UPSC Essentials | Mains answer practice — GS 2: Questions on Sir Creek dispute and multipolar West (Week 123)

QUESTION 1

The unresolved Sir Creek dispute between India and Pakistan has significant implications for the maritime boundary and economic zones. Discuss.

QUESTION 2

India’s engagement with a multipolar West reflects both opportunity and challenge in its evolving foreign policy. In this context, examine the significance of India’s strategic partnerships with Europe, especially in light of recent trade and geopolitical developments.

General points on the structure of the answers for UPSC Mains

Introduction

— The introduction of the answer is essential and should be restricted to 3-5 lines. Remember, a one-liner is not a standard introduction.

— It may consist of basic information by giving some definitions from the trusted source and authentic facts.

Body

— It is the central part of the answer and one should understand the demand of the question to provide rich content.

— The answer must be preferably written as a mix of points and short paragraphs rather than using long paragraphs or just points.

— Using facts from authentic government sources makes your answer more comprehensive. Analysis is important based on the demand of the question, but do not over analyse.

QUESTION 1: The unresolved Sir Creek dispute between India and Pakistan has significant implications for the maritime boundary and economic zones. Discuss.

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— Sir Creek, originally Ban Ganga, is a fluctuating 96-km tidal estuary along the India-Pakistan border. To its east lies the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, and to its west, the province of Sindh in Pakistan.

— The marshy area around Sir Creek teems with venomous Russel’s vipers and scorpions; every monsoon, the creek floods its banks, enveloping surrounding salt flats. As such, the region is sparsely populated and difficult to police.

— It has long been at the centre of an unresolved border dispute between India and Pakistan. This is because it is strategically and economically important for both countries.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— Beyond strategic concerns, it is perhaps the economic importance of Sir Creek that has precluded the resolution of the decades-long border dispute.

— The region is said to hold untapped oil and gas reserves, which are potentially vital to both countries’ interests. For India, which has long sought to diversify its oil imports and which is currently searching for newer sources of cheaper oil beyond Russia, this is particularly important.

— The creek also supports vital fishing grounds, crucial for the livelihoods of local fishermen in both Gujarat and Sindh. The absence of a clear boundary results in frequent arrests of fishermen who inadvertently cross into the other country’s waters, disrupting livelihoods and ruining lives.

— The definition of the international boundary at Sir Creek has a direct impact on the delimitation of both country’s Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) in the Arabian Sea. EEZs extending upto 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) beyond a nation’s territorial waters, within which it has jurisdiction over both living and non-living resources.

Credit: Ashutosh Misra, India-Pakistan: Coming to Terms, Palgrave MacMillan, 2010

— India establishes the border around the centre of the navigable channel, whereas Pakistan claims the entire Sir Creek. This dispute arises from a broader dispute over whether the creek is covered by the “Thalweg” principle of boundary demarcation, which calls for designating a watercourse’s mid-channel as a boundary.

— The dispute actually traces its origins to the early 20th century, when an argument ensued between the rulers of Kutch and Sindh over ownership of a pile of firewood lying on the banks of a creek situated between the two principalities.

Conclusion:

— India and Pakistan have thus far held several rounds of bilateral discussions on the dispute. They agreed to form a separate working group on the issue. The talks of the Sir Creek working group were held in 1998 in New Delhi, wherein India objected to Pakistan’s bid to internationalise the dispute, reiterating that all differences, after the Simla Accord, had to be resolved bilaterally. Pakistan sought to take the dispute to an international tribunal.

(Source: The importance of Sir Creek: Why India & Pakistan have failed to solve border dispute)

Points to Ponder

Read more about Sir Creek

Read about India-Pakistan relations

Related Previous Year Question

‘India is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka.’ Discuss India’s role in the recent crisis in Sri Lanka in the light of the preceding statement. (2022)

QUESTION 2: India’s engagement with a multipolar West reflects both opportunity and challenge in its evolving foreign policy. In this context, examine the significance of India’s strategic partnerships with Europe, especially in light of recent trade and geopolitical developments.

(AP)

Note: This is not a model answer. It only provides you with thought process which you may incorporate into the answers.

Introduction:

— The new trade and investment pact with the EFTA countries, along with the ongoing trade talks with the EU in Brussels, collectively signal the steady rise of Europe in India’s diplomatic landscape.

— Since the end of World War 2, “the West” meant political and strategic unity under American power, reinforced by European and Japanese deference to Washington. For centuries before that, the rivalry among Western powers had shaped the modern world; after 1945, those rivalries yielded to solidarity against communism and the Soviet Union in the Cold War.

Body:

You may incorporate some of the following points in your answer:

— The Soviet collapse not only cemented the unity of the West but also saw an effort to expand it. Russia was briefly welcomed into the G7, and the 1990s were hailed as the “end of history” and the triumph of Western liberal universalism.

— Many middle powers, including India, responded by calling for a multipolar world to temper American dominance. Engaging with the “multipolar West” has now become an important strand in India’s external strategy.

— US President Donald Trump’s America First nationalism has sharpened internal Western fissures — questioning alliances, revising security commitments, and the arbitrary rewriting of global rules. The Trump era has forced both Europe and Asia to debate “strategic autonomy” and to plan for a world where longstanding American policies can no longer be taken for granted.

— Differences between the US and its allies — on Russia, China, trade, and technology — are now quite deep. In response, Europe is discovering its own vocabulary of sovereignty. Emmanuel Macron’s call for a “Europe puissante” and Olaf Scholz’s Zeitenwende in defence spending have converged in a continental quest for self-reliance.

— European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared that “Europe must be prepared to stand on its own feet — economically, technologically, and militarily.” The long-debated idea of strategic autonomy has moved from slogan to principle. Europe now seeks to hedge against US unpredictability by building an independent defence capacity, deepening technological and industrial sovereignty, and articulating a distinct approach to global governance and values.

— India features prominently in Europe’s effort to diversify its strategic partnerships. The EU’s September 2025 Joint Communication on relations with India captures Europe’s widening geopolitical imagination. It asserts that “India’s success benefits the EU, just as the EU’s success benefits India”.

Conclusion:

— From the Indian perspective, a multipolar West brings both potential relief and considerable risk. A loosely knit West allows greater room for manoeuvre and cross-cutting coalitions.

— India can now explore multiple points of collaboration within the West. But the fragmentation of the West could weaken collective international responses to authoritarian assertiveness and generate instability.

(Source: C Raja Mohan writes: In a multi-polar West, India’s opportunity)

Points to Ponder

Read about India’s diaspora in the West

Read about India-EU relations

Related Previous Year Questions

“With the waning of globalization, post-Cold War world is becoming a site of sovereign nationalism.” Elucidate. (2025)

The reform process in the United Nations remains unresolved, because of the delicate imbalance of East and West and entanglement of the USA vs. Russo-Chinese alliance.” Examine and critically evaluate the East-West policy confrontations in this regard. (2025)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 122)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 123)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 122)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 121)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 121)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 122)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.