India & the world: places, pacts & relations

Answer: (b) 1 and 3

The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman, is the only sea exit from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Bahrain and Qatar have coasts only on the Persian Gulf, so their ships must pass through it. Syria and Egypt lie on the Mediterranean (and Egypt also on the Red Sea), so they reach the Indian Ocean via Suez and Bab-el-Mandeb instead.

• ✓ 1. Bahrain is an island state inside the Persian Gulf, so every voyage to the Indian Ocean passes through Hormuz.
• ✗ 2. Syria's coast is on the Mediterranean; its ships reach the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
• ✓ 3. Qatar is a peninsula on the western shore of the Persian Gulf; its LNG and oil exports leave through Hormuz.
• ✗ 4. Egypt has Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, so its ships sail down the Red Sea and out through Bab-el-Mandeb.

Remember · Persian Gulf states needing Hormuz: Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar (plus most of Saudi, UAE and Iranian ports). Red Sea exit = Bab-el-Mandeb.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 3 only

Only statement 3 is right. Maitri Setu joins Sabroom in Tripura (India) with Ramgarh (Bangladesh), the reverse of what statement 1 says. The Jhulaghat bridge on the Kali river leads into Nepal, not Myanmar.

• ✗ 1. Sabroom lies in South Tripura, India, and Ramgarh is on the Bangladesh side; the statement swaps the two countries.
• ✗ 2. Jhulaghat is a town on the Indo-Nepal border named after a hanging bridge on the Kali river, through which one enters Nepal.
• ✓ 3. The Mechi bridge is part of the upgraded Kakarvitta (Nepal) to Panitanki Bypass (India) road on NH 327B, and is the end point of Asian Highway 02 in India.

Remember · Maitri Setu: Sabroom (Tripura, India) – Ramgarh (Bangladesh) over the Feni. Jhulaghat (Pithoragarh) and the Mechi bridge (Panitanki–Kakarvitta) both lead into Nepal.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

UPSC dropped this question from evaluation in its final answer key.

UPSC dropped this question from evaluation in its final answer key. India has not joined the UN Migrant Workers Convention of 1990 or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. It has, however, ratified the ILO Employment Policy Convention and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, so options (a) and (b) cannot be right.

• ✗ 1. India has ratified the ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122); NORMLEX records the ratification on 17 Nov 1998, so it is not one of the conventions India has left unratified.
• ✗ 2. India has ratified the ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105); NORMLEX records the ratification on 18 May 2000, so it is not one of the unratified conventions.
• ✓ 3. India is not a party to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990); the UN Treaty Collection participants list has no entry for India.
• ✓ 5. India is not a party to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness; the UN Treaty Collection participants list has no entry for India.

Remember · India has not joined the 1990 Migrant Workers Convention or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (UN Treaty Collection); it has ratified ILO C122 (1998) and C105 (2000).

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 and 2

The Kaladan project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) Trilateral Highway both link India's Northeast with ASEAN members Myanmar and Thailand. The Agartala-Akhaura line joins Tripura to Bangladesh, which is not an ASEAN member.

• ✓ 1. Kaladan is an India-Myanmar multi-modal route; the Ministry of External Affairs lists it among major projects connecting India's Northeast with the ASEAN region. Myanmar is an ASEAN member.
• ✓ 2. The IMT Trilateral Highway links India, Myanmar and Thailand. Myanmar and Thailand are ASEAN members, and the same official list names it among the India-ASEAN connectivity projects.
• ✗ 3. The Akhaura-Agartala line links Bangladesh's Dhaka-Chittagong corridor to Tripura. Bangladesh is not on ASEAN's list of member states, so this is an India-Bangladesh project.

Remember · India-ASEAN land links from the Northeast: Kaladan (India-Myanmar) and the IMT Trilateral Highway (India-Myanmar-Thailand). Agartala-Akhaura is India-Bangladesh, outside ASEAN.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1

The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is in Bhutan, the Dickoya district hospital in Sri Lanka, and the Institute of Security and Law Enforcement Studies (ISLES, now the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement) in the Maldives. That leaves the Stor Palace restoration with Afghanistan, giving A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1.

• ✓ A India has assisted the 720 MW Mangdechhu hydroelectric project in Bhutan, alongside the Chukha, Kurichu and Tala projects (3).
• ✓ B The Stor Palace is in Kabul. The Ministry of External Affairs records that it was restored with India's assistance and inaugurated by the Prime Minister and President Ghani on 22 August 2016, so it pairs with Afghanistan (2).
• ✓ C India is building a multi-specialty hospital at Dickoya in Sri Lanka (4).
• ✓ D ISLES, since renamed the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement, was built with Indian grant in Addu, Maldives, and inaugurated in March 2022 (1).

Remember · India-assisted projects: Mangdechhu hydro (Bhutan), Dickoya hospital (Sri Lanka), ISLES police college (Maldives), Stor Palace (Kabul, Afghanistan).

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1 and 4

Statements 1 and 4 are the ones that are not correct. The Ministry of External Affairs' list of outcomes of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit (12-13 January 2026) records the Ayurveda MoU with a different university, and it has no honorary consul item at all.

• ✗ 1. The All India Institute of Ayurveda signed its MoU with Charité University, Germany (traditional medicines), not with the University of Hamburg.
• ✓ 2. An MoU on Youth Hockey Development between Hockey India and the German Hockey Federation (Deutscher Hockey-Bund) is listed among the signed outcomes.
• ✓ 3. The two sides announced the establishment of a bilateral dialogue mechanism on the Indo-Pacific.
• ✗ 4. Neither the official list of outcomes nor the joint statement mentions opening an Honorary Consul of Germany in Lucknow.

Remember · Merz visit, Jan 2026: AIIA signed with Charité (not Hamburg), Hockey India with German Hockey Federation, plus a new Indo-Pacific dialogue; no Lucknow honorary consul.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) I and III only

India became the 14th member of the US-led Mineral Security Partnership in June 2023, and the MMDR Amendment Act, 2023 let the Centre alone auction mining leases and composite licences for listed critical minerals. But India is far from self-sufficient: it depends mostly on imports for minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel.

• ✓ I The Ministry of Mines told Parliament that India joined the Mineral Security Partnership as its 14th member in June 2023.
• ✗ II India identified 30 critical minerals in June 2023 precisely because supply is a risk; for several of them, including lithium, cobalt and nickel, it relies mostly on imports.
• ✓ III The 2023 amendment empowered the Central Government to exclusively auction mining leases and composite licences for critical minerals in Part D of the First Schedule; the States still grant the lease and keep the revenue.

Remember · Critical minerals: 30 identified (June 2023); MSP member since June 2023; MMDR Amendment 2023 lets the Centre auction them while States keep the revenue.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Only one of the Statements II and III is correct and that explains Statement I

India is not among the signatories of the COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health (Dubai, December 2023); the list on the COP28 site goes from Iceland straight to Indonesia. The declaration is a political declaration whose commitments are made 'according to our national circumstances', so Statement II is wrong.

• ✓ Statement I India did not sign: the list of signatories on the COP28 site names 151 signatories, including the European Union, and India is not among them. The declaration was launched on COP28's inaugural Health Day, 3 December 2023.
• ✗ Statement II The declaration is not a mandate: its signatories commit to better integrating health into climate policy and to promoting steps such as assessing health-system emissions and developing action plans and decarbonisation targets, all 'according to our national circumstances'. Signing does not make decarbonising the health sector mandatory.
• ✓ Statement III UPSC's official key treats this as correct; we could not confirm India's stated reason from an official source, so we do not explain it here.

Remember · COP28 (Dubai, 2023) Declaration on Climate and Health: first Health Day at a COP, 151 signatories; India is not on the list. Commitments are 'according to our national circumstances', not mandatory.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) India to Central Asia to Europe via Iran

The INSTC is a multi-modal route from the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf through Iran to the Caspian Sea and on to Russia and northern Europe, and it is also meant to link India with Central Asia. So 'India to Central Asia to Europe via Iran' fits, while none of the other options runs through Iran.

• ✓ (a) Iran is the core of the corridor. The government describes it as a route via Iran to the Caspian Sea and onward to Russia and northern Europe, and as a way to connect India to Russia and Central Asian countries.
• ✗ (b) The corridor goes through Iran, not China.
• ✗ (c) The corridor runs west from India through Iran; a route to South-East Asia through Bangladesh and Myanmar is a different, eastern link.
• ✗ (d) Leaving out Iran misses the corridor's essential link, and this option also leaves out Central Asia.

Remember · INSTC: multi-modal India–Iran–Caspian–Russia–Europe corridor that also links India to Central Asia; Chabahar port in Iran is its Indian gateway.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only three

Of the five, UPI payments work in the United Arab Emirates, France and Singapore, so three is the count. Germany and Bangladesh are not among the countries where the Government lists UPI as live.

• ✓ I The UAE is among the countries where UPI is live.
• ✓ II France is among the countries where UPI is live.
• ✗ III Germany is not among the countries the Government names as having UPI live.
• ✓ IV Singapore is among the countries where UPI is live.
• ✗ V Bangladesh is not among the countries the Government names as having UPI live.
• • Since then The list has grown since the exam. The Ministry of Electronics and IT told the Rajya Sabha on 6 February 2026 that UPI is live in over eight countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius and Qatar; Germany and Bangladesh are still not named (PIB, 6 Feb 2026).

Remember · UPI abroad, exam-year answer: UAE, France and Singapore yes; Germany and Bangladesh no. Other live countries include Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Qatar.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2025, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Only two pairs

Pairs 1 and 2 are correct. Argentina was in a deep economic crisis in 2023-24, and Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between its army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Turkey did not leave NATO: it has been a member since 1952 and is on NATO's list of 32 members in 2024.

• ✓ 1. Argentina's economy was in deep crisis around 2023-24. The IMF describes elevated and rising inflation, depleted reserves and high poverty as the inheritance of the new government, and an economy pushed to the brink of a full-blown balance of payments crisis.
• ✓ 2. Since 15 April 2023 the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a conflict that has displaced millions.
• ✗ 3. Turkey (Türkiye) joined NATO on 18 February 1952 and remained a member. NATO's page of member countries, updated 11 March 2024, lists Türkiye among its 32 members.

Remember · Sudan: army (SAF) versus paramilitary RSF since April 2023. Argentina: deep economic crisis in 2023-24. Turkey stayed in NATO, a member since 1952.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Statement-I is wrong: Venezuela has not recovered from its economic crisis, and people have kept leaving, with UNHCR counting nearly 7.9 million Venezuelans abroad in its latest update. Statement-II is right: Venezuela holds the world's largest proven crude oil reserves, about 303 billion barrels in 2023.

• ✗ Statement-I The US Energy Information Administration says government mismanagement, sanctions and the country's economic crisis have severely hampered even its energy sector. UNHCR reports nearly 7.9 million people who have left Venezuela (December 2025 update), so emigration was not stopped.
• ✓ Statement-II Venezuela had the world's largest proven crude oil reserves in 2023, about 303 billion barrels or roughly 17% of global reserves. Its production is a small share of world output, which shows that reserves alone did not bring recovery.

Remember · Venezuela: crisis and mass emigration continue (nearly 7.9 million abroad, UNHCR Dec 2025), yet it has the world's largest proven crude oil reserves (about 303 billion barrels, 2023).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

Every statement has a wrong end-point or a wrong project name. The East-West Corridor runs from Silchar to Porbandar and is separate from the Golden Quadrilateral, the Trilateral Highway runs from Moreh to Mae Sot in Thailand, and the BCIM corridor was planned from Kolkata to Kunming.

• ✗ 1. The East-West Corridor links Silchar in Assam with Porbandar in Gujarat (about 3,640 km). It belongs to the North-South and East-West corridor programme, not to the Golden Quadrilateral, which joins Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
• ✗ 2. PIB states that the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway aims to connect Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar, not Chiang Mai.
• ✗ 3. The Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor was conceived to link Kolkata with Kunming in Yunnan through Bangladesh and Myanmar; Varanasi is not on it.

Remember · East-West Corridor: Silchar–Porbandar; North-South: Srinagar–Kanniyakumari. Trilateral Highway: Moreh–Mae Sot. BCIM: Kolkata–Kunming.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 India: People and Economy, Ch 7 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Somalia

Somalia, in the Horn of Africa, is the country that fits: years of conflict plus a prolonged drought pushed it to the edge of famine in 2022, and UN agencies issued repeated famine warnings.

• ✓ (d) In April 2022 the UN agencies FAO, OCHA, UNICEF and WFP warned that millions of Somalis were at risk of sliding into famine because of prolonged drought, and WFP describes the country as facing protracted conflict, drought and displacement.
• ✗ (a) Angola is in southern Africa. It was not the subject of the UN famine warnings that made Somalia the news in 2022.
• ✗ (b) Costa Rica (Central America) and Ecuador (South America) had no comparable civil strife or famine warning, so options (b) and (c) are easily ruled out.

Remember · Somalia (Horn of Africa): protracted conflict plus a prolonged drought led UN agencies to warn of famine in 2022.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) None

None of the pairs is correct; each region has been paired with the wrong conflict. North Kivu and Ituri are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nagorno-Karabakh is at the centre of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, and Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are regions of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

• ✗ 1. North Kivu and Ituri are provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where armed attacks and clashes between armed groups (including M23) and the army have displaced millions. The Armenia-Azerbaijan war is a different conflict.
• ✗ 2. Nagorno-Karabakh is the region at the heart of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict; the UN Security Council has discussed the Lachin Corridor linking it with Armenia. The Mozambique insurgency is unrelated.
• ✗ 3. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, with Donetsk and Luhansk, are Ukrainian regions that the UN General Assembly said are temporarily occupied by Russia. They have nothing to do with an Israel-Lebanon dispute.

Remember · North Kivu and Ituri: DR Congo. Nagorno-Karabakh: Armenia-Azerbaijan. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia: Ukraine, occupied by Russia.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect

Statement-I is correct: Israel has normalised relations with several Arab States, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in 2020. Statement-II is wrong: the Arab Peace Initiative was a Saudi proposal adopted by the Arab League in 2002, and Israel never signed it.

• ✓ Statement-I In September 2020 Israel signed the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, establishing normal relations. Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994) had earlier made peace with Israel.
• ✗ Statement-II The Arab League summit in Beirut (27-28 March 2002) adopted the initiative presented by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. It asks Israel to withdraw from Arab territories occupied since 1967 and offers normal relations from Arab States in return. Israel is the party addressed, not a signatory.

Remember · Arab Peace Initiative (2002): Saudi proposal adopted by the Arab League at Beirut; land for peace and normal relations. Israel did not sign. Abraham Accords (2020): Israel with UAE and Bahrain.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2023, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) Region along the eastern Mediterranean shores

The Levant is the land along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean — today's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, often with Cyprus and Turkey's Hatay province. The word comes from the French for 'rising', the direction of the sunrise as seen from Europe.

• ✓ (a) The Levant covers the coastal lands of the eastern Mediterranean and their hinterland: Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and Jordan.
• ✗ (b) The North African coast west of Egypt — Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco — is called the Maghreb, not the Levant.
• ✗ (d) The Levant is only the eastern end of the Mediterranean; it does not include the European or North African coasts.

Remember · Levant = eastern Mediterranean coast (Syria, Lebanon, Israel–Palestine, Jordan); Maghreb = north-west Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 3, 4 and 5 only

Afghanistan's northern neighbours are three Central Asian republics — Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan — along with Iran to the west, Pakistan to the east and south, and China at the tip of the Wakhan Corridor. Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan do not touch it.

• ✗ 1. Azerbaijan lies in the South Caucasus on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, with Iran and Turkmenistan's sea front between it and Afghanistan.
• ✗ 2. Kyrgyzstan lies north of Tajikistan; the narrow Wakhan Corridor keeps Afghanistan from reaching it.
• ✓ 3. Tajikistan shares Afghanistan's long north-eastern border, much of it along the Amu Darya (Panj) river.
• ✓ 4. Turkmenistan borders Afghanistan in the north-west.
• ✓ 5. Uzbekistan has a short border with Afghanistan along the Amu Darya, near Termez.

Remember · Afghanistan's six neighbours: Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China (via the Wakhan Corridor). India also claims a border through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

India belongs to all three: it is a founding member of the AIIB, joined the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016, and became a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in June 2017.

• ✓ 1. India is a Founding Member and the second largest shareholder in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
• ✓ 2. India was admitted to the MTCR in 2016; the MTCR's own partner list carries the entry 'India (2016)'.
• ✓ 3. India and Pakistan officially joined the SCO as full members at the Astana summit on 9 June 2017.

Remember · India: AIIB founding member; MTCR member since 2016; SCO full member since 9 June 2017 (Astana).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) 1, 3 and 4 only

Albania touches the Adriatic, Kazakhstan the Caspian and Morocco the Mediterranean, so pairs 1, 3 and 4 are right. Croatia has no Black Sea coast (it is on the Adriatic), and Syria's coast is on the Mediterranean, not the Red Sea.

• ✓ 1. Albania lies on the southeastern Adriatic, where the Strait of Otranto separates it from Italy.
• ✗ 2. The Black Sea's coastal states are Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Croatia is on the Adriatic.
• ✓ 3. Kazakhstan is one of the five Caspian littoral states, with Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Turkmenistan.
• ✓ 4. Morocco has a Mediterranean coast, and is a Contracting Party to the Barcelona Convention for the Mediterranean.
• ✗ 5. Syria borders the Mediterranean. The Red Sea states in the regional body PERSGA are Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen; Syria is not among them.

Remember · Caspian littoral states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan. Black Sea: Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine. Syria is on the Mediterranean, not the Red Sea.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Russia

India signed this Action Plan with Russia during President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi for the 19th annual summit, on 5 October 2018. It was signed by Rosatom, Russia's state atomic energy corporation, and India's Department of Atomic Energy.

• ✓ (b) The India-Russia Joint Statement of 5 October 2018 records satisfaction over the signing of this Action Plan. The official list of agreements shows Rosatom's Director General and the Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, as signatories.
• ✗ (a) The action plan was signed with Russia, not Japan.
• ✗ (c) The action plan was signed with Russia, not the United Kingdom.
• ✗ (d) The action plan was signed with Russia, not the USA.

Remember · Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field: India-Russia, signed 5 October 2018 (Putin's visit), between Rosatom and India's DAE.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2019, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Israel

The two-state solution is the proposal to settle the Israel-Palestine conflict by having two independent States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side. It has nothing to do with China, Iraq or Yemen.

• ✓ (b) The idea goes back to UN General Assembly Resolution 181 (1947), which proposed partitioning Palestine into two independent States, one Palestinian Arab and the other Jewish. In 2002 the UN Security Council affirmed a vision of two States, Israel and Palestine.
• ✗ (a) China, Iraq and Yemen are not parties to the Israel-Palestine question. The term 'two-state solution' refers only to the land of former Mandate Palestine (Israel, the West Bank and Gaza).

Remember · Two-state solution: an independent State of Palestine alongside Israel. The UN's plan of 1947 (Resolution 181) first proposed two States.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) European Union

BTIA is the India–European Union Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement, a free trade deal whose negotiations the two sides launched in 2007. The other three bodies named have no negotiation called BTIA with India.

• ✓ (a) The EU and India launched the BTIA negotiations in 2007 to widen trade in goods and services, investment and access to public procurement.
• ✗ (b) The Gulf Cooperation Council is a different trading partner. The name BTIA belongs to the India–EU negotiation, not to any GCC talks.
• ✗ (c) The OECD is a forum for policy coordination among its member countries; India is not a member and does not negotiate a BTIA with it.
• ✗ (d) The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a political, security and economic grouping. It is not a partner in a trade and investment agreement of this kind.
• • Since then The EU trade website now shows separate tracks: a Free Trade Agreement, which the EU and India concluded on 27 January 2026, and an Investment Protection Agreement and a Geographical Indications Agreement, both still being negotiated.

Remember · BTIA = Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement between India and the European Union, negotiations begun in 2007.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

Chabahar, a port on Iran's southern coast, gives India a sea-and-land route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that does not pass through Pakistan. Pakistan does not allow Indian goods to move overland through its territory to Afghanistan and beyond, which is why this route matters.

• ✓ (c) Chabahar is described as a gateway for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. It is a sea route through Iran, so India need not rely on Pakistan for land transit.
• ✗ (a) Chabahar is on the Gulf of Oman side of Iran and is meant for links with Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Trade with Africa is not its purpose.
• ✗ (b) Iran is not an Arab country, and the project is about transit connectivity, not about ties with Arab oil producers.
• ✗ (d) Chabahar is a port project. It involves no gas pipeline between Iraq and India, and Pakistan is not a party to it.

Remember · Chabahar (Iran) is India's route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that avoids Pakistan, and links to the International North-South Transport Corridor.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) 2 and 3

The Kurds are a West Asian people spread across Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, so pairing them with Bangladesh is wrong. The Madhesis of Nepal's southern Terai plains were in the news for their 2015-16 agitation over Nepal's new Constitution, and the Rohingyas are a Muslim minority of Myanmar's Rakhine State.

• ✗ 1. Kurdish nationalist movements are found in Turkey and Iraq (and Syria and Iran); the Kurds have no connection with Bangladesh.
• ✓ 2. Madhesis (also spelt Madeshi) are the people of the Terai plains of southern Nepal; the UN human rights office described the 2015 protests in the Terai against Nepal's new Constitution as led by ethnic Madeshi groups demanding that their concerns be addressed.
• ✓ 3. The Rohingyas are from Myanmar; their movement into India and Bangladesh has been a source of friction in South Asia.

Remember · Kurds: Turkey-Iraq-Syria-Iran. Madhesis: Nepal's Terai. Rohingyas: Myanmar's Rakhine State (refugees in Bangladesh).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Political Theory, Ch 7 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Contemporary World Politics, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct. The India-Africa Forum Summit series began in New Delhi in 2008, was held again in Addis Ababa in 2011, and its third edition met in New Delhi in October 2015. There is no record of a summit of this kind being started by Nehru in 1951.

• ✓ 1. The Third India-Africa Forum Summit met in New Delhi on 29 October 2015, after the first summit (New Delhi, April 2008) and the second (Addis Ababa, May 2011).
• ✗ 2. The summit series is a twenty-first century process. India's Ministry of External Affairs dates the structured engagement with the African Union to the first summit (IAFS-I) in 2008, not to 1951.

Remember · India-Africa Forum Summits: I New Delhi (April 2008), II Addis Ababa (May 2011), III New Delhi (October 2015).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) China

The Belt and Road Initiative is China's project to link Asia, Europe and Africa through roads, rail, ports and pipelines. President Xi Jinping launched it in 2013, first under the name One Belt, One Road.

• ✓ (d) It has two parts: the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the ocean-going Maritime Silk Road. Both are Chinese-led, financed and promoted by China.
• ✗ (a) The African Union is a continental body of African states; Africa is only one region where BRI projects are built.
• ✗ (b) Brazil has no connection with the scheme's origin; it is not a Belt and Road initiator.
• ✗ (c) The European Union is a partner-side region that BRI routes reach; the Initiative is not an EU programme.

Remember · Belt and Road Initiative = China's 2013 connectivity plan: Silk Road Economic Belt (land) plus 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (sea). Earlier called One Belt, One Road.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error