adminPrevious Year Questions (2013-2022)
1] Discuss the relevance of the demand for New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the present era of globalisation. [2022/20m/250w/6a]
2] Explain India’s position on the waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines in WTO. [2021/10m/150w/5c]
3] India’s coalition diplomacy with WTO has earned it wide appreciation. What accounts for the success of India’s coalition diplomacy? [2018/20m/250w/6a]
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Model Answers to PYQs (2018-2022)
1] Discuss the relevance of the demand for New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the present era of globalisation. [2022/20m/250w/6a]
In the early 1970s, the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement challenged the material and intellectual pillars of the postwar liberal capitalist system through collective action at the UN to establish a New International Economic Order (NIEO).
The aim was to complete the ‘emancipation’ of the ‘global South’ by creating binding institutional frameworks, legal regimes and redistributive mechanisms correcting historically constructed core–periphery disparities. That ambitious effort failed in the face of ‘Northern’ resistance and national segmentation within the NAM.
Today re-emerging states of the global South are engaged in a more successful effort to gain a voice and alter the international hierarchy by claiming a central place in the world capitalist system and restructuring it from within. The vertical late-modern world system centred in the Atlantic and ordered by the ‘West’ is thus gradually giving way to a polycentric international structure in which new regional and transnational ‘South–South’ linkages are being formed.
The main theme around which NIEO’s philosophy revolves is ‘‘economic independence’’ It is basic and a must for the political sovereignty of poor and developing countries. Today, institutions like IMF and WTO are facing a trust deficit and consequently, organisations like BRICS, NDB, and AIDB are rising and looking forward to catering to third-world problems. the relevance of NIEO is important also because of new rising concerns that the old institutions fail to solve like the issue of migration, hunger and climate change.
NIEO aims to create a restructured, fair political and economic system based on cooperation between developed and developing countries rather than conflict. Economic prosperity is basic for global peace and stability, and so long the developing countries continue to be deprived, there can be no real and lasting peace in the developed world. [289 words]
2] Explain India’s position on the waiver of intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines in WTO. [2021/10m/150w/5c]
India, along with South Africa, introduced a proposal to waive certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement for the prevention, containment, and treatment of COVID-19.
India emphasizes the need to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, especially for developing countries that may face challenges in accessing and affording them. The waiver aims to remove barriers posed by IPRs, such as patents, trade secrets, and copyrights, which can restrict the production and distribution of vaccines and other medical products.
This would facilitate the rapid scaling up of vaccine production and encourage technology transfer to increase global vaccine supplies. This would help address the urgent public health crisis posed by the pandemic and save lives by ensuring widespread vaccination.
By removing legal barriers and facilitating the sharing of knowledge, data, and technology, countries can collectively work towards developing and producing vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics to combat the pandemic more effectively.
India adds that the waiver proposal is temporary and limited to the duration of the pandemic. It is seen as a response to the exceptional circumstances posed by COVID-19 and aims to provide flexibility in intellectual property rules to address the urgency of the global health crisis.
Although, it has faced resistance from some high-income countries and pharmaceutical companies. India’s adamant stance on the waiver of intellectual property rights reflects its commitment to global public health and equitable access to vaccines. [234 words]
3] India’s coalition diplomacy with WTO has earned it wide appreciation. What accounts for the success of India’s coalition diplomacy? [2018/20m/250w/6a]
In the era of multipolarity, it is not possible for countries to exercise power alone, and it is especially true for developing countries. Realising this, India has adopted the approach of coalition diplomacy at WTO to voice the claims of the global south in the world trade order.
India has formed a coalition of nine countries to place special provisions for developing countries and high farm subsidies in advanced nations that harm African states at the forefront of global trade talks. Stating that special and differential treatment (S&DT) is a “non-negotiable right for all developing countries”, the grouping believes that all members, no matter their trade share, must have an equal say in decision-making” of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Apart from the above example, India has been a strong advocate for the interests of the developing countries. Its recent position requesting to waive off intellectual property rights on the COVID-19 vaccine reflects this spirit.
India has also shown flexibility in forming coalitions. The foreign policy is guided by an ‘issue-based alliance’ and thus offers opportunities to join multiple alliances based on particular issues.
Many developing countries look at India as a leader of the global south. While the countries in the north cannot be trusted, the lack of democracy in China also rules it out from the leadership role. Thus, entrusting India with the responsibility.
Owing to all these factors, India’s coalition diplomacy at WTO has earned itself the appreciation it certainly deserves. [244 words]
4] Analyse the stalled progress of the Doha round of WTO negotiations over the differences between the developed and developing countries. [2017/15m/200w/6c]
5] Explain the concept of the North South divide and suggest how structural inequalities between the high wage, high investment industrial North and low wage, low investment predominantly rural South can be reduced. [2016/15m/200w/7b]
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