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