Contemporary South Asia Class 12th Contemporary World Politics CBSE Solution

Class 12^th Contemporary World Politics CBSE Solution

Exercises

1. Identify the country: a. The struggle among pro-monarchy, pro-democracy groups and…
2. Which among the following statements about South Asia is wrong? (a) All the countries in…
3. What are some of the commonalities and differences between Bangladesh and Pakistan in…
4. List three challenges to democracy in Nepal.
5. Name the principal players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. How do you assess the…
6. Mention some of the recent agreements between India and Pakistan. Can we be sure that the…
7. Mention two areas each of cooperation and disagreement between India and Bangladesh…
8. How are the external powers influencing bilateral relations in South Asia? Take any one…
9. Write a short note on the role and the limitations of SAARC as a forum for facilitating…
10. India’s neighbours often think that the Indian government tries to dominate and interfere…

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Exercises

Question 1.

Identify the country:

a. The struggle among pro-monarchy, pro-democracy groups and extremists created an atmosphere of political instability:

b. A landlocked country with multi-party competition:

c. The first country to liberalise its economy in the South Asian region:

d. In the conflict between the military and pro-democracy groups, the military has prevailed over democracy:

e. Centrally located and shares borders with most of the South Asian countries:

f. Earlier the island had the Sultan as the head of state. Now, it’s a republic:

g. Small savings and credit cooperatives in the rural areas have helped in reducing poverty:

h. A landlocked country with a monarchy:

Answer:

(a) Nepal

(b) Bhutan

(c) India

(d) Pakistan

(e) India

(f) Maldives

(g) India

(h) Nepal

Question 2.

Which among the following statements about South Asia is wrong?

(a) All the countries in South Asia are democratic.

(b) Bangladesh and India have signed an agreement on river-water sharing.

(c) SAFTA was signed at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad.

(d) The US and China play an influential role in South Asian politics.

Answer:

(a) statement is wrong

Statement (a): South Asia includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Bhutanese Government is constitutional monarchy.

Question 3.

What are some of the commonalities and differences between Bangladesh and Pakistan in their democratic experiences?

Answer:

The commonalities between Bangladesh and Pakistan in their democratic experiences are:

1. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan were under military rule

2. Pakistan’s administration ushered under General Ayub Khan but he had to give up due to dissatisfaction among the masses then came Yahya’s military rule where though the elections were held but just to give shape to their own military reign. Similarly in Bangladesh, the constitution got drafted to begin the democracy but Sheikh Mujib formed Presidential setup by abolishing all parties except his Awami league. But soon after his assassination Zia-Ur-Rehman formed his own party and won and later he too got murdered and another military leader took the charge

Differences:

1. In Pakistan social dominance of the military, clergy, Landowning aristocracy has led to frequent overthrow of elected government and establishment of military government whereas Bangladesh drafted the constitution and has declared faith in secularism, democracy and socialism

Question 4.

List three challenges to democracy in Nepal.

Answer:

At present Nepal has its own constitution which came into effect on 20^th September 2015. It defines Nepal as having multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-cultural characteristics with common aspirations of people living in diverse geographical regions

So the key challenges of the new government or the democracy of Nepal would be as :

1. Monarchy- Until 2008 Nepal was ruled by Kings and for the civilians a King is admired as God but in the past few decades they became unpopular, so it would be challenging for the government to build a new confidence among the masses

2. Maoist Communist Insurgency

3. New constitution- it took political parties seven years to complete the task.

Question 5.

Name the principal players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. How do you assess the prospects of the resolution of this conflict?

Answer:

The Principle Players in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka are the Sinhalas and Sri Lankan Tamils. After independence, politics in Sri Lanka was dominated by the interest of Sinhala community who were hostile to large number of Tamils who migrated from India to settle there. The Sinahalas believed Sri Lanka belongs just to them and hence thought that Sri Lanka should not give concession to the tamils. This confliction led to militant Tamil nationalism and since 1983 the militant organisation and the LTTE has been fighting an armed struggle.

Assessment:

1. The conflict also brought two nations India and Sri Lanka opposite towards each other

2. Despite the ongoing conflict Sri Lanka had considerable economic growth

3. Despite the internal conflict it has maintained a democratic political system

Question 6.

Mention some of the recent agreements between India and Pakistan.

Can we be sure that the two countries are well on their way to a friendly relationship?

Answer:

Although India and Pakistan relations seem to be story of endemic conflict and violence, there have been series of efforts to manage tension and build peace.

1. In 1960 with the help of World Bank, India and Pakistan signed the Indus Water Treaty

2. Shimla Agreement, 1972 where both the countries agreed to settle down their issues and conflicts peacefully

3. Tashkent Declaration where Indian and Pakistani forces would pull back to their pre-conflict positions, pre-August lines no later than 25 February 1966, the nations would not interfere in each other's internal affairs, economic and diplomatic relations would be restored,

4. Non-nuclear Agreement in 1988 is the bilateral and nuclear weapons control treaty between the two South Asian states, India and Pakistan, on the reduction (or limitation) of nuclear arms and pledged not to attack

India is also holding negotiations on issues including the disagreement over the demarcation line in Sir Creek in Rann of kutch.

Question 7.

Mention two areas each of cooperation and disagreement between India and Bangladesh

Answer:

Disagreement:

1. Differences over the sharing of Ganga and Brahmaputra River water

2. Illegal immigration to India

3. Bangladesh’s refusal to allow Indian Troops to move through its territory to north eastern India

4. Bangladesh’s decision not to export natural gas to India or allow Myanmar to do so

Cooperation:

1. Economic relation between both the nations have improved in last 10 years

2. Bangladesh is part of India’s Look East Policy that wants to link up with South East Asia via Myanmar

3. Cooperation on disaster management and environmental issues

4. Identifying common threats of both the nations

Question 8.

How are the external powers influencing bilateral relations in South Asia? Take any one example to illustrate your point.

Answer:

The external powers influence bilateral relations in south Asia because, No region exists in vacuum, it is influenced by external powers and events so much that it may try to insulate itself from regional powers.

1. China and USA remain key players in South Asian politics

2. Sino Indian relations have improved significantly in last 10 years, but China’s strategic partnership with Pakistan creates irritation into the relations

3. The US enjoys good relations with both India and Pakistan since the end of Cold War and increasingly had worked as a moderator in India-Pakistan relation

4. The large South Asian economy remains in US and the huge size of the population and markets of the region also gives added stake in the future of regional security and peace

Question 9.

Write a short note on the role and the limitations of SAARC as a forum for facilitating economic cooperation among the South Asian countries.

Answer:

Role of SAARC can be identified as follows:

1. South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a regional initiative among south Asian states to evolve cooperation since 1985

2. SAARC has initiated SAFTA(South Asian Free Trade Agreement) to free trade zones for whole South Asia

3. SAARC has projected on economic development of its member states to reduce their dependencies on non regional powers

Limitations:

1. Some of the Indian Neighbours thinks that the association is dominated by India

2. SAARC nations are either developing or least developed nations and thus creates insufficiency of funds

Question 10.

India’s neighbours often think that the Indian government tries to dominate and interfere in the domestic affairs of the smaller countries of the region. Is this a correct impression?

Answer:

No, the above stated impression is not correct because India makes effort to manage its neighbours beyond its size and powers.

1. India avoids political instability in its neighbour countries so that outsiders should not take advantage of the region

2. Political stability is utmost need of any state because in the absence of that the outside powers might take advantage of the situation and influence the region

3. India is at centre of South Asia, it shares boundaries with almost all the countries in the region. It has some differences with the states in the region. But India tries to resolve them all by peaceful means