This content provides a strategic framework for navigating group discussions on complex geopolitical topics, emphasizing the importance of preparing arguments for and against multiple viewpoints to effectively contribute and stand out.
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hello friends
there could be certain group discussion
topics where it becomes very difficult
to take one single firm viewpoint and
therefore there may be a situation where
you may have to argue somewhere in the
mid part
so an example of very common group
discussion topic nowadays is
is it vital for india to ally with
russia or it's wiser to be an ally of
united states now this is a situation
where you may not want to go in a binary
or a unipolar way therefore in order to
win at these group discussions always
follow a technique which is called make
points for or against the topic and
therefore you need to make points in
four categories during the two to three
minutes which is given to you before the
group discussion starts you may want to say
say
five points
why it's good to be an ally of russia then
then
five points why it's bad to be an ally
of russia
similarly five points white it may be
good to ally with usa and similarly five
points while it may be bad to make an
alliance with usa therefore what you're
trying to do
is that during the two to three minutes
which you have while you have to prepare
for this topic
you must be ready with all the arsenal
and depending on how the group is flowing
flowing
you may choose to enter
in an option which may make you stand out
out
because you have to not just be logical
but you also have to be visible so
suppose everybody is saying russia is
good good good and russia is our best
friend best friend then
you may want to enter by talking about
points against russia and points in
favor of usa or vice versa now just to
give you a idea over here
when we talk about points in favor of
russia you could talk about russia is a
very vital arms partner arm supplier to
india number two russia is a crucial
geopolitical partner especially when it
comes to containing china and balancing
against pakistan
number three russia is a strong global
supporter at forums like united nation
and whenever india has been in trouble
russia has tried to bail out
number four with the security council
veto seat russia is a very useful ally
who could help at matters of national
security and number five you may want to
talk about strong history of
relationship where we can expect russia
to help us in both culture
technology and various kind of economy
related supports
what are the points against russia
you may want to say that it's not a
democracy at least technically speaking
it may be but practically
we are in a situation where putin has
time and again been able to manage
situations where he has been in the main
position of power
secondly you may want to talk about
putin's leadership style
where it's his way or highway and therefore
therefore
one leader who has a certain viewpoint
can always be a very dangerous person if
you are going to singularly rely on that person
person
number three you may want to talk about
russia's alliances with china and recently
recently
growing proximity to pakistan
number four you may also want to talk
about how
russia has of late been slightly
distancing because of the fact that
india has been trying to go out of bare
russian control and go out to the globe
natto and usa for arms purchase and
number five you may want to talk that at
least economy wise
economy is even smaller than india so it
may not be in a position to help india
so here you have points pro-russia and
against russia also similarly let's do
the same analysis for usa so if you want
to talk in favor of usa you may want to
talk about world's biggest economic power
power
number two you may want to talk about
still probably the most powerful
geopolitical force especially with all
the nato allies rallying behind it
number three a very strong indian
diaspora so strong cultural ties and a
history where indians have really
preferred to live in usa build careers
over there and grow as professionals in
the united states
number four you may want to talk about
usa being the largest trade partner for
india or at least among the top two
alternating with china and number five
the quadrilateral alliance where an
enemy's enemy is a friend
so india's great worries about china's
grand rise is something which usa also
ideologically shares with india so these
are the points which you could talk
about and of course you could also talk
that it's a democracy
so the fundamental ideology of two
nations is quite identical but then
if you want to enter as someone who's
opposing usa you may want to say that
usa has used other nations for its
purpose so past instances of its
management of the iraq dispute sudden
pull out from afghanistan shows that the
moment its own purpose is served it
drops countries like hot cake
the second thing you may want to say is
that usa
has a very close relationship with
pakistan and time and again especially
joe biden has highlighted the very
controversial kashmir word and therefore
puts it at a position in odds with
indian basic philosophy that kashmir is
our integral part
number three you may want to say that
usa is quite far away and for
some big controversy to happen with
pakistan and china were to join it it's
highly unlikely that u.s or nato would
come to india's rescue number four you
may talk about the fact that when it
comes to economy
usa has time and again tried to bulldoze by
by
imposing sanctions and therefore doing
things which haven't been in india's
best interest and number five
you could say that at present we have a
democratic regime which is
pro-immigrants and in favor of building
great relationships but what
if somebody
more right wing than donald trump would
to come back and us were to once again
go back into its inner shell and focus
on america first
so what you have done over here is you
have made a list of points
and now in a group discussion you are
ready to argue both ways so let's give
you demo of
five type of situation someone who wants
to enter as a pro russian speaker so
you would go something as follows my
dear friends i think russia is india's
best friend and best partner and there
are some important reasons number one
even today india relies more than 70 for
all its armed procurements from russia
so were we to sort of distance from
russia a big source of arm supply would
be deprived to us number two
it's very important that geopolitically
because of the proximity india maintains
friendly relationship because if one
country can contain china that is russia
number three russia has already been
generous in terms of supporting india at
global forums so using its veto power at
united nations and its security council
seat it has espoused india's cause many
a times number four russia has also
helped india in terms of technology
beets steel cement commodity on various
products russia has been helping and
number five ideologically india and
russia have had good relationships
especially in the past when we had a
government which was more left of the
center and even today the two nations
share good bond homies so in case of a war
war
if one nation would stand up and come to
help us it's going to be russia and not
usa so this is somebody who spoke in
favor of russia now let's have someone
who's going to oppose
how do you oppose my worthy colleague
you have made some good observation but
i am very sorry that i can't agree with
you and there are some reasons why i
feel that russia cannot be your best
partner number one it's not a democracy
at least in spirit and you have
dictators who have been carrying on in
one way or another number two presently
with putin at head there are serious
doubts about his neutrality and his
balance if he can invade ukraine at some
pretext then there is always a risk he
could change size later on number three
in recent times russia has been very
notoriously closing up its ties with
china and the nation have been sort of
warming up to each other this is a very
dangerous trend and therefore risky for
us to ally in case of some controversy
number four russia is also now
beginning to have closer relationship
with pakistan because at the end of the
day russia would want to have its own
self-interest of selling weapons and so
long as pakistan buys them russia may be
happy to work together with it and
number five as an economy russia is
still very weak and india needs to make
partners with countries which are richer
and therefore could help india with
investment trade opportunities so
so
first role as russia supporter second
role as russia opposer now let's take
the other way someone who enters as a
u.s supporter so my dear friends i think
you have made very good points but
please allow me to say that why usa is
our best friend and there are five
important reasons for that number one
both the nations share a democratic
ideology number two at the end of the
day economy matters and usa being one of
the biggest economies of the world could
be a very great supporter for india in
terms of trade and investment number
three usa is still a vital opinion
leader among all the european nations
and generally the globe as such
therefore the help and the protection of
usa could be very vital for india's
prosperity number four usa has been able
to maintain a very balanced line when it
comes to controversial issues related to
kashmir or others and has refrained from
intervening directly therefore usa can
be argued and reasoned with to play a
neutral role and not interfere
number five and most important is
indians have always held usa as a place
where they can study more education live
and build prosperity so we have a very
strong indian diaspora therefore i think
there is a country which can provide us
economic welfare can be a market for our
goods can be a place for our citizens
can be a protector when it comes to
geopolitical situations and can be an
alliance partner when it comes to our potentially
potentially
trickily positioned enemies as we may
say such as china or pakistan
and finally comes the fourth player who
may want to enter in as a usa opposer
so how would that person
my dear friends i think you have made
very good points about usa and i agree
with some of them however i'm sorry to
say that i can't agree with you fully
and i think that u.s is a very dangerous
country to rely as a major ally number
one usa's relations have always been
created out of expediency to protect his
own cause the way it handled iraq or
afghanistan or testimonials to that
number two right now we have a
democratic neutral person like joe biden
but tomorrow for a right-wing person
like donald trump to come back
who were to say that again it may go
back to a situation where they are more
towards pakistan and against india
number three it's also true that usa has
been armed twisting india to offer major
compromises on agriculture and at the
end of the day number four us own
interested to sell its arms and ammunitions
ammunitions
and finally
we have seen the case of usa and nato
using countries for the strategic
geopolitical gains and were we to ally
with them today
who were to say that tomorrow in a
situation where india not to be relevant
they would dump us like in some sense
they have done with ukraine and india
could be in a bigger trouble so i really
feel that russia is the true reliable ally
ally
now my dear friends to end let's talk
about a harmonizer who gives a mixed
path and this harmonizer can speak
my dear friends i think both sides have
made some wonderful arguments however
please allow me to take a minute path i
sincerely believe that for india to grow
and prosper it's really imperative that
we maintain a balanced relationship with
both the countries
we need russia's arms we need russia's
technology and we need russia's
geopolitical support and therefore
maintaining good relationship with
russia is extremely important on the
other hand u.s still being the strongest
power both economically and militarily
also needs to be a friend and therefore
we have to have economic alliance a very
vital strategic alliance like quad and
also we have to ensure that at united
nations usa is a friend and not an enemy
because it enjoys a great cloud over the
entire european uh union united kingdom
and various other powerful countries
like japan and australia
so i sincerely believe my friends that
as a conclusion we should submit to the
jury that both russia and u.s have vital
importance factor for our country and so
we should take a mid path by managing
relations nicely with both of them
so these are my thoughts
and i hope the group would agree to it
so this is how a harmonizer would
present the view
and then a summarizer as i've told in my
previous videos could take a summary of
both and without giving his her own
opinion submit what transpired in the
group discussion
so this is gagan singh signing off for
the day and please remember the real
secret to win at group discussions or
interviews or extempories thinking points
points
convert points to lines and then finally
lines to paragraph so if you like my
video please press the like button
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