UPSC Essentials | Mains Answer Practice GS 2 : Questions on maritime traditions in Indo-Pacific region and separation of powers (Week 139)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the significance of the doctrine of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances in preventing concentration and misuse of authority in constitutional democracies.

QUESTION 1: Ancient maritime networks, cultural exchanges, and civilisational ties are increasingly being used as instruments of modern foreign politics. Discuss how reviving ancient maritime traditions and cultural diplomacy may improve strategic ties and serve state interests in the changing Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean geopolitical order.

Relevance: This question covers India’s maritime diplomacy, Indo-Pacific strategy, and soft power projection through civilisational outreach. It integrates history with contemporary geopolitics, aligning with UPSC’s interdisciplinary approach. Highly relevant for GS 2 themes of foreign policy, strategic partnerships, and regional order.

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

Introduction:

— Ancient maritime networks, cultural exchanges, and historical civilisational linkages are increasingly used as strategic tools in modern foreign policy, allowing countries to build trust, create soft power, and protect their economic interests.

— The commissioning of the embroidered sailing vessel INSV Kaundinya and her maiden journey from Porbandar to Muscat rekindles India’s historic shipbuilding traditions and marine enthusiasm. The creation of Kaundinya is a monument to the indigenous knowledge systems that formerly fuelled Indian Ocean commerce.

Body:

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

— India is recognised for its shipbuilding expertise, and one type of ship built in India, known as the ‘Kattumaran’ in Tamil, was adopted into the English language as the ‘catamaran’. Appropriately, the ship is named after the legendary Indian sailor ‘Kaundinya’, who is thought to have founded the first kingdom in ancient Cambodia, recalling India’s unique nautical past.

— The expedition also commemorates India and Oman’s long-standing maritime, cultural, and civilisational links dating back over five millennia. As the two countries celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations, Kaundinya’s arrival in Muscat represents a partnership that precedes the modern nation-state, with the Indian Ocean serving as a conduit for commerce, culture, and ideas. Oman, formerly known as Magan, was an important node in Indian Ocean exchange networks since at least the third millennium BCE, specialising in shipbuilding, marine commerce, and the trade of copper, frankincense, lumber, and pearls.

— India’s Southeast Asian influence cannot be fully understood without recounting the trips of Indo-Southeast Asian merchants and priests who brought Sanskrit vocabulary and ritual objects to the Malay Archipelago.

— According to Filipino academic Joefe B. Santarita, India-Philippines interactions manifest in smaller, more mobile cultural forms such as texts, dance forms, lexicon, and portable objects. Intangible (fables, dances, vocabulary) and tangible (icons, pendants, stamps, beads) artefacts from this legacy serve as a composite index of precolonial India-Philippines interaction.

Conclusion:

— The Indian Ocean has historically been a zone of interaction rather than conquest — until the arrival of European maritime empires. Oman became one of the first Gulf Cooperation Council ( GCC) countries with which India developed sustained defence cooperation. Geography has ensured that strategic interdependence remains inbuilt in the relationship.

— Today, the Indian Ocean has re-emerged as a theatre of intense geopolitical competition. China’s growing naval presence, expanding partnerships among extra-regional powers, and the vulnerability of energy and trade routes have heightened the strategic value of reliable regional partners. For India, whose trade and energy lifelines traverse these waters, Oman’s location near the Strait of Hormuz makes it indispensable.

(Source: Expert Explains: How the voyage of INSV Kaundinya points to a deepening of Indo-Oman maritime relations and strategic partnership, Ports, polities, and partnerships: The history of India-Philippines ties)

Points to Ponder

Read about Gulf Cooperation Council

Read about role of India in Indian Ocean Region

Related Previous Year Questions

“Energy security constitutes the dominant kingpin of India’s foreign policy, and is linked with India’s overarching influence in Middle Eastern countries.” How would you integrate energy security with India’s foreign policy trajectories in the coming years? (2025)

Critically analyse India’s evolving diplomatic, economic, and strategic relations with the Central Asian Republics (CARs), highlighting their increasing significance in regional and global geopolitics. (2024)

QUESTION 2: Discuss the significance of the doctrine of separation of powers and the system of checks and balances in preventing concentration and misuse of authority in constitutional democracies.

Relevance:This question is directly related to constitutional principles of separation of powers, checks and balances, and prevention of authoritarianism, forming the core of democratic governance. It helps in critically analysing institutional accountability, judicial review, and limits on executive and legislative authority in India.

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

Introduction:

— The theory of separation of powers is an established aspect of constitutional government. It is better to separate and compartmentalise powers as its accumulation in a single authority or institution can overwhelm citizens and leave them vulnerable.

— The theory of separation of powers gives us the familiar distinction between the three branches of government: the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary. These three branches are supposed to be coequal, each exercising distinct functions and acting as checks on the others.

Body:

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

— The principle of the separation of powers cannot be seen in isolation from the system of checks and balances. The separation of powers and the system of checks and balances need to be seen as a way to prevent the excessive concentration of powers in any one branch of government. It is to ensure that each branch exercises vigilance over the other and thereby keeps the whole system in balance.

— India has a parliamentary form of government modelled on the British parliamentary system. But it also took some lessons from the United States and established the judiciary as the guardian of the constitution. As a result, the judiciary in India is vested with the authority of judicial review of the actions of the legislature and the executive.

— Some of the key provisions included in the Constitution of India are:

Article 50: Separates Judiciary from the Executive.

Articles 121 & 211: Limits legislative discussion of judicial conduct.

Articles 122 & 212: Protects legislative proceedings from court inquiry.

Article 245 grants Parliament the authority to make laws for the whole or any part of the country, and the Legislature of a State to make laws for the whole or any part of the State.

Articles 105 and 194 prohibit the court from calling members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies for any speeches they make in any of these houses.

Conclusion:

The Supreme Court as a guardian of the Indian constitution reminds the other branches to do their duty within their domain. The doctrine of separation of powers also emphasises on the system of checks and balances to prevent the misuse of power by the various branches of the government.

In the Kesavananda Bharati case, the apex court established that the ability to alter the constitution has implicit restrictions on the amending powers of Parliament and that power cannot be used to alter the basic structure of the constitution.

(Source: How doctrine of separation of powers prevents its concentration and misuse, What is the Doctrine of Separation of Powers?)

Points to Ponder

Read more about seperation of power

Read about constitutional provisons mentioned above

Related Previous Year Questions

Indian Constitution has conferred the amending power on the ordinary legislative institutions with a few procedural hurdles. In view of this statement, examine the procedural and substantive limitations on the amending power of the Parliament to change the Constitution. (2025)

‘‘The states in India seem reluctant to empower urban local bodies both functionally as well as financially.’’ Comment. (2023)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 138)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 139)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 138)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 137)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 138)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 137)

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