UPSC Essentials | Mains Answer Practice GS 2 : Agricultural cooperation between India and Israel and significance of India joining Pax Silica initiative (Week 144)

QUESTION 2

Discuss the strategic significance of India joining the US-led Pax Silica initiative in the context of emerging global technology supply chains.

QUESTION 1: Discuss the significance of enhanced agricultural cooperation between India and Israel in the context of India’s food security and technology adoption.

Relevance: The question demonstrates how bilateral partnerships contribute to food security, climate-resilient agriculture, and water efficiency. The question is relevant for GS-2 (bilateral relations).

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

Introduction:

— India and Israel have signed an agreement to establish a centre in India to develop next-generation agricultural technologies such as precision farming and satellite-based irrigation.

— The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Israel’s agency for international development cooperation, MASHAV, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the India–Israel Innovation Centre for Agriculture (IINCA) at ICAR.

Body:

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

Significance of enhanced agricultural cooperation between India and Israel

— The agreement aims to establish a joint innovation centre at ICAR to develop advanced agricultural technologies and methods such as precision farming, satellite-based irrigation, advanced machinery and integrated pest management.

— The centre will also support technology demonstrations, post-harvest solutions, and capacity-building initiatives. It will also play a role in plant germplasm management and exchange in horticultural crops, and conduct capacity-building activities for faculty and students of ICAR’s higher education institutions, including Krishi Vigyan Kendras, in both India and Israel.

— The establishment of the India–Israel Innovation Centre for Agriculture in India will provide a strong foundation for advancing this collaboration.

— According to Dr Mangi Lal Jat, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, and Director General of ICAR, the centre will focus on agricultural innovation by focusing on civilian drones, satellite-based forecast data for irrigation and fertigation management, farm mechanisation, integrated pest and disease control, technical support for nematode management and beekeeping.

Conclusion:

— India and Israel were jointly running a ‘Centres of Excellence’ programme for fruits and vegetables. So far, 35 Centres of Excellence have become operational, and India plans to expand the number to 100.

— Apart from the MoU for IINCA, the two countries also signed an agreement on cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture. The pact aims to strengthen India–Israel collaboration in sustainable, technology-driven fisheries and aquaculture, covering advanced production systems, disease management, mariculture, and seaweed cultivation.

(Source: How India and Israel have deepened cooperation in agriculture)

Points to Ponder

How can Israeli expertise in drip irrigation and precision farming address India’s water stress?

To what extent can international agricultural partnerships reduce India’s post-harvest losses?

Related Previous Year Question

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 strategic significance of India joining the US-led Pax Silica initiative in the context of emerging global technology supply chains.

Relevance: The question highlights India’s role in emerging technology alliances and supply-chain resilience amid US–China strategic competition. It is also important for understanding India’s evolving foreign policy in high-technology geopolitics.

India and the United States sign the Pax Silica declaration. (Photo: ANI)

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

Introduction:

— Pax Silica is a US-led initiative to counter China’s dominance in new age sectors such as critical minerals that has created a wide gap in the price points of Chinese products and those produced elsewhere.

— According to the US, Pax Silica is aimed at bringing “friendly and trusted” countries together to reduce “coercive dependencies”, protect materials and capabilities “foundational to artificial intelligence”, and “ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale”.

— Recently, India signed the Pax Silica declaration on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, formally entering the American-led strategic initiative to counter China’s dominance in artificial intelligence and technology supply chains.

Body:

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

Strategic significance of India joining Pax Silica initiative

— India’s entry in Pax Silica is not just symbolic, it’s strategic and essential. India is a nation with deep talent, deep enough to rival challengers. India’s engineering depth offers critical capabilities for this vital coalition. India has made important strides in critical minerals processing capacity, and India and the US are engaged.

— Measures under Pax Silica include pursuing new joint ventures and strategic co-investment opportunities, protecting sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access or control by countries and building trusted technology ecosystems, including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems, fibre-optic cables, data centres, foundational models and applications. India, for instance, has had concerns over China’s involvement in critical infrastructure, such as telecom.

— Pax Silica aims to build secure supply chains — ranging from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing and semiconductors. All of these are areas of concern for India.

— It is significant because it signals the manner in which the next global tech order could take shape as countries regroup in strategic sectors involving a Chinese presence. India too has been trying to position itself as a spoke in the global supply chain realignment as American and European companies look to diversify away from China.

Conclusion:

— India’s presence in Pax Silica could help in growth in technology-heavy sectors, which it currently lacks, deepening its import dependency. Experts said that the countries that are part of the US-led initiative are among the leaders in AI and semiconductor supply chain.

— India currently lacks a global-scale AI infrastructure and stands to gain from the likely investments and partnerships under the initiative. Its entry in Pax Silica comes with considerable investments committed by US companies in Indian AI infrastructure.

(Source: India enters Pax Silica: Despite late inclusion, why the US-led grouping still matters for New Delhi)

Points to Ponder

Can joining technology coalitions help India reduce dependence on China in semiconductors and critical minerals?

Could such initiatives reshape global digital and economic governance institutions?

Related Previous Year Questions

“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)

‘The West is fostering India as an alternative to reduce dependence on China’s supply chain and strategically to counter China’s political and economic dominance.’ Explain this statement with examples. (2024)

Previous Mains Answer Practice

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 144)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 3 (Week 143)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 142)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 2 (Week 141)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 142)

UPSC Essentials: Mains answer practice — GS 1 (Week 143)

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