UPSC Mains 2017 GS Paper 4 Q6b: model answer
Strength, peace and security are considered to be the pillars of international relations. Elucidate.
What the question wants
Elucidate how strength, peace and security support international relations.
How to structure it
Each pillar, links, India.
- Strength
- Peace
- Security
- How they interlock
- India
How to think it through
Strength: economic, military, soft power (yoga, diaspora). Peace: dialogue, diplomacy, UN peacekeeping (India among largest contributors, ~2.9 lakh+ personnel over years). Security: territorial, energy, food, cyber, maritime (SAGAR 2015, MAHASAGAR 2025). Interlock: strength deters war, peace allows growth, security protects both. Ethics: strength used responsibly.
Model answer
India has sent more than 2.9 lakh peacekeepers to UN missions since the 1950s, among the largest contributions of any country. It also keeps one of the world's largest armies. Both facts belong to the same foreign policy.
Strength
- Economic, military and soft power.
- Strength deters aggression and earns a voice at global tables; yoga, cinema and the diaspora add soft power.
Peace
- The absence of war, but also dialogue, cooperation and justice.
- UN peacekeeping, mediation and development partnerships build it.
- Peace allows trade and growth, which in turn build strength.
Security
- Protection of territory, citizens, energy, food, cyber and sea lanes.
- India's SAGAR (2015) vision, broadened into MAHASAGAR (2025), seeks security and growth for all in the Indian Ocean region.
How they interlock
- Strength without peace becomes aggression.
- Peace without strength is fragile and can be exploited.
- Security is the condition that lets both last.
The ethical angle
- Strength must be used with restraint and responsibility; security for one nation should not mean insecurity for its neighbours.
Strength guards peace, peace builds strength, and security keeps both standing.
Draw: A three-legged stool: strength, peace, security, with 'stable world order' as the seat.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
strength, hard and soft power, peace, UN peacekeeping 2.9 lakh+, security, SAGAR 2015, MAHASAGAR 2025, deterrence, restraint, interlocking pillars.
Where most answers lose marks
- Discussing each pillar separately without showing how they depend on each other.
Related Mains PYQs
- In what ways can an Indian Administrative Officer apply Gandhi’s notion of ‘trusteeship’ to ensure fairness in governance? UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Owing to paucity of time, a university professor generates a Ph.D. evaluation report using Artificial Intelligence and submits it with some modifications.… UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Discuss how national security can be balanced with concerns of human rights. UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had cautioned that employing civil disobedience within a constitutional democracy equates to endorsing ‘anarchy’. How should modern democracies… UPSC 2026 · GS-IV
Fresh examples from current affairs
Supreme Court: no prior approval under Section 17A needed to probe a bribe demand
In a judgment of 16 October 2026, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and N.V. Anjaria held that investigating a bribe demand by a public servant does not need prior approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Asking for a bribe, the court said, is not part of discharging official duties.
UPSC angle: Prelims: Sections 7, 7A, 17A and 19 of the PC Act. · Mains GS-II/GS-IV: honest officers versus accountability.
19 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
Want every PYQ in one place? See the Battle IAS PYQ Book.