UPSC Mains 2021 GS Paper 2 with Solutions - 1 | UPSC Previous Year Question Papers and Video Analysis PDF Download

Q.1. ‘Constitutional Morality’ is rooted in the Constitution itself and is founded on its essential facets. Explain the doctrine of Constitutional Morality’ with the help of relevant judicial decisions. (Answer in 150 words)  10 Marks

A rigid separation between morality and law is highly improbable.  The Supreme Court of India has passed historical judgments such as  Judgment on Right to Privacy, Decriminalization of consensual relationship under section 377 and section 497 of IPC, Triple Talaq, Sabarimala temple case on the basis of Constitutional Morality. Constitutional Morality means adherence to or being faithful to bottom line principles of constitutional values.  According to Dr. Ambedkar, Constitutional morality is the effective coordination between conflicting interests of different people and the administrative cooperation to resolve them amicably without any confrontation amongst the various groups working for the realization of their ends at any cost. It specifies norms for institutions to survive and an expectation that will meet the text and the soul of the Constitution. It also makes the governing institutions and representatives accountable. Constitutional Morality  is written in the Constitution itself i.e., in the section of Fundamental Rights of Article 12 to 35, Directive Principle of State Policy (Article 36 to 51), Preamble and Fundamental duties.

Supreme Court’s Judgements and Constitutional Morality

• In Supreme Court’s Sabarimala verdict  where religious freedom, gender equality and the right of women to worship guaranteed under Article 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution was restored which struck down the practice of banning entry of women of  certain age group to the Sabarimala temple in Kerala as unconstitutional. Constitutional morality here went against social morality that discriminates against women based on biological reasons like menstruation.
• In Kesavananda Bharati Case, the Supreme Court restricted the power of the Parliament to violate the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
• In the Naz Foundation case, the Supreme Court opined that only Constitutional Morality and not Public Morality should prevail.
• In Lt Governor of Delhi case, SC proclaimed constitutional morality as a governing ideas that “highlight the need to preserve the trust of people in the institution of democracy. In Sabarimala case, the Supreme Court avoid the “doctrine of essentiality” to uphold the Constitutional morality

Significance

• It ensures the establishment of rule of law in the land .
• Constitutional morality highlights the need to preserve the trust of the people in institutions of democracy.
• Constitutional morality acknowledge the plurality and diversity in society and tries to make individuals and communities in the society more inclusive in their functioning by constantly providing the scope for improvement and reforms.

Q.2. Discuss the desirability of greater representation to women in the higher judiciary to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

The SC has only 2 women judges out of  34 seats reserved for women judges and there has never been a female Chief Justice of India (CJI). There are only 80 women judges out of the total sanctioned strength of 1,113 judges in the SC and the HCs. Of the 26 courts including the SC, the Punjab and Haryana HCs has the maximum strength of women judges (11 out of 85 judges) in the country, followed by the Madras HC (9 out of 75 judges). Both Delhi and Bombay HCs have 8 women judges. The HCs of Manipur, Meghalaya, Patna, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand, do not have any women in the sitting judges.

Desirability of greater representation to women in the higher judiaciary to ensure diversity equity and inclusiveness because:

• SDG 5 and SDG 16 in particular, address the global responsibility of having gender equality and women’s representation in public institutions such as the judiciary.
•  Women judges strengthen the judiciary and help to gain the public’s trust.
• The entry of women judges is a positive step in the direction of judiciaries  being more transparent, inclusive, and representative of the people whose lives they affect.
• Women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts,  they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.
• Women judges bring those lived experiences to their judicial actions, experiences that tend toward a more comprehensive and empathetic perspective.
• Adjudication is enhanced by the presence of women who bring to the fore considerations that would not have been taken into account in their absence and the scope of the discussion is hence enlarged, possibly preventing ill-considered or improper decisions.
• a gender perspective enhances the fairness of adjudication, which ultimately benefits both men and women.

Judicial orders should conform to certain judicial standards and necessary steps have to be taken to ensure that this does not happen in the future.The SC must direct the collection of data to determine the number of women judges in the lower judiciary and tribunals and also to determine the year-wise number of senior designates by all HCs. Greater representation of women should be ensured at all levels of the judiciary, including the SC and this initiative must come from the SC itself, considering that the power of appointment rests almost exclusively with the SC Collegium. The goal must be to achieve at least 50% representation of women in all leadership positions and there should be a mandatory training of all lawyers on gender sensitisation.

Q.3. How have the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission of India enabled the States to improve their fiscal position? (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

The recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission of India enabled the States to improve their fiscal position.

• The 14th Finance Commission has radically enhanced the share of the states in the central divisible pool from the current 32 percent to 42 per cent which is the biggest ever increase in vertical tax devolution. The last two Finance Commissions viz. Twelfth (period 2005-10) and Thirteenth (period 2010-15) had recommended a state share of 30.5 per cent (increase of 1 percent) and 32 per cent (increase of 1.5 percent), respectively in the central divisible pool.  
• The FFC has also proposed a new horizontal formula for the distribution of the states’ share in divisible pool among the states. Relative to the Thirteenth Finance Commission, the FFC has incorporated two new variables: 2011 population and forest cover; and excluded the fiscal discipline variable. 
• Grants: Should be distributed to states for local bodies on the basis of the 2011 population data; the grants be divided into two broad categories on the basis of rural and urban population — constituting gram panchayats, and constituting municipal bodies respectively.
• Types of grants: A basic grant and a performance grant — the ratio of basic to performance grant be 90:10, with respect to panchayats; and 80:20 in the case of municipalities.
•  States will have more “untied” funds at their disposal and will be free to deploy them in the manner they deem appropriate to their needs and concerns. Planning within states now assumes even greater importance even if the Planning Commission has been abolished. 
• The formula used in the Fourteenth Finance Commission is not the same as that used by its predecessor and so the share of individual states cannot really be compared. Reddy’s Commission, for instance, has given 7.5% weightage to forest cover, which had not been done by the Thirteenth Finance Commission. As a result, some large states with low forest cover like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are complaining that their share in tax devolution has decreased. It has, but the basis for calculations has itself undergone a change. 
• The FFC seeks to fundamentally alter the Centre-State funding patterns to give boost to the idea of “cooperative federalism”. For instance Central assistance for critical developmental programmes being implemented by states relating to health, child development, education, rural drinking water, housing etc has been reduced drastically by about Rs 75,000 crore in the budget for 2015-16.

Q.4. To what extent, in your view, the Parliament is able to ensure accountability of the executive in India? (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

In a parliamentary democracy the executive is accountable to Parliament. The Constitution provides for the legislature to make laws, the government to implement laws, and the courts to interpret and enforce these laws.  Therefore, the government is collectively responsible to Parliament for its actions.  This implies that Parliament (i.e. Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) can hold the government accountable for its decisions, and scrutinise its functioning.  This may be done using various methods including, during debates on Bills or issues on the floor of Parliament, by posing questions to ministers during Question Hour, and in parliamentary committees.

There are two broad views about the functions of Parliament vis-a-vis the Executive. The first refers to Parliamentary sovereignty, ministerial responsibility, the parliamentary surveillance. The second refers to the responsibility of the Government, the danger of political interference with civil servants, the importance of debate rather than control.

The Indian system represents a real fusion of the highest executive and legislative authorities. The Council of Ministers is the ‘grand executive committee’ of Parliament charged with the responsibility of governance on behalf of the parent body. It is drawn from, and remain a part of the Parliament and is responsible to the Lok Sabha. While the Executive has almost unlimited right to initiate and formulate legislative and financial proposals before Parliament and to give effect to approved policies, unfettered and unhindered by Parliament, Parliament has the unlimited power to call for information, to discuss to scrutinize and to put the seal of approval on the proposals made by the Executive. The Executive (i.e. the political Executive the Council of Ministers) remains responsible and the administration accountable to Parliament. It is the function of Parliament to exercise political and financial control over the Executive and to ensure parliamentary surveillance of administration.Executive responsibility and administrative accountability, are two different functional concepts.

The head of every Government Department is a Minister and Parliament exercises control over the Department through the Minister. A Ministry has practically an autonomous existence of its own and conducts its business in pursuance of statutory provisions, rules and regulations or according to a long-standing practice. The Parliamentary control over the Ministry rests in the fact that any action of the Ministry can be called in question by any Member and the Minister responsible for the administration of that Ministry has to defend the acts of his officials. It is a well-established constitutional principle that a Minister is responsible to Parliament for all the acts of the Ministry and it is he who takes the blame, should Parliament disapprove of any administrative act. Administrative accountability means the accountability of the administration to Parliament. Parliament does not interfere with day to day administration nor does it control administration. Accountability to it is technical and indirect i.e. through the Ministers, and it is ex post facto i.e. after something is done; after action has ended. Also, it has to be based on specific grounds. Under the Indian system, after a policy is laid down, a law is passed or monies are sanctioned, it is administration which is required to execute and implement, Parliament cannot itself administer nor can the Ministers. It is, therefore, the officials and not the Ministers–who have to explain if things go wrong in the process of implementation. 

In a parliamentary polity, Parliament embodies the will of the people and it must, therefore be able to oversee the way in which public policy is carried out so as to ensure that it keeps in step with the objectives of socio-economic progress, efficient administration and the aspirations, of the people as a whole. This, in a nutshell, is the rasion d’etre of parliamentary surveillance of administration. Parliament has to keep a watch over the behaviour of administration. It can enquire and examine ex post facto whether the administration has acted in conformity with its obligations under the approved policies and utilized the powers conferred on it for purposes for which they were intended and whether the monies spent were in accordance with parliamentary sanction. This ensures that the officials function in the healthy awareness that they, would be ultimately subject to parliamentary scrutiny and answerable for what they do or fail to do. But in order to be able to conduct meaningful scrutiny and call the administration to account, Parliament must have the technical resources and information wherewithal.

The various procedural devices like the system of parliamentary Committees; Questions, Calling Attention, Half-an-Hour Discussion, etc. constitute very potent instruments for effecting parliamentary surveillance over administrative action. Significant occasions for review of administration are also provided by the discussions on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, the Budget demands and particular aspects of governmental policy or situations. These apart, specific matters may be discussed through motions on matters of urgent public importance, private members’ resolutions and other substantive motions. Government is sensitive to parliamentary opinion; in most cases it anticipates that opinion; in sonic cases it bows to it and in some others it may feel that it cannot make any change consistent with its commitments, obligations arid political philosophy.  It is as well that the parliamentary debates should serve to remind the administration of its duties and obligations. Parliamentary debates affect thinking and action of the administration in the variety of ways and the public influence which cannot be measured in terms of any visible units pervades through all the ranks of administration-high and low. 

Executive or Ministerial responsibility to Parliament or what is often termed parliamentary control over the Executive or the Government is based on-

• the constitutional provision of collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the popular House of Parliament; and
• the Parliament’s control over the Budget.

In both these matters, parliamentary control over the Executive is political in nature. The answerability of the Executive is direct, continuous, concurrent and day-to-day. When Parliament is sitting, the continuance of the Government in office depends from moment to moment on its retaining the confidence of the House of the People. The House may at any time decide to throw out the Government by a majority vote i.e. if the ruling party loses the support of the majority of the members of the House, its Government goes. No grounds, arguments, proofs or justification are necessary, when the House clearly shows that it does not support the Government of the day, the Government must resign. Want of parliamentary confidence in the Government may be expressed by the House of the People by-

• passing a substantive motion of no-confidence in
• defeating the Government on a major issue of policy;
• to consider the annual reports of the Ministries/Departments and report thereon;

Q.5. “Pressure groups play a vital role in influencing public policy making in India.” Explain how the business associations contribute to public policies. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

A pressure group is a group of people that actively promotes and defends their common interest. It brings a change in the public policy by exerting pressure on the government through a liaison between the government and its members. They are interest groups or vested groups.

They don’t capture political power. As they are more concerned with specific programmes and issues that is more confined to the protection and promotion of the interests of their members by influencing the government.

The pressure groups influences the policy-making and policy implementation in the government through legal and legitimate methods like lobbying, correspondence, publicity, propagandising, petitioning, public debating, maintaining contacts with their legislators and so forth.

Techniques Used by Pressure Groups to secure their purposes.

• Electioneering: Placing favourable persons in public office to promote their interests.
• Lobbying: Persuading public officers to adopt and enforce the policies that they think will prove most beneficial to their interests.
• Propagandizing: Influencing public opinion and gaining an indirect influence over government.

The Business Groups – Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Federation of All India Foodgrain Dealers Association (FAIFDA), etc  too have contributed immensely to the formation of the public policies.

Characteristics of Pressure Groups

• Use of Modern as well as Traditional Means: They adopt techniques like financing of political parties, sponsoring their close candidates. Their traditional means include exploitation of caste, creed and religious feelings to promote their interests.
• Resulting out  Increasing Pressure and Demands on Resources: Scarcity of resources, claims and counterclaims on the resources from different and competing sections of the society leads to the rise of pressure groups.
• Based on Certain Interests.
• Inadequacies of Political Parties to deal with the situation that needs a better  representation.
• Represent Changing Consciousness: The stagnation in production leads to fatalism but increase in production leads to demands, protests and formation of new pressure groups.

Functions, Role & Importance of Pressure Groups like the prominent business association.

• Interest Articulation: Pressure Groups bring the demands and needs of the people to the notice of the decision-makers.
• Agents of Political Socialisation: they influence the orientations of the people. They provide a two-way communication links between the people and the government.
• Pressure groups play a vital role in the legislative process as they aim at securing desired laws or amendments in laws and policies of the government.
• The pressure groups are far and wide associated with the process of rule-making.
• Pressure Groups are actively involved with the process of administration and also influence the process of policy implementation.
• They try to use the judicial system for securing and safeguarding their interests. Seek access to the court for redressal of their grievances.
• They also help in formulation of public opinion.
• They try to gain public support and sympathy for their goals and their activity by carrying out information campaigns, organising meetings, file petitions, etc.
• Most of these groups try to influence the media into giving attention to these issues.

Pressure groups help in improving the quality of government as they take rational decisions in a free society. It enhances the quality of the decision making process, improves the quality of government policy and legislation. They are essential to the effective functioning of liberal democracy. They assist in the dispersal of political power and counterweights the concentration of power.

They help in facilitating the social progress and preventing social stagnation. Help improve the accountability of decision makers to electorates.

What needs to be prevented.

• Narrow selfish interests:
• Misuse of power: they often end up in becoming tools and implements to subserve political interests.
• Instability: they are unstable and lack commitment, their loyalties shift with political situations which threatens general welfare.

Conclusion
Pressure groups are indispensable and helpful element of the democratic process. The society is highly complex and individuals cannot pursue their interests on their own. The need is to develop in a way that is more sustainable and helps in the growth of the economy and the society as a whole.

Q.6. “Besides being a moral imperative of Welfare State, primary health structure is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable development.” Analyze. (150 words) 10 Marks

Education and healthcare contribute to the economic development, social change and the quality of life. India spends 2 per cent of theGDP on the healthcare sector. The pandemic too has further taken a toll on this sector.

The idea of a welfare state calls for a Universal Health Coverage that ensures equitable access of health to all the Indian citizens in a non-discriminatory manner and ensure its quality, affordability and accountability.

There is a dismal situation been faced in the healthcare facilities due to inadequate resources with the healthcare planners. There are corruption and quality issues. The private sector driven by the free market economy where there is little monitoring of the prices. Its accessibility and affordability is beyond the reach of many households.

There is lack of availability of subsidised and timely treatment leads to affordability and increases poverty and heightens the out of pocket expenditure. The aim is inclusive healthcare for it there has been an increase in the GDP expenditure planning and public private partnership. The aim is also to reduce the leakages and the corruption and governance issues must be dealt well.

The government has come up with the provision of the PMJAY or the Ayushmann Bharat Yojana that helps the economically vulnerable population and provide them with the healthcare facilities and put the secondary and tertiary facilities completely cashless in the empanelled public private hospitals.

Certain reforms in the Health Sector

• Implement national standards for training and employment for the workforce.
• Implement the national accreditation of the hospitals.
• PPP in designing new healthcare services and research where affordable generic medicines are promoted.
• Insurance penetration to reduce the OPO Expenditure.
• Better the hospital infrastructure.

Thus the healthcare services needs to be paid adequate attention to so that the idea of the welfare state that is promised and thus well realised.

Q.7. “‘Earn while you learn’ scheme needs to be strengthened to make vocational education and skill training meaningful.” Comment. (150 words) 10 Marks

The Ministry of Tourism has launched a Scheme titled ‘Earn While You Learn’ with a view to inculcate appropriate tourism travel traits and knowledge amongst trainees to enable them to work as ‘student volunteers’.

The salient features of the Scheme are
College-going students pursuing graduation courses or graduates in the age group of 18 to 25 years hold the eligibility for the training programme. Selected transparently and will follow a 21 day course period.

India reaps for a rich Demographic Dividend is the economic growth potential due to the demographic transition. To reap this dividend we need the right policy so that the productivity increases and the citizens are empowered by enhancing their education, skill and innovation.

The government measures to enhance their skills.

• The government has come up with certain schemes that encourages the skill enhancement of the youth and encourages the labour productivity and enhances the employment opportunities and the quality of life.
• The vocational training is provided by the Kaushal Bharat Kushal Bharat and improve the expertise of the people from the minority community.
• USTAAD Scheme, Skill India mission is an accreditation too in this direction.
• The schemes like SETU and AIM fosters growth and innovation and entrepreneurship. The Start Up Stand Up India strives towards developing the entrepreneurial qualities of the people.
• The aim must also be to maintain higher educational standards and align them with the industrial setup.
• Focus must also be on the regions that have a low income base and also the industrial regions of the country.
• Schemes like Nai Roshni that instil in the leadership qualities in the women too must be enhanced.

Thus to reap what has been blessed to us the need is the proper implementation of the policies and the planned schemes. There should also be a focus on the infrastructural facilities and raise the health and education standards to promote inclusive growth.

Q.8. Can the vicious cycle of gender inequality, poverty and malnutrition be broken through microfinancing of women SHGs? Explain with examples. (150 words) 10 Marks

Self-Help Group play a major role in poverty alleviation in rural area and hasten country’s economic Development. SHGs have evolved as a movement constitute mainly of women members . The SHG promotes small savings members.  Self-Help Group (SHG) is a small voluntary association of poor people, preferably from the same socio-economic background.

Objectives of SHGs

• To examine the role of SHG in developing socio economic status of rural women.
• To alleviate rural poverty and increase employment opportunity.
• To promote income generating activities in rural household women.
• It provides for the Micro- Financing benefits for rural poor households. Microfinance becomes a ladder for the poor to bring them up not only economically but also socially, mentally and break them from the stronghold of exploitative money lenders
• Enhances the profitability for rural people.
• Bank – SHG linkage provides financial support to SHGs.
• Economic empowerment.
• Social empowerment means that the woman get an important place in her family and society. It has resulted in developing self-confidence, self-esteem and self-respect also.
• Saving and Financial Decision Making
• Access to credit and the improvement in the quality of life.
• Employment .
• Social integrity and Gender Equity.
• Improving efficiency of government schemes and reducing corruption through social audits

Self Help Group is an important tool which helps the rural women to acquire power for their self-supportive life. Empowering women is not just for meeting their economic needs but also more holistic social development.

There is a very positive impacts on empowerment and nutritional intake as they provide them the necessary say in order to take decisions that affect them in bothy negative and positive way. This has also been seen in the improvement of the Nutritional benefit.

Measures to Make SHGs Effective

• The Government should facilitate and promote, creates a supportive environment for the growth and development of the SHG movement.
• Expanding SHG Movement to Credit Deficient Areas.
• Rapid expansion of financial infrastructure, capacity building measures in these States.
• Extension of Self-Help Groups to Urban/Peri-Urban Areas.
• Positive Attitude.
• Monitoring.

Kudumbashree in Kerala to wipe out absolute poverty through community action.  It is the largest women empowering project in the country. It has three components i.e., microcredit, entrepreneurship and empowerment.

Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM) in Maharashtra to cope with growing volume and financial transactions and needed professional help. It provides financial and livelihood services to SHGs.

Active involvement in different SHG-initiatives helps members to grow leadership-skills. They have representatives also in the Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI). This SHG grouping in its true potent if excludes the weaknesses can really help in the growth and prosperity of the rural hinterland by effectively increasing the participation of the women fight the evils of inequality, malnutrition and poverty.

Q.9. “If the last few decades were of Asia’s growth story, the next few are expected to be of Africa’s.” In the light of this statement, examine India’s influence in Africa in recent years. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

In the last few decades’ Asian nations have registered immense growth. Most of the Asian Nations are at the developing stage, they are also known as late converges. 

Africa is home to more than a half-dozen of the world’s fastest growing countries this decade, including Rwanda, Senegal, and Tanzania, making it one of the world’s growth poles.

In the last decade, real GDP in Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa has expanded at a rate that is more than double that of the 1980s and 1990s.

With a population of over one billion people and a combined GDP of 2.5 trillion dollars, the African continent represents a massive prospective market.

Africa is a resource-rich continent dominated by commodities such as crude oil, gas, pulses and lentils, leather, gold, and other metals, all of which India does not have in adequate amounts.

India’s influence in Africa in recent years

• Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) initiative, India is investing in capacity building by offering more than $1 billion in technical assistance and training to professionals.
• India, as a full member of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), has pledged $1 million to ACBF’s sustainable development, poverty reduction, and capacity building initiatives.
• India has invested $100 million in the Pan-African E-Network to bridge Africa’s digital gap, leveraging its information technology strengths.
• Despite her precarious financial situation, India has made enormous amounts of credit available to several African countries on the most favorable terms. It provided credit ranging from 5 to 10 crores to countries such as Tanzania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Sudan, and others for the purchase of Indian-made goods such as textiles and engineering goods, tractors, motorcycles, buses, trucks, bicycles, and so on.
• Military commanders from a number of African countries are trained in Indian military academies.

India has also launched the Vision Document of the Asian Africa Growth Corridor, which was produced collaboratively by Indian and Japanese think groups. The corridor’s focus will be on developing cooperation projects, quality infrastructure and institutional connectivity, talent enhancement, and people-to-people partnerships.

• A secure maritime environment in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is critical for both India and African countries in order to protect national interests and achieve long-term national development. Through periodic naval deployments and port visits, India has gradually increased its engagement with African navies.
• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), which is led by India, is based in Mauritius and comprises eight African members, including vital island governments such as Madagascar and Comoros.

Apart from that India and African Nations are effectively cooperating on the issue of Climate change. On the question of WTO negotiations both India and African Nations have convergences.

India and Africa are historic partners. There is immense scope of potential in the sphere of economy, defense and security, UNSC reforms and climate change. New Delhi must enhance cooperation between various African Nations at various fronts to leverage the benefits with African continent.

Q.10. “The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of a China, that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.” Explain. (Answer in 150 words) 10 Marks

USA’s withdrawal from the Afghanistan and Taliban’s revival in the aftermath has hampered the credibility of USA as a super power up to some extent. Some foreign experts also say that USA is no more a super power. However, it is a debatable statement. 

After the end of the second world war, World has witnessed cold war between USA and erstwhile USSR. After the disintegration of USSR in the year 1991 has ended the era of bi polar world. World has observed USA’s hegemony for some years. That era is also known as Unipolar world.

Since last 2 decades World has witnessed tremendous rise of China. As far as Economy is concerned, China is 

USA has to engaged in various multilateral groupings like QUAD and AUKUS to counter assertive china. That itself suggests china’s increased stature at the global level. 

USA – USSR rivalry vs USA – China Rivalry

• To become the world’s next superpower, Beijing focuses primarily on economic, industrial, and technological goals that will provide a competitive advantage. Which was not the case with the USSR, which is posing more threat to USA.
• The Soviet Union openly and directly viewed the United States as an enemy with whom it could not coexist. China, on the other hand, wants to build a “new model of major country relationship” with the US. China believes, and frequently suggests to the US, that “seeking common ground while reserving differences” is possible. China’s self-portrait and its portrait of the United States differ from those of the former Soviet Union; political perception and self-perception are extremely important.
• China has a global world view, which reflects in the projects like Belt and road initiatives. Also there is no match to China’s economic power, USSR was nowhere close to China’s economic hegemony. These 2 phenomena are apparently more challenging for USA.
• USA of cold war era was different. A lot has changed in the last 2 decades. USA has utilized abundant resources in wars at foreign soils, without getting much success. Afghanistan is the classic example of that. USA has also faced worst economic crisis in the year 2008. All these events have led China to slowly and steadily surpass USA at various domains. 
• China also has a hug skilled manpower. That is the reason why china is the manufacturing hub of the world. This is also one of the reason why USA has huge trade deficit with China. 
• The Soviet Union was frequently repulsed in the face of internal and external problems, but China has consistently reformed. During the Soviet Union era, there were periods of mild and radical reform, but chronic institutional rigidity persisted and inevitably shook the Soviet regime’s foundations, both economically and ideologically. 
• In contrast, the Chinese believe that “reform and opening up” encompasses many social, economic, and political aspects, and that it is a continuous process rather than a completed mission.

The Soviet Union failed, but China’s peaceful development, which continues to this day, has been a huge success. More importantly, China’s success and the peaceful environment it has always required are based on reform and opening up to the rest of the world, including the United States, rather than an endless militaristic and belligerent indulgence in great power competition. This is most likely one of the most important lessons the Chinese took away from the fall of the Soviet Union.