UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 1 Q16: model answer

In March 2021 the container ship Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal for six days, holding up an estimated 9.6 billion dollars of trade each day (Lloyd's List). That week showed how much world trade depends on a few narrow passages.

Definitions

• A strait is a narrow sea passage connecting two larger bodies of water.
• An isthmus is a narrow strip of land joining two larger landmasses; canals cut through them.

Key straits

• Strait of Malacca: about a quarter of world trade; China, Japan and Korea's oil route.
• Strait of Hormuz: about a fifth of world oil passes through it.
• Bab-el-Mandeb: links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden; Houthi attacks since 2023 forced ships around Africa.
• Bosporus and Dardanelles: Black Sea grain and oil.
• Strait of Gibraltar, English Channel (the busiest), Taiwan Strait.

Isthmuses and canals

• Suez Canal (isthmus of Suez): about 12% of global trade; cuts the Europe–Asia route by around 7,000 km.
• Panama Canal (isthmus of Panama): about 5% of world trade; droughts in 2023 cut transits.
• Kra isthmus in Thailand: a proposed canal to bypass Malacca.

Significance

• Shorter routes, lower freight costs and time.
• Energy security for importers.
• Strategic control: naval power depends on choke points.
• Ports and economies along them (Singapore, Port Said).

Risks

Piracy, war, blockage, climate (Panama drought) and great power rivalry.

India

• India sits near Malacca and Hormuz; the Andaman and Nicobar Islands overlook the Ten Degree and Six Degree channels.
• Navy anti-piracy and Red Sea deployments (Operation Sankalp).
• Alternative routes: INSTC, IMEC, Chabahar.

Conclusion

Whoever keeps these narrow doors open keeps world trade moving; India wants a role in that.