UPSC Mains 2015 GS Paper 2 Q19: model answer

For two thousand years, Indian, Arab and African sailors used the monsoon winds, the 'mausam', to cross the Indian Ocean. In 2014 India's Ministry of Culture launched Project Mausam to map those routes, from East Africa to South-East Asia, and nominate them for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Cultural aims

• Research on maritime routes and cultural links across 39 Indian Ocean countries.
• Exhibitions, conferences and joint heritage nominations.
• Revival of shared memory: spices, textiles, Buddhism, Islam and the Swahili coast.

Strategic dimension

• A counter-narrative to China's Maritime Silk Road: it recalls that India was the centre of Indian Ocean exchange long before China's voyages.
• Soft power that supports SAGAR (2015) and Neighbourhood First.
• Trust with island states such as Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, where India builds coastal radars and ports.
• Diaspora links in East Africa and the Gulf.
• Connectivity: cultural routes overlap with the sea lanes India seeks to secure.
• Leadership in the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the 'net security provider' role.

Limits

• Funding has been modest and progress slow.
• Few joint nominations completed.
• Without economic projects, culture alone cannot match Chinese investment.

Conclusion

Mausam is cultural in method and strategic in purpose. It reminds the Indian Ocean of a shared past in which India was a partner, not a hegemon, which is exactly the image India needs as competition rises.