Expect service allocation in 3-4 months. Reserve list by October-November.

Reserve list margin : Around 7 marks for UR, 2-3 marks for OBC, 1 mark for SC/ST

Cut off Marks CSE 2025

Name – RSS
Date – 24/02/2026 afternoon
key DAF details – Civil Engineering/ Financial Engineering, IIT, PSIR, Air Pollution, American Express, tree plantation etc, nothing else asked
Board – Sanjay Verma sir
Chairman – Have you watched Raanjhanaa movie
Are you watching cricket match going on
What else do you watch
Discussion on Panchayat series
What if this series has been set in Kerala, what difference it would have been( Chairman said it would have been completely different, everyone laughed)
Discussion on Epstein files, what is the issue here
Can this type of case happen in India

Members
what is GHG, name some GHGs
sources of methane
Ozone pollution – how does it pollute
What is climate change and its impacts
India’s commitments of CO2 etc, why India is doing it, can we focus somewhere else
How will you use financial engineering to fight corruption for example in MGNREGA muster rolls.
How financial engineering can be used to make robust funding strategies
What is financial engineering
As there are many metros coming up in many cities, what should be the criteria to have metros in the city
As we are planting trees in many schemes, how do we ensure there survival
any 3 civil engineering marvels you admire and why would you select them
( I included Statue of unity )
follow up- so for proud can we go on making statues( I said no sir )
What are your views on new IITs coming up
Some questions forgetting
Chairman – you may go now
O2O – OnlyIAS, Saloni ma’am Saarthi IAS, Khan sir (very good – boosted my confidence),
Mocks – Vajiram(Good), Samkalp (good), Next IAS (good), Forum, Quantel, OnlyIAS
Discussion with friends helped a lot, thank you everyone who has helped in this journey

Marks of Recommended Candidates CSE 2025

#New_normal_in_PT

UPSC CSE 2025 - List of Candidates scoring in PT ≥ 210

1. ISHAN BHATNAGAR - 215
2. ZINNIA AURORA - 215
3. ISHITA SHARMA - 215
4. ISHITWA ANAND - 215
5. TEJASWINI SINGH - 225
6. ANIMESH JAIN - 215
7. SRAJIT KUMAR - 210
8. TWINKLE ARORA - 215
9. AAKRITI - 212
10. SUYASH DWIVEDI - 212
11. ADITYA MATHUR - 215
12. VARUN TOKAS - 210
13. NISHCHAL JAIN - 215
14. ARFA USMANI - 215
15. MANIKA GUPTA - 210
16. BHAVESH JAGLAN - 215
17. SAURABH SHARMA - 218
18. VISHNUPRIYA - 215
19. ABHIJEET JAIN - 215
20. SHREYANSH BARODIYA - 211
21. ANJANA B - 220
22. ABHISHEK KUMAR JHA - 210
23. SUKANT JAIN - 214
24. SHASHWAT AGRAWAL - 215
25. U HARSHA VEENA - 215
26. SIDHARTH M JOY - 215
27. VANAJ VIDYAN - 210
28. ABHIJEET NANDAN - 215
29. HARSHDEEP SAGAR - 210
30. AKANKSHA SINGH - 210
31. KOMAL MAVI - 216
32. ASHISH KUMAR - 210
33. VAISHNA BISWAS - 210
34. SANDEEP SINGH SHEKHAWAT - 210
35. HARSHIDAA S NAIR - 215
36. AAYUSH SWAMI - 210
37. ROHIT GARG - 210
38. AMAN VERMA - 210
39. SUNIL SIDH - 212
40. SAURABH RANJAN - 212
41. ASNA ANWAR - 212
42. DHEERAJ CHOUDHARY - 215
43. ROHIT - 210
44. SATYAM SHAH - 215
45. SHUBHAM KUMAR - 210
46. ANITA - 220
47. VAKHARE SHIVAM RAJENDRA - 210
48. KAUSHAL KISHORE - 215
49. ABDUL SUFIYAN K - 212
50. VISHNOORAJA L - 215
51. RAKSHIT PAURWAL - 210
52. ROUNAK AGRAWAL - 212
53. EADULA VEGINI - 212
54. HARIMOHAN MEENA - 210

TOTAL - 54

Hello everyone,

If you are selected in UPSC CSE 2025, please share your Telegram channel link where you will guide aspirants or post study materials.

Format:
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AIR -
Telegram Channel Link -

Send to:
@Pegasus_IND
@KaptaanJackSparrow

We are compiling a list of channels of selected candidates for the aspirant community.

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@cse22marks

Share your marks sheet to these ids:
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@Godi2023
@kaptaanupsc

Thank you 🙏🙏

On RESERVE LIST (RL) of CSE 2025:

- The UR cut off will probably go 6-7 marks less from the final cut off..

- For OBC category probably- 2 marks less from cut off

- It will come around the 3rd or 4th week of October 2026

Thank you 🙏🙏

Please take this as a serious request

Hello guys,

You all can see that the weightage of Interview (Personality Test) marks in the final selection is increasing year by year. So we have decided to create more analytical transcripts for the CSE community.

For this, we will edit transcripts by adding the PT marks at the bottom. Therefore, we request all candidates who appeared in the CSE 2025 Personality Test to please share the link of your transcript (if already posted on this channel) along with your PT marks (If you haven't shared it yet, you can send it now) in the following format:

1.Transcript link - (copy your transcript link from @csetranscripts channel)

2. PT marks -

Please forward on following ids —
@Pegasus_IND
@Lankapati1729
@psm0506
@kaptaanjacksparrow

#Sharing_is_caring
#SabHongeKaamyab

Team @csetranscripts

It would be a great help for the entire CSE community.

Thank you.🙏🙏

AIR 86
209 MARKS

date : 19 feb, afternoon, 3rd to go
Honourable sheelvardhan sir
asanga
Cordial board. Listening attentively
DAF keywords - meditation, podcasts, IIT BHU, Civil engg, sociology


Sheelvardhan sir
1. Why is smita prakash podcast so popular among aspirants?
2. Which podcasts do you hear?
3. Suggest me a podcast to hear which I can enjoy?
4. If you had to host a podcast, what would you choose? Topic, guests
5. Stoicism vs epicurianism
6. What is joy?
7. What is your philosophy of life? That you actually live, not what you want to?

M2 lady
1. Do you know about holocaust?
2. Who did it?
3. What about the conflicts that happened since the world war?
4. The question of Jewish statehood
3. Discussion on the palestinian issue..she tilted towards palestinian side

M3
1. Suppose you are made an advisor to the BRO, what would you do for border construction?
2. Projects in border areas in The recent years.
2. How do they construct tunnels in Mts.
3. How does TBM (tunnel boring machine ) work?

M4
1. Why btech in civil engineering?
2. Joy vs pleasure vs happiness - not satisfied with my answer
3. In the past few decades, the level of happiness declined ..do you agree?
4. Children - do they experience joy or happiness or pleasure?
5. Marvels of civil engineering in india and in the world

M5
Time was already short..
Long discussion on delimitation. Two schools of thought..what is your opinion on the solution?

Chairman sir - gave me his understanding of happiness, joy and pleasure
I said thank you sirs and thank you mam..left..

Overall good experience.
No grilling
25-30 minutes

Thank you note.
My friends, family and teachers
Special thanks to Dr Bidhan  from Vajiram
Anil Swarup sir for his discussions - because of him, i was able to bring some light moments during the actual PT
Peer group arranged by Study IQ was -  thanks to Neha, Mukesh, Varsith - peers i discussed with
Mahesh Bhagwat sir for discussion and content on his WhatsApp channel
Quantal for arranging so many mocks
Took mocks from almost 10 institutes - samkalp - 2 mocks, vajirao, ensure ias, pw ias, unacademy, next ias, discussed with sjal sir - sarrthi ias,  testbook, spm ias, dronacharya ias
All helped in some way or another


Some questions - I can't remember

Date 16-02-2026
Name : Harry
Board : Sheelvardhan sir

Key word: Haryana, Chandigarh, Painting, Feeding community dogs, providing medical aid to stray animals, Economics Optional.

I greet all the members ( round table)
The chairman asked me to sit.

C:
1. Harry, you belong to chandigarh. What's that hand sign signify.
2. What is the history of rock garden.
3. Can we say that Nek chand is father of waste material ( followup Questions)
4. You feed stray dogs. Don't you think it is creating a public safety issue.
5. Do dogs belong to wolves or jackals ?
6. We as a monkey species believe that dogs are selfish. Because we give them food, love and shelter but what they give us back? Bite us , attack us. Etc..
7. What is K shaped economy
8. Who is richer or who is poorer.
9. Don't you think that when you will get into the service you will be in poor category. Then why do you want to join service.
10. What is different in foreign countries is that there we do not see any stray animals like in India. What they do different.
11. Do you think that we have so much of poor population struggling to get a 3 meals a day can make shelters for all the stray animals.

M1 ( Lady member).
1. What is Sc order related to Stray dogs.
2. Do you think it is only solution. ( I answered about ABC rules )
3. Follow up Question- ABC is already there then why we are lagging behind. ( I said implementation issue and regulation and monitoring)
4. What is India Usa Trade deal. What they both are offering
5. What was the tariff before that.
6. Has the Agriculture sector opened in a trade deal.

M2:
1. how will you manage the Boarder management issue with Pakistan from Punjab.
( I asked him to repeat. As it was a monologue. He asked me thrice the same question)
2. How does the drone operate. ( From previous answer)
3. Does anyone sit in Drone.

M3:
1. What kind of Painting do you do.
2. What's your view on high price paintings like MF Husain. Do you think they are worth that much price

3. How can we reduce income inequality in India. ( I said wealth inheritance tax, progressive taxation system)
4. So you think cross subsidisation is the solution. ( I said simultaneously we need to enhance the capability and human capital)
5. You know amartya sen. What he gave to economics.
6. Did amartya sen get any nobel prize. In which field.

M5: what does women empowerment according to you.
2. What are the important things you believe that are important for women empowerment
3. What do you think about north eastern women and mainland india who are more empowered.
4. Which state has a matrilineal society ( follow up Question) I said Meghalaya.
He was from Manipur. He said. And told about a story to all members. And they all laughed.

More questions. But not able to recall.

Sheelvardhan sir said thank you your interview is over. It was nice talking to you Harry.

One to one: Vision IAS, Anatam IAS
Mocks- vajirao and reddy, study IQ, Tathasatu, Vision faculty mock, ALS ( Quantal), Shankar IAS, Vision Bureaucratic, Vajiram and Ravi. Samkalp 2 mocks

Part of a daily discussion of Umesh Reddy sir. That helps a lot to gather confidence in speaking.

My Interview was very close to Samkalp mocks. Most of the questions were repeated from Samkalp.

PT MARKS -146

Date of interview - 25 February 2026
Afternoon, last to go
Raj Shukla board
C- where are you from?
Have you heard about Mark Twain?
Where have you heard?
Quote- I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. What do you understand?
To and forth questions on this. I tried to walk out. Said will read more. He told isme read more kya ye to charcha ka vishay hai.
M1
1. Tell me one moment where your patience was severely tested.
2. Significance of Maldives
3. Malacca Dilemma
4. Can india reckon china
5. Slow cycling vs fast cycling
6. 1 thing you don't like about JNU

M2
2 positive about icse cbse DU JNU
Difference between tolerance and fraternal
M3
India China same duration of liberalisation, why difference
Was liberalisation forced
M4
Chickens corridor
Discarded historical Sightseeing as hobby
Why voter apathy in urban areas?


PT marks- 185

Date 19-02-2026
Name : Linpaws
Board : Dinesh Dasa (All male panel)
5th to go


Key word:CCUS technology, Mining engineering, Sustainable urbanisation, Non mainstream Indian cinema, Cleanliness awareness drive, Sociology

Chairman:
1. Give introduction
2. Asked about previous interview chairman
3. Started a long monologue in Hindi (My interview medium was although English) - when there are too many problems in society & for that the available solutions are very less - then commercial cinema is more favoured & successfully as compared to cinema portraying social realism. What's your view? Is it happening in the first place?
4. The significance of 15th Aug & 26 January are decreasing vis a vis Diwali & Christmas. What do you think about this? Give- philosophical, psychological & sociological reason for this.


M1
1. How much is the civil adminstration responsible for the illegal mining
2. What is illegal mining?
3. Did you felt safe when you visited mines for your training?
4. What is the role of carbon credit in CCUS technology

M2:
1. What is Radcliffe line?
2. Name of border between india & Bangladesh
3. What is difference between nation & state. 
4. Is India nation or state?
5. What 4 factors contribute to national unity when there are so much diversity in India
6. Examine the role of - External state Actors, Interim government & Common people in the current crisis in Bangladesh
7. Now prioritise these in order & explain

M3:
1. What is unsustainable urbanisation.
2. What are the problems caused by it, How to improve it.
3. Despite doing all the efforts can slums still be present?
4. Why Newyork has issue of gheetoisation

M5: 
1. Is swachh Bharat happening on ground
2. What is your reaction when you saw garbage piled up in cities?
3. Have you written letter to Municipal corporator about garbage you saw in Delhi?
4. Have you written letter to PMO for the garbage issue?


CHAIRMAN - The moment he heard i didn't wrote letter to PMO about the garbage i saw in Delhi, he told the member okay okay, gestured him by hand to stop & told me that interview is over

One to one: MPOA,Shinas Sir (I learn IAS)
Mocks- 2 SAMPALK, VISION IAS, Drishti, Apti Plus, SPM IAS,UPSC Prep by Abhijeet Yadav.

Watched videos of Utkarsh Sir of Mentor Aid IAS

PT MARKS -180

Name:The girl who lived
Daf keywords:Entc engineering,pune,kabaddi,smart india hackathon, anthropology (nothing else asked)
Suman ma'am (Last to go)
Chairperson:
You did entc and no work experience
-how spectrum is allocated
-any new provisions in telecom act
-should we allow starlink in india
-Weaponisation of space happening
-so should we allow starlink to India considering sovereignty risk
-PIL-is it now publicity stunt,give example where it is beneficial and where it is for publicity
Member 1:
-how to promote kabaddi internationally
-What is ethical hacking(I had smart india hackathon)
-what are choke points and how it impact indian oil sector
M2:
-some random anthro stuff-post humanism,every roots go through routes
-Indias idea of vasudhaiva kutmbakam in india foreign policy
-what is africa pan network
-what is ITEC
-disruptive vs general purpose tech
-where will india be in science fiction
M3:
-B.E vs Btech
-why in maharashtra every district has different product-climate or policy intervention (I answered vaguely and said sir I am guessing)
-warli print vs madhubani art(I wore warli print saree)

M4:
-how we can ensure that we get benefits of these FTAs that we have signed
-why chakan is so prosperous
-Why women despite having high representation in STEM but not working
-one thing that will let women work
-what should be delhi declaration for AI impact summit
Few other qn I don't remember
Board was cordial
Mocks given
O2O:2 by upwise,unique academy Praveen Chavan sir,Mentor aid Utkarsh Mishra sir(good),edukemy shabbir sir(very insightful),Mahesh bhagwat sir(extremely insightful analysis of daf)
Panel:samkal(grilling),onlyias(not good),visionias faculty(pathetic),next ias (Good), maharashtra sadan(extremely good-closest to actual interview and even 2 qn were repeated in actual interview), chanakya mandal pariwar(O2O and panel-both were good),SIAC
Special thanks:
-Farees rehman sir who helped me fill daf and was constant support since mains,also gave many O2O
-Bestest is the peer discussion,they helped me since December and covered my daf extensively and few qn was repeated in actual interview.
Overall interview experience:felt like interview tbh not conversation.I have no idea how it went.
All the best to all other candidates ❤️


PT marks-157
Not made it to final list

Name: Leo Messi
Board - B B Swain Sir
1st Interview, 3rd Attempt

Chair:
1. Asked me regarding GD topic mentioned in DAF. So which side will you choose?

M1
1. Can you tell me about 2008 subprime crisis?
2. What were the reasons of this crisis?
3. About efficacy of Indian regulatory bodies?
4. Why do frauds happen and why regulatory bodies are unable to prevent frauds?
5. Which countries border Arunanchal Pradesh?
6. What is China doing in that region?
7. Asked something about Tibet?
8. Asked me to classify regions of Maharashtra in order of development and reasons for the same.

M2
1. Asked about my MBA programme, whether new and how it was?
2. Is it as good as IIMs?
3. Why did I not take a private job and instead chose civil services?
4. Which service would you want to serve in?
5. FDI in India in current financial year?
6. What is the difference between Gross FDI and Net FDI?
7. Why Net FDI is currently decreasing in India?

M3
1. Do you think Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are philosophers of today?
2. Can you configure what is the philosophy of Elon Musk?
3. Mentioned a book "No rules rules" written by Netflix co-founder and asked whether I had read it or not? (I hadn't)
4. What is the alternative for Google maps in China?
5. How India is taking efforts to create an alternative to Google maps and why Google maps has virtual monopoly?

M4
1. Netflix CEO once said that their biggest competition is? (I answered sleep)
2. Similarly Coca Cola CEO once said it's biggest competition is? (I guessed water but the member corrected that it was chai)
3. Asked questions around climate finance from developed world and their reluctance (gave very vague answers around it)
3. Tell me something that you are interested in, from which I can ask questions? I said Football - but insisted on something related to my background (commerce, economy, management)
4. Asked something which I can't remember nor answer.
Swain sir asked member to ask one more question.
5. Now switch to football. Do you think Coach is more important than players in a football team?
6. M3 and M4 discussed something about football and sports in general where I was not involved. Do you know the quote that PM Modi said about football? (Had no clue)
7. Asked why India in football is such a laggard and how I would improve it?
8. Asked about the most prominent research institution of India (himself answered CSIR) - asked about it's laboratory in Pune. (I answered NCL)

While leaving had a small conversation with M1 regarding Pune - how green and beautiful it is. Few more questions were asked which I can't recall.

Gave just 4 mocks including 2 in Samkalp. Board had poker face throughout and last member was quite grilling. My interview experience was bad and felt my marks would hover around ~160 but surprisingly
PT score -201.

Interview Transcript
Name:AJ
Date: 23/02/2026
DAF keywords:Horticulture,Natural Farming,Pola Utsav,Akola,Kerala,Trivandrum
Board:Sanjay Verma(1st to go-forenoon)
Chairman: Good morning,How are you?Tell me how do we pronounce your name in Spanish(Totally Random one)
2.You have geography optional Tell me one country that is having geographical advantage over others and a country facing disadvantage(I said India for advantage and Israel as disadvantaged)
3.Yes..India is advantaged but I think US is having most advantage..They're isolated too(I agreed)
4.Tell me the most expensive flower in the world
5.Tell me the most expensive fruit in the world.
6.Compare the per capita income of Trivandrum and Kerala
7.So TVM is having a high GSDP per capita income..How..What factors contributed to that

M1
1.Whats the difference between natural farming and organic farming
2.So why do people prefer organic products
3.Is there any side effects for chemical agriculture products.
4.Your state is performing well in tourism..What kind of tourism is there
5.IMR of Kerala was stagnant for sometime then reduced considerably,what contributed to that reduction.
6.Your state is doing so much community level programs..I see you are also interested in it.Tell me how can it help in governance
7.If given an opportunity to bring in a community level change among women,what would you do(I said I'll form SHGs,He asked me which sector will u focus-I said agri as there is a feminisation of agriculture issue that India face with 75% women in agri)
Chair intervened and asked-Which place did you had in mind when you said that answer(I answered Akola,Maharashtra the place where I studied)

M2:
1.Since you mentioned Akola in which part of Maharashtra is Akola located
2.The major agriculture products of Vidarbha
3.Any fruits or vegetables
4.How can they cultivate these many varieties of fruits
5.Gave me some specific places in Maharashtra like Solapur and Nashik and x,asked me which horti produce are they famous for(never heard of x-I said I dont know)
6.Ok!.Tell me about horticulture in Kerala
7.Whats the government doing to promote it

M3
1.What is Pola Utsav(DAF keyword)
2.You mentioned Kerala has migrants(a long monologue on issues they face).Many of them marry women from Kerala(monologue on how they face abuse).If appointed as Chief Secretary of Kerala ,how will you solve it.
3.What is the most important provision in the latest income tax rules,2026

M4
1.What are the 3 major macro nutrients
2.Tell me their ratio
3.Is natural farming scalable
4.If you are made as DM,what will you do to ensure that organic farming is promoted considering food security challenges.
5.How is nano urea and such fertilizers helping in agri production.
6.Have you heard of PM Pranam scheme.What is it

Chairman:
Oh we have time,lets talk
1.Whats your opinion on Indias sovereign credit rating over the last 15 years(I said sir I just know that this years economic survey mentions that there is improvement)
Does it take us anywhere!..Thats not even an outline
2.Ok tell me..Who brings out this credit rating(A tongue slip happened and I said international organisations like Moodys🤦‍♀️)
3.Is it an international organisation(I said sorry sir).
4.Whats the difference between a private firm and an international organisation
5.Have you read Kaplan's Revenge of geography..what does it say(I just had a vague idea)
6.In your opinion does people of Kerala or Delhi walk more(I said I think its Delhi-the footpaths and beautiful sidelines that I observed in Delhi and many people walking on Kartavya Path as reasoning)
7.So when did you come to Delhi(I said 2 days before).In two days have you studied the walking habits of people!?(I said sir this was based on my limited observations)
8.But the people you saw outside could also be tourists(I said yes sir..That is also a possibility)

Your interview is over..Thank you

PT MARKS -171

Board : shukla sir
Marks :195

Keywords: Indore, published a book , website ,French, indo france , travel Concierge work


Chairman

Q. You belong to Atal Bihari Vajpayee College. Tell me about the qualities of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Firstly, his consensual role where he was able to build consensus with the opposition themselves and was able to hold a coalition government. Secondly, his infrastructural work such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and his measures related to the National Highway Development Corporation showed his leadership.

Q. Don’t you think the current right-wing politicians are going rabid and they are not able to hold consensus?
Sir, I believe that politics is no linear trajectory and we might see that another set of right-wing politicians might hold certain values which Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was familiar with. So politics changes. It is not consistent.

Q. Is there any right-wing politician who is able to hold consensus?
Mr. Nitin Gadkari is one such. He holds great consensus with the opposition candidates as well. Further, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to churches in Christmas and the mosque in Ramzan is also reflective of those values.
(He cut me and moved to the next question.)

Q. But Nitin Gadkari is not a successor. Talk about Yogi Adityanath or other leaders who might be in the succession line. Don’t you think they are going rabid?
Sir, I believe that politics is no linear trajectory and we might see that another set of right-wing politicians might hold certain values which Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was familiar with. So politics changes. It is not consistent.

Q. New York is one of the most capitalist cities of the world. Don’t you feel that Zohran Mamdani winning there is a contradiction?
There are several reasons. Firstly, New York is a multi-ethnic state and Indians or South Asians hold greater relevance there as well. Secondly, the welfare stance of Mr. Zohran Mamdani also holds relevance with a lot of people.
(He cut me and started asking the next question.)

Q. Why are you learning French?
I wanted to learn about the movies such as La Haine and The Untouchables in their own language rather than going through translations. I was more inquisitive and thus I studied French so that I am able to understand those movies in a specific manner.

Q. You are a sociologist. Why are right-wing politicians rising globally?
Firstly, the clash of civilization and migration, which sociologist Samuel Huntington says causes clash of civilizations, is happening, leading to intermingling of cultures and tensions between different sets of peoples. Secondly, the emotional contact and the core is struck much more by the right-wing politicians in an emotive manner.
(He cut me.)

Q. Are opposition leaders in India going rabid?
Sir, I believe that politics is no linear trajectory and we might see that another set of politicians might hold certain values which Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was familiar with. So politics changes. It is not consistent.

Member 1 (M1)
Q. Your Indian Foreign Service is your preference?
Yes sir.

Q. Have you read The India Way? What are its contents?
Firstly, his book is about how India is shifting from non-alignment to multi-alignment in the future. Secondly, how India can navigate in a turbulent world where wars might be happening and that those lessons are still relevant after the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine war. Secondly, he mirrors the importance of Arthashastra in the current international relations.

Q. Do you think PM Nehru applied Arthashastra?
Sir, Mr. Nehru did apply Arthashastra indirectly. There is one component of Arthashastra called Yan, and other components such as the confidence-building measures are there. So he tried to do that with China in the Panchsheel agreement in the 1950s.