India is a Union of States, this shows that it is federal. Though it is not ideally a federal country, it has certain features incorporated that make it a federal one. Therefore, India is Quasi-federal in nature. Further, it also has asymmetric federal features i.e. the constituting units of a federation have unequal power in the political, fiscal and administrative spheres. The best example for this would be State of Jammu & Kashmir (now Union territory) which is a de jure asymmetrical arrangement in India due to the existence of Article 370 of the Constitution. J&K choose to remain a unit of Indian federation only on the terms and conditions specified in the instrument of accession. The State of J&K has been accorded asymmetric status under Indian federalism because of the peculiar circumstances under which it acceded to the union of India.

Keywords: Asymmetric, federal, accession, Constitution