Sovereignty & Globalisation (GS II Mains NOTES)

Sovereignty & Globalisation — PSIR Mains 2026

Classic definition
Supreme authority — internal and external independence.
Internal sovereignty
State is supreme within its own territory. Arts. 245-248: Parliament legislates for entire India.
External sovereignty
State is independent of all foreign authority. India is neither a dominion nor dependency.
Status confirmation
India left dominion status — became republic Jan 26, 1950.
Bodin → Westphalia
Classical sovereignty = absolute, indivisible, territorial.
Post-Westphalian shift
Sovereignty is now pooled, conditional, negotiated.
Stephen Krasner
"Organised hypocrisy" — sovereignty claimed but routinely violated.
A — Political sovereignty under globalisationErosion
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Human rights law limits domestic jurisdiction. UNHRC review pressures India on CAA, AFSPA.
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International courts claim extra-territorial reach. India rejects Court of Arbitration on Indus Waters Treaty (2025).
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Environmental law constrains domestic industry choices. Paris Agreement 2015 — India committed NDCs by 2030.
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Climate obligations bind future parliaments. Net-zero 2070 pledge limits coal-based industrialisation path.
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Politics are market-driven — elections respond to capital flight. 1991 crisis — IMF conditions triggered structural adjustment, not voter mandate.
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Credit ratings dictate domestic fiscal choices. Moody's, S&P ratings shape India's borrowing costs and budget decisions.
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Global governance organisations set binding norms. UNSC resolutions — legally binding on member states under UN Charter Ch. VII.
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Non-state actors penetrate domestic policymaking. MNCs lobby investment conditions; NGOs influence environmental regulation.
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Sanctions weaponise financial sovereignty of others. US SWIFT exclusion of Russia, Iran — a template of coercive sovereignty.
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R2P doctrine challenges non-interference norm. "Responsibility to Protect" — sovereignty conditional on protecting citizens.
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India resists R2P framing consistently. Voted against NATO Libya intervention (2011) — non-interference principle.
B — Economic sovereignty under globalisationConstrained
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Financial market internationalisation limits RBI autonomy. FII outflows force interest rate decisions beyond domestic goals.
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WTO dispute mechanism overrides domestic trade law. WTO ruled India's export subsidies illegal — forced policy modification.
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Agricultural subsidies capped at 10% of output value. India's MSP for 800 million PDS beneficiaries challenged as trade-distorting.
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IMF structural adjustment attaches conditions to credit. 1991 — India pledged gold, accepted conditionalities to avert default.
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World Bank conditions shape social sector spending. Bank loans require governance reforms, privatisation benchmarks.
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Capital account openness constrains tax and spend choices. Hot money inflows and exits destabilise rupee — limits expansionary fiscal policy.
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Technology dependence = economic vulnerability. Semiconductor shortage (2021-22) halted Indian auto production — import dependence.
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RCEP withdrawal = assertion of economic sovereignty. India exited RCEP (2019) — sovereign right to protect domestic market.
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FTAs transfer regulatory power to trade partners. India-UAE CEPA (2022) requires harmonising standards — narrowing domestic policy space.
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Supply chain integration creates strategic dependence. China supplies 70% of active pharmaceutical ingredients — geopolitical leverage.
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Property Owners Assn (2024) reclaims economic sovereignty. SC narrowed Art. 39(b) — state need not nationalise all private resources.
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Indus Waters Treaty suspension (April 2025) — treaty sovereignty. Post-Pahalgam attack — India held IWT in abeyance; Pakistan challenged legitimacy.
C — Cultural sovereignty under globalisationHomogenised
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Globalisation induces cultural homogeneity — "McDonaldisation." Ritzer: global uniformity replaces local cultural distinctiveness.
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Western media dominance = cultural imperialism. Hollywood, Netflix shape Indian middle-class aspirations and aesthetics.
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English hegemony marginalises vernacular knowledge systems. Scientific publication in English excludes indigenous epistemologies.
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Consumer capitalism replaces local material cultures. Fast food chains displace regional cuisine — cultural homogenisation.
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Social media platforms impose foreign cultural norms. Instagram aesthetics reshape marriage, body image, aspiration across India.
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Soft power is India's counter-cultural sovereignty tool. Yoga, Ayurveda, Bollywood, UPI — India asserts cultural influence globally.
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Glocalization = hybrid response to cultural homogenisation. McDonald's Aloo Tikki burger — global brand, local adaptation.
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Cultural hybridity can reinforce, not erase, local identity. K-pop in Korea — globalised form, distinct national cultural product.
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UNESCO conventions defend cultural diversity as sovereign right. 2005 Convention on Cultural Diversity — states may protect cultural industries.
D — Digital/technological sovereignty (new dimension)Emerging
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Data is the new oil — control = power. Global data economy exceeds $3 trillion (OECD, 2024).
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Puttaswamy (2017) constitutionalised informational sovereignty. Privacy = FR under Art. 21; state must protect citizens' data.
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DPDP Act 2023 asserts data localisation sovereignty. Mandates sensitive data stored within India — sovereignty over citizen data.
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Big tech platforms operate beyond nation-state jurisdiction. Meta, Google — global platforms, minimal Indian regulatory control.
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SWIFT exclusion weaponises financial digital infrastructure. Russia/Iran exclusion — shows digital chokepoints as sovereignty threats.
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IndiaAI Mission (2025) pursues computational sovereignty. 10,000 GPUs, multilingual models — sovereign AI infrastructure assertion.
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UPI, Aadhaar, DPI = digital sovereignty assertion. India's DPI — global benchmark; alternatives to Western payment systems.
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AI governance norms are the new sovereignty frontier. India AI Governance Guidelines 2025 — Seven Sutras framework, internationally recognised.
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Semiconductor dependence = technological sovereignty gap. India Semiconductor Mission (2021) — building fab capacity to reduce dependence.
E — India's sovereignty assertions ("smart sovereignty")Reclamation
Strategic autonomy
  • BRICS, QUAD, SCO — selective multilateralism.
  • Multi-alignment, not non-alignment.
  • G20 Presidency (2023) — Global South voice.
  • India rejects ICC jurisdiction over itself.
  • Nuclear doctrine — no first use, sovereign.
Economic reclamation
  • RCEP exit (2019) — sovereign trade decision.
  • PLI scheme — domestic manufacturing sovereignty.
  • IWT suspension (April 2025) — treaty autonomy.
  • Atma Nirbhar Bharat — self-reliance doctrine.
  • WTO exemption sought for food security MSP.
Digital / tech assertion
  • DPDP Act 2023 — data localisation.
  • IndiaAI Mission — sovereign compute layer.
  • UPI internationalisation — payment sovereignty export.
  • Pax Silica coalition (Feb 2026) — chip supply sovereignty.
  • India AI Governance Guidelines (2025) — global norm-setting.
Cultural counter-assertion
  • Yoga declared International Day — UN, 2015.
  • Millet Year (2023) — India-led UN initiative.
  • Bollywood in 190 countries — soft power.
  • Sanskrit, Tamil — classical language assertion.
  • NEP 2020 — mother tongue education policy.
F — Scholarly anchors for answersQuote bank
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Stephen Krasner: sovereignty is "organised hypocrisy."
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Susan Strange: markets erode state authority — "casino capitalism."
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Anthony Giddens: globalisation "tears away" the Westphalian state.
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Joseph Nye: sovereignty shifts — states share power with non-state actors.
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Saskia Sassen: sovereignty "unbundled" — functional, not territorial.
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Pratap Bhanu Mehta: India's sovereignty is "assertive but selective."
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Counter-argument (Held): globalisation requires pooling, not abandoning, sovereignty.
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Counter-argument (Waltz): state remains the primary unit of global politics.