 Good morning sir. Good morning ma'am. Good morning. Please sit down. Thank you sir. Ms. Goyal, you are from Punjab is it? Yes sir. I was born in Punjab but I have been brought up in Delhi. In Delhi. And you are, after your graduation, your BE, you have worked as a software engineer? Yes sir. So this was where in, with Microsoft? Yes sir. That's a top, absolutely top of the line company. Why did you leave it? Sir, I believe I would have realized my full potential in the civil service. Okay. And I aspire to be a foreign service officer. Very good. Very good. So you first did a, you first worked with the, which, what is software department intern where? Sir, so basically I worked with Microsoft as an intern. Later on I got a pre-placement offer from them and I joined in your later. Okay, okay. So you were in Microsoft right through from 2016 to 18? Sir, I did a two month intern with them. That was after my third year of college. I see. Post that they offered me a placement and I joined in your later. And you joined in Hyderabad, right? Yes sir. Now, did you take a decision that you wanted to join the civil services after your R&D, your stint with Microsoft or prior to that? Sir, so when I was 15 I represented my school at the Model United Nations of Germany. Okay. And I got a taste of diplomacy back then. After working at Microsoft I realized that probably I will do better if I am a foreign service officer and hence I made the decision. Now, is this your first attempt? Sir, this is my third attempt but my first interview. Third attempt but first interview, right? Yes sir. Okay, good. Are you asking? Sir, it is said that we are not the only federal state. What sort of federalism do you think this is the option we had and we have chosen the right option? Sir, I believe KC Vior, he was a constitutional expert and he considered India to be quasi-federal. I believe that that is viewing Indian constitution and Indian federalism through an American lens. However, I believe that our constitution, our federalism is a sui-generous model based on our histories, the partition that was happening when the constitution was being written. And despite having a unitary bias, I think this model works best for India. How do you come to the past with agreements to implement it under our constitution? Sir, I believe there is an article 51 that determines and that asks us to follow the international agreements and decisions. And I think for India it is a constitutional prerogative to follow international agreements. Of course, we want to enact the strategy of some commitment, or an agreement, or an agreement. We are going to go to a house that is 7th street and not coming to a 6th street or a 6th street. Or is there something there? Sir, I am sorry, sir, I am not aware of it. Yes, sir. So, it is regarding the section 66A of the IT Act 2000. And the judgement respected Shreya Singhal's right to freely speak on the internet. And it respected freedom of speech and expression on the internet. How does social media is going on? How do we regulate social media? Sir, despite democratizing information and media, social media poses its own threats. And recently the government also brought the social media rules, the IT rules, which posed a responsibility on the social media intermediaries. And I think those rules will help us regulate the social media, owing to the concerns of anonymity and privacy that social media poses. You have heard about the Me Too movement? Yes, sir. Started with the social media. I think it is very critical. Am I correct? If I say that it is very critical. Sir, the Me Too movement which started in America, I think it is through social media that people got to know about it. And it respected the feminist movement. And it was for women's rights. And I think social media, if it helps the women who faced some kind of harassment, if it helps them to come across openly about whatever they felt, I think it legitimized it. What is your minister and advisor case? Are you aware of that? I am there because... Sir, I am not... You are just of faith, sir. Yes, sir. You are a person. Yes, sir. So I am aware of the allegation... That case is very important. And that is what our practice is. It is very important. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. There is software engineer in Microsoft. Yes, sir. And there is a word micro and there is word soft. Yes, sir. So most of their work is in software engineering or hardware also they have got it. Sir, micro as taking cues from your question, Microsoft was named for micro services software when it was established by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Initially they developed an operating system. No, in hardware also today. Yes, sir. So today, for example, they make the surface pro. The surface... Pro or surface also. Yes, sir. So they have... I got it. Right. Okay. Tell me, Indians as a group and India as a country has done very well in software. Where did we lack in hardware engineering and why? Sir, I think in hardware the basic requirement is to have semiconductors to build the hardware. And I think firstly it's due to the lack of semiconductors. We don't have enough resources to manufacture semiconductors. Okay. Let me interrupt you. Very few countries have semiconductors fabrication in Hungary. They all import from, you know, which country. Yes, sir. And so could have also imported like import under other things. Was that the only reason? Sir. Every country which is doing well today, Europe, Asia or other, does not have a facility for manufacturing of semiconductors microchains. Yes, sir. But they are good in hardware. Sir, I think our focus primarily was IT services initially. And we also focused a lot on exporting services in IT. So I think initially there wasn't an incentive, but very recently we have the PLI scheme for manufacturing electronics. So I think we are moving towards focusing on hardware now. If I put it this way, that it was a mistake and a very grave mistake on the part of our leadership, IT, political, whatever you say, to neglect hardware manufacturing in India. Am I be, shall I be justified? Sir, I think initially... Yes or no first? No, sir. No, it was not a mistake. Okay. Sir, I think during those times we focused on services and exporting. And it's now that we see the vulnerability of supply chains, especially after the pandemic. And that is when we see that we need to be self-sufficient. No. Think about it and read more. Okay. You are talking of semiconductors, manufacturing and fabrication. What are the main decisions, major decision government of India took in December 21 to encourage semiconductors. Manufacturing even is at the 9-0 scale, 25, 9-0. What were the three or four major decisions? Are you aware? Sir, I'm aware of the schemes. The first is the production linked incentive scheme. We are also supporting electronic clusters. No, no. That is a different line. There were some proposals. There were some measures announced in this year's budget for making digital India more effective, more successful. What were the highlights of that? Sir, firstly, that comes to my mind is having the RFID passports. So, one was the biometrics in the passports. That was a utility. But how do we support in the budget? What support was announced? Sir, I'm not aware of that. Digital university, you heard of? Yes, sir. And spreading of optical fiber right up to villages? Yes, sir. What is the size of our number of mobile phones in India? Sir, I'm not sure. Does it come to one person per head? One mobile per head? Sir, I think it comes above one person per phone. It comes as a third small question. When Corona was spreading in Western Europe, there was a sudden price in Italy. And that rose because of Fertan Nara given by one of the mayors of an Italian city, slogan given by a mayor in Italian city. So, how? I'm not aware of that. Sir, you're an IFS at your first preference. Yes, sir. Now, you participated in a college competition. Geek opinion. What was that about? Ma'am, so it was a blog writing competition. The name of the competition was Geek Opinion. And we were supposed to write a blog relating to technologies. Are you a geek? Yes ma'am, you can call me. You are considered a geek. Now, you read Indian contemporary non-fiction, which particular one struck you recently as a very good piece of non-fiction? Ma'am, so very recently I read the book called India vs. UK by our former permanent representative to the United Nations, Mr. Syed Akbaruddin. And I like the book because it showed and instilled a confidence in me and my country. The way we decided to fight three elections simultaneously at the United Nations, and we ended up defeating the United Kingdom and getting our representative elected at the International Court of Justice, Mr. Dalvi Bhandari. I think it swelled me with pride. Very good. Alright, just yesterday a bill was introduced in parliament which underlines India's foreign policy reach. What was that bill? Ma'am, what, yesterday or not? Okay, it is a bill only called the Antarctic bill. Do you know something about India's Antarctic policy? Yes ma'am. Are we a member of the Antarctic? Ma'am of the Antarctic, I am not sure, but of the Arctic we are observer of the Arctic Council and we have a draft Arctic policy as well. No, in Antarctic we have signed the treaty 40 years ago and we have two stations there. Yes ma'am. Which are they? Ma'am, I think Bharti and Himadri. Bharti and Mehtri. Himadri is related. Okay, so what was this bill about? The bill is to regulate and monitor activities, to prevent any illegal mining, you know, any kind of activity there which goes against the principles laid down for Antarctic. In future anybody wanting to go on expedition also has to get this permit. Okay, that's the latest on my Antarctic. Okay. How many research stations are there? Some of India is over 2. No, India is only 2. I am not sure of the exact number. Okay, then 40. Permanent stations. The president of India is presently on a state visit to Ashkabar. Yes ma'am. Tell me something more about when Ashkabar, what is this visit about? Ma'am, I think it's the capital city of Central Asian Republic. Which one? Turkmenistan. Okay, tell me something about the visit. Did you read about it? Ma'am, I think, I have not read about it but I think India is re-looking at the Central Asian area and I think the state visit also pertains. It's the first visit by a president of India to Turkmenistan after it became an independent nation. Okay. Anything you know about trade and connectivity issues relating to Turkmenistan? You've heard of the Ashkabar agreement. Yes ma'am. What is the agreement? Ma'am, so the Ashkabar agreement, if I am recollecting it correctly, there was a 17 plus 1 INSTC corridor also that we were thinking of joining and it was to connect all the Central Asian Republics to the Eastern Europe side. And regarding the Turkmenistan, we also have a pipeline, the TAPI pipeline, that is... Which other country? Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India and Iran also, I think. Who won the Nobel Prize for Literature? Ma'am, I'm not aware of the... I'm not able to recollect it right now. Abdul Raza? Yes ma'am. Now we had a spate of visits during this ongoing war. Some countries have visited, sent the top representatives to India recently, just over this week. Yes ma'am. Anything you followed about what our external affairs minister conveyed to them or what our government conveyed? Ma'am, I think under the ongoing war that we are seeing, we saw a series of visits. We first had the Japanese Prime Minister, then we also had delegations from the European countries. Very recently we also have the Russian Foreign Minister visiting us. So I think the underlying reason why these visits have occurred is to build pressure on India to change its stance against, change its stance with respect to the war. And I think, for example, the statements by the US delegation, Mr. Dilip Singh, I think those were pertinent because they stressed on how India has to balance its relations with the West and the US on one hand and Russia on the other. Aren't we doing that? Yes ma'am. I think we are balancing. And I think the Western countries probably want us to take a tougher stance against Russia and Russian aggression. And I think all these visits are being seen in that light. If you get into the Foreign Service and in your posting, first posting you are given the charge of the economic wing, what would your role be? Ma'am, I think as we can see... Economic diplomacy, right? Yes ma'am. Ma'am, I think there will be two priorities which come to my mind. The first would be India's role at the World Trade Organization. I think time and again we have proved that we stand for the global south and the rights of the global south. So the first priority will be WTO. The second would be signing free trade agreements with countries which we see potential in. For example, we signed a series of FTAs or we are in the process of signing FTAs with countries like Australia, EU, UAE. We signed very recently. And you would also look at our trade, you know, export, import... Yes ma'am. ...with the country in which you are posted also. Yes ma'am. Bilateral. Yes ma'am. Not only multilateral, but bilateral would also be an important focus. Yes ma'am. Thank you. Thank you ma'am. Great. First of all, pleasure meeting you Archita. Please tell me what is the meaning of the word Archita? So sir Archita means to be worshipped. It comes from the Sanskrit word Archina which means to pray or prayer. Archita is the object. Yes sir. Archita is the object to be prayed. Yes sir. Good. Now you behind you are in front of you there is this Chanakya. Please tell me something about Chanakya Neethi or what do you understand in five sentences? So Chanakya was the man behind the state craft of Chandragupth Maurya. We also know him as Kottalya. And his treatise Art Shastra is perhaps India's contribution to diplomacy and state craft. The way he has written about war. We see the earliest mentions of realism and the realism in Indian political thought and I think he not only helped Chandragupth Maurya consolidate his empire and kingdom but he also gives a strong message for Indian foreign policy today. Yeah but you know much of this thing since those days don't you think has undergone a tremendous change it's that the whole game is a power. Who wields the power? He dictates the terms. You know if in the second world war if the access pass would have won theoretically I am saying today we would have sung a different tune altogether who writes history. The winner writes it all. So in this what has he said in relation to the power? Sir according to Kottalya might is right the strong do what they do and the weak must accept what they have to accept. So I think Chanakya also propounded the same theory of might is right. So now bringing down to the present and what ma'am was asking you that you as a diplomat where would you position yourself in the global context where India is and you are you are you know representing India in a certain country and in that context how would you position yourself or what would be your thinking just assume. Sir I think today India is exercising its strategic autonomy and as a diplomat I will balance the interests the national interests that India had along with the civilizational principles and ideas that India has been advocating. So I think my foreign policy as I would see would be a balance of both these two. Okay think about this subject also you know further and next thing that I would like to ask you what are the energy implications of the war in Ukraine you know what are the energy implications for the world. So firstly it has it has manifested in different ways the war and pertaining to energy firstly Russia is a big exporter of oil so once the sanctions have come into play those supply that supply has completely choked and oil and natural gas and so also if we see towards the renewable energy and batteries area a lot of materials like the neon gas and palladium which are required to manufacture batteries they are also sourced from Russia as well as Ukraine so even that manufacturing capabilities are being affected due to the ongoing conflict. So what will happen in Europe etc. This is there on the other side of Russia and they did not get the natural gas and oil so what are they where are they going to source it from the heating rain requirements and so on and so forth. So the other OPEC countries they are sourcing their oil and energy requirements from that and we also have heard of reports where they are actually bypassing the sanctions and buying oil from Russia so that is how they are meeting their energy requirements. Okay tell me which is a Grava crisis in the last two years we heard we were all privy to the pandemic isn't it so and you know you couldn't go out and we shut ourselves out from practically all outdoor activities but which means that we gave it a great deal of importance our parents told us so we told our friends I don't know we can't meet and things that way everything became virtual now are we giving the same degree of importance to the catastrophe on the climate change front your perception Sir I think the pandemic what we suffered all through these two years is like a wake up call for the world pertaining to climate change and even if we haven't taken climate change seriously the way at an individual level we should be taking I think the pandemic will open everybody's eyes and start a new revolution towards climate change so for example at a personal level I don't switch on my ACs at home and I try to use the fan as much as possible being mindful of the carbon emissions that ACs generate so I think since the pandemic has instilled first a scientific temper and be a sense of responsibility towards the world I think climate change will also be handled you have to be not only practice it at a personal level but also be a sort of an advocate of this in all communities that you face but some of these issues I would like you to think about more seriously so that you can have more focused responses good thank you Ms. Goyal your optional subject was political science and international relations now in political science there is a theory of separation of powers what is that theory first of all the separation of power theory was propounded by Montesquieu and he believed that once with respect to execution and legislation are divided it is better for governance so that is what he meant so is our Indian constitution following the precepts of separation of powers so the Indian constitution is based on a system of checks and balances it does not advocate a strict separation of powers for example we see the accountability of the parliament of the executive to the parliament we also see a role of the executive in appointing judges so I think as a system of checks and balances and not strict separation now the US constitution it also follows a separation of powers but they also have checks and balances don't they so they have but I think in the US in the case of the United States we see a strict separation for example the executive is not fully responsible to the parliament but in Indian scenario considering our colonial past and our society I think the checks and balances model works better now you have mentioned as one of your extracurricular activities what is vinyas yoga what is it how is it pronounced sir vinyasa now how many different types of yoga are there so considering the yoga the denisa that we see in yoga there are different schools of yoga for example vinyas that I have practiced you also have hatha yoga ayangar yoga, bhikram yoga and more or less they believe in the same principles but the way we perform yoga the asanas they differ so the one which you have practiced vinyas yoga what is the how can you say that this is the what is the difference between this and the others is there any difference yes sir so the asanas remain the same but in vinyasa we weave the asanas into a single posture and it's all about gracefully exiting one posture into another posture and every time the sequence is over we perform vinyasa which means a high plank to to mountain pose and then we move on to the other so did you attend did you attend some place for this kind of yoga sir so I was acquainted with this yoga form while I was working at Hyderabad and that is how I learnt now our relations with China now there are several irritants which continue in our relationship border dispute is one of them what are the other areas in which we have irritants with China sir so interestingly I read a book since my hobby is reading and the book is called India vs China by Kanti Vajpayee and he says that we suffer from a 4p problem in the relations the first p being the perimeter which is the border dispute and that the irritants are also the perception that we hold of each other for example China holds a perception which is not a favourable perception of India and also we have the power asymmetry for example the trade deficit that we have with China during the border dispute we also heard reports of the power sector in Maharashtra being affected by Chinese cyber attacks so that is also another issue and I think the fourth p being the partnership as we see that India has developed a proximity with the US I think our relations with China have also suffered because of the same you have quoted from Bukanti Vajpayee that's alright it's very nicely written no doubt about it but is it just a matter of perception or is there anything substantial on the ground after all you are aspiring for the foreign service so you should be very very clear in your thought is it a matter of perception with China or do we have serious problems with China forget Kanti Vajpayee I am asking you as an aspirant for the Indian Foreign Service do we have in your view serious issues with China or not sir I think we have and I think we see that China suffers from a middle kingdom syndrome where it feels that there can only be one sword in Asia which is China Ms. Guel you are going into a lot of these terms I am asking you on the ground what are the major irritants which we have with China do we have any or no yes sir the first is the border the third is the cyber security the fourth is what about China blocking our attempts at the NSG isn't that a cause of irritation for us CPEC how is India concerned with the CPEC sir it doesn't respect our territorial integrity it passes through what we call as the POK and String of Pearls an attempt by China to to build a series of ports ok now let me come to something else Article 35A of the constitution was withdrawn by the government in 2019 along with so what was article 35A all about sir so the article 35A it pertained to the property rights being in Kashmir limited to people in Kashmir and it restricted Indians from other areas to buy property and have rights there sir not only property but also rights other rights 35A was basically it empowered the state legislature to declare a person as a resident permanent resident of the state and why was this an irritant for the government of India what was the issue why did we have to remove it Article 370 is a separate issue why did we have to abolish 35A there was a major issue isn't there yes sir so I think it was it was an important step in the integration of Kashmir into India just to give you a background you see after the partition a large number of migrants from Pakistan came and settled in the Jammu region about 1 lakh plus right and they were not given the status as per article 35A and therefore for years they could not vote in the state assembly elections and they were not entitled to various benefits which the state subjects were given that is the crux of the issue and that 1 lakh had grown to 1 lakh 50,000 over the years so it is only now after withdrawal of article 35A that the government has started providing the domicile status to these people Hindu migrants so that is the crux of the issue why this had to be removed now Jammu and Kashmir the newspapers almost every day there is an incident of violence militant attacks, terrorist attacks why do you think this is happening sir I think it is primarily due to the involvement of Pakistan and time and again cross-border terrorism has been an issue so now which are the main groups which Pakistan is sponsoring from across the border sir one is the Hisbul Mujahideen okay very recently the resistance front was also formed which was responsible for the killings of Kashmiri pundits and one more, Jashem Mohammad Masoor Azhar which was again an editor with China wasn't it it was only I think 2 years back that they finally stopped opposing it after blocking it now tell me you have heard of the Abraham Accords what were those sir so the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020 with Israel and UAE establishing relations relations with Israel and it also it also works as a new Arab Israel Bonomi which were the countries which recognized Israel diplomatic relations established according to the Accord so the first was UAE second was Bahrain yes sir sir I think Jordan also Sudan and Morocco these are the countries right okay thank you so now we end your mock interview I will give you feedback how have you done sir not so good why do you say that you are very good you see for the interview you will not be able to answer every question so the best thing to do is that if you are not very sure because you know your time before the UPAC is limited right sir if you are asked a question and you are not very sure about it the best thing to do is say I do not have full knowledge of this so then the member will turn to something else so that is the first thing you see I asked you on irritants with China thank you I am not interested in Kanti Bajwa's view I am interested in you as a candidate for the foreign service right so you may quote very briefly but when you are asked a question please make sure that you are brief and concise give some thought to the question which is asked and then be very concise in your answer right now in the interview one your general knowledge and what is happening daily is very important so reading newspapers you do not have very much time read a newspaper very very carefully my colleague asked you question on foreign visits to India you forgot the British foreign secretary you forgot the deputy NSA of the US so if you are reading newspapers very very carefully things are happening domestically lot of things are happening things are happening in the northeast in Jammu and Kashmir in the hinterland of the country international events are happening so you must read a newspaper very very carefully for the next 7 days at least and also on the day of your interview don't forget to read a newspaper the other area from which you can expect questions is your DAF you had your optional subject of political science and international relations so both this is an area in which you should revise whatever you had done for your paper and international relations since you are an aspirant for the foreign service you should know what is happening all around you then you belong to Delhi then they can ask you something on Delhi what is the state what are the issues negative issues of Delhi what are the plus points so be prepared to answer on that then you have you have mentioned your font of non-fiction reading they can ask you which is the latest book you have read how did you find it so be prepared to answer that question of course I asked you something on the yoga your font of listening to FM radio so you can be asked question on the leading question on that also are you font of English music, Hindi music what kind of music those kind of things you can and of course your stint with Microsoft you are asked certain questions by my colleague but you know the fact that this was a job which was paying you 1,75,000 and you have decided to opt for the civil services that is a question which would be a very legitimate question so you answer that but be prepared for that okay otherwise you are doing very well you are very poised you are able to answer effectively those are your plus points but the more knowledge you have with you the better you will do in the interview now I will ask my colleagues if they have anything to add I will say that when honorable chairman asks you about irritants with China or any issue that you are speaking on take up more important points first more substantive points first and not so substantive points later then because you are a software engineer you are an engineer do read about these these two things Digital India in our budget they are making a massive investment to make Digital India more effective and more relevant to the national life and this semiconductors microchip fabrication they were not a 10 billion dollars so looking at the foundries it is nothing it takes 15 to 20 billion like that so these subjects will be relevant for you and software versus hardware is an old issue thank you this is the one that you are talking about December 2021 there are three major decisions taken very heavy subsidy out of this 10 million dollar then 5 percent on net sale for 5 years of certain items thank you actually you are very composed you don't get flustered and as you have already been told be brief to the point just and always give your view you don't have to quote anybody give your views correctly and do you wear sarees yes mama I wear a saree on the day on the interview you will it looks more formal and you are comfortable in a saree right mama I practice at home just a suggestion and otherwise as I said I think newspaper reading should be really done every day and on the day of your interview very often they begin by asking what was today's highlights you know to throw you off all the best you should do well thank you mama yeah I think there is nothing much that I wish to add except that you know be slightly more confident you know 3 percent 4 percent more confidence would help after all you see you have come from there are so many options in the employment market and you have come for something and you are good that's all we would like to tell you so and full throttle and then some of the areas which we questioned what they ask you over there might be entirely at variance from what was discussed in the mock interview but the my suggestion would be that each time somebody asks you a question which is slightly tricky or you have to put it in a couple of sentences take a breath and then answer and as one of my colleagues pointed out over here begin by prioritization you know you have to you have to say what is the most important thing first you have a scientific bent of mind and you've done so well in life so that's how and the smaller things will follow as a result of it focus to the point that will also help God bless all the best thank you ma'am don't forget to like share and subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon to never miss an update