UPSC 2022 PSIR · 15 marks · 250 words
India's strategic autonomy in a multipolar world is a continuation of non-alignment by other means. Critically analyse.
What “Critically analyse” demands
break the issue into its components, show how they interact, and judge which matter most and why.
The characteristic failure: analysis without judgement, or judgement without the analysis to support it.
What a top answer must contain
These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.
- Lineage: Nehruvian NAM → 'genuine non-alignment' → Nonalignment 2.0 (2012) → multi-alignment/strategic autonomy (Jaishankar's 'The India Way')
- Evidence of continuity: Ukraine-vote abstentions, RIC + Quad simultaneity, oil purchases despite sanctions pressure
- Discontinuity: issue-based coalitions, security alignment tilt (LEMOA/COMCASA/BECA), Quad institutionalisation
- Theoretical framing: hedging vs bandwagoning vs balancing (Walt); C. Raja Mohan's 'crossing the Rubicon' counterview
The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.
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