1 Syllabus

Aligned to the official UPSC CSE notification. Always re-check the latest PDF on UPSC exam syllabus.

• India and its neighbourhood — relations.
• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests; Indian diaspora.
• Important International institutions, agencies and fora — structure and mandate.

2 Previous year questions (PYQs)

Typical IR PYQ themes:

• India–China, India–Pakistan, neighbourhood first (themes).
• QUAD, SCO, BRICS, BIMSTEC — purpose vs limits.
• UN, WTO, IMF, World Bank — reform debates.
• Indo-Pacific, energy security, diaspora.

Official papers:

• Download PYQ hub
• Mains GS & Essay PYQs
• Full UPSC syllabus

3 Resources

• MEA website + PIB foreign-policy releases — one page per country cluster.
• Pair with Polity and Economy.
• Maps of neighbourhood and IOR every week.

4 Strategy

• Template for any bilateral: history one line, interests, recent friction, way forward.
• Do not memorise joint-statement adjectives.
• Revise groupings in a table: members, India’s aim, one criticism.

5 Common mistakes

• Writing like an op-ed with no structure.
• Ignoring diaspora, IOR and multilateral mandates.
• Mixing GS-II IR with GS-III security without the question asking for it.

6 Answer-writing example

Sample Mains demand: “BIMSTEC is often described as a better fit for India than SAARC. Examine.”

More on evaluated writing: How FIRST IAS INSTITUTE helps in answer writing.