Revision summary
Diplomacy is a Union power; influence is political. Tamil Nadu–Sri Lanka and West Bengal–Bangladesh are classic pairs. North-eastern States shape the Myanmar and refugee files. Kerala’s Gulf link is diaspora diplomacy from below. Coalitions raise State leverage; a strong Centre can still override.
Model answer
Introduction
The Constitution puts foreign affairs in the Union List. In practice, border States, diaspora States, and coalition politics push New Delhi. Influence is partisan and geographic. It is not a second External Affairs Ministry in every capital.
Body
Formal design
- Treaty-making, war, and diplomacy are Union subjects. The Centre can still be politically unable to ignore a State.
- Inter-State Council and occasional chief-minister visits are weak formal channels. The real channel is party and protest.
Border and ethnic files
- Tamil Nadu shapes Sri Lanka policy through the Tamil question and fisheries.
- West Bengal affects Bangladesh on Teesta, migration, and border haats.
- Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir sit on the Pakistan and people-to-people file.
- North-eastern States shape Myanmar policy, the Free Movement Regime, and refugee shelter, as in Mizoram’s Chin inflows.
Economic and diaspora States
- Kerala and the Gulf: remittances and evacuation diplomacy.
- Gujarat and Maharashtra: ports, investment, and some neighbourhood commerce.
- IT States lobby on visas to the United States and the UK.
Coalition and federal politics
- When the Centre needs State parties, a regional veto can delay a treaty or a water-sharing signature.
- Para-diplomacy: States open trade offices and court NRIs. They cannot recognise States or send ambassadors.
Limits
- Doklam and Galwan were Union military files. States did not set the LAC.
- A determined Centre can override, at a political cost.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD U[Union List diplomacy] --> FP[Foreign policy] ST[Border States] --> I[Identity water migration] D[Diaspora States] --> R[Remittance visa] I --> FP R --> FP
Conclusion
Constituent States influence Indian foreign policy where identity, water, migration, and diaspora meet the border or the Gulf. The Union still owns the legal core. Federal politics is the transmission belt, especially under coalitions.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Examine the evolution of India's role in the global nuclear order
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q7). View answer →
-
Can a State sign a treaty?
No. It can lobby, delay implementation, and run trade promotion. The President and Union government remain the treaty face.
-
Is this unique to India?
Federal systems generally show para-diplomacy. India’s ethnic borders make it unusually sharp in the neighbourhood.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q6(b) · PSIR GS 2 · 15 marks
India maintains strong ties with countries that will assure a free and open Indo-Pacific and guarantee greater connectivity with rest of the world. Analyze -
2025 · Q7(a) · PSIR GS 2 · 20 marks
India continues to invoke its time-tested policy of strategic autonomy vis-à-vis both the United States of America and Russia by rejecting US' offer of mediation on Kashmir issue and by refusing to criticize Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine. Comment -
2024 · Q8(a) · PSIR GS 2 · 20 marks
Critically examine the continuity and change in India's Palestine policy in the wake of the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. -
2023 · Q8(a) · PSIR GS 2 · 20 marks
What are the external determinants of the Foreign Policy of a State?
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2021 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
Discuss the political economy approach to the comparative analysis of politics.
Comparative Politics
Political economy joins the study of power with the study of wealth. Marx and Wallerstein locate States in production and in a hierarchical world-economy. Almond’s functions describe roles; they do not explain ownership and dependence. Alavi’s overdeveloped State is a comparative PE thesis about post-colonial bureaucracy. The method compares markets, classes, and external ties, not only constitutions.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2021 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
"Political parties and pressure groups are sine qua non of democracy." Comment.
Politics of Representation and Participation
Schumpeterian democracy is a party contest for the vote. Almond split aggregation to parties and articulation to groups. Dahl’s polyarchy needs organised opposition, which parties supply. Groups carry specialised claims between elections. Mere organisation is not democracy; pluralism and contest are.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2021 · PSIR GS 2 · 10 marks
"Marxist approach to the study of international relations has lost its relevance in the post-cold war era." Comment.
Approaches to the Study of International Relations
The USSR’s fall discredited State socialism, not every Marxist question. Waltzian polarity does not explain core–periphery production. Wallerstein and Cox remain usable after 1991. WTO, finance, and a capitalist China keep class and hierarchy on the agenda. Relevance is critique of order, not a second Soviet Union.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.