General Studies II · Topic
India and its neighbourhood
Official syllabus
India and its neighborhood- relations.
UPSC CSE 2026 notification
What this covers
Study India's neighbouring relationships through geography, bilateral institutions, regional connectivity, trade, people and security without treating a policy statement as proof of outcome.
Key ideas
- Neighbourhood First
- Bilateral diplomacy
- Connectivity
- Shared resources
- Security and people-to-people ties
Subtopics 5
- 01Neighbourhood contextExplain land and maritime adjacency, asymmetric size, cross-border linkages and the need for country-specific rather than uniform analysis.
- 02Bilateral relationshipsBuild country-specific bilateral profiles covering shared geography, institutions, cooperation, friction and dated developments.
- 03Regional connectivity and securityDistinguish transport and digital/energy links from their actual operation, and analyse security cooperation alongside sovereignty and disaster…
- 04Economic and people-to-people tiesAnalyse trade, development partnerships, mobility, education, culture and livelihoods as different channels of regional interdependence.
- 05Sources of cooperation and frictionIdentify where shared resources and security create cooperation or disagreement, and distinguish a stated position from a settled agreement or…