Comprehension
One of the most important challenges for Indian diplomacy in the subcontinent is to persuade its neighbours that India is an opportunity, not a threat. Far from feeling in any way besieged by India, they should be able to see it as offering access to a vast market and to a dynamic, growing economy which would provide their own economies with far greater opportunities than more distant partners (or even their own domestic markets) could provide. This would go beyond economic benefits: as David Malone argues, “Economic cooperation represents the easiest ‘sell’ to various constituencies within the countries of the region. Were this to prove successful, cooperation on more divisive and sensitive issues, such as terrorism, separatism, insurgency, religious fundamentalism, and ethnic strife, could be attempted with greater chances of success.” Winds of change are blowing in South Asia. There is a definite consolidation of democracy in all the countries of the region, every one of which has held elections within the last three years. Some of our neighbours have made significant strides in surmounting internal conflict and others are in the process of doing so. If India has to fulfil its potential in the world, we have no choice but to live in peace with our neighbours, in mutual security, harmony and cooperation. Just as Nehru left Robert Frost’s immortal lines “Miles to go before I sleep” on his bedside table when he died, Shastri kept some lines of the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak, on his desk. When translated into English they read: “O Nanak! Be tiny like the grass, for other plants will wither away, but grass will remain ever green.” Shastri was seen by many Indians of exalted ambition as a tiny man, but he had the mind and heart of a giant. His vision of peaceful coexistence with our neighbours, through adopting the demeanour, the modesty and the freshness of grass, may well be the best way for India to ensure that its dreams remain evergreen in its own backyard
Question: 1
As per the passage, which of the following is a challenge for India?
As per the passage, which of the following is a challenge for India?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- To develop an intimidating surrounding for its neighbours.
- To manifest India as a land of opportunities.
- To restrict access to economic activities to its neighbours.
- To propagate the practice of threatening neighbours for greater opportunities.
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is B
Approach Solution - 1
The correct Answer is (B): To manifest India as a land of opportunities.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The passage opens by naming the specific diplomatic challenge facing India in the region, so this question can be answered directly from its first sentence.
- To develop an intimidating surrounding for its neighbours: This is the opposite of the passage's argument. The author explicitly says neighbours should not feel besieged by India, so intimidation is not the challenge being described; it is the outcome the author wants to avoid.
- To manifest India as a land of opportunities: The passage's opening line states the challenge is to persuade its neighbours that India is an opportunity, not a threat, and goes on to describe India offering access to a large market and a growing economy. This matches directly. This is the correct option.
- To restrict access to economic activities to its neighbours: The passage argues for the reverse, that India should offer its neighbours access to a vast market, not restrict their access. This option contradicts the text.
- To propagate the practice of threatening neighbours for greater opportunities: Nothing in the passage supports threatening neighbours; the entire argument is built around persuasion and partnership, not threats. This option is incorrect.
The passage frames the challenge in clearly positive, persuasive terms, aimed at getting neighbours to see India as beneficial rather than threatening.
Therefore, the correct answer is to manifest India as a land of opportunities.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 2
“If India has to fulfil its potential in the world, we have no choice but to live in peace with our neighbours, in mutual security, harmony and cooperation.” In the context of the statement, which of the following strengthens the author’s opinion?
“If India has to fulfil its potential in the world, we have no choice but to live in peace with our neighbours, in mutual security, harmony and cooperation.” In the context of the statement, which of the following strengthens the author’s opinion?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- Peace and prosperity cannot work in consonance.
- India should assert its might over its neighbours.
- Peaceful coexistence with neighbours is the key to India’s stellar growth
- India can offer myriad opportunities for its neighbours by working in seclusion.
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
The correct Answer is (C):Peaceful coexistence with neighbours is the key to India’s stellar growth
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The quoted statement argues that India has no choice but to live in peace with its neighbours if it wants to fulfil its potential. This question asks which option would strengthen that specific claim.
- Peace and prosperity cannot work in consonance: This directly contradicts the quoted claim, which links India's growth to peaceful ties with its neighbours. It weakens rather than strengthens the statement.
- India should assert its might over its neighbours: This argues for dominance instead of peaceful cooperation, running against the entire thrust of the passage. It weakens the author's opinion rather than supporting it.
- Peaceful coexistence with neighbours is the key to India's stellar growth: This restates the quoted claim in more direct terms and adds a positive causal link between peace and growth, reinforcing exactly what the author is arguing. This is the correct option.
- India can offer myriad opportunities for its neighbours by working in seclusion: Working in seclusion is the opposite of engaging with neighbours through cooperation and market access, which is what the passage recommends. This option undercuts rather than supports the author's opinion.
Only one option adds direct support to the idea that peaceful ties with neighbours serve India's own growth and potential, and that is the one that restates this link approvingly.
Therefore, the correct answer is peaceful coexistence with neighbours is the key to India's stellar growth.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 3
Which of the following is the central theme of the above passage?
Which of the following is the central theme of the above passage?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- The objective of attaining peaceful co-existence and cooperation with the neighbours.
- The dominance of India on its neighbouring countries.
- Emergence of India as a global power
- Prioritising the economic opportunities for India.
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is A
Approach Solution - 1
The correct Answer is (A): The objective of attaining peaceful co-existence and cooperation with the neighbours.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
This question asks for the passage's overall theme, not a single supporting detail, so each option needs to be checked against what the passage argues across all of its paragraphs.
- The objective of attaining peaceful co-existence and cooperation with the neighbours: This runs through the whole passage, from the opening line about persuading neighbours that India is an opportunity, to Malone's point about economic cooperation opening the door to harder issues, to the closing message about modesty and peaceful coexistence. This is the correct option.
- The dominance of India on its neighbouring countries: The passage argues against India being seen as a threat and in favour of partnership, the opposite of dominance. This option misreads the passage's intent.
- Emergence of India as a global power: While the passage does discuss India fulfilling its potential, it frames this specifically through regional peace and cooperation, not as a general theme about global power status on its own. This option is too broad and misses the regional focus.
- Prioritising the economic opportunities for India: Economic cooperation is one tool discussed in the passage, described as an easy starting point, but the passage frames it as a means toward broader peaceful cooperation, not as the end goal in itself. This option captures only a part of the passage, not its central theme.
Reading the passage end to end, its throughline is India's need to build peaceful, cooperative relationships with its neighbours as the basis for its own growth.
Therefore, the correct answer is the objective of attaining peaceful co-existence and cooperation with the neighbours.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 4
Which of the following is correct expression of the author’s opinion as stated in passage?
Which of the following is correct expression of the author’s opinion as stated in passage?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- India should strive for greater economic integration which should be politically and administratively feasible.
- India can see borders as barriers, and border areas as buffer zones but not as gateways of opportunity.
- India’s stellar economic growth is thwarting her own opportunities.
- It is not in India’s interest to be generous to neighbouring countries
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is A
Approach Solution - 1
The correct Answer is (A):India should strive for greater economic integration which should be politically and administratively feasible.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
This question asks which option correctly states the author's opinion, so options that clearly go against the passage's pro-cooperation stance can be set aside first.
- India should strive for greater economic integration which should be politically and administratively feasible: The passage supports economic cooperation as the practical starting point for regional ties, calling it the easiest sell for various groups within neighbouring countries, which reflects a push for integration that works within real political and administrative limits. Among the given options, this is the one consistent with the author's pro-cooperation stance. This is the correct option.
- India can see borders as barriers, and border areas as buffer zones but not as gateways of opportunity: This directly opposes the passage, which frames India's economic strength and market access as an opportunity for neighbours, closer to a gateway than a barrier. This option contradicts the author's view.
- India's stellar economic growth is thwarting her own opportunities: The passage presents India's growth as a source of opportunity for the region, not something working against India's own interests. This option is unsupported.
- It is not in India's interest to be generous to neighbouring countries: The passage argues the reverse, that offering neighbours access to India's market and economy serves India's own long-term interest in regional peace and growth. This option contradicts the author's opinion.
Three of the four options describe a closed-off, self-interested India, which is the opposite of what the author argues for; only one option reflects the cooperative, opportunity-focused stance the passage takes.
Therefore, the correct answer is India should strive for greater economic integration which should be politically and administratively feasible.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Question: 5
Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?
Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- There is no nexus between cooperative existence and economic growth of a nation.
- Unless India’s region becomes more self-centred, India is unlikely to develop into more than a regional power.
- India can only become a great power if it works in isolation to achieve the desired goals.
- India cannot aspire to be a great power without the cooperation of neighbou
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is D
Approach Solution - 1
The correct Answer is (D):India cannot aspire to be a great power without the cooperation of neighbou
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
Approach Solution -2
The passage's central claim is that India has no choice but to live in peace with its neighbours if it has to fulfil its potential in the world. This question asks which option can be inferred from that reasoning.
- There is no nexus between cooperative existence and economic growth of a nation: This contradicts the passage's explicit link between peaceful, cooperative ties with neighbours and India's own potential and growth. This option is incorrect.
- Unless India's region becomes more self-centred, India is unlikely to develop into more than a regional power: The passage argues the opposite, that cooperation, not self-centred behaviour, is what helps India grow. This option misreads the passage's direction.
- India can only become a great power if it works in isolation to achieve the desired goals: This is directly against the passage's argument, which rejects an isolated approach in favour of cooperative engagement with the region. This option is incorrect.
- India cannot aspire to be a great power without the cooperation of neighbours: The passage states plainly that fulfilling its potential requires living in peace and cooperation with its neighbours, which is the same idea as saying great-power status depends on that cooperation. This is the correct option.
The passage builds its whole argument around the idea that India's larger ambitions depend on cooperative regional ties, not on going it alone.
Therefore, the correct answer is India cannot aspire to be a great power without the cooperation of neighbours.
Was this answer helpful?
0
0
Top CLAT Questions
- In the realm of contemporary literature, the interplay between character and setting is a nuanced dance that shapes the narrative’s essence. The setting, often described with painstaking detail, becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes a character, influencing the plot and character development.
Consider, for instance, the barren expanse of the desert in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. The arid landscape mirrors the sense of isolation felt by the protagonist, Gogol, as he navigates his identity crisis in a foreign land. The relentless sun and vast sands are not mere descriptions; they are the silent witnesses to his inner turmoil.
On the other end of the literary spectrum, there is Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. The lush, vibrant Kerala backwaters are not just the setting; they are a character woven into the fabric of the story. The teeming, humid landscape reflects the complex web of human relationships and secrets that unravel in the narrative. This interplay is not confined to contemporary literature alone. In Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy Macbeth, the eerie and foreboding setting of the Scottish moors casts a dark shadow over the characters’ actions. The moors, shrouded in mist and mystery, serve as an ever-present omen of the impending tragedy. - The crisis of justice that is the subject matter of discussion in the media today is in fact the crisis of “justice for the middle class”. The main difference between India and the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries is that whereas the middle class in these countries has reasonable access to justice, in India it does not. A vocal and powerful middle class has emerged in India since 1991. It is demanding reasonable access to justice. Much of the judicial reform effort will help meet this demand…
The question of justice for the poor is, however, an altogether different challenge. No country in the world has been able to secure justice for the poor. Most of the jails of the richest countries are filled with the poorest. The “masses” are more often victims of the criminal justice system than of crime. In India as well, jails are almost exclusively filled with the poor. The civil justice system is hardly accessible to them. They are often victimised by lawyers, touts and court staff. They are docket-excluded, a new type of untouchability. The language and the logic—and the colonial and feudal culture—of the judicial system are alien to them. It rarely takes cognisance of their needs and interests.
Their main concern, therefore, is to escape the attention of the justice system, criminal and civil. A landless Dalit person in the interior of Madhya Pradesh once gave me an insightful definition of a court from the perspective of the masses: “A court is a place where you are forcibly taken by the police to be punished; no one goes to a court.” In contrast, many lawyers and judges colloquially define a court as “a temple of justice where rights are protected”.
These sharply divergent visions mean that justice for one section is often injustice for another. Protecting the livelihood of traditional taxi and auto drivers from predatory pricing by corporate app-based taxi providers by imaginatively using the available tools of law to delay their incursion would be seen by the rich and by sections of the middle class as a failure of the judicial system, and possibly as also resulting in a downgrading of the “ease of doing business” measure. However, the masses would see such a judicial intervention as strong evidence of a good justice system. Although the conflict over competing visions of the nation and conflicting demands from social and economic segments have confined judicial reform of judicial administration mainly to “neutral” areas such as process reform, procedural law, technology, planning and court and case management, judge strength, and the workload of judges, there has been considerable improvement in these areas, and the judicial system has improved its performance.
[Extracted, with edits, from “Justice and the Two Ideas of India”, by G. Mohan Gopal, Frontline] - Everything she wanted was here, at Carignano, in Kasauli. Here, on the ridge of the mountain, in this quiet house. It was the place, and the time of life, that she had wanted and prepared for all her life-as she realized on the first day at Carignano, with a great, cool flowering of relief - and at last she had it. She wanted no one and nothing else. Whatever else came, or happened here, would be an unwelcome intrusion and distraction. This she tried to convey to the plodding postman with a cold and piercing stare from the height of the ridge onto his honest bull back. Unfortunately, he did not look up at her on the hilltop but stared stolidly down at the dust piling onto his shoes as he plodded on. A bullock-man, an oafish ox, she thought bitterly. She stepped backwards into the garden and the wind suddenly billowed up and threw the pine branches about as though to curtain her. She was grey, tall and thin and her silk sari made a sweeping, shivering sound and she fancied she could merge with the pine trees and be mistaken for one. To be a tree, no more and no less, was all she was prepared to undertake.
What pleased and satisfied her so, here at Carignano, was its barrenness. This was the chief virtue of all Kasauli of course-its starkness. It had rocks, it had pines, it had light and air. In every direction there was a sweeping view - to the north, of the mountains, to the south, of the plains. Occasionally an eagle swam through this clear unobstructed mass of light and air, that was all. And Carignano, her home on the ridge, had no more than that. Why should it? The sun shone on its white walls. Its windows were open the ones facing north opened on to the blue waves of the Himalayas flowing out and up to the line of ice and snow sketched upon the sky, while those that faced south looked down the plunging cliff to the plain stretching out, flat and sere to the blurred horizon.
Yes, there were some apricot trees close to the house. There were clumps of iris that had finished blooming. There was the kitchen with a wing of smoke lifting out of its chimney and a stack of wood outside its door. But these were incidental, almost unimportant.
[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “Fire on the Mountain” by Anita Desai] - English literature is a vast and diverse field that has left an indelible mark on the world of letters. From the eloquent plays of William Shakespeare to the complex novels of Jane Austen and the profound poetry of William Wordsworth, English literature offers a window into the human experience. One of the luminaries of English literature is William Shakespeare, often hailed as the greatest playwright in the history of English language. His works, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet, are celebrated for their exploration of human nature, love, ambition, and tragedy. His characters, such as the tormented Hamlet and the star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet, continue to captivate readers and audiences worldwide.
The 19th century ushered in a new era of literary giants. Jane Austen’s novels, such as Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, provide incisive social commentary through the lens of wit and romance. Austen’s heroines, like Elizabeth Bennet and Elinor Dashwood, remain beloved literary figures known for their intelligence and resilience. The Romantic era brought forth poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who celebrated * 8 UG the beauty of nature and the emotional intensity of the individual. Wordsworth’s ‘‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’’ and Coleridge’s ‘‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’’ are testament to the power of the written words to evoke profound emotions and imagery. Moving towards 20th century, English literature continued to evolve. Virginia Woolf’s ground-breaking novel Mrs. Dalloway explored the inner thoughts and lives of its characters with a modernist narrative style. Dystopian visions, as seen in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four provided stark warnings about the dangers of totalitarianism and the erosion of individual freedom.
Today, English literature is a global phenomenon, transcending borders and languages. Indian authors like Arundhati Roy, with her novel The God of Small Things, have won prestigious international literary awards. The book not only explores intricate family dynamics but also delves into the broader socio-political landscape of India. In summary, English literature is a testament to the enduring power of storytelling and the written word. It encompasses an array of authors, themes, and styles that continue to captivate and inspire readers across the world. - On the evening of the 10th, General Dyer arrived at Amritsar, and the Deputy-Commissioner handed over the civil power to him. He issued a proclamation by word of mouth that no meetings should be held. Two days later, after there had been no sort of riot, nor murder, General Dyer heard that a meeting was to be held at the Jallianwala Bagh. He proceeded there with about fifty troops, half British, half Indian, and a certain number of Ghurkas, armed with their kukris. The Jallianwala Bagh is an open space, half a mile square, which has one entry wide enough for three persons. The troops got in and lined up on a mound of debris. The walls, seven feet high, and the surrounding houses enclosed the people. There were, too, three alleys through which the people might have been able to pass. Within thirty seconds of the troops getting in, General Dyer gave orders to fire, and the crowd of people, estimated at anything from 5,000 to 20,000, who were sitting on the ground peacefully listening to the mob oratory, were fired on. The result of the troops’ fire into the mass of people we do not know. But we do know that Dyer’s own estimate of the casualties resulting from ten minutes continual individual firing, was 400 to 500 killed and 1,500 wounded. The people were not able to escape. They were people who had not offered any violence and who had not been warned. These people were shot down. After ten minutes, the ammunition was exhausted and the troops marched off, and they left 1,500 wounded there. There were men lying there for two days, dying of thirst, eating the ground, bleeding to death and nobody to look after them. Those who lived nearby came and carried away some of the wounded from the heap of dead and dying, but the unfortunate country people died there miserably of their wounds. This is what is done in 1919 in British India…
Centuries hence you will find Indian children brought up to this spot, just as they visit now the Cawnpore Well, and you can imagine the feelings of these Indians for generations over this terrible business.
[Col. Wedgwood, MP, speaking in the British Parliament, 22 December 1919]
View More Questions