Answer in two or three lines:

(a) Which countries are called ‘sovereign’ countries?

(b) What is national interest?

(a) The countries that are free from an external factor and are supreme with regard to their decision and carry out their work independently are sovereign nations.

Example: India after getting independence from British Empire in 1947 became a sovereign nation and was not bound anymore to take permission from the empire for any decision.

(b) Preserving the sovereignty of the country, giving priority to one’s own economic development and protecting interests in foreign policies is called national interest.

National Interest decision is taken for the welfare of the nation and its countrymen. Before taking any decision related to politics, trade, commerce, economy a nation needs to be satisfied that this decision would not harm the sovereignty of the nation.