bangladesh establish qualityengineering and management colleges. • On the one hand India has to build impregnable borders, while on other hand allow easy cross-border movement,which will ensure people that people take the legal route. Fence should be fitted with sensor lights and rely ontechnology rather than manual monitoring. There is low level of communication about what is expected frompopulation living close to the borders. Awareness levels in the border areas are abysmal. Border management needsto address these gaps. Joint campaigns which involve people from both sides would have greater impact. Based onthe performance of the border haats, this scope of this experiment should be widened to establish border schools,technical institutes, etc. • India and Bangladesh need to strengthen their military ties. They are being revived after a long gap but much morecan be done in terms of increasing visits, contacts at various level as well as by selling militaryGSGSGS hardware. SCORESCORESCORE Apart frominitiating joint exercises, India should consider the China model of gifting hardware in the initial instance, and offertechnical expertise that Bangladeshi military is in need of. They have to be weaned away from Pakistan and China.There can be no overnight successes but sustained efforts are essential. • India has to tactfully encourage the Bangladesh Government to ensure that population control measures andcampaigns reach out to the rural areas, in the last few years UNDP, DFID, etc., funding for population controlcampaigns has been reduced. The NGO sector that had initiated such programmes have to be given more supportand funding by India. • To promote close India-Bangladesh ties, innovative measures like the joint management of rivers, commonelectricity grid, transport connectivity, Free Trade Areas, etc., may be designed to lead to a symbiotic intermeshingof the long-term interests of the two countries. India as a global power will have to evolve a regional labor market inwhich all South Asian countries are participating. But this predicates upon India managing its differences withPakistan in the foreseeable future.
[44] Hints: Political Science 8. (a) Discuss the major dimensions of India Sri-Lanka Relations with examples. • Approach Required: Discuss the major areas of cooperation between the two nations with examples and also elaborate on the major areas which concerns remain to be addressed. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your analysis needs to have sufficient amount of factual data and examples in both sections of the answer. Indian interests in Sri Lanka are driven by important factors, including post-war reconciliation and respect for the dignity of the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka and its cultivation of ties in its immediate neighbourhood and the wider Indian Ocean. • Commercial/Trade Relations: India is Sri Lanka’s largest trading partner globally, while Sri Lanka is India’s second largest trading partner in the SAARC. In the investment field, India is among the top five foreign investors in Sri Lanka. Trade between Sri Lanka and India has grown rapidly after the entry into force of the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement in March 2000. • Developmental Cooperation: Sri Lanka is one of the major recipients of development credit given by India. For e.g. Under a line of credit of $167.4 million, the tsunami-damaged Colombo-Matara rail link has been repaired and upgraded. • Economic and Infrastructure cooperation: India signed MoUs to develop Trincomalee port and oil tank farms, and LNG terminals in Kerawalapitiya near Colombo. • Joint India-Japan agreement to develop the East Container Terminal at Colombo harbour, and other projects like the offer to operate the Mattala Airport. • Building infrastructure in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, including upgrading the Jaffna-Colombo rail track and other railway lines, providing electricity transmission lines for power imports from India, and rebuilding the Kankesanthurai port. • Defence Co-operation: through exercises like Dhosti, SLINEX etc. Major challenges in Indo-Sri Lanka relations • China factor in India-Sri Lanka relation: In terms of being the platform for India-China strategic competition, Sri Lanka has endorsed China’s flagship connectivity project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is also, one of the important nodes for China’s maritime strategy. India-Sri Lanka ties soured precipitously when Mahindra Rajapaksha leased the strategically significant port of HambantotaGSGSGS to China,SCORESCORESCORE an issue highly sensitive to India. • Ethnic issue: It is the prolongedGS conflict SCORE between the Sinhala majority and Tamil minority in Sri Lanka that has severely undermined bilateral ties in recent decades. The issue also involves war-crimes probe and accountability issues in Sri Lanka. • Fishing Disputes: Given the proximity of the territorial waters of both countries, especially in the Palk Straits and the Gulf of Mannar, incidents of straying of fishermen are common. Conclusion Gotabaya’s assurances on some issues of special interest to India, is a good occasion to build mutual trust. India-Sri Lanka are ready for a fresh start - looking at a more balanced and productive relationship.The challenge for Sri Lanka is to be mindful of the sensitivities of its larger neighbour, while for India, it is about respecting the sovereignty of its smaller neighbour.These steps could include Sri Lanka’s confidence building measures with the Tamils, greater cross-border economic cooperation as well as between northern Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu, and political investment in resolving the fisheries dispute.
Hints: Political Science [45] 8. (b) Deeper regional trade and connectivity has the potential to more than triple India's trade with its South Asian neighbours. Discuss in the light of recently published report by World Bank.
• Approach Required: With special reference to the report of World Bank and using quantitative figures, elaborate on the poor level of intra-region trade in South Asia. Need to also provide detailed pointwise reasons for the same. • Mistakes to be avoided: In this questions you need to provide a lot of factual and numerical data on the intra and inter region trade in South Asia. In a report titled ‘A Glass Half Full: The Promise of Regional Trade in South Asia’, the bank estimated that India’s potential trade in goods with South Asia at $62 billion against its actual trade of $19 billion, which is a mere 3% of its global trade and about $43 billion below its potential. The clear picture of trends in trade in south Asia: • Intra-regional trade- accounts for a little more than 5 percent of South Asia’s total trade while it accounts for 50 percent of total trade in East Asia and the Pacific and 22 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The relatively large economies of South Asia just have only 1% of its trade as GDP as against 2.6 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa and about 11 percent in East Asia and the Pacific. • According to global trade data, trade restrictiveness index is 2 to 9 times higher for imports from South Asia than rest of the world in case of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The South Asian regional trading cost is higher than ASEAN. Reasons of this distorted trend • The report emphasized that South Asian trade regimes discriminate against neighbors and protection is greater in the case of imports from within the South Asia region than from the rest of the world. In 2016, average tariffs in South Asia where 13.6%, more than double the world average of 6.3% and the highest among major regions of the world despite a regional free trade agreement (SAFTA) which came into force in 2006. • It pointed to two drawbacks of the SAFTA agreement. First, each country maintains a long “sensitive” list of products that are exempted from the tariff liberalization program. Almost 35% of the value of intraregional trade in South Asia is subject to sensitive list tariffs; over 39% of India’s exports to the region fall under the sensitive lists of various part-ners. Second, several countries in the GSregionGSGS maintain SCORESCORESCORE high Para tariffs (that is, duties imposed on imports, but not on domestic production), which have not been included in the tariff prefer-ence programmes in free trade agreements. Among the major economies in South Asia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka maintain high Para tariffs. • There is poor transportation and logistics infrastructure across south Asian borders. Inefficient customs and border procedures make the trade slow thereby increasing the cost of trade. e.g. cumbersome product registration and requisite authorization processes for pharma import. The trade relation between India and Pakistan has heavily impacted South Asian trade. The two countries account for 88% of the region’s GDP. The trade potential is of $37 billion which today stands at $2 billion only. • The security dilemma in the South Asian region due to large sizes of India vis-à-vis other countries in the region. It has given rise to mistrust which is perpetuated further by a lack of people-to-people interactions and partnerships.
[46] Hints: Political Science Way forward Connectivity is fundamental in any trade relations. Bilateral air service policies and simplified Visa regimes should be followed. Trust induces trade and trade results into peace and prosperity. The border haats at India Bangladesh border is a case in point. It has helped in developing social capital between both the countries. The report also recommended an approach of open regionalism, and views intraregional trade as complementary to, and as a stepping stone for, deeper global integration.
8. (c) Discuss India and ASEAN Economic and Trade Relations. Also examine the future potential between India and ASEAN economic relations.
• Approach Required: Discuss the evolution of India and ASEAN’s economic relations based on examples since 1992. Elaborate on how the trade between the two has progressed and what more needs to be done. • Mistakes to be avoided: Content needs to be factual and example based. Avoid a generic analysis of India-ASEAN relations. • Recently, India and Association of South-East Asian nations (ASEAN) agreed to review the Free Trade Agreement which was signed in 2009. Let us discuss them: • In 1992, India became ASEAN’s sectoral dialogue partner, a Full Dialogue Partner in 1995 and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1996. • In 2003, a Framework Agreement i.e. the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) was signed to provide an institutional framework to enable economic cooperation; India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA) was signed in Bangkok in 2009. • Under the pact, two trading partners set timelines for eliminating duties on the maximum number of goods traded between the two regions. In addition, ASEAN-India Free Trade Area entered into force by the ASEAN-India Agreements on Trade in Service and Investments on 1 July 2015. • India has also engaged with ASEAN at both regional and sub-regional levels by signing economic cooperation agreements with its different members. • ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner.India’s trade with ASEAN stands at US$ 81.33 billion, which is approx. 10.6% of India’s overall trade. India’s export to ASEAN stand at 11.28% of our total exports. Between 1995 and 2016, trade between India and ASEAN grew at a compound averageGSGSGS growth SCORESCORESCORE rate (CAGR) of about 11.9 percent. Impact of FTA • Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database, reveals that post-FTA, India’s exports to ASEAN increased substantially, with the largest accesses gained in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. • FTAs have adversely impacted India’s manufacturing, which the government is trying to boost through its Make in India initiative in order to generate jobs. • Moreover, the surge in goods import into India is accentuated by instances of non-adherence to origin norms and lack of full cooperation in investigating and addressing such breaches. In contrast, the utilisation of preferential tariffs by India under the India-ASEAN FTA is below 30% because of standards, regulatory measures and other non-tariff barriers in the region.
Hints: Political Science [47] Future prospect • Regional value chains strengthen economic cooperation by expanding market access among nations. For example: Textiles manufacturers in India could benefit by engaging with less developed countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, as the latter import cotton yarn (an input used in manufacturing of textiles) from India. • In the areas of physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity. Under the agreement on trade in services signed in 2015, India and ASEAN agreed to liberalise trade in telecommunications, financial and insurance services, while regulating the movement of natural persons.
GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE
[48] Hints: Political Science IAS 2020 POLITICAL SCIENCE TEST SERIES
By: Dr. PIYUSH CHAUBEY
TEST: 8
www.iasscore.in Political Science Test Series 2020 TEST - 08
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Time Allowed: 3 hrs. Max. Marks: 250
SECTION - A
1. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) Economic dimension of India-Latin America Relationship (10) (b) India-Japan Nuclear deal (10) (c) India should not invest more political capital for UNSC membership. Comment. (10) (d) Kartarpur Corridor: India’s concerns. (10) (e) India’s Palestine Policy (10) 2. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Critically Examine Defence Cooperation in context of India & Russia. (15)
(b) India-US Strategic and Commercial dialogue. Comment. (15)
(c) Africa is well placed in Geo-strategic calculus of India’s Ocean region policy. Substantiate with examples. (20)
3. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Discuss the Indian Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operation. Is it still a relevant factor for India’s claimGSGSGS to UNSC SCORESCORESCORE seat? (15) (b) Indian Diaspora in Gulf region: Issues and Concerns. Discuss. (15)
(c) India’s Development Partnership-Achievements and Challenges. Comment. (20)
4. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Growing India-US defence relations is a reflection of changing geo-political order of the globe in general and Asia-pacific in particular. Comment. (15)
(b) Critically analyse increasing India-Japan defence cooperation. (15)
(c) Discuss the role of India in “The Great Game” of Central Asia with examples. (20)
Political Science [1] SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each:
(a) Developed vs Developing nations at WTO. (10)
(b) NAM-2.0 is considered to be an attempt to provide a policy framework to all domestic and foreign policy issues. (10)
(c) The recent dynamics of India-Pakistan relationship, along with examples. (10)
(d) Cooperative Security Scenario in South Asia. (10)
(e) The US-Iran conflict won’t leave India untouched. (10)
6. Attempt all the questions:
(a) India-EU relations have immense potential but have failed to realize the same. Analyse the statement with respect to recent issues between India and EU. (15)
(b) Examine India’s contribution/role in global disarmament? How far is it correct to say global nuclear regimes were biased and designed to maintain power distribution of cold war era? (15)
(c) India can provide increased assistance to Afghanistan not only through the existing technical, educational and economic avenues but also in military domain. Discuss the feasibility of this option keeping in view the multiple stakeholders in the region. (20)
7. Attempt all the questions:
(a) Discuss the utility of maritime power as a foreign policy tool in the light of pro active engagements of the Indian Navy in Indian Ocean and Asia-pacific region. (15)
(b) Discuss India-Israel Defense relationship and cooperation on counter terrorist measures. (15)
(c) Twenty years after the Indian nuclear doctrine was first drafted, the time is certainly ripe for a comprehensive review and suitable revisions. Discuss. (20) 8. Attempt all the questions:GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE (a) Discuss the major aspects of India’s view of Indo-Pacific construct in context of our ‘Act East’ and ‘Act West’ approach. (15)
(b) Discuss the major emerging challenges for India Foreign Policy in 2020 with examples. (15)
(c) Discuss the nature of Military to Military Cooperation between India and China and need for future measures to augment the same. (20)
[2] Political Science Political Science Test Series 2020
www.iasscore.in POLITICAL SCIENCE Answer Hints: Test No.8
SECTION - A
1. (a) Economic dimension of India-Latin America Relationship • Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the extent of Economic and Trade relationship between the two based on factual examples. Also try to comment on challenges and limitations of this relationship briefly. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content should not be limited to just Brasil or Mexico. Need to diversify your answer with examples from other nations as well. • Economic liberalisation and consolidation of democracy in the face of globalisation forces became the mantra of Latin American countries in the decade of 1990. India also initiated sweeping economic reforms in 1991. With the liberalisation of many economies in the region, there is a growing interaction both at the public and private sector levels. While India has signed trade and economic cooperation agreements with seven countries of the region and set up business councils with some others, a number of accords have also been signed between the private sector and apex trade and industrial bodies of the region. • India faces competition from the Latin American countries in respect of the following commodities in third country markets: wheat (Argentina); tobacco (Brazil); spices (Guatemala, Brazil and Mexico); cashewnuts (Brazil); oil meals (Argentina and Brazil); sugar (Cuba and Brazil). There is a need for working out a common strategy in third country markets in respect of these commodities between the two regions. • As far as investment and joint ventures are concerned, there is a considerable scope for joint ventures in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering products, software, petroleum and mining. Bajaj scooters, Ranbaxy, RITES, ONGC are well known names in these countries to invest and start joint ventures. The Non-Residents of India have invested $1.6 billion in Mexico in some 55 joint ventures and ISPAT group is the leading investor. Both Argentine and Brazilian firms have set up some joint ventures in India. • The Ministry of Commerce initiated regional focus by launching Focus LAC in 1997 for the Latin American region. The obvious reason for the choice of this region was that they have stabilised politically and their economies started firming up. The Indian assessment was that the multinational companies mostly serviced this region. They provided these goods and services to the region mostly by procuring products from countries like India. India’s share in their trade, thus, was insignificant, but to a large extent the economies on both sides were complementary. • Some of the major components of Focus LAC have been as follows: macro analysis of imports and exports of the different countries of region to identify important countries and analysis of bilateral trade agreement between countries; dissemination of information about LAC markets in India and about Indian capabilities and LAC markets through conferences, trade fairs and visits of delegations; integration of activities of different Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) with the Ministry of Commerce to make Indian presence felt in each of the selected markets; special measures include separate fund for market development ,special arrangement for banking and line of credit and rating for insurance; identification of countries to Professional Trade Arrangements for promoting investment; inviting buyers from LAC to India and support for learning languages of LAC by exporters and their staff. • Under Focus LAC programme, the share of the Indian exports to LAC in total has gone up from 1.43 per cent in 1996-97 to 2.21 per cent in 2000-01 .The value of these exports jumped from $478 million to approximately $1 billion during the same period. As a follow up to the Focus LAC programme, participation by EPCs and Business houses in international exhibitions in that region have helped dissemination of valuable information on Indian tradable and technological advancements. Concerted efforts have been made to overcome the barriers of distance and languages. • India’s target is to get a one percent share of the total imports of Latin America. It has already achieved this in the case of Brazil in 2002. Its share is 1.2 percent of the total imports of $ 47.2 billion of Brazil. If it can achieve this in the most challenging market, it can surely do so in other countries of Latin America. The enhancement of India’s image by its achievements in Information Technology (IT) and the successful entry of Indian pharmaceuticals into Latin America have made the job of marketing of other products easier. The Indian exporters should have a four-pronged marketing strategy for Latin America towards: (i) Mercosur )ii) Andean Community, (iii) Mexico (iv) Central America and the Caribbean. Current Scenario • Many were hopeful that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landslide victory in national elections last year would usher in a new era of more robust engagement between India and Latin America. Prime Minister Modi has proven himself to be a foreign policy juggernaut, visiting eighteen countries during his first year in office alone. The effect has been to reprioritize Indian’s foreign relations with countries around the world and to refocus India’s attention on regions traditionally overlooked by New Delhi. Proponents of stronger India-Latin American ties hoped that Prime Minister Modi’s election would put the region back on India’s diplomatic radar. • In July 2014, just one month after his election, Prime Minister Modi headed to Brazil to attend the annual BRICS summit hosted by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Modi used the opportunity to meet several Latin American heads of state and pledge greater Indian engagement with the region. Increased Indian cooperation with Latin America would be consistent with one of theGSGSGS primary objectivesSCORESCORESCORE of Modi’s whirlwind diplomacy: strengthening India’s economy. • Closer cooperation with Latin America holds immense economic potential for India. Latin America’s collective GDP is more than $5 trillion. It has a combined population of more than 600 million, nearly half of which is under the age of thirty. The region constitutes a dynamic, growing and resource-rich part of the world that is witnessing increasing democratization and surging economic growth. These factors helped Latin America attract more $179 billion in FDI in 2013, more than any other region in the world. The profile is remarkably similar to India’s own growth story. • Trend lines appear to be moving in the right direction within a wide array of sectors. India’s trade with the region has grown from less than $2 billion fifteen years ago, to $46 billion between 2013 and 2014, and includes everything from soybeans to aircraft to minerals. Prime Minister Modi’s home state of Gujarat represents more than 60% of this $46 billion total alone. [2] Hints: Political Science • Latin America has also emerged as a key contributor to India’s energy security. India now imports 20% of its crude oil from Brazil, Columbia, Mexico and Venezuela by some estimates. In 2012, India overtook China as the largest Asian buyer of Venezuelan oil. This milestone was no accident. India is one of the world’s largest importers of crude oil. For many years, New Delhi was Iran’s second largest purchaser of Iranian crude, but was forced to curtail its imports as the result of U.S. and U.N sanctions targeting Iran’s lucrative oil industry over Tehran’s nuclear program. New Delhi was compelled to search for alternate energy supplies. Latin America’s vast energy reserves quickly came into sharp focus, enhancing the region’s importance to New Delhi. • India’s private sector has also invested billions of dollars into Latin America, sharply increasing trade flows and expanding India’s global brand. The country’s leading companies have become a ubiquitous presence in the region. India’s steel giant, Jindal Steel & Power, has invested $2.3 billion in an iron ore mine in Bolivia, the largest foreign direct investment project in Bolivian history. In Trinidad and Tobago, Essar Steel is in the process of constructing a 2.5 million ton steel plant. More than one hundred Indian companies have invested over $12 billion in Latin America across a wide variety of industries, including mining, metals, agriculture, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics and plane parts. • India also constitutes one of the largest suppliers of Information Technology (IT) services to Latin America. In 2002, India’s famed Tata Consulting Services, established a Global Delivery Center in Montevideo, Uruguay. Of the fourteen Indian companies operating in Argentina, half are focused on IT-related services. According to some estimates, over 35,000 Latin Americans are now employed at Indian IT companies operating in the region. New Delhi is also actively promoting official policies intended to further expand Indian IT services in Latin America. • The depth and scope of this economic activity in Latin America demonstrates the extent to which the region has arisen as a stable, attractive and viable market for Indian investment. • But beyond mere economic considerations, geopolitics is another factor explaining India’s newfound warmth toward Latin America. Although India has steadily expanded its footprint there over the past several years, it is still dwarfed by China’s immense presence in the region. Chinese trade with Latin America is projected to hit $500 billion over the next ten years, while Chinese investment is predicted to cross the $250 billion mark during the same period. China has aggressively spent billions of dollars to finance infrastructure, provide credits and export goodsGS to Latin America. SCORE It has far surpassed India in its engagement with this fast-rising region ofGSGSGS the world bySCORESCORESCORE virtually every metric. As a result, India’s approach to Latin America is considered more measured and cautious. • Although some regard India’s approach as too timid, others view it as strategic and calculated. Beijing’s aggressive, multibillion-dollar strategy in Latin America has triggered backlash in some quarters throughout the region. Many Latin Americans resent the deluge of Chinese imports flooding their markets and harming local businesses, while many Latin American governments are wary of becoming too dependent on Beijing’s largesse. By contrast, India’s modest trade and investment are welcomed with virtually no opposition. This confers New Delhi with an unexpected, long-term competitive advantage over China. • India-Latin America relations have come a long way over the past several years. By capitalizing on the growing momentum and budding progress between them, India and Latin America can build a strong, sustainable partnership and usher in a new, unprecedented era of cooperation. Hints: Political Science [3] 1. (b) India-Japan Nuclear deal
• Approach Required: Focus on the aspects which make the deal crucial for both nations. Also assess the challenges faced in finalization of the deal. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your content should be specific to Indo-Japan Deal. No need to analyse the genral nature of such civilian nuclear agreements. • The India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy was signed in November 2016 and entered into force in July 2017. The agreement is monumental: Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered nuclear attacks. The agreement encompassed several aspects of cooperation, from exchange of information and expertise to support in design and construction of reactors. • A contested aspect is the ‘Nullification clause’, which automatically suspends cooperation between the parties in the case of India conducting nuclear tests. “However, it was resolved by annexing a separate memorandum to the treaty which specifies that Japan can suspend cooperation with India if India breaches its no-testing pledge to the NSG.” • The agreement has been a boost to the ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’ between the two countries, which has seen a huge uptake in the last decade or so. It was a breakthrough for India as it became the first non-NPT signatory to enter into a civil nuclear cooperation pact with Japan and thus in effect recognising the de facto status of India as a nuclear weapons power. • Japan is a major player in the civil nuclear energy market and an atomic energy deal like this “will facilitate collaborating with the US-based nuclear plant manufacturers such as Westinghouse Electric Corporation and GE Energy Inc.” easier and improve the prospects of setting up nuclear power plants in India as both these conglomerates have Japanese investments. Japan holds a “near monopoly” on reactor elements of the AP100 and EPR reactors, such as safety components and domes. • In the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the nuclear industry began facing a near-global crisis. Stricter safety regulations have caused an increase in the costs of constructing nuclear power plants, and some countries have become more cautious about new nuclear reactors. The deal with India is likely to have the impact of revitalising the Japanese civil nuclear industry which is yet to recover from the setback of the Fukushima accident. Hitachi, Mitsubishi and Toshiba are all focusing on repair and maintenance of existing plants (most of GSGSwhich are idle) SCORESCORE rather than the construction of new ones. Thus, this agreement will furtherGS GSboost the energySCORESCORE security goals of both India and Japan while accelerating the pace of strategic cooperation between the two sides as they play a larger role in ensuring a safe and secure Indo-Pacific.
1. (c) India should not invest more political capital for UNSC membership. Comment.
• Approach Required: Your answer needs to elaborate on all the reasons as to why it is no longer pragmatic for India to invest its diplomatic potential in this quest. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t just focus on the multiple challenges in getting the seat, but also elaborate in why the seat at UNSC itself is no longer that relevant in terms of global affairs. • Even as the UN’s failures have become self-evident over the years, Indian political elites continue to view it as an almost indispensable actor in global politics that needs substantial
[4] Hints: Political Science Indian diplomatic investment. While this fascination with a moribund institution may not have had any cost in the past when India was on the periphery of global politics, a rising India of today cannot afford to cling on to that same old worldview. Yet India continues to expend its precious diplomatic capital on pursuing permanent membership in the Security Council. • India’s experience with the UN has historically been underwhelming, to put it mildly. Indian national interests have suffered whenever the nation has looked to the UN for support. As the Nehruvian idealism has gradually been replaced by a more confident assertion of Indian national interests, it is time for India to make a more forceful dissociation from the perfunctory modalities of the UN. • Too much of a UN-fixation is not good for the health of any nation, much less for a rising power like India. Indian interests today are global and ever-expanding. And the Indian government should have the self-confidence to declare that these interests will be protected and enhanced, irrespective of the priorities of other external actors. The Indian government is the only legitimate constitutional authority to decide when and how to use its instruments of power. And by and large there is only one criterion that it should use: preservation of vital Indian interests. • The UN is an international organization that was established in the aftermath of World War II and so reflects the distribution of power of that era. The Security Council, where the real power lies, has five permanent members with veto powers who use the organization to further their own interests. The General Assembly, for all its pretensions, remains a mere talking shop. The state of affairs in the UN is so pathetic that apart from some of its technical bodies, the rest of the organization is a farce. The UN Human Rights Council has had members like Sudan, Zimbabwe, China, and Saudi Arabia: all with stellar human rights credentials. • Indian leadership continues to give the impression that the role it sees for India in global security is not shaped by its own assessment of its interests and values, but by the judgements of global institutions like the UN. No major power takes UN Peacekeeping Operations seriously. • Yet India continues to be one of the largest contributors to these peacekeeping contingents, sending nearly 180,000 peacekeepers to 44 missions over the years. Indian forces working for the UN have suffered more casualties than any other nation. Indian policymakers argue that this is being doneGS not for any SCORE strategic gain but in the service of global ideals – “strengthening the world-body,GSGSGS and SCORESCORE SCOREinternational peace and security.” Why should global peace and security be a priority for Indian government, a government that has continued to fail miserably in establishing domestic order and internal security? • There was always a calculation that being a leader in UN Peacekeeping would help India in its drive towards the permanent membership of the Security Council. But what has India achieved in reality? Despite its involvement in numerous peacekeeping operations in Africa for decades, the African states refused to support India’s candidature. Given China’s growing economic and military hold over Africa, the states in the region were merely pursuing their own interests. • India’s candidature for permanent membership on the Security Council will be taken seriously only when India becomes an economic and military power of global reckoning, able to protect and enhance its interests unilaterally. Until then, Modi’s power diplomacy at the G4 will have little meaning.
Hints: Political Science [5] 1. (d) Kartarpur Corridor: India’s concerns.
• Approach Required: Discuss the various concerns related to the project with special emphasis on the Pro-Khalistan angle. Need to provide some factual examples related to the project and the security concerns as well.
• Mistakes to be avoided: Your content needs to be critical towards the issues of security but not towards the project itself. Also suggest remedial measures.
The Kartarpur Corridor is a proposed border corridor between India and Pakistan, connecting the Sikh shrines of Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (located in Punjab, India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur (in Punjab, Pakistan). Currently under planning, the corridor is intended to allow religious devotees from India to visit the Gurdwara in Kartarpur, 4.7 kilometres (2.9 from the Pakistan-India border, without a visa. Significance of the corridor The Gurudwara is built on the historic site where Guru Nanak settled and assembled the Sikh commune after his missionary travels and where he died, on 22 September 1539. India and Pakistan agreed to construct the corridor on their respective sides so that Sikh devotees could worship at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. Pro Khalistan Movement’s relation to the Kartarpur Corridor and it’s impact on India’s security: India put on hold its engagement with Pakistan on the proposed “Kartarpur Corridor” after the government of Pakistan roped in people known for supporting the campaign for Khalistan. India’s concerns over the inclusion of Gopal Singh Chawla and other pro-Khalistani leaders based in Pakistan in the committee, which the Pakistan Government recently constituted to welcome the pilgrims from India through the proposed corridors. Chawla, who is known to be linked to anti-India and pro-Khalistan entities based in Pakistan, is also linked to radical cleric Hafiz Saeed, who is based at Lahore in Pakistan and whom New Delhi suspects to be the founder of the terrorist outfit Lashkar- e-Tayyiba (LeT) as well as the brain behind the November 26-28, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Not only Chawla, but several other pro-Khalistani activists based in Pakistan – Bison Singh, Kuljit Singh and Maninder Singh – were included in the committee set up by Pakistan Government.The government’s stand comes amid concerns of secessionist groups, including Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a U.S.-Canada based group, planning to organise a convention on ‘Khalistan-Referendum 2020’ at the Kartarpur shrine. Measures for Prevention: GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE 1. India should make its point very clear about the inclusion of pro Khalistan activists in a committee by the Pakistan government. It is important as it includes two very sensitive and important matter i.e Religion and National Security.
2. India should also make adequate arrangements, background verification and regular insights on movement of people and ideas alongside border post the start of corridor so as to ensure no threatening element enters the country.
Conclusion: The Kartarpur Corridor holds significance as it is attached to our past and has religious significance attached to it. So, the question of not starting the corridor should be ruled out. In fact, we should implement maximum preventive measures to ensure that the aggrandizement of Khalistan movement does not happen.
[6] Hints: Political Science 1. (e) India’s Palestine Policy • Approach Required: Discuss the evolution of Indian policy in this context with special emphasis on the factors which governed India’s pro-Palestine stance. Then analyze how this has changed to a more balanced approach in the recent years. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep your content specific to Palestine. The question is not asking for examination of India-Israel relations instead. • In the early 1920s and amidst the Khilafat struggle, Indian nationalists made common cause with the Arabs of Palestine and adopted a position that was unsympathetic to the Jewish aspirations for a national home in Palestine • Adopting an identical position, the Indian National Congress opposed the idea of religion based partition in India as well as in Palestine. • So long as India did not formalize relations with Israel, its leaders could invoke Mahatma Gandhi’s 1938 statement - “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English and France to the French” - and highlight India’s consistent andsteadfast support for the Palestinian cause. • Indo-Palestinian relations have been largely influenced by the independence struggle against British colonialism After Indian independence, the country has moved to support Palestinian self-determination following the partition of British India. • This zero-sum approach ended in January 1992 when India chose to reverse the four decades old recognition-without-relations policy of Jawaharlal Nehru and established diplomatic relations with Israel. • India was principally responding to structural changes in the international order following the end of the Cold War and was signalling India’s willingness to make a break with the past. And he chose to do this through the normalisation of relations with Israel. • Since PM Modi’s election, change was definitely in the offing. The BRICS summit in Fortaleza, the Fortaleza Declaration inter alia reaffirmed the member-states’ commitment to “a two State solution with a contiguous and economically viable Palestinian State existing side by side in peace with Israel, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders based on the 4 June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Ignoring the popular protests and regional turmoil in the Arab world, it identified “the resolution of the Israeli Palestinian conflict is a fundamental component for building a sustainable peace in the Middle East.” • Very first sign of shift inGSGSGS Palestine policy SCORESCORESCORE came in July 2015 when India chose to abstain inthe UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) vote on alleged ‘war crimes’ being committed by Israel as well as by Hamas during the 2014 war, referred to by Israel as Operation Protective Edge. Only a year earlier, India had voted with others in the Council to institute an international inquiry into the Gaza violence and attributed its shift to a reference to Israel being taken to the International Criminal Court. India once again abstained in March 2016 when the UNHRC voted on a similar resolution. • India is no longer willing to view its Israel policy through the traditional Palestinian prism. After his talks with the visiting Palestinian leader, PM Modi reiterated India’s support for “sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, co-existing peacefully with Israel.” This is an extremely powerful and loaded phrase with far-reaching implications. • PM Modi mentioned India’s unwavering support to Palestine and for a two state solution. He also spoke of a ‘sovereign, independent, united and viable Palestine, co-existing peacefully with Israel.’ Hints: Political Science [7] • India-Israel Trade has grown from $200 million in 1992 to over $5 billion in 2015 and the defence relationship has also deepened, as India on the verge of signing a $3 billion arms deal with Israel.
2. (a) Critically Examine Defence Cooperation in context of India & Russia. • Approach Required: Discuss the various issues both internal and external which are causing decline in the relations. Focus on issues like diversification of defence trade by India and new engagements of Russia with Pakistan. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to assess the overall extent of decline and how it can be remedied. Provide factual examples related to the defence trade as well. Do not shift the blame of the decline entirely on side. • Russia has been miffed by India diversifying its sources of supply of military hardware. That the United States has emerged as the largest supplier of arms and equipment to India could not have gone unnoticed in Russia, just as Russia’s reaching out to China and Pakistan with significant defence deals has not gone unnoticed in India. • Rightly or wrongly, the relationship seemed to be freezing, if not sliding down, for a long time. The then Russian envoy’s statement that “Rafale can be shot down like mosquitoes by the Chinese-made Sukhoi” following Russia’s elimination from the now-aborted Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) acquisition programme was a clear indication of where bilateral relations were headed. • In a manner of speaking, Russia’s overtures to India’s neighbours have reversed that equation. The shoe now seems to be on the other foot. Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, was right when he told the state-owned Sputnik that he did not think the contemplated sale of aircraft and attack helicopters to Pakistan will cause any jealousy in India. He was right. • Beyond a formal expression of concern, India does not seem to have taken it to heart. If US military aid to Pakistan for more than six decades did not come in the way of the current upswing in defence trade between India and the United States, there is no reason why Russia’s strategic benevolence towards China and Pakistan should be a serious factor influencing India’s defence trade with Russia. • India cannot allow that to happen. Russian-origin tanks, armoured vehicles, missiles, submarines, aircraft, helicopters, aircraft carrier, ammunition, and other assorted systems, constitute the backbone of India’s military capability. Going by the past experience, these will remain in service forGSGSGS the next severalSCORESCORESCORE decades. If nothing else, Russian support will be crucial for ensuring operationalGS serviceability SCORE of the equipment, including repair, refit and upgrades. • Even Russia cannot afford to consider scaling down its defence trade with India. Russia needs to sustain its huge military industrial base. China and Pakistan have limited potential as export markets. As an important player in contemporary international politics and anxious to regain its past glory, it will not serve Russia’s interest to pull out all the stops to align with China, which will benefit more from such an alignment, or with Pakistan, which has a dubious record of spawning extremism all over. • These imperatives will drive continued close Indian-Russian engagement into the foreseeable future, even if there is no new defence deal, which, of course, is not going to happen. Programmes, such as the joint development or outright purchase of the Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft and Multi-role Transport Aircraft, as also the upgradation of Su-30 MKI aircraft, have been lurking in the background for a long time. If and when finalized, these would give a tremendous boost to defence trade between the two countries. [8] Hints: Political Science • Seen in this background, the agenda for the present visit signifies a pragmatic willingness on the part of both countries to move on. Which is good, but it would be naive to believe that defence trade can be reinforced without any change in the way it has been conducted since the heady days following the signing of the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation in 1971. • It might be easier for Russia to understand India’s compulsions in diversifying the sources of supply of military hardware but it will take some doing on its part to address India’s concerns about the life cycle support for the Russian-origin equipment being used by the Indian armed forces, transfer of technology, timely delivery of contracted items, quality control, inexplicable price fluctuations of equipment and spare parts, and a host of other issues which crop up regularly. It will not be surprising if these issues also form a part of the agenda of the current visit. • There is a huge potential in regard to joint development/co-production of equipment and defence research and development. This is going to be the key to closer engagement between the two countries in the backdrop of the ‘Make in India’ push by the Indian government. BrahMos is a successful example of what this potential can achieve. It will take just a few deals to be sealed, especially of co-development/co-production variety, for the present drift in the relations being arrested and brought back on an even keel.
2. (b) India-US Strategic and Commercial dialogue. Comment • Approach Required: Adopt a completely factual approach and enumerate all the areas and issues which are being covered in the dialogue. Write in a point wise manner focusing on factual examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: This is a specific institutional dialogue, so avoid general analysis of India-USA relations. India and the United States have been convening a strategic dialoguesince 2010, so the change this year elevated discussion of economic and commercial issues to the cabinet level alongside the central matters of security and global diplomatic concerns. Economic issues were always part of the previous strategic dialogues with India but in raising this set of bilateral issues to the cabinet level, and by including the commercial agencies on both sides, the new structure signals a higher level of importance for economic and commercial matters. It also, notably, revises the structure of the dialogue to parallel the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. That change was lost on no one, and Minister Swaraj expressly invoked it during the press conference which followed the dialogue. The U.S.-India economic relationship may be one- sixth the size of U.S.-China, GSGSbutGS the dialogues SCORESCORESCORE now look similar. The Salient points of the dialogue are: 1. More talking: India and the United States agreed to formalize new consultations in several areas. (Some of these had taken place previously either at other levels, or without being officially institutionalized.) The U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken will lead a new “High Level Consultation” with India’s Foreign Secretary, S. Jaishankar. A new “Policy Planning Dialogue” will begin. Talk has begun about a new “Oceans Dialogue.” There will be a new “Track 1.5” (involving government as well as participants from outside government) on Internet and cyber issues. Diplomats from each country will spend time at each other’s training centres. There will be a new “joint work stream” on the ease of doing business. 2. New areas of formal cooperation: Building on longstanding consultations on peacekeeping, and success in joint training for third countries in subjects like agriculture and technology, India and the United States will together train UN peacekeepers from six African countries. An agriculture biotechnology group has been set up to facilitate research in this area. There Hints: Political Science [9] are plans for a formal memorandum of understanding on “Energy Security, Clean Energy, and Climate Change.” There’s a new memorandum of understanding to tackle wildlife trafficking, with a special mention of support for India’s Project Tiger anti-poaching effort. There’s a new private sector-led initiative focused on standards to help ease trade. 3. More expansive public concern on terrorism: A separate joint declaration issued on countering terrorism highlights Washington and New Delhi’s shared terrorism concerns. Previously, language on combatting terrorism had been included in joint statements themselves, but admittedly given the several thousand words comprising such documents, it was just one part of many. The separate statement underscores shared worries about al-Qaeda, Lashkar- e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, D-Company, and the self-proclaimed Islamic State. The statement also condemns two recent terrorist attacks in India (in Gurdaspur and Udhampur). It also references “continuing efforts to finalize a bilateral agreement to expand intelligence sharing and terrorist watch-list information.” 4. More activities on esoteric topics: It’s often surprising to read a roster of the U.S.-India cooperation underway that exists off the high-diplomacy radar screen. The areas of science and technology have long been the most quietly productive, and least controversial, parts of the U.S.-India relationship. Following the U.S. export control reforms of 2010, the kinds of technology cooperation permitted has expanded further, including in subjects like high- energy physics. A read-through of the current bilateral cooperation includes references to launching U.S. components on Indian space launch vehicles; mental health; traditional medicine; work on a High-Intensity Superconducting Proton Accelerator; new research on Smart Grids; more joint research between Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory with the Bhabha Atomic Research Center and the Raja RamannaCenter for Advanced Technology; more monsoon and climate research in the Indian Ocean, plus “deep core samples of the seabed” analysis. There will be new health cooperation on environmental and occupational health, cancer, and antimicrobial resistance, building on joint work on rotavirus, Ebola, and other global health topics announced earlier this year. Commercially, a new exchange on “Technical Textiles” will be launched. What’s missing: Neither the joint statement nor the fact sheet on economic cooperation mentioned India’s interest in Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum membership, something included in the January “Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.” During the press conference, Minister Swaraj said that “Secretary Kerry and I agreed to work towards forming India’s membership of APEC” but similar statements appear nowhere else. On the long-pending bilateral investment treaty (BIT) process, the economic cooperation fact sheet merely references plans to “continue discussions to assess the prospects for a high standard BIT. Also missing was any announcementGSGSGS of defenseSCORESCORESCORE sales like those appearing in the press about the Indian military’s likely procurement of Boeing Apache and Chinook helicopters. These sales will likely be formally announced when Prime Minister Narendra Prime Minister and President Barack Obama meet next week. Commercial civil nuclear cooperation does not appear in the joint statement, the commercial and trade cooperation fact sheet, or the energy, climate, environment, and science cooperation document, either.
2. (c) Africa is well placed in Geo-strategic calculus of India’s Ocean region policy. Substantiate with examples.
• Approach Required: Discuss the role of Security issues in emerging partnership between India and Africa. With the help of examples of dialogues, visits and agreements elaborate how security cooperation with the Littoral states has emerged to be the mainstay of India’s Maritime policy. [10] Hints: Political Science • Mistakes to be avoided: Content needs to be factual and try to give atleast one example for each nation on Eastern side of Africa regarding its engagement with India. Also elaborate on why African nations also need this partnership. India and Africa are two shore neighbors. It is this geographical proximity, India looking westwards across the navigable Indian Ocean, that made the peoples of the two regions known to each other. Beginning with early colonial days, the free and voluntary relations of the past gave way to colonial needs and preferences. The present relation, one between independent, self-respecting regions, was formally established only after both sides got independence. India’s Partnership: Security Perspective India and Africa continue their close security cooperation, including through regular consultations at the UN, at the AU and in New Delhi/national capitals. • New Delhi has security cooperation with several African countries, including South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Nigeria. • India has signed its first strategic partnership with South Africa. Both remain committed towards operationalization of the African Standby Force through special training programmes. This cooperation has been appreciated in the UN, in the AU, in the regional entities like ECOWAS of India’s contribution in peacekeeping, in providing security in the countries which are in the conflict zone in Africa. • India’s contribution to the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) is acknowledged globally, especially in Africa. India has become part of the conflict- containment and reconstruction process of the affected region. As the third largest contributor of personnel to the UNPKO. India has more than 5,000 peacekeepers in Africa. In 2007, India’s unparalleled contribution of a 125-member Female Formed Police Unit (FFPU) of its paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to the UN Mission in Liberia represents the first-ever women contingent in the history of UN peacekeeping. • In the context of issues relating to international peace and security, India has appreciated efforts made by the AUPSC in maintaining peace in Africa. Moreover, India has engaged with Africa as one of its crucial partners in the electoral process. New Delhi has approved US$ 10 million to the UN fund, and has promised an additional amount of US$ 2 million for the purchase of protective gear, to combat the Ebola epidemic. India’s security cooperation with Africa needs a greater thrust. As a victim of terrorism, India could partner in the proposed multilateral and regional counter-terror initiatives in Africa. Maritime Cooperation GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE The Indian Ocean is undoubtedly the most important part of India’s emerging maritime strategy, and in the quest to secure its interest in the strategic ocean, India aims to expand its security profile in East Africa. The littorals of East Africa serve as a gateway to the wider Indian Ocean Region. This region not only hosts large energy reserves, but also is home to some of the world’s most important strategic waterways and congested, ambush-prone maritime chokepoints. Through these chokepoints, more than 50 percent of Africa’s maritime energy trade passes. Despite the fact that India has historically enjoyed excellent cultural and economic relations with the East African nations of Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa, it has somewhat failed to project itself as a maritime security provider in the extended region. There now exists a unique opportunity for India in this regard, as the strategic and economic interests of all regional stakeholders converge in the Indian Ocean Region. As India seeks to create a framework for cooperation in the maritime security domain, this convergence of strategic interests will act as the driving force.
Hints: Political Science [11] There are two key reasons as to why these nations require a robust maritime security partnership. • First, these East African nations are largely dependent on trade through the Indian Ocean and have gained economic stability, unlike many other African nations, due to their proximity to critical Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs) in the Indian Ocean. These SLOCs, perceived to be prone to piracy attacks, facilitate the integration of their national economies with the global economic order. For decades now, the mineral rich nations on the East African coast have shipped loads of ore and other raw material to booming economies across the Asia- Pacific and, in turn, have received huge investments in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, and defense. • Secondly, regional security forces lack the maritime capability to take on pirates and other seaborne criminals unilaterally. The lack of a modern maritime security infrastructure, due to limited resources, makes these states more dependent upon regional and global players for maritime security in these piracy-affected SLOCs. • India, through cooperation in the defense sector with Kenya and Tanzania, provides them limited defense aid, but has failed to stand out as a formidable maritime partner. According to World Bank estimates, the Kenyan economy loses an estimated $300 million annually because of maritime insecurity. • As defense cooperation between India and the United States reaches new heights, Kenya, which enjoys a close relationship with Washington, is likely to use this blooming relationship to secure its interests in the Indian Ocean. New Delhi, being Kenya’s largest trading partner and the second largest investor, should seek to engage Nairobi in the maritime security domain. • In the joint press statement following delegation-level talks in Nairobi, Modi emphasized closer cooperation in the field of maritime security. During his visit there, the two nations signed seven different pacts, including a Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation. In Tanzania, while the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation in the maritime domain, it will be interesting to see if New Delhi follows up on this with a more defined policy. • While India has had little success in engaging Kenya and Tanzania in the maritime security domain, it has successfully projected itself as a maritime security provider to Mozambique. During the African Union summit in 2003 and the World Economic Forum meet in 2004, India deployed its navy off the coast of Maputo to provide maritime security. A security agreement in effect since 2012 provides for Indian Navy patrols in Mozambique’s territorial waters. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • During his recent visit and ever since coming to power in 2014, Narendra Modi has laid special emphasis on maritime cooperation with Mozambique. The country is among the fastest growing economies in sub-Saharan Africa and is heavily dependent on the Indian Ocean to sustain its annual growth of around 8 percent. The scope of maritime cooperation between India and Mozambique is high, and a policy-driven framework in which India projects itself as a reliable maritime security provider can bolster maritime cooperation between the two nations. • India’s relationship with South Africa, meanwhile, is quite different from its relationship with other African nations. South Africa, with its globalized economy and abundant resources, is an emerging regional hegemon in sub-Saharan Africa. By bolstering maritime security ties with Pretoria, New Delhi can put to use South Africa’s influence in sub-Saharan Africa to create a consensus in the region for its leadership role in the Indian Ocean. India and South Africa enjoy strategic similarities, but it should not be assumed that these similarities translate into common interests. [12] Hints: Political Science • South Africa perceives India’s presence and engagement in the region as a threat to its interests. Pretoria’s economic relationship with Beijing prevents any meaningful engagement in limiting China’s influence in the Indian Ocean Region. As the two countries find constructive ways to engage in the maritime security domain, India should work to build a relationship that reduces threat perceptions in Pretoria. • As East African nations work to create infrastructure and institutions to address maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean, they need credible partners that can provide technological and institutional support. While the international community has rendered considerable help in this regard, the scope for maritime cooperation remains large and varied. If India hopes to create a consensus in Africa on its leadership role in the Indian Ocean Region, it should seize this opportunity to create a maritime security network that engages security seekers and security providers in effective governance of the maritime commons in the Indian Ocean Region.
3. (a) Discuss the Indian Participation in UN Peacekeeping Operation. Is it still a relevant factor for India’s claim to UNSC seat?
• Approach Required: Provide factual elaboration on the nature and extent of Indian participation in UN Peacekeeping Operation. Then assess in an argumentative manner that whether this participation and commitment has actually helped Indian cause at UNSC or not? • Mistakes to be avoided: Provide a dispassionate analysis. You are to only ascertain the merit of Indian Participation In UN Peacekeeping Operation on the criteria of UNSC seat ambitions, not in general or humanitarian sense. • India has been one of the largest contributors to United Nations peace operations since the 1950s. Despite this, there has been little debate in the Indian strategic and academic communities about the country’s political commitment to international peace operations. • Since 1955, India has claimed permanent representation in the UNSC. In later years, two of the defeated former powers, Japan and Germany, have also staked a similar claim, as has emerging power Brazil. Numerous other countries also remain claimants to UNSC seats— including two (unnamed so far) from the African Union and an Arab/Islamic country • It is unacceptable that India, with a population of 1.2 billion, a $2 trillion economy, the third largest country in terms of purchasing power parity, a nuclear weapons power with the third largest standing army in the world, and a major contributor to the UN’s peacekeeping missions, is not a memberGSGSGS of the UNSC—that SCORESCORESCORE too when economically and morally exhausted nations like France and UK remain on the council. India has already been a non-permanent member of the Council for Seven times and has gathered sufficient and more experience in peace keeping as compared to any of the existing permanent members. • In the past few months, India has taken up the issue of “changing mandates” and a lack of consultation by the Security Council that appoints the missions. In particular, India had objected after the killing of three Indian peacekeepers, or “blue helmets,” in South Sudan when rebels attacked their base, while 39 have been killed on peacekeeping duty in the Congo. • At the U.N. General Assembly this year, India had called for a greater role in the decision making about peacekeeping operations, especially in areas of internal political conflict. • With 8,132 soldiers on UN missions, India is the third largest contributor of peacekeeping forces, after Bangladesh and Pakistan. It has suffered the highest casualties in UN peacekeeping Hints: Political Science [13] operations, with an estimated 157 Indian soldiers being killed since 1950. Not to mention the massive economic costs incurred in such missions. The move for a bigger role in deciding UN peacekeeping mandates is seen as part of the bigger push by India for a permanent seat at the Security Council. Has this Sacrifice on part of India Consolidated India’s claim in the UNSC for permanent membership? Pro – Arguments: • India’s unsurpassed role in peace keeping shows its intent and commitment to world peace, even at the cost of the lives of its own soldiers. Compared to the existing permanent members in the Security Council, India has sacrificed more in terms of men and material thereby validating its rightful claim to a permanent seat. • The Indian contribution shows its unwavering faith in the principles and goals of United Nations , an essential prerequisite for a Permanent member of the Security Council which continues to be a victim of impasse and flagrant violations by members like Russia, USA and China when it comes to protecting their own interests. • Our contribution reaffirms our faith in the doctrine of Collective security and our belief in the ideal of cooperation against common threats to the world community. • Most of the missions have been conducted in the African region, a region thoroughly neglected by the P5 in terms of security and peace while they continue to provide more than necessary intervention in the Middle East. At the same time, Indian efforts have illustrated that it gives primal importance to world most economically backward region which continues to face internal as well as external conflict as well state and non-state sponsored human right violations. • India’s extensive experience gained over numerous years and missions equips it fully to tackle any crisis or challenge in future while functioning as a permanent Security Council member. Anti – Arguments: • In spite of massive commitment of India to the peacekeeping operations in the African region, hardly any concrete support has come for it claim in the UNSC. • The Reform process at UN is moving at a snail’s pace and has hit major roadblocks in form of opposition by China and UFC group. India should focus on handling these challenges diplomatically instead of wasting valuable resources and sacrificing well trained troops for nations which hardly reciprocateGSGSGS India’s SCORESCORESCORE efforts at Global forums. • Pakistan is world largest contributor in peace keeping operations although its causalities are far less than India, and its continued opposition to Indian claim dilutes our peacekeeping mission value in terms of furthering our cause at UNSC.
3. (b) Indian Diaspora in Gulf region: Issues and Concerns. Discuss. • Approach Required: Based on factual data, discuss the strength and extent of Indian Diaspora in the region. Then elaborate in detail on the multiple challenges and threats it is facing and what initiatives are being taken or should be taken to address the same. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide factual data in your answer. Do not attempt a general analysis of the Diaspora policy of India in the region. • There were about 14,000 Indians in the entire region till 1948. Thereafter, their number increased to over 40,000 by 1970-71. Since then, the number of Indian workers increased [14] Hints: Political Science quite rapidly mainly due to phenomenal hike in oil price and its export. This provided an ample opportunity for the Gulf countries to import labour from other countries in order to initiate development projects and modernisation in their respective countries. The total number of Indian labour was around 2, 66,000 in 1975. In 1979, the number had risen up to 5, 01,000. This trend was continued up to 1981, when the total number of Indians reached 5, 95,000 in 1981. According to reports received from the Indian Missions in the Gulf countries, the number of Indian labour rose to more than 4.5 million in 2008 .There are currently about 5 million Indian workers in the entire region. • NRIs in Saudi Arabia were about a million and half who were the largest Indian passport holding community abroad. The number of PIOs was nil in Saudi Arabia. NRIs constituted 7 per cent of the total population of the country in 2000. • Nearly 2.2 million population of Kuwait, there were about 65 percent foreign nationals in 2000. The Indian Diaspora constituted the single largest expatriate community in the country. They constituted for almost 13 percent of the total population. • Out of Oman’s total population of 2.3 million, the Indian community in this country constituted about 15 per cent of its population. Indians were the single largest expatriate group in Oman. These were about 58 per cent foreign population. The Indian Diaspora consists of 25 per cent unskilled, 30 per cent semi-skilled, and 35 per cent skilled manpower in Oman. The remaining 10 per cent constituted highly skilled professional such as doctor’s engineers, bankers, financial experts and managers. • The size of the Indian community in Qatar was almost one fourth of the total member of residents in the country. A major chunk of the Indian expatriates is engaged in unskilled or semiskilled work. • Unlike in the 1970s and 1980s when nearly 90% of Indians in the Gulf were blue-collar workers, today over 35% of the Indian expatriate workforce are white-collar professionals specializing in fast-moving fields such as the services and information industry. • Since the early 1990s, the outflow of Indians has been mainly in the service sector. There is now emerging trend that highly skilled Indian manpower such as doctor, engineer, IT professional, teacher, etc. are in great demand in the Gulf countries. The composition of Indian manpower has increased to about 40 per cent in this region. • India’s economic high-tech rise is reflected in the increasingly high level economic appearance of Indians in the Gulf, where professionals and technically qualified Indians are engaged in huge numbers in the knowledge-basedGS SCORE economic sectors such as Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and the JebelGSGSGS Ali Free ZoneSCORESCORESCORE (JAFZ). • Indian expatriates in the Gulf have a higher propensity to remit the money they earn. Gulf expatriates account for almost 30% of total remittances flowing back to India. The number of Indian workers was the largest in the United Arab Emirates at that time. • The Gulf NRIs are generally less educated, relatively young and unmarried. They normally come from rural and comparatively poor economic background. The majority of the Gulf NRIs were young at the time of their first migration. It is also noted that age group below 35 years dominated in all the case studies. • Thus, migration has been predominantly a flow of excess manual labour which had been seen in Kerala as well as in the rest of India over the past decades. • As far as the migration policy of India is concerned, the only statutory provision governing migration for employment is the Emigration Act of 1983. This Act deals only with certain
Hints: Political Science [15] categories of migrants who require the Emigration Clearances and by default the overwhelming majority of skilled and professional labour migration falls outside the purview of any regulatory framework. The following measures which were underlined by the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora should be taken in this direction to resolve their problems. • First of all, effective measures should be formulated by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to prevent exploitation by recruiting agents. There are several unscrupulous agents who exploit the aspiring innocent migrants.
• It is suggested that there must be an appropriate agency to rightly advise Indian workers about their rights and obligation in the countries where they are working.
• It is also demanded that Indian Government should set-up a standard labour export agreement in consultation with the Gulf countries regarding minimum wage, fare housing, health care, a weekly day off, and a limit on daily working hours, over lime, allowances rates, return air tickets and compensation in case of death or injury.
• Frequent visit to labour camps by the Indian consular officers in the Gulf countries must be in routine work in order to understand the difficulties faced by NRIs.
• Indian women also migrate to work in the Gulf as cooks, housemaids, governesses for children, etc. Since the local labour laws do not apply in their case, hence they, sometimes become victims of physical violence, molestation and even sexual abuse. In this regard, Indian Government should devise some measures to protect them from this kind of humiliation.
• There should be some counselling agency to provide proper guidance in migrating villages in order to invest the Gulf remittance in productive activities.
• Finally, there must be a new comprehensive emigration policy that should address the genuine grievances of all migrant workers.
Indian initiatives to address such challenges • A step to resolve issues has been taken in the Abu Dhabi Dialogue, established in 2008, wherein India, the Philippines and the UAE have collaborated to launch a pilot project relating to the contractual employment cycle.
• For instance, in response to the aforementioned layoffs in Saudi Arabia, the Indian government rushed emergency foodGS GSGSsupplies to theSCORESCORESCORE stranded workers.
• organizations have developed pressure groups that have been active on issues such as the compensation of the relatives of emigrants who die overseas, imprisonment of emigrants abroad, safety and security of emigrant families, and loans
• Most states in the region have come to value the Indian principle of seeking and securing regional stability as an over-riding principle of regional security.
• Cater to the needs of NRIs and OCIs by providing them with consular services, protection and conduct outreach activities to engage with them.
• To partially reduce the risk of vulnerability from fraudulent contracts, nurses for example can now only be recruited through one of the six state government placement agencies.
• E-migrate system that requires all foreign employers to register in the database.
[16] Hints: Political Science 3. (c) India’s Development Partnership-Achievements and Challenges. Comment.
• Approach Required: Simply elaborate on the SWOT of India’s aid diplomacy. Discuss its major objectives, initiatives taken, Achievements and Limitations based on specific factual examples. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to provide numerous examples from South Asia and Africa where most of the activity is concentrated. While commenting on the limitations, also include the role being played by China factor. • India’s development partnership assistance, extended tocountries through concessional loans, has more thandoubled in the past five years. • With the achievement of independence, IndianForeign Policy was guided by the principles ofPanchsheeland South-South Cooperation. India,despite being a poor country, with limited resources,displayed an internationalist responsibility to share itsmodest resources and capabilities with otherdeveloping countries. • It was believed that India could share its experience invarious domains and could also learn from theexperience of other developing countries. India wasitself a receiver of Overseas Development Assistanceof major multilateral organisations, but did not seeany contradiction in a receiver of aid and also share itsmodest capacities with other countries. • India thus started its development partnership with other nations, covering development, humanitarianand technical assistance to countries in different parts of the world • It is being implemented by various ministries and institutions with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asthe leading ministry. Major Examples • Training and Capacity Building-During 2017-18, 10,918 civilian training slots were offered under ITECProgramme to 161 partner countries in various areas such as Agriculture, Food and Fertilizers; Banking,Finance, Education etc. e.g. 150 bureaucrats from Ethiopia are receiving Indian training. • Line of Credits- From 2005-06 to January 2019, 274 LOCs aggregating to US$ 26.79 billion have beenextended to 63 countries in various sectors. • Infrastructural Development-some of theprominent ones beingoAfghanistan- Afghan Parliament, Salma Dam,Zaranj-GSGSGS Delaram SCORESCORESCORE highway project. • Sri Lanka-Refurbishment of the southernrailway and from Colombo to Matara. • Bhutan-Hydropower projects likePunatsangchhu-I, Kholongchhu. • Myanmar-India-Myanmar friendship road,upgradation of Sittwe Port. • Deputation of Indian Experts- As on November2017, forty-nine experts in various fields were on deputation to partner countries in areas ofInformation and Communication Technology (I&CT),Coconut experts, English teachers and Ayurveda. • Study tours- are undertaken at the specific request of ITEC partner countries. • Providing equipment- like Dornier aircraft to Seychelles, helicopter to Maldives. • Humanitarian assistance- like food items to Lesotho, Namibia; medical supplies to Zambia, Syria; building ofhouses in Nepal, Sri Lanka; NCERT books to Tanzania etc.
Hints: Political Science [17] • Aid for Disaster Relief-like to Nepal after earthquake, even to Pakistan in 2010 when it faced floods. • Small Development Projects- It is about low budgetprojects, which are demand driven and haveparticipation of local population of that country. • The Government of India has committed to variousprojects in countries like Afghanistan, Nepal,Bhutan, Suriname, Papua New Guinea etc. Achievement of India’s Development Partnership • Transformed into a foreign aid donor nation- In thefinancial year 2015-16 India gave Rs. 7719.65 croresas aid whereas it received Rs. 2,144.77 crore in aidfrom foreign countries and global banks. India ranksabove 11 of the 28 OECD donors (Organisation forEconomic Co- operation and Development) and isone of the largest development partners in certainregions. • Commitment to Neighbourhood First-Most of India’s foreign aid over the past decade has been directedtowards its neighbours. An analysis says that 84% of this $1.6 billion Indian foreign aid is to be directedtowards the South Asia, with Bhutan being allotted the largest share of 63% ($981 million). This is inconsonance with India’s aspiring status as a regional power. • African Outreach-where India has contributed in the following waysoPan-African E-Network Project: In 2004, India announced an initiative to bridge the digital divide andaccelerate development on the African continent. – TEAM-9 Initiative: The Techno-Economic Approach for Africa-India Movement (TEAM- 9), is a creditfacility with a volume of 500m US$ launched in 2004 for eight African countries. – Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for Least Developed Countries. – Aid to Africa budget of the Ministry of External Affairs of India. • Rise of India’s Soft Power-In the AidData’s, Listening to Leaders 2018 report, India rose to 24th position on aranking of the most influential development partners. India also outperformed China on the 2017helpfulness ranking. Limitations • Lack of funds with Ministry of External Affairs- The level of budgetary allocation towards the MEA has beencriticized by several sources, including a parliamentary panel. Its corpus is smaller than thatGS of Singapore SCORE and2016-17 Union Budget committed less towards the Ministry than in theGSGSGS previous year.SCORESCORESCORE • Issues with the partner country- including delays in statutory approvals and land acquisition, local protests(by environmentalists, vested interests and others), lack of necessary infrastructure and changes in thescope of the work. • Competition from China- where China overtakes India in capacity, finances and military aid. E.g. to securethe oil fields in Africa. Also, India lags behind China in terms of project completion and following timelinesas highlighted by the nations who are a part of the Belt and Road Initiative. • Lack of Global Linkages- such as with China and other partners in African countries. Significance • India characterizes such assistance as “development cooperation” and not foreign aid- Unlike ODA, Indiadoes not posit a donor-recipient relationship; it sees assistance as a reflection
[18] Hints: Political Science of a mutually beneficialpartnership. It is true that in recent years, the scale of such development cooperation has expanded, whileODA levels have either remained static or even declined. • India’s development cooperation is based on the priorities set by the partner country, with projectsdetermined on the basis of friendly consultations. • Acceptance of Responsibility-In keeping with India’s growing stature in international affairs, we mustwillingly assume greater responsibility in promoting development in other developing countries. • Countering China- in its relentless efforts to compete with India for power and influence in South Asia. Conclusion India is yet to develop robust institutions and networks to manage this new role, to be able to direct anddeliver its development assistance and its function in global institutions in the manner that meets its ownstrategic interests and contributes to a sustainable global development agenda.A cue could be taken from the German Development Assistance Programme, which has a well laid out list ofobjectives under the Coalition Treaty – ‘Shaping Germany’s Future’.India is a key actor in this new global development landscape for not only the money it will contribute butalso its influence in shaping future global development conversations and forging new southern alliances.
4. (a) Growing India-US defence relations is a reflection of changing geo-political order of the globe in general and Asia-pacific in particular. Comment.
• Approach Required: First elaborate on the recent upswing in defence relations between the two powers with special emphasis on the multiple foundational agreements which have been signed in the recent years. Then also examine the concerns from both sides regarding the areas of mistrust. • Mistakes to be avoided: Need to examine this relationship not just from a bilateral angle but also from the context of overall goals of Indian foreign policy keeping in view Russia and China. • The United States’ approach to India underwent a sea change during the presidency of George W Bush. Although the terrorist attacks of 11 September, 2001 would end up absorbing much of the administration’s energy, Bush and his team had come to office with the aim of curbing the rise of China.GSGSGS The White SCORESCOREHouseSCORE moved from the previous regime’s view of China as a strategic partner to one where the Asian giant was a strategic competitor. • The neo-conservative world view sought close ties with India and a pragmatic relationship with China that combined economic engagement with military containment. Part of the US’ strategy was to make India a part of the international system and midwife its rise as a counterbalance to China. The India-US nuclear deal was part of that plan, as was the DTTI. As Philip Zelikow, a counsellor for the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had said, the goal was “to help India become a major world power in the 21st Century”. • From the US point of view, however, defence relations could have developed much quicker had India accepted what the Pentagon calls “foundational agreements”. These pacts, typical military alphabet soups like the LSA (Logistics Sharing Agreement), Cismoa (Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement), and BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation), facilitate military-to-military cooperation primarily at a tactical level, although they can be developed further into strategic cooperation. Hints: Political Science [19] • The LSA, for example, allows the navies and air forces of each country to share each other’s facilities for berthing and refuelling without making payments each time; instead, accounts would be settled periodically. The LSA also negotiates several practices that are presently decided upon on a case-by-case basis such as the pre-positioning of military materiel in each other’s countries (Cooperative Security Location — CSL), playing host during exercises, and permitting operations of the other in-country. The LSA is similar to the Acquisition and Cross Servicing Agreement (ACSA) that the United States has with over 75 countries, including its NATO partners and Sri Lanka in India’s own neighbourhood. • Similarly, Cismoa allows interoperability of Indian and US equipment. For example, if Indian troops wish to call in a US airstrike at a certain location, or if US Special Forces are “lighting up” a target for a precision munitions strike by an Indian bomber, their hardware, which is normally encrypted, must be able to communicate with each other to relay information accurately and quickly. In a crowded theatre of operations that nowadays involves non-state actors, drones, improvised explosive devices (IED), coalition militaries and electronic warfare, spectrum management is crucial. • Admittedly, the Indian Navy has been able to operate the Boeing P-8I Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft without the advanced communications equipment that would be available had India signed the Cismoa. The gaps were filled with indigenous electronic equipment that did not diminish the aircraft’s capabilities. However, in a multi-nation environment, be it during a humanitarian relief mission or anti-piracy operations, these gaps would have been felt acutely. • The purpose of BECA is to facilitate the exchange of geospatial information between governments for military as well as civilian use. It includes maps, charts, satellite imagery, geodetic, geophysical, geomagnetic, and gravity data. One practical application of this for the military is that aircraft such as the C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules can fly very close to the ground and evade enemy radar; another is the improved accuracy of munitions. India cannot rely on foreign global positioning system in times of war and has therefore developed its own Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. However, the coverage of this system is yet limited and geospatial data from the United States can improve its performance. The civilian application of geospatial data can contribute to infrastructural and other requirements as well. • The United States’ eagerness for closer ties with India is plain. Bush Junior made that very clear, as did WikiLeaks in a collection of cables that expressed Washington’s priorities in the Indo-Pacific region and GSsuggestions onSCORE how to achieve them. • India is not doing the UnitedGSGSGS States aSCORE SCORESCOREfavour by signing the foundational documents and nor is the case vice versa. What none of these agreements do is compel India to side with the United States in any conflict, allow Washington to permanently station troops on Indian soil yet under the jurisdiction of American courts (that would be the Status of Forces Agreement — SOFA), or permit hostile military action against other countries from bases in India. These agreements are also reciprocal, giving the Indian military access to American facilities around the world. This could come in particularly handy at Diego Garcia or Guam, for example, in anti-piracy or regional collective security operations. The sharing of supplies has not only a strategic argument, but an economic one as well: Indian forces can resupply at any US facility and pay back in kind when American forces travel through the Indian Ocean, an especially useful arrangement during extended war-games. • It is unlikely that the Indian side has not seen the material benefits of these agreements. Certainly, the Indian military can operate without subscribing to an American framework but doing so will drastically expand its capabilities until such a time as when Delhi develops [20] Hints: Political Science its own defence network. When the subject of India signing on to the foundational agreements was first broached, several senior Indian military officials played down their importance, saying that the pacts make no difference to the Indian operational scope. Such opinions might be dismissed as being bound by political views of the time — non-alignment, and an intellectual inertia that was sold as pacifism.However, with a new and more ambitious government in Delhi, the time was correct to conclude these agreements. • India’s equivocal response to the Pentagon’s protocols does have a legitimate basis — a deep- rooted suspicion of the United States. For earlier generations, this was ideological: India eschewed the free market, embraced state socialism, and was in closer orbit to the Soviet Union diplomatically and militarily than it was to the West. For the younger generation, mistrust of Washington stems from what appears from Delhi as unwavering support of a hostile neighbour, Pakistan. Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, USA sees Islamabad as a close non-Nato ally and supplies it with advanced military equipment that includes nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets. • The United States has also earned a reputation as an unreliable patron, ironically from both India and Pakistan. USA cut off arms supplies in 1965 as well as in 1971 when war broke out between India and Pakistan; in 1974 and in 1998, after India’s nuclear tests, it became the subject of US sanctions. Delhi worries that if it relies too much on an American defence framework, it might find its options in a conflict circumscribed by US interests and worldview. More recently, Washington’s ridiculous good Taliban/bad Taliban routine got no chuckles in Delhi. • Delhi’s greater concern is that forging closer military-to-military relations with the United States may appear to other important powers, particularly Russia and China, as an Indo- American alliance. Given the proximity of these powers to India and an overt US desire to contain their power, Indian action might speak louder than Indian intentions and antagonise them into a firmer response. Indian accession to the treaties will certainly stir otherwise friendly waters with Russia and likely precipitate a reaction from China that India is not ready for yet. Russia is already flirting with the idea of weapons sales to Pakistan and seeing US warships in Vishakhapatnam might tilt the scales unfavourably to India. These treacherous diplomatic waters must be navigated by the Indian Foreign Service, convincing India’s partners that logistical cooperation with the United States would not hurt their interests. • It might even be worth considering expanding logistical support to Russian, Australian, or Japanese naval vessels at Indian bases. In the meantime, India might also consider the spate of weapons deals and jointGSGSGS military SCOREexercisesSCORESCORE it as had with the United States — there is no need for deals to divineGS which way SCORE the geopolitical winds are blowing. • In January this year, it was reported that Prime Minister gave his officials a non-paper on the Pentagon’s foundational agreements. It is a new India now, and the ambitions of the Prime Minister are substantially more than the timid considerations of the Congress regime. Delhi is striving to forge strong bonds around the Indian Ocean Rim as well as with Japan and contribute to regional security and stability. Its aims of taking a no-nonsense approach to its borders in the Northeast as well as the West demand better infrastructure, logistics, and hardware.
4. (b) Critically analyse increasing India-Japan defence cooperation.
• Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the nature of Defence Engagement with Japan till now and then provide arguments as to why this partnership does not fulfil the strategic expectations of both nations. Hints: Political Science [21] • Mistakes to be avoided: While you point out the limitations of the partnerships, also suggest the alternative approach which India should adopt at this stage. • The maiden visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Prime Minister to Japan has been touted as the crown jewel in India’s East Asia diplomacy last year. New Delhi not only secured unprecedented economic investment from Tokyo but also found a partner for economic growth. India’s need for a financial boost for its economy cannot be overstated and the trip has clearly bolstered bilateral ties. • It is worth asking what benefits Japan reaps from these gestures towards India. The jury is still out on whether the bonhomie will pave the way for future security cooperation amid rising tensions in East Asia. Is this strategic partnership a harbinger of a future alliance? Can a New Delhi-Tokyo relationship evolve into a long-term security-oriented alignment? How is China positioning itself to counter such moves? • Japan would certainly welcome more reliable investment and trade partners. Its difficult relations with China may have nudged it to look for other options offering similar opportunities. For India, this is good news, as it can now more confidently present itself to the world as the next best investment option after China. For his part, Prime Minister ably flaunted the two assets India has that China does not: democracy and non-aggressive diplomacy. • To realize its full economic and demographic potential, India needs a partner that can provide multi-sector support. On this recent trip, however, Prime Minister and Abe went further, discussing their nascent military engagements, triggering speculation over a gradually solidifying Indo-Japanese strategic alliance, particularly through the prism of the “China threat.” • But an alliance requires certain common denominators. The most potent of these is geography. Countries that share land borders with a common hostile actor are more likely to join an alliance than island states are. In World War I, France and Russia did not need an added incentive to ally against Germany as its rise was equally threatening to both. An island state meanwhile has a natural buffer against invasion. • Japan and India might have a common concern, but the ground on which a lasting alliance might be formed looks shaky. Japan is an island state, and as such its threat perception is different from India’s, which shares a land border with China. Geography would complicate relations and Japan would find it a burden to fulfil its alliance commitments to India. In any conflict scenario, India would be fighting a land war, whereas Japan would be engaged in naval conflict. The strategiesGSGSGS and resources SCORESCORESCORE required would differ. In the domestic realm, it would be tough to convince Indians to fulfil a commitment to help Japan in a conflict with China, given the risk that doing so would invite massive Chinese retaliation. Japan and India helping each other would be complicated, not complementary. Finally, given the presence of the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific, for India and Japan to commit to a bilateral alliance would be redundant • Prime Minister’s remarks in Japan attracted only a muted response from China. With Chinese President Xi Jinping arriving in New Delhi this week, China obviously does not wish to spoil the broth. It is also clear from its mounting investment in Gujarat that many foreign governments are keen to be on good terms with Prime Minister. Rather, the Chinese media continued to target Japan for trying to woo India and sabotage China’s strategic interests. • Prime Minister has made economic development a priority. His business friendly stance represents opportunity for both Japan and China. And with deteriorating China-Japan relations, India is surely looking more appealing to investors. But India will have to balance
[22] Hints: Political Science its relations with these two countries wisely. As a neighbour, China must surely remain India’s priority. National interest will drive India to seek peaceful relations with China. In the meantime, closer defence engagement with Japan might be helpful in ensuring its longevity. This does need not be anti-China in nature (which India can ill-afford anyway), but rather a contribution to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region. • India has attracted considerable interest in its economic development plans, to the benefit of its economy. It could also receive a military boost through ground-breaking openings in its relations with Japan. Meanwhile, Xi Jinping’s upcoming tour could potentially unlock the gifts China holds for India, leaving Prime Minister to plan his next Look East move.It is best, then, to put to rest any debate over a potential security alliance between India and Japan. Such an arrangement would likely be detrimental to India’s long-term interests, forcing it to take a side.
4. (c) Discuss the role of India in “The Great Game” of Central Asia with examples.
• Approach Required: Give a background of the region and elaborate on why most of the regional and global powers are interested in expanding their influence in the region. Then Elaborate on Indian policy of “ Connect Central Asia” , what initiatives are being taken under it with special reference to the visit of the Prime Minister. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your analysis should cover all the dimensions of the relationship specially connectivity, energy and security with factual examples. • Traditionally, Central Asia has been an arena of “great game”. The modern version is being played out even today. Russia, China, US, Turkey, Iran, Europe, EU, Japan, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan have all substantial security and economic interests in the region. In order to maximize their geo-political advantage and also to ensure that their national interests are safeguarded, the Central Asian countries have engaged with the rest of the world through a variety of channels and institutions. • In the post-cold war period, the Central Asian countries have engaged themselves in nation building and consolidation of their statehoods. At the same time, the Central Asian countries continue to face daunting socio-economic and security problems. The relations among themselves are far from smooth. Issues like water security, borders, environmental degradation and migration have become acute. Religious extremism & fundamentalism pose serious challenge to regional stability. • CAR track record on socio-economicGSGSGS SCORESCOREdevelopmentSCORE is mixed. Kazakhstan with its vast mineral resources has done betterGS than the others.SCORE Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan lag behind the others in socio-economic development. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan remain closed and controlled societies. Uzbekistan sees itself as a leader in Central Asia but it has problems with its neighbours, namely, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. • Religious extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism continue to pose challenges to Central Asian societies as well as regional stability. The Fergana Valley remains a hot spot of fundamentalism. Central Asian republics face serious threat from illegal drug trade emanating from Afghanistan. Instability in Central Asia can spill over into sensitive regions like Xinjiang. • Central Asian countries are land locked and have looked for building connectivity to global markets. They have sought to revive the ancient Silk Route. Their connectivity with Russia remains the most dominant feature. In the recent years, new connectivity has been built with China as reflected, for instance, in the Kazakh-China gas pipeline. New infrastructure has been built facilitating Central Asia’s connectivity with rest of the world.
Hints: Political Science [23] • The deepening engagement with China is a relatively recent feature. China has built bilateral as well as multi-lateral relations with Central Asian countries. China conducts its relations both bilaterally and through the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). China’s primary thrust has been to make use of Central Asia’s vast mineral resources for its economic development; to supply the much needed consumer goods to Central Asia and to protect itself against the threat of “separatism, extremism and terrorism” arising out of Central Asian territories. China has sought to build connectivity of various kinds with the Central Asian countries. Slowly, the Central Asian countries are developing a kind of dependency on China which may not be in their long-term interest. • China is following a strategic approach to Central Asia. It has offered $ 10 billion grant and aid to SCO members. It is squarely focusing on trade, energy and infrastructure cooperation. It has linked Central Asia with China’s western regions. On 1st August 2012, China Central Asia Gas Pipeline Project was launched. • Russia regards CARs near abroad. It has floated a number of institutions including the CSTO, EURASEC etc. to maintain and further develop its ties with the Central Asian countries. It also hosts a large number of economic migrants from Central Asia. Russia provides the established outlet to the Central Asian countries. Central Asians gas exports for instance, to Europe are through Russian network of oil & gas pipelines. Central Asian countries fall squarely within the Russian security parameter. However, the relationship between CARs and Russia is not smooth. The CARs are also looking for diversification of their ties. As a result, their engagements with China, the US and NATO have grown in the recent years. • The US has used Central Asia to achieve its logistical and military objectives in Afghanistan in the past decade or so. Central Asian countries have provided land and air routes to the US for supplies to Afghanistan. These routes will also be used when the US withdraws from Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been direct beneficiaries. The withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan would result in dilution of the US influence in Central Asia. • Afghanistan and Af-Pak region pose security challenge to the cohesiveness of Central Asian Region. Drug trade and extremism emanating from an unstable Afghanistan and Afghanistan-Pakistan region is a concern which Central Asian countries have not been able to handle effectively. The SCO is getting active in Afghanistan but the effectiveness of its engagement is questionable. SCO has not been able to come out with any credible regional initiative on Afghanistan. India and Central Asia GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • India has traditionally attached great importance to its relations with Central Asia. But, unfortunately, the relationship despite close historical & cultural contacts has not progressed to the desired extent. The key constraint India faces is the lack of direct access to Central Asia. The unstable situation in Afghanistan and a highly problematic India-Pakistan relation have deprived India from the benefit of relations with Central Asia. • Iran which provides alternative access to Central Asia is an important but unspoken factor in India-Central Asia relations. However, India-Iran relationship for the last decade or so has not progressed well. Mutual suspicion mars this relationship. The International North- South Transport Corridor (INSTC) which would pass through Iran is still underdeveloped and requires huge investment. India has also been slow in realizing the potential of the strategic Chabahar Port in Iran. India will require making substantial investments in Iran to make the INSTC as well as Chabahar Port to provide short and effective access to Central Asia. This must be top priority in India’s foreign policy. [24] Hints: Political Science • India has proposed to invest US$100 million in free trade zone in Chabahar. The Chinese are also getting interested in Chabahar and have announced Euro 60 million credit to Iran to upgrade the Port. The significance of Chabahar Port is that it will facilitate a transit route to land-locked Afghanistan. Despite direct road links, Pakistan does not allow transit facility from India to Afghanistan. Therefore, connectivity through the Chabahar Port could become an important route linking India to Afghanistan and Central Asia. • India has come up with a “Connect Central Asia policy” (2012), which includes elements such high level visits, strategic partnerships, comprehensive economic engagement, partnership in the development of energy and natural resources. Development of potential in medical field, education, e-networks, land connectivity etc. This policy was declared in 2012. The implementation of the policy needs to be speeded up. This will require allocation of definite resource for the implementation of the policy. Second, there must be an institutional mechanism for implementation. Significance of the Visit of Indian Prime Minister • By paying official visits to five Central Asian countries plus Russia within the span of a week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi surpassed his predecessors and put Eurasia firmly in India’s zone of interest. This July visit has allayed fears that Central Asia is of secondary importance to India and will go down in the annals of India-Eurasia relations as a red-letter visit. • The array of issues Modi discussed with Central Asian leaders, the bilateral declarations and pledges they jointly made in press conferences, the mutual agreements signed and the camaraderie he has developed during his maiden visit are testimony to his initial success in Central Asia. Significantly, Modi met the Central Asian leaders twice within a week — first in their respective capitals for delegation-level talks and then at Ufa in Russia during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. A telling achievement is the beginning of the process of India’s inclusion in this regional grouping as a full member. • India has four major interests in Central Asia: security, energy, trade and mutual cooperation in various realms. Modi does not wish to help the Central Asians build democracy, as do the Americans, but has commerce in mind and is well aware that security and stability are indispensable for trade and development. Throughout his visit, he asserted that we had common interests, our issues were common, our heritage was common, and the space had historically been common. • He has called for the issues of terrorism, narcotics trafficking and arms smuggling to be addressed with determination.GS Energy SCORE security is of utmost importance. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and UzbekistanGSGSGS are endowedSCORESCORESCORE with enormous hydrocarbon reserves. Two of these countries — Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan — are in the Caspian littoral, thereby promising to open the door to other energy-rich Caspian states. Connectivity through the North-South Transport Corridor featured in Modi’s speeches in both countries as much as the impending implementation of the two gas pipelines. • These are implementable but hinge on the political situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Regional security cooperation is inherently linked to economic development in Central and South Asian countries and energy security, in turn, is dependent on regional stability. Therefore, Modi’s discussions with individual Central Asian leaders as well as within the SCO will have crucial bearing on the future. Without security, development becomes fuzzy, and development is Modi’s mantra. There is a vast scope for furthering bilateral ties in education and English-language teaching from schools to universities, healthcare, tourism, agriculture and agro-processing industries, pharmaceuticals and drug manufacturing, textiles, petrochemicals, mining, military cooperation and cadre-training, and other allied fields.
Hints: Political Science [25] Cooperation in the field of uranium extraction is unfolding with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. If Russia and China enter, compete and succeed in Central Asia, India cannot afford to lag behind.
SECTION - B
5. Comment on the following topics in about 150 words each: 5. (a) Developed vs Developing nations at WTO. • Approach Required: Need to elaborate in detail the various issues and concerns being raised by Developing nations in WTO. Your content needs to be factual, specific and multidimensional. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to provide a generic analysis. Also keep the content relevant to all developing nations, no need to focus only on India specific issues only. The growing economic disparity between developed and industrialized country on the one hand and the developing world on the other is the major problem of present times. The problem facing the WTO is how to do a better job of integrating developing countries and their specific concerned into its work. This is a particularly urgent task now that two-thirds of the memberships of the WTO fall into the developing country classification. The failure of the trade of less developed countries to develop as rapidly as that of industrialized countries had been a concern in the history of GATT/WTO. The developing countries play a key role in the WTO: the recognition of their political power now that they comprise a majority of WTO members and of that trade liberalization is beneficial rather than detrimental to economic development. The major points of differences are: 1. Agricultural subsidies: WTO members have failed even to agree how to reduce the huge subsidies paid to rich world farmers, whose overproduction continues to threaten the livelihoods of developing world farmers. 2. Trade agreements: WTO has also failed to clarify the deliberately ambiguous rules on concluding trade agreements that allow the poorest countries to be manipulated by the rich states. In Africa, in negotiations with the EU, countries have been forced to eliminate tariffs on up to 90% of their trade because no clear rules exist to protect them. 3. Special treatment: the rules for developing countries, called “special and differential treatment” rules, were GSGSGSmeant to be SCORE SCORESCOREreviewed to make them more precise, effective and operational. But the WTO has failed to work through the 88 proposals that would fill the legal vacuum. 4. Decision-making: The WTO makes most of its decisions by consensus – and achieving consensus between 153 countries is nearly impossible. But this shows another failure of the WTO. It must break the link between market size and political weight that would give small and poor countries a voice in the trade negotiations. 5. Fair trade: 10 years after the start of the Doha Development Round, governments have failed to make trade fair. As long as small and poor countries remain without a voice, the WTO would not be able to fulfill its mandate. 6. Legal costs: members pledged to improve access to its expensive and complex legal system, but has failed. In 15 years of dispute settlement under the WTO, 400 cases have been initiated. No African country has acted as a complainant and only one least developed country has ever filed a claim. [26] Hints: Political Science 7. Protectionist economic policies: one of the WTO’s five core functions agreed at its inception in 1995 was to achieve more coherence in global economic policy-making. Yet the WTO failed to curb the speedy increase in the number of protectionist measures applied by G20 countries in response to the global economic crisis over the past two years – despite G20 leaders’ repeated affirmations of their “unwavering” commitment to resist all forms of protectionist measures. 8. Singapore issues: Developed countries are pushing for comprehensive agenda including investment, trade facilitation, environment, labour standards, etc. Challenges in WTO: 1. Dependence of developing countries for economic and other aids on developed countries reduces their bargaining power. 2. Rising Unilateralism presents a major challenge to maintain rule based trading order. Ex- USA China trade war. 3. Members of Appellate body of WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism is at impasse. 4. Narrow trade interest due to domestic compulsions drives the policy decision for countries instead of larger goal of inclusive growth and sustainable development. India, as a strong supporter of the multilateral trading system, supports reforms of the WTO provided that the process is inclusive and addresses the developmental concerns of developing and least developing countries. India has recently co-sponsored a proposal with the European Union and other members on reform of the dispute settlement mechanism addressing various challenges.
5. (b) NAM-2.0 is considered to be an attempt to provide a policy framework to all domestic and foreign policy issues. • Approach Required: Elaborate on the primary objective of the document, its purposes and its suggestions for Indian foreign policy. • Mistakes to be avoided: Do not confuse this NAM with NAM the organization. This is a policy framework document. Keep your content specific to this. • Nonalignment 2.0 is an attempt to identify the basic principles that should guide India’s foreign and strategic policy over the next decade. The views it sets out are rooted in the conviction that the success of India’s own internal development will depend decisively on how effectively we manage our global opportunities in order to maximize our choices— thereby enlarging our GSGSGSdomestic options SCORESCORESCORE to the benefit of all Indians. • The purposes of the this document are three-fold: to lay out the opportunities that India enjoys in the international sphere; to identify the challenges and threats it is likely to confront; and to define the broad perspective and approach that India should adopt as it works to enhance its strategic autonomy in global circumstances that, for some time to come, are likely to remain volatile and uncertain. • This document is an idea to identify the basic principles that should guide India’s foreign and strategic policy over next decade. The core philosophy of the document is that – success of India’s own internal development will depend decisively on how effectively we manage our global opportunities in order to maximize our choices—thereby enlarging our domestic options to the benefit of all Indians. The report points out that in a situation where the world is no longer bifurcated between two dominant powers, nonalignment today will require managing complicated coalitions and opportunities in an environment that is not structurally settled. Report deals with India’s approach towards the ‘Asian theatre,’ the international
Hints: Political Science [27] order, hard-power, internal security, non-conventional security issues like energy and nuclear options, the knowledge and information foundations of power as well as the state and democracy. • India’s enhanced economic and security capabilities enable it to influence external events and outcomes in a widening orbit compared to the Cold War years. India enjoys greater leverage but bears greater responsibility in dealing with regional issues such as South Asian and East Asian economic integration and global issues such as climate change and energy security. Furthermore, in a globalises world, external issues impact our economic and social development prospects while domestic choices we make as a country, in turn, have an impact on the external environment. Promotion of India’s interests demands far greater engagement with the world than ever before. Depending on the issue at hand, India will find itself working with shifting and variable coalitions rather than through settled alliances or groupings. The country has inherent assets, such as a favourable demography, a strategic location and a culture of creativity and innovation, which create a window of opportunity to drive India’s emergence as a front-ranking power, a master of its own destiny but generating a range of public goods that make the world a better and safer place to live in.
5. (c) The recent dynamics of India-Pakistan relationship, along with examples.
• Approach Required: Discuss in an analytical manner the various issues which have impacted the bilateral relationship in recent years and also comment on the role played by various actors from both side. • Mistakes to be avoided: The question demands more analysis and less of description. Your flow of answer should clearly chart out the events as they happened and also assess their impact. Use a lot of examples. • Early in the year, the Pulwama suicide bombing carried out by a Pakistani terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) killing over 40 CRPF personnel was the starting point of the steep slide in relations. Within a few days, India shook off the restraints it has imposed on itself for more than three decades, and fighter jets targeted a JeM terrorist camp, not in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir but in Balakot in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Within a day, the Pakistanis retaliated and at one point it seemed that the two countries were on the brink of an all-out war, what with reports that India was planning missile strikes on multiple targets inside Pakistan, and the Pakistanis warning that they would respond in a similar manner. • Although both sides pulledGSGSGS back from SCORESCORESCORE the brink of war, the entire episode seemed to indicate that India’s cup of patience with Pakistani sponsored terrorism was now filled to the brim. It also delivered a message that Pakistan no longer enjoys the impunity it thought it did and that India would now hit back without caring too much about the nuclear umbrella under which Pakistan merrily sent terrorists into India. Effectively, this new Indian template for dealing with cross-border terrorism seems to have injected ambiguity and uncertainty in the stand-off between India and Pakistan. The latter can no longer be sure about how India would react if Pakistani sponsored terrorists crossed the threshold of tolerance. • Even as the two sides were adjusting to the new paradigm that was unfolding, India went into elections in which the Narendra Modi led BJP was re-elected with an increased margin. Some credit for this victory was laid at the door of the resolute action taken by the Modi government against Pakistan. In a way, this set a sort of standard against which every government in India will be measured. Going forward, it will be political suicide for any government to not be seen responding militarily to any grave provocation from Pakistan.
[28] Hints: Political Science • The second monumental change that happened in August also shook Islamabad. The amendment and hollowing out of Article 370, scrapping of Article 35A, the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories stunned Pakistan. While the sheer audacity of the move was breathtaking, it effectively killed whatever remained of the bilateral relationship after Balakot. Pakistan reacted with predictable hysterics, screaming and shouting about how India was preparing for a bloodbath in Kashmir, how millions of people will be streaming into Pakistan, how demographic invasion and genocide would be unleashed. • In a typical knee-jerk reaction, Prime Minister Imran Khan downgraded diplomatic relations by expelling the Indian High Commissioner and suspending all trade between the two countries. Trade in any case had fallen steeply after India withdrew the MFN status and imposed 200% import duty on Pakistani goods. However, within days Imran Khan had to relax the trade ban after the Pakistanis realised they desperately needed medicines from India. Even so, after the Kashmir move, all that remains is a diplomatic presence in either country but virtually zero diplomatic communications or contact on the face of it. • In the midst of the post Article 370 breakdown, Pakistan went ahead with the Kartarpur corridor. While the eternal optimists have seen this Pakistani ‘initiative’ with rose-tinted glasses, the realists believe that Pakistani intentions are not noble and they are trying to use Kartarpur to re-ignite the Khalistani movement. Therefore, the one thing which could be called positive also has no traction because of the deep suspicions and mistrust that underscore the bilateral relationship. • This is the backdrop against which India and Pakistan will enter 2020. The bilateral relationship which has become very bitter and prone to brinkmanship (which could lead to miscalculation and/or accidents) is only one part of the problem. The rising complexity in the regional dynamics will also complicate the India-Pakistan equation. At the bilateral level, as long as Imran Khan remains at the helm in Pakistan, the well will continue to be poisoned by his vile and bordering on deranged rants against his Indian counterpart. But even if he is replaced, his successor isn’t likely to resile from the strident stand that Imran Khan has taken on India, which is extremely popular not just in the military, but also with the Mullahs, Mujahideen, media and even the people. • Even if the churn in the Pakistan army over the extension of the current chief, Gen. QamarBajwa, settles, chances are that whether it is Bajwa or his successor, both will double down on the hostility against India. The excuse for this will of course be Kashmir, where a spike in terrorism is on the cards. Nevertheless, added to Kashmir will be the Pakistanis arrogating to themselvesGSGSGS the role of ‘fortressSCORESCORESCORE of Islam’ especially in relation to Muslims of the subcontinent. It is almost a given that Pakistan will not just make every effort to re-ignite separatism in Punjab – Referendum 2020 for instance – but also do everything possible to incite and instigate Indian Muslims – another Indian Mujahideen type of terror outfit could be raised to give things an indigenous flavour and retain plausible deniability. • The entire CAA-NRC-NPR issue will be milked by Pakistan not just to create trouble in India but also forward its poisonous propaganda campaign against India in international fora. Rest assured that Pakistan would use every available forum – from animal husbandry to climate change– to ‘raise’ the Kashmir issue. Alongside, Pakistan will insidiously use dissident Indian voices (minorities in particular) to lend credibility, even legitimacy, to its campaign against India. Clearly, all this is hardly going to pave the way for any sort of re-engagement between the two countries. • The regional strategic environment is also not going to be very conducive for the India- Pakistan dynamic. The endgame in Afghanistan will probably see greater contestation between Hints: Political Science [29] the two countries, in addition to new alignments. The China factor will continue to loom over South Asia, not just in the context of CPEC but also the Indo-Pacific strategy. The more India hedges China by engaging in the Indo-Pacific with the US and its allies, the more Beijing will rely on Pakistan to keep India unsettled. Even if India doesn’t play ball on Indo- Pacific, the Chinese are unlikely to stop leaning heavily in propping up Pakistan against India, regionally and globally. The US too will use Pakistan to focus India’s attention on itself and its Indo-Pacific strategy. • The Russians are already opening up to Pakistan, and 2020 will further determine the depth and heft in this budding relationship, with obvious consequences for India as Pakistan will feel further emboldened. The one area in which India had a big advantage over Pakistan – economy – has also lost its lustre. While Pakistan’s economy is unlikely to come out of the ICU in 2020, the danger is that India might be heading into the ICU. In that event, India will be more susceptible to some pulls and pressures and its ability to squeeze Pakistan will be constrained. As for SAARC, it will most likely remain confined to the cold storage, unless of course the next summit is shifted out of Pakistan. • All in all, the prospects for any meaningful engagement between India and Pakistan remain very bleak. While Mr Modi has been known to take U-turns in the past on Pakistan, given the sort of invective hurled against him by Pakistani leaders, especially Imran Khan, he will not have much appetite to reach out, unless of course he is ready to capitulate, i.e. restores Article 370, withdraws CAA, abjures NRC, none of which seem to be even remotely possible. In Pakistan, even if there is a new dispensation, the fundamental dynamics defining the bilateral relationship are not going to change. • Therefore, even if someone is given to flights of fancy, the best that can happen on the India- Pakistan front is that diplomatic relations are restored fully, trade opens up, there is some easing up on travel. Beyond that, the sniping and insidious policies will continue, the LoC in Kashmir will remain hot, Pakistani export of terrorism will remain a problem but will probably remain below the threshold of tolerance. In other words, yesterday once more.
5. (d) Cooperative Security Scenario in South Asia. • Approach Required: Explain briefly the notion of Cooperative Security. Then assess how India has attempted to implement this in South Asia specially in the recent years. Need to give a lot of examples of initiatives. • Mistakes to be avoided: No need to provide a generic analysis of the security scenario in South Asia. Focus only on cooperative aspect. • Over the last few years,GSGSGS the concept SCORESCORESCOREof security has widened exponentially to include both traditional and non-traditional security threats such as economic and military competition, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), climate change, piracy, radical ideology, cyber-attacks, drug and human trafficking, and energy and food security. The spectre of terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism, continues to challenge peace and prosperity. • Today, security is indivisible. Events in one region of the world have an impact, both positive and negative, on other regions. This highlights the necessity of combining strengths to forge new compacts that can appropriately deal with the emerging challenges. • India believes in the ancient Sanskrit saying “VasudhaivaKutumbakam”, which means that the entire world is one family. India’s family in South Asia comprise its several neighbours. Together, South Asia has a population of 1.8 billion people with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of about US$ 3.47 trillion, of which a very large part, about $2.72 trillion, is that of India. For family harmony, it is important that every member abide by certain common values and codes of behaviour. [30] Hints: Political Science Concept of Cooperative Security • As a concept, cooperative security implies that countries have, or seek, a degree of convergence with regard to threat perceptions, and challenges and opportunities with a conviction that it is advantageous to their security, stability and prosperity. This implies a degree of conceptual clarity which is increasingly difficult in a rapidly changing world. In an unpredictable era in which change is the only constant, power, both military and economic, stands fractured and asymmetry in absolute power quotient is increasingly bridged through exploitation of cyberspace, proliferation of WMDs, and misuse of Internet of Things (IoT) and social media platforms. This is true of state and non-state actors alike. Hedging and multi-alignment are the order of the day. • Cooperative security may logically begin with neighbours and the region but often transcends locational limitations. Cooperative security can be predicated on shared values, ideologies, religion or economic interests along multiple axes. The Cold War and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) implied cooperative security based on ideology. However, new constructs are emerging in the wake of the dramatic geo-strategic changes in recent times. Germany has called for an integrated European Union (EU) military that would complement NATO. The uncertainty in the trans-Atlantic partnership suggests a greater shift towards reliance on shared geography and a common economic destiny as seen in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the EU’s nascent outreach to it. • Similarly, the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism (IMAFT) headquartered in Riyadh seeks to address a global challenge but is narrowly based on a common faith. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and others such as the EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are variously glued together by geography, history and shifting regional security paradigms. Many of these structures are overlapping and multi-layered. From alliance partnerships to client-state partnerships, the menu is vast and varied. • Significantly, developmental finance, much needed by many in the developing world, including in South Asia, has the potential to create economic dependence, erode sovereignty and weaken regional consensus on collective security. More often than not, it comes today steeped in strategic motives and with strings attached. Cooperative Security in South Asia • South Asia has a commonGSGSGS history andSCORESCORESCORE celebrates its great cultural and linguistic overlap. South Asian nations came into their own at about the same time with the lifting of the colonial shadow. However, the South Asian experience in building cooperative security architecture has been mixed. • It can be argued that cooperative security in any region is like a chain which is as strong as its weakest link. The South Asian family, unfortunately, has its own black sheep. The weakest link in the chain continues to be Pakistan, which views security as a zero-sum game, and uses terrorism as an instrument of state policy against its neighbours. The consequences of such a policy pursued in one country in South Asia, aimed at systematically nurturing radical jihadi groups, has been felt in other South Asian countries as well – from Afghanistan to India and from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka. • South Asia can truly prosper only when it is free from the scourge of terrorism. The greatest challenge before South Asia is the fight against illiteracy and poverty, climate change and natural disasters, and food and energy security issues. These are indivisible and transcend
Hints: Political Science [31] borders. Cooperation on these issues will ensure the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • One of the measures to improve regional security is to strengthen connectivity linkages. A better connectivity can help nations overcome their political differences by conceiving their borders as bridges and not as barriers. However, the efforts of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to build a regional consensus have been undermined by one state’s obstructionist policies. The SAARC motor vehicle agreement which would have allowed region-wide movement of vehicles and promoted trade, commerce and people-to- people contacts was, unfortunately, vetoed by one country. • Afghanistan, devastated by conflict, needs help. It requires the support of its neighbours to spur economic growth. Yet, India and Afghanistan have been denied overland transit by a common neighbour. It is not without reason that the intra-South Asian trade remains one of the lowest in the world. India’s Commitment to Cooperative Security • As the world’s second-most populous country with 1.25 billion people, India attaches great importance to strengthening cooperative security. India’s initiatives over the last five years to build regional cooperation and security are anchored in its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. From inviting the heads of all SAARC states to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing- in ceremony in 2014 to India’s initiative to launch a South Asia Satellite to improve communication and disaster response, India remains committed to its neighbourhood. India has always been the first off the block to provide relief in the wake of tsunamis, earthquakes and other natural disasters. • Prime Minister Modi has emphasised the importance of shared prosperity with our neighbours through his clarion call of “SabkaSaath, SabkaVikas, SabkaVishwas”, the essence of which roughly translates as “Collective Effort, Inclusive Growth and Mutual Trust”. • India remains optimistic about the future of South Asia at a time when it has emerged as one of the fastest-growing large economies in the world. India is the proverbial rising tide that can lift all boats in the region. • India is keen to strengthen other regional groupings and partnerships such as the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) and BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) that includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. India is also committed to greater connectivity and cooperation with the ASEANGSGSGS region SCORESCORESCOREthrough its ‘Act East’ policy. India has also expanded its cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in the extended neighbourhood. • These underlying principles have translated into India building excellent ties in its neighbourhood. India has a special friendship with Bhutan. Bangladesh is a key pillar of India’s regional engagement. An open border with Nepal demonstrates mutual trust and confidence. Security cooperation with Myanmar has increased in recent years. India is cooperating closely with both the Maldives and Sri Lanka to promote maritime security. As one of the biggest regional donors to Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts, India has overcome hurdles and established an air and a maritime corridor with Afghanistan to strengthen bilateral ties. Notably, India trains the largest number of Afghan army officers, over a hundred annually, and gives thousands of scholarships to the Afghan youth for studying and pursuing vocational training in India. [32] Hints: Political Science • Similarly, the shared maritime interests in the extended neighbourhood remain anchored in developing a blue economy, particularly in the context of what Prime Minister Modi calls ‘SAGAR’ (Security And Growth for All in the Region), and in ensuring unimpeded commerce, protection of key sea lanes of communication, and freedom of navigation and over-flight. India believes that competition need not result in conflict, nor differences amount to disputes. • The one exception to this cooperative process in South Asia remains Pakistan. India has made clear that there can be no dialogue unless Pakistan halts its obsession with the use of terrorism against India and other countries in the region and brings the perpetrators of the Mumbai and other terrorist attacks who freely roam in Pakistan to book. • The Shimla Agreement commits both sides to discuss all issues through a bilateral dialogue, but Pakistan continues to breach its commitment with growing frequency. • In conclusion, it can be argued that South Asia ‘minus one’ has achieved some measure of progress in strengthening regional cooperation, as observed by India’s Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar at the World Economic Forum’s 33rd edition of the India Economic Summit held in New Delhi on October 04, 2019.1 Nevertheless, a lot more can be done. It is also hoped that the ‘minus one’ country will change its mindset, eschew terrorism and come around one day for the good of all in South Asia. Hopefully, Pakistan will one day support the growing developmental impulses in South Asia instead of irresponsibly brandishing the threat of nuclear weapons. • The roadmap for regional security, given by Prime Minister Modi at the SCO Summit in 2018, remains relevant.2 Better known by its acronym ‘SECURE’, its every letter is full of meaning. – S stands for Security of our citizens, – E stands for Economic development for all, – C stands for Connecting the region, – U stands for Uniting our people, – R stands for Respect for Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity, and, – E stands for Environmental protection. • This year marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a great apostle of peace and votary of truth and non-violence. It would be a fitting tribute to him if countries can, one day, abjure the useGS GSGSof violence andSCORESCORESCORE force in favour of dialogue and cooperation in order to fully realise their destinies.
5. (e) The US-Iran conflict won’t leave India untouched. • Approach Required: Provide a brief background of the recent escalations of tensions between USA-Iran and how India can be negatively impacted by it. Your focus should be not only on energy security but also on the various geo-strategic stakes India has in West and Central Asia. • Mistakes to be avoided: Analysis should be based on recent events and not a generic one of USA-Iran tensions. • Even though US President Donald Trump referred to New Delhi as one of the sites of Iranian General QassemSoleimani’s alleged terrorist activities, India was clearly not on the priority list of nations that the US called after assassinating him last Friday.
Hints: Political Science [33] • Over the next two days US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke to Pakistan Army Chief QamarJavedBajwa, Chinese State Councillor Yang Jichei, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the British Foreign Secretary, the French and German Foreign Ministers and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. So, finally, on Sunday, India’s External Affairs Minister decided not to stand on ceremony and called Pompeo and his Iranian counterpart JavedZarif. • India has significant interests in the Persian Gulf region, but it appears to have dealt itself out of the game by tamely skewing its Middle East policy in favour of the informal US-Saudi, Arabia-Israel coalition. Iran, which was one of the three pillars of India’s regional policy in West Asia, was given short shrift as New Delhi cravenly went along with Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran. New Delhi’s motives may have been practical. • First, given the draconian nature of US sanctions, India would have had to be very courageous in challenging the US, and the blunt fact is that India is no longer brave when it comes to Uncle Sam. There was a time when Indira Gandhi could stand up to Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger and lead a war to split Pakistan and achieve what has been India’s greatest military victory since Independence. • Second, Prime Minister Modi, who had made successful forays to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, probably calculated that getting investments from these oil-rich kingdoms was equivalent to the bird in hand, over a bird in the bush, like Iran. So, he loosened India’s traditional and successful policy of maintaining a balanced relationship with Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. • India had been one of the few countries that did not profit from the Iran-Iraq war (1980- 1988) and has been widely respected in the Middle-East. Gulf countries are an important source of oil for the country, but as of last year, India terminatedits imports from Iran because of the US sanctions. • In the narrow and immediate perspective, India’s relationship with the Saudi peninsula is much more important than Iran. Seven million Indian nationals work in the region, sending back an estimated $40 billion to the country. The UAE is India’s third largest trade partner and also a major investor. Modi has targeted the Saudi and UAE sovereign wealth funds for promoting infrastructure construction in India. They see India’s growing economy as a major destination for investment, but though tens of billions of dollars have been talked of, as of now, Gulf investments in India are moderate. • Iran does not have that kind of spare wealth and nor is it a destination for the Indian diaspora. Its value does lie in its vast oil and gas resources as well as its geopolitical location and market potential. It GSGSGSprovides the SCORESCORESCOREroute through which India, blockaded by Pakistan, can fulfill its Eurasian ambitions. The Chabahar project provides a route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, while the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) gives us overland access to Russia and Europe. In many ways, it can be our own Belt and Road Initiative. • There is political congruence, too, between New Delhi and Teheran in our hardline position against the Taliban in Afghanistan. In the 1990s, Iran and India joined hands in helping Ahmed Shah Massoud and the Northern Alliance against the Pakistan-backed Taliban. • Today, as the US readies for a pullout there, the Islamist group and its mentor Pakistan appear poised to once again become the dominant force in Afghanistan. That would explain just why Pompeo felt the need to call Bajwa, and not any Indian leader. You have to grant it to the Americans — when the push comes to shove, there is little time for niceties, only a relentless focus on self-interest — which in this case lies in getting a fig leaf to cloak their departure from Afghanistan.
[34] Hints: Political Science • Trump’s action against Soleimani is yet another instance of trashing international law, the first being the wrecking of the UN-approved Iran nuclear deal that triggered the current situation. The US claims that Soleimani, who was their ally against ISIS, was a terrorist. Actually, as a member of the IRGC, he was part of the official military of a sovereign country. His counterparts in the US, Israel or anywhere else would have planned and executed similar kinds of operations that he did. So, merely designating him terrorist means little. • The US has escalated things hugely and this has implications for the wider region. Though experts discount the danger of war and say that neither the US nor Iran wants one, there is always the danger of miscalculation. As in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, the US can certainly devastate Iran. But though the Iranians will lose, the US and its allies will not be unscathed. We know how ambiguous the US ‘victory’ in Iraq and Afghanistan has been. • In all this, we in India will be collateral casualties. The disruption of oil supplies and possibly large-scale destruction in the region will have a direct impact on our economy.
6. (a) India-EU relations have immense potential but have failed to realize the same. Analyse the statement with respect to recent issues between India and EU.
• Approach Required: Discuss the various issues between India and EU with special reference to the stuck FTA. Also elaborate on the other areas of disagreement and logjam in the relationship with examples along with examples of measures being taken to address the same. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t just fixate on Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement, focus on other arenas of engagement as well. • India is juxtaposing its strategic position in the world by putting greater emphasis on its ties with the United States in contrast to the importance it accords to the European Union (EU). India-EU relations are getting overshadowed by the presence of China at the economy level. EU on the other hand is showing evident keen interest in transatlantic partnership with US. With India and EU looking at opposite sides and a resurgent China, it is pertinent to ask if the Indo-EU relations are withering or not. • It is interesting to observe that EU initially wooed Chinese dragon before the Indian elephant on the trade side. The times and scenarios have changed given the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has launched ‘Make in India’ campaign and has streamlined its processesGSGSGS of doing SCORESCORESCOREbusiness. It is for the benefit of India to engage EU strategically on the economicGS front SCOREso as to counter and even halt the Chinese run as it ascends to higher economic growth. • EU believes that it will show greater interest in economic reforms undertaken by the Modi government provided that the same sustain in a stable, investment friendly environment. The question remains whether India and EU believe in taking its economic core of relations to the next stage. There have been dismal figures, as shown by Eurostat in terms of trade between India and EU, to show that not much has improved on the goods and services front in 2015. • The recently concluded India-EU Summit had questions raised on its outcome given the Free Trade Agreement impasse and the efforts made to revive the trade negotiations continue to be in the doldrums. Nevertheless, India under the leadership of Narendra Modi has managed to generate certain positive returns during the 13th India-EU Summit. These are in the form of India-EU water, solar partnerships and European investments in India Smart cities.
Hints: Political Science [35] • The questions, however, to be asked is that of follow-ups in terms of work done at the grass roots level on policy issues discussed during the course of summit. The Modi-led NDA government believes in governance lies not in Delhi durbars but at level of State in the spirit of cooperative federalism. It is hopeful that much comes of EU’s association with Indian states like Haryana, Telengana on sustainable development and clean energy issues. • ‘India has been committed to an early and balanced outcome of the European Union broad based trade and investment agreement’, said the Union Commerce Minister in a reply to Lok Sabha during the question hour session. • The stock-taking meetings held on January 18 and February 22, 2016 were efforts in addressing outstanding issues like visas for Indian professionals, data secure status, European demand of lowering duties in automobile sector among a host of others. India is by no means displaying protectionist stance but only explicitly expressing its right to safeguard its domestic auto industry. The Brexit issue is also not a factor as perceived for delaying the trade negotiations. • There is often this prevailing misperception that Italy mariners issue is stalling the progress of India-EU relations. It is to be understood India hold value each of its relations with EU member states and EU as a whole that it would not jeopardise either of them. • Italian mariners issue as arbitrated by United Nation tribunal has acknowledged the supremacy of the Supreme Court of India and confirmed Italy’s obligations to send the accused back to India. It is pertinent to note that issue is not of scoring brownie points as to which country got the verdict in its favour. It is primarily a question of resolving the mariners issue amicably under due process of law. • The withering away as so often quoted stand its ground in this context in the case of India in understanding European Union. In India, unless technically sound experts who understand both institutions and nuances involved in dealing with the EU are placed in charge to deal with the problems involved between India and EU, the future of India EU relations may not brighten up. • India does not have too many specialists on EU as in research circles it is less preferred given the over emphasis on its neighbourhood policies. As a result, the personnel who run India’s policy towards EU are largely bureaucratic, whose knowledge of EU institutions and working are anything but sound. • Further, the political side of the relationship between India and EU remains a matter of concern. In the mid-2000s the EU and India tried remedial action by upgrading engagements at the ministerial level butGSGSGS first the EUSCORESCORESCORE economic crises and then the Indian slowdown have turned both inwards. As a result the relationship lapsed into bureaucratic red tapism and delays. Even Hong Kong seems to have done a better job in dealing with EU than India. • So it is the need of the hour to actualize the strategic partnerships and winning over perception battle in terms what EU thinks of India and vice versa. The clearance of misperceptions and coverage of the same will go long way in strengthening the relationship. • The EU-India strategic partnership should be seen as a work in progress, building from the bottom up. India and the EU share historic ties and there is a need for further improvement through regular and outcome based dialogues. In the new changing world order, India- EU relations can grow, but there is a need to reallocate the focus from mere trade ties to many other areas including geostrategic issues. • This shift has to be tread cautiously given that the Indian strategic interests are often seen turning towards United States. India as widely seen through global lens possesses three
[36] Hints: Political Science assets, that is, ‘democracy, demography and digital’ and with which, it stands to gain in Europe in the years to come. There exists enormous potential to carry forward the India-EU relations and deepen them to the advantage of both sides. But the vision to do it and a concrete long term plan has to be put in place.
6. (b) Examine India’s contribution/role in global disarmament? How far is it correct to say global nuclear regimes were biased and designed to maintain power distribution of cold war era? • Approach Required: Elaborate on the numerous initiatives with which India has been associated/opposed related to global disarmament. Also elaborate specifically why India chose not to sign CTBT or NPT. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your answer needs to bring out the partisan and discriminatory nature of present day nuclear regimes. This should be supported by factual content on extent and coverage of such regimes. India is a peace loving nation. It achieved independence from centuries old British colonial rule through peaceful non-violent movements. India has a long tradition of peace and apathy towards war of any kind. Asoka the Great renounced the use of weapon and abandoned the principles of war. This is one of the earliest examples of disarmament. • In 1954 India took the initiative to ban the nuclear tests. India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru proposed at the U.N. a standstill agreement in respect of the atomic tests • The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was concluded in 1967, kept open for signature in 1968 and was promulgated in 1970 for a period of 25 years. The NPT has It been extended unconditionally and indefinitely by its Review and Extension Conference held in New York from 17th April to 12th May, 1995. India objected to such a treaty calling it discriminatory. India has categorically declared that it will not sign the Treaty in its present form because its indefinite extension only serves to perpetuate its discriminatory aspects which have created a division between the nuclear “haves” and “have nots”. • The concept of Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was mentioned in the NPT. The CTBT has been planned to realise the objective of general and complete nuclear disarmament. The CTBT in present form, however, is not intended to make the weapon free world free from nuclear weapons. After the CTBT was ratified in 1996, negotiations on another treaty to cut off fissile material production have started in January, 1997. The proposed Fissile Material production Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) seeks to put a cut-off point in the sphere of fissile material production. India has refusedGSGSGS to be SCORESCOREaSCORE party in the FMCT. It has opposed the treaty on the same grounds that IndiaGS put forward SCORE while opposing the NPT and the CTBT. • In 1974 India called for a total prohibition of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons, as any such use would be a violation of the Charter of the UN and a crime against humanity. • In 1982 India proposed the following concrete programme of action: (i) The Special Session on Disarmament should consider a binding convention on non-use of nuclear weapons; (ii) as a first step towards eventual cutting of existing stockpiles, a freeze on nuclear weapons and a total stoppage of further production; (iii) immediate suspension of all nuclear tests; (iv) negotiations for achieving a Treaty on General and Complete Disarmament within an agreed time frame; and (v) UN to educate the public on the dangers of nuclear warfare. • In 1984 India along with Argentina, Greece, Mexico, Sweden and Tanzania launched a Five- continent Six-Nation Peace Initiative. This five continent initiative called on the nuclear weapon states to halt the testing, production and deployment of nuclear weapons and seek arms reduction leading to complete disarmament. Hints: Political Science [37] • India is a signatory or party to the Geneva Protocol of 1925; the partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963; Outer Space Treaty of 1967; the Sea Bed Treaty of 1971; the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972; the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. India’s approach towards any multilateral disarmament agreement stems from the basic consideration that only equal and non-discriminatory treaties make peace and relaxation of tension and will help to advance towards the goal of disarmament. After the end of World War II, the world got involved into an armed race of producing nuclear weapons. To slow this malicious race, many arm control treaties such as SALT-1, SALT-2, LTBT, START-1 and START-2 were proposed and signed by several nations across the globe. Among such treaties was Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - arguably most pivotal, global, and influential among all the mechanisms for international disarmament and nuclear non – proliferation. The NPT was launched in 1958 by Frank Aiken, the then External affairs minister of Ireland. At the time the NPT was proposed there was a prediction that within next two decades the world would have 25-30 nuclear weapon states. The NPT is based on a central bargain “The NPT non-nuclear states (states that did not possess nuclear weapons before 1968) agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and NPT nuclear states (states that possessed nuclear weapons before 1968) in exchange agrees to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology. The NPT consists of a Preamble and eleven articles. The NPT was opened for signature in 1968 and enforced in 1970. So far 190 countries have joined the treaty; Finland was the first country to sign. The NPT recognises five Nuclear Weapon states: USA, UK, USSR (Russia after breakdown of the Soviet Union), France and China. Four UN member states never joined NPT: India, Pakistan, Israel, and South Sudan. North Korea accepted the treaty in 1985 but withdrew later in 2003. Over the years the NPT has come to be seen by many Third World states as “a conspiracy of the nuclear ‘haves’ to keep the nuclear ‘have-nots’ in their place”. This argument has roots in Article VI of the treaty which “obligates the nuclear weapons states to liquidate their nuclear stockpiles and pursue complete disarmament. The non-nuclear states see no signs of this happening”. Some argue that the NWS have not fully complied with their disarmament obligations under Article VI of the NPT. Some countries such as India have criticized the NPT, because it “discriminated against states not possessing nuclear weapons on January 1, 1967,” while Iran and numerous Arab states have criticized Israel for not signing the NPT. There has been disappointment with the limited progress on nuclear disarmament, where the five authorized nuclear weapons states still have 22,000 warheads between them and have shown a reluctanceGSGSGS to disarm SCORESCORESCORE further. India’s stand is based on the argument that the NPT is the last vestige of the apartheid in the international system and a clear manifestation of the global division of power, granting as it does to five countries the right to be nuclear-weapons states while denying the same right to others. If nuclear weapons are evil — and India agrees that they are — then no one should have them. What is the moral, ethical, or legal basis for suggesting that some can and others cannot? What virtue do the “official” nuclear powers possess that democratic India lacks? The basic arguments which justify that International Disarmament and Non-nuclear proliferation regimes are reflection of ‘global division of power’, mainly given by India are as follows: • It was a discriminatory treaty which tried to perpetuate the superior power position of nuclear weapon states vis-a-vies the non-nuclear nations. • It unduly tried to legitimize the power gap between nuclear and non-clear nations. • It did not provide for either disarmament or arms control in international relations.
[38] Hints: Political Science • It failed to check the N-programmes of France and China which, in violation of the Moscow Partial Test Ban Treaty, continued the policy of conducting nuclear tests. • NPT was really a political instrument of nuclear weapon states. It divided the states into nuclear haves and have-nots. • NPT was a discriminatory and inadequate Treaty
6. (c) India can provide increased assistance to Afghanistan not only through the existing technical, educational and economic avenues but also in military domain. Discuss the feasibility of this option keeping in view the multiple stakeholders in the region. • Approach Required: Discuss the various factors which are governing Indian presence in Afghanistan and analyse the merit of the idea that India should commit boots on the grounds. Bring in the role being played by Taliban, USA and Pakistan as well. Also elaborate on the various security cooperation initiatives specially like training which are already underway. • Mistakes to be avoided: Don’t provide an overall general analysis of the bilateral relations. Mention other areas of cooperation but keep your focus on the issue of military boots on the ground. • The international military presence in Afghanistan has shrunk dramatically, and even with a slower pace of troop withdrawal, the country’s security situation has already worsened. Iraq’s chaos provides a chilling precedent. After fifteen years of involvement in Afghanistan, the United States has a strong interest in a stable future for the fragile democracy. • Whether or not it further alters its planned troop withdrawal, the United States should encourage Indian efforts to assist Afghanistan in areas of Indian expertise: democracy, economics, and civilian security. India has been an important economic assistance partner for Afghanistan, and can help in other fields to prevent destabilization. Although Pakistan may object, Washington should make it clear to Islamabad that Indian support for Afghanistan’s stability—especially without “boots on the ground”—poses no threat to Pakistani interests and should not be disrupted. • While a resurgent Taliban has increased attacks within Afghanistan, in a new development, terrorists from several splinter groups have pledged loyalty to the self-declared Islamic State. The UN special representative in Afghanistan expressed concern to the UN Security Council that the Islamic State has the potential to unite disparate groups under one radical banner. • Meanwhile, al-Qaeda, whichGSGSGS still has SCORESCORESCORE a support base in Afghanistan, has proclaimed a new subsidiary targeting South Asia; and the Pakistan-based Haqqani network and Lashkar-e- Taiba, focused on Indian and American targets, remain active in Afghanistan and beyond. A smaller international security presence, emboldened terrorist networks, and a more active Taliban combine to worsen the security environment. At the same time, China’s concerns about terrorism in Xinjiang have spurred Beijing to host reconciliation talks involving the Taliban. • India’s government watches these developments warily. Viewed from New Delhi, a descent into disorder in Afghanistan recalls the chronic threats India faced in the late 1990s. India fears a return to the days when terrorists used Afghanistan as a base to plot against Indian targets. Preventing that outcome is a top Indian priority—one the United States shares. India’s Capabilities • Seen as a friend and honest broker by most Afghans, India is the fifth-largest bilateral donor to Afghanistan with over $2 billion in pledged support. Assistance has focused on
Hints: Political Science [39] infrastructure, engineering, training, and humanitarian needs. India constructed the Afghan parliament building, part of the interprovince Ring Road, electrical lines, and the Salma Dam, among others. India has also trained Afghan civil servants in Indian academies. The Confederation of Indian Industry has trained more than one thousand Afghans in carpentry, plumbing, and welding. The Self-Employed Women’s Association of India—a women’s trade union—has educated more than three thousand Afghan women in microenterprise. • India’s $2 trillion economy already accounts for 27 percent of Afghan exports—the second- largest export market—and offers enormous opportunity once Afghanistan becomes better connected to India through full implementation of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. The Indian private sector plays a critical role in expanding commercial ties. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry manages the regional chambers of commerce consultation that was established as a confidence-building measure under the Istanbul Process, a platform for regional dialogue. In 2011, an Indian consortium won the tender for the Hajigak iron ore mine in Bamiyan province. • India was the first country to sign a security pact with Afghanistan, the 2011 Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA), committing India to further security training and potential equipment assistance. India has carried out limited training of Afghan forces, always on Indian soil. Former President Hamid Karzai requested arms from India, but after lengthy delays from New Delhi, President Ashraf Ghani dropped the request. A desire not to exacerbate tensions with Islamabad likely played a role. • Diplomatic coordination on Afghanistan has become more regionally centred, involving India much more deeply. The International Contact Group on Afghanistan now includes more than fifty countries and regional organizations, and India hosted the January 2014 ministerial. Creation of the Heart of Asia–Istanbul Process in 2011 embedded India in a new diplomatic calendar focused on Afghanistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, concerned about Afghanistan’s stability, has begun the process of accession for India and Pakistan. They, along with Afghanistan, participate in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia and the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan. • India can do more, but New Delhi’s concerns about poking a Pakistani hornets’ nest have limited the security partnership. Pakistan views Indian influence in Afghanistan as inimical to its interests and sees itself as the legitimate regional influence in Afghanistan, even though this view undermines sovereign Afghan initiatives with India. Attacks on the Indian embassy in Kabul in 2008 and 2009 and on the consulate in Herat in 2014 were carried out by the Taliban, Haqqani network, and Lashkar-e-Taiba—the latter two Pakistan-based terrorist groups have links to PakistaniGSGSGS security SCORESCORESCORE agencies. • Indian officials want to minimize the odds of terrorist attacks on their territory—hence India’s limited security role despite the SPA, and New Delhi’s focus on conducting security training for Afghans on Indian soil. In order to avoid a Pakistani backlash, India has not sent forces to Afghanistan, except to protect its diplomatic facilities and construction teams. • At the same time, Indian officials strongly resist the idea that Pakistan should have veto power over its regional role. That sentiment has been magnified as China becomes more active in Afghanistan; India does not want China to displace India’s influence in its own region. • Moreover, the Modi government has taken a harder line with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has crafted a regional doctrine prioritizing ties with all the South Asian Area of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) neighbors. He envisions pulling the region up as India rises. But he also expects Pakistan to crack down on terrorism emanating from its [40] Hints: Political Science territory—a stance Washington supports—but Islamabad seems unable or unwilling to implement. • The United States endorses India’s development and economic role in Afghanistan and heralded the India-Afghanistan SPA, but has said little about Indian security assistance. Support across civilian security areas necessary for rule of law and shoring up Afghan forces could be an Indian strength. Islamabad may object. • The United States should discuss with Pakistani officials the benefits of a larger Indian role, including in civilian security areas, and be upfront about how greater stability in Afghanistan will benefit Pakistan. Budget support and training in unobjectionable areas like literacy and medicine, particularly with no boots on the ground, has not and will not pose any risk to Pakistan. • Reasonable proposals for Indian collaboration in Afghanistan involving no Indian troops on the ground should not be subject to a Pakistani veto. To alleviate Pakistani anxieties, the United States should encourage New Delhi and Kabul to be transparent with Islamabad on their joint efforts. With Pakistan and India now embedded together in regional diplomatic mechanisms, added disincentives exist against Pakistani attempts to deny Indian support to Afghanistan when it would clearly benefit the region through greater stability. • The most recent example of this changed dynamic took place at the November 2014 SAARC summit. A regional electricity agreement—supported by all SAARC countries except Pakistan— ultimately secured unanimity after the SAARC countries counselled Pakistan to agree for the betterment of the region. Stabilizing Afghanistan during the Transition • New Delhi’s interests in a unified, stable, and independent Afghanistan converge with Washington’s. The Obama administration should substantially escalate consultation with India and seek greater Indian involvement in areas of its special capacity—democracy, economics, and civilian security—by undertaking the following steps: • Preserve Kabul’s delicate political equilibrium. India and the United States should draw on their experiences with democracy to advise the unity government in Kabul as it works with a power-sharing structure unanticipated in the constitution. Given his involvement, Secretary of State John Kerry should coordinate with India’s foreign minister, especially on the likely challenges of amending the Afghan constitution to reflect the country’s new governing structure. • Advance regional economic integration. Through its dynamic private sector and its development support, India’sGSGSGS assistance SCORESCORESCORE to Afghanistan has been fully compatible with the U.S. New Silk Road initiative. New Delhi has become a leader in regional economic mechanisms. U.S. officials should prioritize connecting Afghanistan to the Indian market. This effort should include pressing Pakistan to permit transit trade to the Attari road integrated check post on the Indian edge of the India-Pakistan border to fulfill the letter and spirit of the 2011 Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement. • Seek budget support from India for the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). It takes around $4 billion annually to support the ANSF. The United States has been the major sponsor over the years and should seek India’s help. China has stepped up assistance with a 2014 pledge of $327 million, though not specifically for the ANSF. This topic should be raised by the U.S. ambassador to India at the highest appropriate level and discussed by national security advisors. • Partner with India on counter-improvised explosive device (IED) training. India’s Institute of IED Management, a Central Reserve Police Force academy, could be a node for ongoing Hints: Political Science [41] training for Afghan forces, the police in particular. The Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Devise Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) has been developing international partnerships on counter-IED training, and India’s institute provides a perfect opportunity to develop a regional partner—especially as JIEDDO shrinks in size. • Partner with India on ANSF support-function training. Literacy training remains a critical ANSF need. The U.S. special inspector general assessed the NATO-run $200 million literacy program as having only “limited impact.” India runs the world’s largest adult literacy program. Military emergency medicine is another area of strong Indian talent. Logistics and supply-chain management are also areas that could help the ANSF perform better in their challenging terrain. The United States and India have had great success with joint training for third countries, such as with agriculture extension training for African countries. Shifting training for these support functions from the current Western contractor’s model to India, which is closer and has greater regional expertise, would offer more bang for the buck.
7. (a) Discuss the utility of maritime power as a foreign policy tool in the light of pro active engagements of the Indian Navy in Indian Ocean and Asia-pacific region.
• Approach Required: Need to elaborate on the various areas of concern and challenge specially from China for Indian Navy in Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific region. Explain what approach we have adopted till now and what more needs to be done. Also assess how the activities of Indian navy in East Asia are furthering our foreign policy goals. • Mistakes to be avoided: The content needs to be specific to our naval doctrine and a general analysis of India-China rivalry or India-ASEAN relations should be avoided. • India can be a key player in maintaining peace and security in the Asia-pacific region and for that New Delhi must further strengthen its maritime cooperation with the ASEAN and Asia Pacific nations, despite China’s disapproval. • The ongoing maritime disputes in the SCS are a major concern for the ASEAN nations. It has created a rift within ASEAN as the nations are divided on how to resolve the disputes. Countries like Singapore and Vietnam believe that India can play a positive role in the regions peace and stability. India is concerned over the maritime disputes and their implications. The maritime disputes and the safety of sea lanes are discussed in all major forums between India and ASEAN for whether it is the India ASEAN Summit, or the Delhi Dialogue. What is yet to be seen if India can be the balancing actor that the region seeks. • New Delhi’s presence in the area is not a strategy to counter China but rather a necessity to safeguard its interestsGSGSGS from an increasingly SCORESCORESCORE assertive Beijing. India looks to increase its engagements with ASEAN nations and in turn, the Southeast Asian nations seek its presence in stabilising the region. Although there is a concerted effort for an increased cooperation on maritime security, New Delhi must be careful not to let China intimidate this collaboration. • Keeping in mind the rapidly changing geo political dynamics in Asia, and India’s vision of enhanced cooperation, it would be beneficial for India to remain in the area and protect its interests. New Delhi must continue to engage and cooperate with the ASEAN countries to realise its desired level of strategic partnership. This in turn would involve deepening naval cooperation with the key countries of ASEAN and major powers sharing India’s interest in defending the principle of Freedom of Navigation and maintaining peace and stability. New Delhi must find the political will to be the stabilising factor that its ASEAN friends seek. • India’s naval cooperation with the Southeast Asian nations is an important dimension of the “Look East Policy”, launched in the early 1990’s. India ASEAN relations have improved incrementally in recent years with India becoming the ASEAN Sectoral Dialogue Partner in [42] Hints: Political Science 1992, and a full Dialogue Partner as well as a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 1996. In December 2012, India and ASEAN celebrated 20 years of dialogue partnership and 10 years of Summit level partnership. Today India ASEAN relations stand at an elevated echelon of a strategic partnership. • The Indian Navy has been carrying out joint exercises and military drills with the navies of the Southeast Asian nations for a long period of time. India has enhanced its naval cooperation with the South East nations and seeks to further strengthen its defence cooperation with the countries. • However, China is wary of New Delhi’s growing closeness to its ASEAN neighbours and perceives this as a strategy to counter balance a rising China. Such concerns are fuelled due to countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines, who are seeking extra regional powers to maintain their presence and encourage their engagements in the region. • It must be noted that India’s naval cooperation with the ASEAN nations date back to the early 1990’s. Although India and its ASEAN counterparts may not have yet realised the full potential of their naval cooperation, there has been incremental progress on this front over the years. • Acutely aware that it needs to contend with operational dynamics beyond those pertaining to coastal and near-regional defence, the Indian Navy is beginning to rethink its operational philosophy. Increasingly, there are signs that a new dimension is emerging in the navy’s strategic outlook: a desire to project power far beyond India’s shores. • Developments in the Indian Ocean in the past few years have convinced the navy that it cannot be confined to its near regions, and that it must have presence and relevance in distant seas and far littorals. In keeping with India’s growing power and regional responsibilities, the Indian Navy had been steadily enhancing its expeditionary and military intervention capabilities. • The Indian navy’s prompt relief assistance to neighbouring states in the wake of the tsunami of December 2004, meanwhile, increased its confidence about undertaking a larger role in the maintenance of regional stability. The key to the Indian navy’s new engagement of Asia lies in its assessments of and interactions with the US and Chinese navies. Delhi’s reach into maritime Asia will be enhanced in coming years by an ambitious warship construction programme that projects an expanded carrier-based, multidimensional force into the next decade and beyond. By 2015, over two-thirds of its principal combatants will be built in Indian shipyards, rising from 45% currently. • In line with its defenceGSGSGS of ‘growing SCORESCORESCORE maritime interests’, the Indian navy has played an enlarged role in security policy since the 1980s. Over 90% of foreign trade in volume and 77% in value is seaborne, accounting for 18% of GDP. Over 90% of India oil requirements – which are set to rise sharply in the next several years – are sourced from the sea, including offshore fields. National development and economic stability are increasingly seen as depending on maritime security. • Meanwhile, under the UN Law of the Sea convention, Delhi is currently formulating a case for its claim to an additional continental shelf area. The claim has to be submitted by 2008 and will be reviewed for a decision in 2009. If approved, India’s 200 nautical mile maritime zones of 2.2 million square km would increase by nearly 50%, implying a multiplication of economic interests to be nurtured and protected. Beyond such general economic security concerns, the Indian navy has also supported foreign policy objectives in Sri Lanka (1971, 1987–90), South Yemen (1986), the Maldives (1988), and Somalia (during UN operations in 1992–93). The navy now regularly exercises with its American, British, French and Singapore counterparts and performs a broad range of supporting roles.
Hints: Political Science [43] • Despite itself being the third worst-hit country in the December 2004 tsunami, the Indian navy promptly dispatched naval forces to provide relief assistance both to its own islands and those of neighbouring states. Its ships were the first to reach Sri Lanka and the Maldives with medical and other relief supplies, with two further ships providing support to Indonesia.
• A key focus of the navy’s eastern theatre is the stability and security of sea lines of communication in the Bay of Bengal and the eastern Indian Ocean. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands – located 1,200km from the Indian mainland – are only 50km from Myanmar’s Coco Islands and 70km from Indonesia. Their strategic location astride the six degree channel and adjacent to the Strait of Malacca Singapore – through which a quarter of the world’s maritime trade and half its seaborne oil shipments flow – provide advantage position for surveillance amid mounting international concern over maritime terrorism and the security of shipping.
The Indian navy is keen to join a regional initiative to boost maritime security in concert with the three littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. In addition to being a ‘dialogue partner’ of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and a member of the wider ASEAN Regional Forum, India has held annual summit meetings with ASEAN since 2002. That year, India established its first joint command – Andaman and Nicobar command – in Port Blair, underlining a gradually developing political-military engagement of ASEAN. Then, in 2003, India strengthened its political links to the region by acceding to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. The nature and extent of the Indian navy’s engagements in Southeast and East Asia have gradually grown to include: • Observer status in the multilateral Western Pacific Naval Symposium and delegation-level participation in the countermeasure and diving exercises.
• Hosting a biennial gathering of warships (MILAN) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands since 1995, along with limited exercises. Hydrography assistance to Indonesia.
• Joint exercises with the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) called SIMBEX (Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise) and the Japanese Coast Guard.
• Indo-Thai Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) and IND INDO CORPAT (India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol)
The Indian navy is increasingly wary of its Chinese counterpart, notwithstanding considerably improved Sino-Indian diplomaticGS and trade SCORE relations. The Indian navy has entrenched concerns about China’s increasing presenceGSGSGS and activities SCORESCORESCORE in the Indian Ocean, which is developing in tandem with China’s growing dependence on Persian Gulf oil and the commensurate need to secure safe passage of oil tankers. India is also suspicious of Chinese activities in Myanmar (where it is helping to develop ports) and Pakistan (where it is thought to be developing refuelling facilities for Chinese warships at the recently commissioned Chinese-built Gwadar port on the Makran coast in Baluchistan). The Indian Maritime Doctrine document perceives ‘attempts by China to strategically encircle India’ and comments adversely on ‘China’s vigorous exertions that tend to spill over into our maritime zone’. India’s deployments and naval exercises in the South China Sea, in particular, appear to be a direct response to the growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean. Burgeoning Indo-US relations, concern over the Chinese navy’s medium-term intentions and ambitions, and the opportunities presented by enhanced Indian surveillance and force projection capabilities in the region, should all underpin the Indian navy’s new engagement of Asia in the years ahead.
[44] Hints: Political Science 7. (b) Discuss India-Israel Defense relationship and cooperation on counter terrorist measures.
• Approach Required: Straightforward analyse the evolution of defence cooperation and trade between the two nations. Give special emphasis on the nature of direct engagement between the armed forces of the two nations specially on the issue of border security and counter-terrorism. • Mistakes to be avoided: The depth of the relationship has to be portrayed by factual examples and not merely by arguments. Normalization of diplomatic relations with the Jewish state was the most visible manifestation of the post-Cold War foreign policy of India. More than four decades after the formation of Israel, India established full diplomatic relations with the country in January 1992. This move signalled India’s new non-ideological approach to foreign policy. Since 1992 relations between India and Israel have flourished in a lot of areas, including political contacts, economic interactions, and cultural exchanges and, above all, military co-operation. After some initial hesitation, India began adopting an unapologetic attitude towards its new found friendship with Israel. There was a series of high-level political visits between the two countries, including the visit of Israel’s foreign minister in May 1993, President EzerWeizman in December 1996, and foreign minister Silvan Shalom in February 2004. The high point of the bilateral ties was the visit of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in September 2003. At that time not many friends of Israel were willing to host the maverick leader. Despite public protests from left-wing parties and Muslim groups, the visit was a watershed in Indo-Israeli relations. Despite initial misgivings, the Leader of the Opposition and President of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, met the Israeli leader, thereby signaling a broad national consensus regarding bilateral ties with Israel. Defence Co-Operation • The most important area of Indo-Israeli co-operation, however, revolves around the military arena, something that both countries are extremely reluctant to discuss publicly. In just over a decade after normalization, Israel emerged as a significant player in India’s security calculations. In recent years India has overtaken other potential markets such as Turkey and emerged as the largest market for Israeli arms exports. For its part, Israel is seen as the second largest defence supplier after Russia. Principal defence co-operation covers areas such as arms upgrading, small arms, border management, naval patrol, intelligence co- operation and counter-terrorism. India’s search for advanced technology and Israel’s demand for larger markets to economizeGSGSGS its SCORESCORESCOREdefence research are complementary. • Both countries are seeking technological independence and qualitative superiority over their adversaries. Some of the major defence deals involving both countries since 1992 include: the Barak anti-missile system; the upgrade of ageing MiG fighter planes; fast patrol attack craft; radars and other surveillance equipment; night-vision hardware; and border fencing. Of all military-related deals with Israel, the purchase of three Phalcon advance airborne early warning systems at an estimated cost of $1,100m. Was a major development. • In the past, the USA vehemently opposed Phalcon sales to the People’s Republic of China, and forced Israel to cancel the economically lucrative and politically important deal. • However, as the left-wing parties were demanding that the Government abandon closer military ties with Israel; in July 2007 the Indian Government approved a $2,500m. Programme to jointly develop defence systems against air missiles. Above all, amidst the controversy over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, in March 2007 India launched an Israeli spy satellite into orbit. While actual quantum of Israeli exports remains controversial, in May 2007 defence minister
Hints: Political Science [45] A.K. Antony informed the Indian parliament that defence purchases from Israel during 2002–07 had been over $5,000m. • Furthermore, heads of various branches of the military, as well as the security establishments, have been visiting one another periodically. There is a structured, regular and ongoing consultation between the national security establishments of both countries. There is an institutional consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries, and both countries have Joint Working Groups dealing with terrorism and defence production. Indian naval vessels have been making periodic port calls to Israel. Reflecting its changed attitude towards Israel and the Middle East peace process, India contributed troops to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Lebanon in November 1998 and joined the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) along the Israeli–Syrian border in March 2006. Closer military ties between the two countries once again highlight the importance of the USA in shaping Indo- Israeli ties.
7. (c) Twenty years after the Indian nuclear doctrine was first drafted, the time is certainly ripe for a comprehensive review and suitable revisions. Discuss.
• Approach Required: Discuss in detail the various elements and factors which have till now compelled India to maintain a “No-First Use” doctrine. Then provide examples and arguments as to how India has not gone for a complete reversal of the doctrine but changes are being signalled to Pakistant, both officially and unofficially. • Mistakes to be avoided: You need to elaborate on suitable revisions in the policy. Don’t just fixate on enumerating arguments as to why NFU should be completely abandoned. What would be the response of India if it comes across credible intelligence that Pakistan is preparing to launch nuclear-armed missiles as a means to escalate military hostilities? Would India wait for Pakistan to undertake a nuclear first strike, possibly on a major population centre like the National Capital Region (NCR), killing a million or more, and then mobilise its second-strike forces to strike Pakistan and inflict “unacceptable damage,” as India’s Draft Nuclear Doctrine (DND) of 1999 proclaims? Or, instead, would it undertake a pre-emptive strike – either through a conventional air strike or with nuclear-tipped short/interim-range missiles – on Pakistani bases gearing up for striking targets in India? This has been a troubling question repeatedly posed to the Indian security establishment. Hitherto, it has not provided a direct answer, preferring to reiterate the sanctity of the no-first-use (NFU) posture underlying India’s nuclear doctrine and deterrent as well as emphasising that the doctrine is more of a ‘declaratory’ political statement (in order to deter nuclear blackmail) than a war- fighting posture. Votaries of GSNFUGSGS believe thatSCORESCORESCORE it aptly reflects India’s moralistic ethos of a peaceful nation that uses its nuclear weapons responsibly even if the posture is inconsistent with the threat environment, denoted by two nuclear-armed rivals with characteristically different postures. Pakistan, in fact, has been sceptical about India’s NFU posture from the outset and had decided against publicising its nuclear doctrine, all the while keeping its nuclear posture ambiguous and strike options open. Pakistan used this ambiguity optimally in the first decade of overt nuclearisation in South Asia (i.e., since 1998) and made political gains from nuclear brinkmanship. However, the situation subsequently changed as the spotlight fell on Pakistan’s status as a hub of terrorism and clandestine nuclear trade. Pakistan’s one-upmanship during the initial years of its nuclearisation had placed immense pressure on India’s NFU posture and had triggered demands for its revision in order to effectively deal with the volatility involving two nuclear-armed neighbours. The recent remark by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh indicating that NFU is not ‘cast in stone’ and can be altered if the circumstances demand so, is the latest reflection on NFU-centric doctrine not being robust enough. He was echoing [46] Hints: Political Science a pronouncement in the DND that the doctrine (or some of its elements) will be “a dynamic concept related to the strategic environment, technological imperatives and the needs of national security,”implying the imperativeness of review and upgradation. A closer look at the evolution of India’s nuclear postures in the last two decades, however, reveal the numerous doctrinal realignments and signalling exercises that India had initiated to adapt to the ever-transforming threat calculus, though short of altering the fundamental NFU-centric doctrinal framework. NFU as a Strategic Burden A foremost scepticism about India’s NFU posture is on its credibility and robustness when it equates with only one (China) of the nuclear rivals and creates a vacuum for the other (Pakistan) to exploit. Pakistan has been running a prolonged low-intensity conflict (LIC) against India, which predates the 1998 tests and had for long denied the space for an Indian response by threatening to escalate to nuclear use if India crossed any of its ‘perceived’ thresholds. This skewed equation, in fact, had its genesis in the covert nuclearisation phase when Gen. Zia-ul-Haq reportedly warned India during Operation Brasstacks (1987) that “if you cross the border by an inch, we will annihilate your cities.” The nuclear tests only emboldened this strategy further as was evident from the blackmail and brinkmanship that Pakistan indulged in during various crises in the post-1998 years. Pakistan, in turn, rapidly developed a tactical nuclear capability (Nasr) to counter the Cold Start strategy and declared that it could target Indian forces crossing into Pakistan territory, though New Delhi refused to get into a tactical equation despite having the capability for a technological riposte (Prahaar). Nonetheless, it led to a postural shift in Pakistan’s deterrence calculus as exemplified by its adoption of a second-strike capability in 2012, followed by projection of a full-spectrum deterrence. The latter entailed development of capabilities for all the threat environments: cruise missiles (Ra’ad and Babar) to tackle India’s BMD systems, and Nasr against the Cold Start and a fledgling offensive force, including Shaheen-III to hit India’s far-flung strategic zones, etc. The moot point is that while the nuclear deterrence spectrum witnessed evolution and maturity, the NFU loophole continued to be exploited until the surgical strikes of September 2016 (following a terror attack at Uri army camp), which became not just a demonstration of the new political leadership’s resolve to ‘cross the border’ as a perceptive redline and call Pakistan’s ‘nuclear bluff,’ but also undertake military operations under a nuclear overhang without jettisoning the doctrinal underpinnings of the NFU. Three years down the line, these political objectives were reinforced when the leadership repeated the feat with greater intensity, through air strikes on a terror camp in Balakot in February 2019.12 More importantly, the aerial strikes were proof of India now taking over the escalation mantle and signalling its resolve to advance up the ladder (towards missile strikes) in the event of continuing terror attacks and if Pakistan were to seek military retribution to the Indian action, as seen afterGSGSGS the Balakot SCORESCORESCORE event. With the recent Indian action in Jammu and Kashmir ruffling the Pakistan security establishment, which is seemingly girding its loins for a fresh offensive, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement was not just a reiteration of the political intent for cross-border military missions, but also a signalling exercise that no elements of India’s nuclear doctrine, including NFU, will restrain it from moving up the escalation ladder if the situation so demands. Nuclear Posture is All About Signalling It was surprising for observers of the South Asian nuclear scene as to why such a meticulously planned and resource-intensive initiative like the ‘Cold Start’ was disowned by the political leadership. Army officials involved in this exercise insist that the supposed ‘Cold Start’ was only one among a handful of proactive tactical strike plans that were to be employed if the political leadership decides to undertake military action in response to a terror strike. In fact, when elements of the Cold Start were tested on the western frontier, Army officials were aware that their Pakistan counterparts were closely monitoring the exercises and dissecting its contours.
Hints: Political Science [47] Considering that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, despite promoting a proactive national security mission, had not sought to revive or institutionalise the Cold Start plan, which was discarded by its predecessor, could be indicative of the fact that this project was a calculated signalling exercise intended to alarm Pakistan of the conventional campaigns that India could devise. While objectives like ‘conquering and holding territory without hitting redlines’ may sound ambitious even for such spectacular projects, one cannot rule out the possibility that the surgical strike of 2016 could have been among the models (of controlled sub-conventional assaults) that comprised the larger framework of the Cold Start. Another major signalling exercise was the Indian response to the Nasr episode. With Pakistan demonising the Cold Start as a destabilising strategy and swiftly developing a tactical nuclear delivery capability to counter it, the Indian establishment was looking for a requisite response without affecting its doctrinal setup and technological missions. The opening probably came when Pakistan declared that it might use tactical nuclear weapons against the Indian forces even if it was on its own soil. In the discussions that followed, it was at the initiative of the then foreign secretary that a decision was taken to use unofficial channels to signal India’s approach towards Nasr and the tactical nuclear space. Shyam Saran, as Chairman of India’s National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), an advisory body without any official or statutory standing, fitted the bill. Through two different articulations, Saran clarified that India will not differentiate between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons and therefore will consider any such use against its forces or territory as a first-strike, which, implicitly, could invite a massive retaliation involving nuclear weapons. The doctrinal debates were sealed for a brief period, until the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) declared in its 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto its intent to “study in detail India’s nuclear doctrine, and revise and update it, to make it relevant to challenges of current times,” without, however, making any explicit reference to NFU. Two years later, in November 2016, then Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar’s ‘private thoughts’ on “why should India tie itself to NFU?” was also passed off as a reflection of this thought process – the imperative of reviewing the doctrine periodically. While Defence Minister Singh’s recent statement might be embodying such proclivities, the timing of the statement indicates that it could be more of signalling to Pakistan in the light of its sabre-rattling over the latest developments relating to Jammu and Kashmir. With the Pakistan premier warning of an impending war, he needed to be warned that the outcome may not be one of his choosing. By that standard, the Defence Minister’s statement qualifies as potent signalling, on par with the Saran’s statements. Why a Review-Cum-Revision is Needed A theatre-specific posture: The idea is to project the flexibility that India has in applying the NFU only for theatres where the rival state (China) also has a similar posture while keeping its options open for other theatres (Pakistan),GSGSGS where SCORE SCORESCOREno such articulation exists or where other nuclear use preferences are indicated. Reflect new strategic scenarios: Largely of the 1999 vintage, the DND is seen as falling short in many scenarios involving newer platforms like tactical nuclear weapons and missile defence, besides missing out on principles pertaining to counter-force or counter-value targeting choices. Though the Nasr element was tackled through interpretative manoeuvring, the doctrine needs to incorporate a clear guideline on tactical scenarios, particularly since it may involve an attack on the Indian troops in foreign territory as well as a potential introduction of an Indian tactical system into the matrix. Considering that India has the technological capability to fight and dominate in the tactical domain, it would be unwise to evade a war-fighting space of lighter intensity and lesser destructive scope instead of galloping to a holocaustic endgame. The fledgeling missile defence capability also needs rapid integration into the doctrinal space as the fundamental objective behind a nation-wide shield would be to defend against nuclear-tipped missiles of various hues. Though the technology is not yet fool-proof or operationally mature, the BMD
[48] Hints: Political Science systems are integral to all nuclear strike scenarios, be it pre-emptive, offensive, or retaliatory. If their primary task is to provide frontline defence against a first strike by protecting population centres and second-strike capabilities, the alternative scenario is of the incentives to strike first – as a pre- emptive or a conquest mission – against an adversary with the assurance that retaliation will be sufficiently countered. It is, hence, vital that the missile defence roles and objectives are well articulated in the nuclear doctrinal framework, when revised. This exercise should also facilitate the transfer of BMD assets from the Indian Air Force to the Strategic Forces Command in order to fully integrate them with the strategic mission. Conclusion The irony about nuclear doctrines is that the NFU posture, which is supposed to be an exemplar of peaceful intentions, has been scrutinised more often than the more belligerent versions. Nuclear doctrines and postures are dynamic processes that evolve with the security environment, and, hence, can neither be treated as sacrosanct policies nor equated with characteristics like ‘responsibility’, especially since only two of the nine nuclear-armed states adopt defensive postures like NFU. India’s doctrinal framework has also undergone notable changes from its original ideational framework, through both structural alterations as well as postural realignments. The revisions pertaining to biological and chemical attacks as well as the inclusion of attack on Indian forces among the conditionalities for ‘retaliation’ are examples of how the core tenets have been revisited. The purported re-interpretation by a former national security advisor on the provision of non-use against non-nuclear weapon states and Shyam Saran’s signalling endeavour are examples of how the strategic milieu will force enduring pressures on the doctrinal structures to transform and adapt.Twenty years after the Indian nuclear doctrine was first drafted, the time is certainly ripe for a comprehensive review and suitable revisions.
8. (a) Discuss the major aspects of India’s view of Indo-Pacific construct in context of our ‘Act East’ and ‘Act West’ approach.
• Approach Required: In context of the speech given by External Affairs Minister, discuss whether it is viable to have a singular policy for the whole Indo-Pacific or Indian should maintain separate ‘Act East’ and ‘Act West’ approach. Also talk about the expanded coverage by India under both and what are the major and emerging areas of cooperation. Focus on institutional dialogues, visits and agreements. • Mistakes to be avoided: Your analysis needs to elaborate on whether the decision to incorporate African and Gulf nations into Indo-Pacific construct is going to be beneficial for India or not. GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE • Recently while delivering the valedictory address at the joint Indian Ocean Dialogue and the Delhi Dialogue, EAM Jaishankar mentioned that, “India is increasing the area covered by its Indo-Pacific policy to include the Western Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea – this includes the neighbours in the Gulf, the island nations of the Arabian Sea and Africa. Stretching the geographical and therefore strategic area of the Indo-Pacific to encompass not merely a region stretching eastwards from India, which would have the ASEAN as the central focus, India is now incorporating the western Indian Ocean and Africa. There is room for a Western Indian Ocean version of this concept too.” • However, it might not be a good idea to talk about India’s Indo Pacific construct as a single entity especially due to India’s varying policy interests and concerns in these two sub- regions. Due to the vast geography and number of countries involved, a more viable, practical, and pragmatic approach for India will be to implement two sets of distinctive policies – like ‘Act East’ and ‘Act West’ - as a part of its Indo-Pacific strategy.
Hints: Political Science [49] “Act-East” and the Indo-Pacific • Although the East received attention as a result of India’s Look East and now Act East policy, but for a long time our eastern neighbours were just seen as economic and strategic partners, rather than as important maritime players or even maritime neighbours. With the evolution of the idea of the “coupling of the two seas” and the ‘Indo-Pacific’ from 2008 onwards, do we see the eastern neighbours also being looked at through the nautical lens. Though the navy for its overseas deployments in the eastern Indian Ocean and the Pacific has always paid attention to the eastern Indian Ocean, but this side did suffer from a ‘relative neglect’ in the Indian strategic thinking. • Given the present scenario where most of the major players championing the Indo-Pacific like the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea and now the ASEAN countries (ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific) are nations bordering the eastern Indian Ocean and the Pacific, it would be difficult for India to neglect these countries if it wants to continue to make its voice heard and influence felt in this emerging Indo-Pacific debate. India has been strengthening its relations and working closely with its eastern neighbours as can be seen in the 2+2 dialogues with US and Australia, the foreign ministerial level Quadrilateral dialogue, among many others. Even individually with ASEAN countries like Indonesia, India has a Shared Vision Statement on the Indo-Pacific, the two countries are also actively having dialogues and meetings to initiate connectivity projects between India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh in Sumatra island. • Moreover, a lot more can be done with these countries. For instance, India can enter into connectivity initiatives with its Southeast Asian neighbours as a part of the Masterplan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025. In these connectivity programs, India can work alongside with countries like Japan, South Korea, US, Australia. The Asia Africa Growth Corridor spearheaded by Japan, India’s Sagarmala (port connectivity project) and the Masterplan on ASEAN Connectivity can work in tandem. ‘Act West’ and the Indo-Pacific • The Western Indian Ocean region has only found reference in Indian policy circles in terms of geography, rather than formulating India’s strategy towards the region as a coherent or cogent vision, strategy, or as a part of India’s Indo Pacific construct. • The Western Indian Ocean region is viewed as a gateway to continental Africa by both India and China. As China continues to rapidly expand its economic and military heft in the region, India cannot afford to be left behind. Subsequently, in keeping in line with Indian government’s official stanceGSGS of increasing SCORESCORE the Indian Ocean region’s community’s involvement within the notion of IndoGSGS Pacific and SCORE SCOREin order to truly reflect ‘inclusivity’, the MEA recently expanded the Indian Ocean Division to include all the major island nation-states in the western and southern Indian Ocean. Now, the next step for India should be to get Observer Status in the Indian Ocean Commission (COI) – an intergovernmental commission which tracks the development of the five African Indian Ocean nations. In this respect, France supports India’s candidature. • Additionally, after signing defence cooperation agreements with Madagascar and Comoros earlier in October, India has now appointed a defence attaché to its mission in Madagascar. This will help India to closely monitor the security developments in the region. India is also mulling to incorporate the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) in its outreach to these strategically placed Indian Ocean ‘Vanilla’ island nations. Since the adverse effects of climate change and natural disasters, especially cyclones, pose severe threats, the ICG and the Indian Navy, needs to play a more pro-active role in its HA/DR and Search and Rescue (SAR) operations in the region. [50] Hints: Political Science • On the other hand, India’s eastern neighbours have existing and established regional architectures like the East Asia Summit (EAS), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum among others to discuss and deliberate on the Indo- Pacific. But the Western Indian Ocean countries, besides the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) does not have established regional frameworks to exclusively look into the Indo- Pacific concept. The following section will look into how the existing platforms and mechanisms can be utilised for evolving an ‘Act West’ version of the Indo-Pacific. Leveraging existing mechanisms for cooperation • Maritime Security - Maritime security has emerged as an important dimension of India’s bilateral relations with the larger Indian Ocean community. Since, it is important to secure national interests by ensuring the safety and security of vital trade routes, particularly choke points, regional cooperation within the Indian Ocean Region through mechanisms such as Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Indian Ocean Commission (COI), Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) has become paramount. With nearly forty percent of India’s trade conducted with the littoral nations along the Indian Ocean Rim, freedom of navigation and safe passage of Indian ships for conducting unimpeded commerce is central to India’s maritime interests. In this respect, the IORA has emerged as an important platform for identifying and highlighting common challenges – both traditional (like the china challenge) and non- traditional (such as human, drugs, arms trafficking, climate change, natural disasters, IUU fishing etc) and synergising and coordinating incident responses. • Collaboration in data sharing and information – One fact clearly discernable from EAM Jaishankar’s address at Indian Ocean Dialogue was that although various information and data sharing mechanisms and platforms exists towards India’s east, there are less mechanisms that covers India’s west. However, this does not imply that there are no platforms. From 2010 – 2015, the MARSIC project (Enhancing Maritime Security and Safety through Information Sharing and Capacity Building) was operational which aimed to reinforce capacity of Indian Ocean maritime administrations and worked to support the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC), the first such code to be operational in Western Indian Ocean waters. From 2015 onwards, the MARSIC project’s mandate was taken up by the EU Critical Maritime Route Wider Indian Ocean (EU CRIMARIO) project, which supports regional countries’ endeavors to enhance their maritime situational awareness (MSA). Apart from conducting training and capacity building exercises, the CRIMARIO project has also implemented a new secure information sharing and incident management tool known as the IORIS platform. Since recording transparent data is of paramount importance to African countries, information sharing must be improved at the national level. In this endeavor, India can partner withGSGS GSexternal powers SCORESCORESCORE like France, US, UK, and Japan and explore the possibility of setting up national coordinating offices with secured online platforms. India too has established the Information Fusion Centre-IOR (IFC-IOR) in 2018 in Gurugram, collocated with Information Analysis and Management Centre (IMAC), which links all coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real time picture along India’s coastline. Although most of the current data is collected through India’s own coastal radar surveillance stations along its coast, the IFC-IOR and IORIS platform can work in tandem to give a more comprehensive picture, covering the wider Indian Ocean Region. • Other areas of cooperation include Blue Economy through sustainable use of marine resources, disaster prevention and management, initiating concrete measures for curbing the dumping of marine-plastic debris in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and exploring potential[1] maritime- port connectivity and shipping projects, for example – Port of Lindi in Tanzania with Port of Mumbai in India on the western side, and Padang in West Sumatra with Andaman and Nicobar and other ports on India’s eastern seaboard.
Hints: Political Science [51] • India’s decision to incorporate African and Gulf countries in its Indo-Pacific strategy is certainly a step in the right direction. However, duplication should not reflect in the efforts and mandates of regional institutions and mechanisms working across the two regions. As economic and demographic trends in Africa are giving the continent a greater salience in world’s affairs, through concerted diplomacy, Prime Minister Modi’s administration has reinforced and consolidated India’s ties with both African and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries – especially UAE and Oman. By signing maritime transport agreement with and getting access to facilities at Oman’s strategically located Duqm Port, India is now able to not expand its footprint in the Western Indian Ocean, East Africa, and the Persian Gulf, also by introducing the Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative at the 35th ASEAN Summit is giving further impetus to New Delhi’s larger Indo-Pacific Strategy
8. (b) Discuss the major emerging challenges for India Foreign Policy in 2020 with examples. • Approach Required: Keeping in view the domestic crisis evident at the outset of 2020, comment on the emerging challenges for Indian foreign policy specially for India’s neighbourhood first policy. Discuss what measures can be taken to remedy the same. • Mistakes to be avoided: Elaborate on how domestic issues like CAA and NRC can create negative response for India but keep the content limited to foreign policy issues. No need to comment on the merit of CAA/NRC itself. • In his first term, PM Modi was able to undertake significant strategic outreach to the United States, Japan, and Australia. The revival of the Quad is a great indicator of the pragmatism in India’s diplomacy today. Despite some setbacks in between, India also managed to consolidate its position in two important Indian Ocean countries – Sri Lanka and Maldives. Modi can also be credited with a more effective outreach to Southeast Asia, with its Act East Policy. • But there are also growing difficulties. Managing China, India’s most serious challenge, has seen some success but it remains a major and continuing problem. India’s more active role in the Quad in its second avatar is a positive sign. Despite the occasional wavering in India’s Indo-Pacific policy, elevating the Quad to foreign ministerial level deliberations shows the willingness of all the four Quad members to acknowledge the reality of the China problem and the need for the four to work toward strategic coordination. • But there are serious problems with India’s hard capacity to manage the China problem. General V.P. Malik, the former chief of Indian Army Staff, said during the Kargil war that “we will fight with whatGSGSGS we have,” butSCORESCORESCORE such an approach while facing a much a larger and strong force in China will be dangerous for India. For all the loud rhetoric on national security, the Modi government’s defense budget allocation has been abysmal. Year after year, it has driven down the defense budget, which now has the lowest allocation since the period before the 1962 Sino-Indian War. • Even within this allocation, much of it is spent on salaries and pension, leaving very little for capital expenditure, thus leaving procurement issues unresolved. All three Indian services have significant gaps and this is going to test India’s ability to defend successfully against China. The Indian focus appears to be on diplomacy to deal with China, but depending on one toll alone could be dangerous. • Another major challenge is the neighborhood, and the problems here are compounded due to India’s internal developments. Today, India’s neighborhood policy is facing serious challenges, in part because of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). Together, they have had a particularly negative impact
[52] Hints: Political Science on India’s relations with Afghanistan and Bangladesh. With the CAA targeting three Islamic neighbors – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan – India’s neighborhood diplomacy suddenly faces new problems. • Relations with Bangladesh had improved significantly under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but the CAA and the NRC have put the Bangladeshi government in a difficult position. Relations with Afghanistan, another friendly neighbor, are affected also. Moreover, the CAA is seen both as specifically targeting Muslims and as equating Indian citizenship with Hinduism, raising eyebrows across the world. Even India’s partners are questioning its credentials as a multicultural, pluralist society. India did enjoy certain soft power benefit as the world’s largest democracy, with diverse cultures and religions co-existing in a stable political system, but that image has been tarnished by the recent developments. • Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and even External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar can ignore the global concerns by saying these are internal matters of India. But the reality is that India’s moral standing has taken a hit and it will need significant efforts on the part of the Modi government to demonstrate that India is still a multicultural and secular democracy. • Modi did make a smart choice in getting Jaishankar to head the foreign ministry. Jaishankar, a former foreign secretary, is well-respected around the world, and is known to have been an important reason for many of Modi’s foreign policy successes in his first term. But it is unclear if an experienced technocrat like Jaishankar can weather the storms created by poor domestic political decisions. Jaishankar was successful to a large extent in assuaging the fears around the developments in Jammu and Kashmir, after Article 370 was revoked in early July. His extensive engagements in the United States, speaking in nearly a dozen think tanks, as well as other media interviews, helped stem the damage. • But India’s outreach has been poor after the CAA. Jaishankar’s cancellation of meetings with U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) because the delegation included Ms. PramilaJayapal, for instance, has angered Democrats in the United States to the point where Jayapal now has another 10 legislators co-sponsoring her resolution in the Congress, seeking a return to normalcy in Kashmir at the earliest. It is not clear that India still enjoys the kind of bipartisan support in the U.S. as it did in the last 15 years. • This comes on top of Modi’s statement, “Ab kibaar Trump Sarkar,” which has not gone down well with Democrats. It would have been better for Modi to not poke his head into the internal politics of another country. The U.S. relationship is absolutely critical in managing the China issue and it will be a challenge to get it back to even keel, especially if a Democrat wins the White House GSGSGSin November. SCORESCORESCORE • It is unclear how the India-Japan relationship has been affected. The annual summit, originally slated to take place in Guwahati in December 2019, was postponed because of CAA-related protests. This has been an annual feature for more than a decade and it is possibly the first time that the summit meeting has been skipped. • India’s democracy and stability plays at least a supporting role in India’s partnerships, and even uncertainty can hurt these relations. While India has faced many external difficulties in the past, they have rarely been the result of domestic politics. Handling these new challenges could be much more difficult than the Indian government assumes
8. (c) Discuss the nature of Military to Military Cooperation between India and China and need for future measures to augment the same.
• Approach Required: Keep your focus on initiatives of Military to Military cooperation between the two nations and discuss how this mechanism has ensured a tense but stable Hints: Political Science [53] peace on the border for past 50 years. Discuss what more can be done to enhance its efficiency with special reference to the ‘Wuhan Spirit’. • Mistakes to be avoided: Keep your content specific to Military to Military Cooperation between India and China. No need for generic or holistic analysis. The most convincing argument in support of a successful India-China military relationship is the fact that not a shot has been fired across the 3488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) in over 50 years. It is also to the credit of the militaries of both countries that they have shown maturity and restraint in defusing potentially explosive situations such as those in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) in 2013, Chumar in 2014, and Doklam in 2017. Over the last half a century, save a bloody confrontation at Nathu La in 1967, where the Indian Army showed ‘restrained aggression’, a slow, pragmatic and incremental set of confidence building measures (CBMs) have ensured a defined and established set of rules to peacefully deal with transgressions and avoid confrontations. Despite these CBMs and a robust mechanism to settle the boundary dispute, a final settlement continues to remain elusive. In 2013, a standoff between the two militaries at DBO in eastern Ladakh spurred the signing of a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) in October 2013. This augmented the existing CBMs by laying down five implicit mechanisms to improve communication and cooperation in order to defuse confrontation, viz. flag meetings, periodic meetings between field commanders and government officials, the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination for India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) at the Joint Secretary as well as Director General Border Affairs level, and an annual Defence Dialogue at the Defence Secretary level. These were followed up with greater interaction between field commanders through visits to each other’s military theatres, resumption of battalion level Hand-in-Hand exercises, port of call visits by Indian ships and visits by military delegations to each other’s training institutions. However, the standoff at Doklam in the Bhutanese territory in 2017, which lasted 73 days and in the most inhospitable and treacherous terrain along the LAC, tested the mettle and resolve of the militaries of both India and China. It was finally resolved peacefully with both militaries backing off after hectic diplomatic consultations between the affected parties. India’s support to Bhutan, its closest ally in its immediate neighbourhood, was clear and unambiguous. After the bloody confrontation at Nathu La in 1967, in which almost 300 Chinese soldiers are believed to have been killed,1 the faceoff in Doklam and the buildup that followed called for mutual de-escalation without prejudice to each other’s position on the boundary issue. In what can be termed as ‘saving face’, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) agreed to pull back while the Indian forces did the same to restore ‘status quo ante’. However, the PLA has since taken to building massive infrastructure and continues to deploy a large number of troops in the Doklam Plateau. Although Doklam standoff resulted in a strain in the India-China relations, it is again to the credit of both militaries that they displayed remarkable restraint and neverGSGSGS let the situation SCORESCORESCORE escalate into a confrontation or exchange of fire. The ‘Wuhan Spirit’ It was in the backdrop of the Doklam incident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met for an Informal Summit at Wuhan in China in April 2018 to review the bilateral relations. The two leaders thereafter agreed to direct their militaries to “earnestly implement various confidence building measures agreed upon between the two sides, including the principle of mutual and equal security, and strengthen existing institutional arrangements and information sharing mechanisms to prevent incidents in border regions.”2 Subsequently, the annual Hand-in-Hand joint exercise on anti-terror was resumed in 2018 along with visits by military delegations and ships to each other’s ports. India also participated in the August 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) joint military exercise involving Pakistani and Chinese troops. Having ‘reset’ the bilateral relationship last year in April 2018, the return of the Modi Government to power in the recent elections has injected renewed vigour into India’s relationship with China. Developments such as China’s endorsement of Pakistan’s placement on the ‘grey list’ of the Financial
[54] Hints: Political Science Action Task Force (FATF) against terror financing in June 2018, and China’s lifting of the ‘technical hold’ on the declaration of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist under the United Nations Sanctions List in April 2019, have had a positive impact on bilateral ties. These developments augur well for Modi 2.0. The Bishkek Declaration issued at the recent SCO Summit has also lent credibility to India’s stance on terrorism. During the SCO Summit, Prime Minister Modi had clearly stated that “Countries responsible for aiding, supporting and providing financial assistance to terrorists should be held accountable.”3 Further, President Xi and Prime Minister Modi have developed a personal chemistry which continues to flourish, as reflected in Xi’s acceptance of the invitation for the second Informal Summit to be held later this year in Varanasi. With the year 2020 marking 70 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Prime Minister Modi’s proposal that both countries should list 70 important events, 35 each in India and China, to mark the occasion has been accepted by President Xi.4 That should set the stage for a greater congruence on ideas and actions in the coming years, including on Military to Military (M2M) relationship. Having resumed the M2M exchanges in earnest, India and China could sustain the momentum by cooperating in the following areas as well: (a) Building CBMs at Sea – Over the last few years, there has been a growing focus on the Indo-Pacific Region (IPR). The importance of vital sea lanes of communication and commercial shipping traversing the region needs no emphasis. In this context, the expanding footprint of the PLA Navy (or PLAN) in the IPR is a matter of concern. With the Indian Navy firmly anchored in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), there are both fears of confrontation as well as opportunities for cooperation between the two navies in the region. A beginning was made by establishing a formal Maritime Dialogue in 2016 to address areas of maritime concern. The statement issued after the Second Maritime Dialogue held at Beijing in 2018 described the engagement as “an important mechanism between the two countries for consultations on maritime issues. They [the two parties] emphasized the need to further strengthen maritime cooperation as an important area of India-China bilateral relations, and as a platform to strengthen political and strategic mutual trust between the two countries.”5 As a next step, CBMs for peaceful conduct at sea, similar to the existing ones for maintaining peace along the LAC, can be explored. This can include communication protocols, aid and assistance at sea in case of emergent situations, and cooperation against piracy and maritime terrorism. (b) Facilitating Exchanges Between Military Academic Institutions – Exchange programmes between war colleges and similar military academic institutions can facilitate a better understanding of each other’s views on various contentious issues. More importantly, mutual exchanges during these courses can help in building inter-personal relations, as well as an understanding of doctrinalGSGSGS precepts includingSCORESCORESCORE issues pertaining to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and non-traditional security threats. A permanent participation of officers from both countries at the National Defence College (NDC)/National Defence University (NDU) and war colleges involving all the three services could be considered. (c) Strengthening Communication – Perhaps the most challenging aspect of a relationship is communication. While the ‘Wuhan Sprit’ is often characterised by the building of spirit of `Strategic Communication’, yet it is the operational and tactical communication that leaves much to be desired. The first major hurdle is language. There are very few Chinese and Hindi language experts in each other’s militaries. Resultantly, stand-offs and confrontations at the tactical level cannot often be easily resolved due to the lack of knowledge of the other’s language. A concerted effort is therefore required to train military personnel in each other’s language schools in order to build a cadre of translators and interpreters. Secondly, it would augur well to have a hotline at the Corps/ Military District levels similar to the ones existing between the operations branches at the highest level. Even exchange of
Hints: Political Science [55] radio frequencies and call signs for emergencies such as inclement weather, rescue of patrols, casualty evacuation, etc. can be beneficial in improving communications at the tactical level. Thirdly, the existing robust system of border meetings can be further improved through joint patrolling at mutually agreed schedules. While a beginning has been made, these can be further strengthened to prevent an inadvertent miscalculation between the two militaries.6 It will also help build confidence among the local population who are key stakeholders in the resolution of border issues. (d) Jointly Tackling Non-Traditional Threats – The vast and inhospitable LAC is a test of human endurance. Avalanches, floods and landslides are a common occurrence, which occasionally cut off communication and road/rail networks, affecting communities on both sides. Often, border posts are also cut off or buried in heavy snow. Medical emergencies are a common occurrence as well. Humanitarian aid to each other’s people can deepen the bonds of goodwill and empathy between them. Protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) to enhance cooperation in such emergencies can be a positive step in further enhancing the CBMs. Conclusion The M2M initiatives carry considerable weight in the overall engagement between nations. The incremental and calibrated improvement in the India-China defence ties, despite bouts of estrangement, has withstood the test of time. It has helped in deferring confrontation. It is axiomatic that as India explores a more meaningful relationship of ‘cooperation and competition and not confrontation’ with China, there is a need to ensure that the borders are peaceful. This way energies could be devoted to issues of consonance and convergence rather than dissonance and divergence. The next step in building M2M relations would thus provide the required impetus to further accelerate the process of strengthening peace and stability along the LAC.
GSGSGS SCORESCORESCORE
[56] Hints: Political Science