International organisations, groupings and India's relations: previous-year questions
73 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 31 of them came in the last five papers.
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Consider the following statements :
- 1. Recently, all the countries of the United Nations have adopted the first-ever compact for international migration, the ‘Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM)’.
- 2. The objectives and commitments stated in the GCM are binding on the UN member countries.
- 3. The GCM addresses internal migration or internally displaced people also in its objectives and commitments.
How many of the above statements are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the statements is correct (d). Statement 1 is wrong: the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was adopted at Marrakech in December 2018 and then endorsed by the General Assembly by vote. The USA and several other countries, such as Hungary, stayed out, so not all countries adopted it. Statement 2 is wrong: the GCM is non-binding; it sets 23 objectives but respects national sovereignty. Statement 3 is wrong: it covers international migration only, not internal migration or internally displaced people.
Notice its twin, the Global Compact on Refugees (2018). India supported the GCM. India is the world's largest source of migrants and receives the most remittances, over $125 billion a year.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Regions often mentioned in news | Reason for being in news
| 1. North Kivu and Ituri | War between Armenia and Azerbaijan
| 2. Nagorno-Karabakh | Insurgency in Mozambique
| 3. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia | Dispute between Israel and Lebanon
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the pairs is correctly matched (d). Pair 1 is wrong: North Kivu and Ituri are conflict provinces of the DR Congo, where the M23 rebels and other militias fight. Pair 2 is wrong: Nagorno-Karabakh was the Armenia–Azerbaijan dispute, which Azerbaijan settled by force in 2023. Pair 3 is wrong: Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are Ukrainian regions in the Russia–Ukraine war, which Russia claims to have annexed in 2022; Zaporizhzhia has Europe's largest nuclear plant. The decoys are mixed up: Mozambique's insurgency is in Cabo Delgado, and the Israel–Lebanon dispute is along the Blue Line.
Notice that in 2025, M23 seized Goma and Bukavu in eastern Congo, before US- and Qatar-brokered peace efforts.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
Statement-I : Israel has established diplomatic relations with some Arab States.
Statement-II : The ‘Arab Peace Initiative’ mediated by Saudi Arabia was signed by Israel and Arab League.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statement I is correct but Statement II is wrong (c). Statement I is right: Israel has diplomatic ties with Egypt (1979) and Jordan (1994), and with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan under the Abraham Accords (2020), brokered by the USA. Statement II is wrong: the Arab Peace Initiative (2002) was a Saudi proposal endorsed by the Arab League. It offered full ties with Israel in return for withdrawal to the 1967 borders and a Palestinian state. Israel never signed it.
Notice how the Gaza war from October 2023 froze talks on Saudi–Israel normalisation. India's link: the I2U2 group (India, Israel, UAE, USA) and the IMEC corridor depend on such ties.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Area of conflict mentioned in news | Country where it is located
| 1. Donbas | Syria
| 2. Kachin | Ethiopia
| 3. Tigray | North Yemen
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the pairs is correctly matched (d). Pair 1 is wrong: Donbas, covering Donetsk and Luhansk, is in eastern Ukraine, at the heart of the war with Russia, not in Syria. Pair 2 is wrong: Kachin is a northern state of Myanmar, where the Kachin Independence Army fights the military junta, not in Ethiopia. Pair 3 is wrong: Tigray is a region of northern Ethiopia, which saw a brutal war in 2020–22, not in Yemen. Syria and Yemen are the decoy countries.
Notice that North Yemen no longer exists as a state; it merged with South Yemen in 1990. Kachin's rare earth mines, near China, have become a strategic prize in Myanmar's civil war.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the “United Nations Credentials Committee”, consider the following statements :
- 1. It is a committee set up by the UN Security Council and works under its supervision.
- 2. It traditionally meets in March, June and September every year.
- 3. It assesses the credentials of all UN members before submitting a report to the General Assembly for approval.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 3 is correct (a). Statement 3 is right: the Credentials Committee examines the credentials of the representatives of all member states and reports to the General Assembly, which approves the report. Statement 1 is wrong: it is a committee of the General Assembly, not the Security Council. Its nine members are appointed by the Assembly at the start of each regular session on the President's proposal. Statement 2 is wrong: it does not meet in March, June and September; it usually meets once a year, near the end of the session, around November–December.
Notice why it matters: it decides who speaks for a country when rival governments claim the seat. In 2021 it deferred the claims of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the military junta in Myanmar, so the old envoys stayed.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements best describes the ‘Polar Code’ ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Polar Code is a safety code for ships in polar waters (a). The International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), came into force in 2017. It is binding through the SOLAS (safety) and MARPOL (pollution) conventions, and sets rules on ice-class ship design, crew training, equipment and strict limits on discharges in Arctic and Antarctic waters. Option (b) is wrong: Arctic boundaries are settled under UNCLOS and bilateral deals. Option (c) is wrong: research in Antarctica falls under the Antarctic Treaty (1959). Option (d) is wrong: the Arctic Council has no trade or security pact.
Notice why it matters now: melting ice is opening the Northern Sea Route, so traffic and the risk of spills are rising.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the United Nations General Assembly, consider the following statements :
- 1. The UN General Assembly can grant observer status to the non-member States.
- 2. Inter-governmental organisations can seek observer status in the UN General Assembly.
- 3. Permanent Observers in the UN General Assembly can maintain missions at the UN headquarters.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three statements are correct (d). Statement 1 is right: the General Assembly can give observer status to non-member states; today these are the Holy See and Palestine, which was upgraded to non-member observer state in 2012. Statement 2 is right: intergovernmental organisations such as the European Union, the African Union and the Commonwealth can seek and hold observer status. Statement 3 is right: permanent observers may keep missions at the UN headquarters in New York. So options (a), (b) and (c) each miss one true line.
Notice the limits: observers can speak and take part in debates but cannot vote. Some NGOs and bodies, like the International Committee of the Red Cross, also hold observer status.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. Armenia
- 2. Azerbaijan
- 3. Croatia
- 4. Romania
- 5. Uzbekistan
Which of the above are members of the Organization of Turkic States ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are members (c). The Organization of Turkic States, renamed from the Turkic Council in 2021, has five members: Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Hungary, Turkmenistan and the self-declared Northern Cyprus are observers. Item 1 is wrong: Armenia is not Turkic and has a long conflict with Azerbaijan and Turkey. Items 3 and 4 are wrong: Croatia and Romania are European, non-Turkic states. So options (a), (b) and (d) fall.
Notice the link with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey backed Azerbaijan; Azerbaijan took the region in 2023. The group's headquarters is in Istanbul, and it pushes trade routes across the Caspian called the Middle Corridor.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, consider the following statements :
- 1. A coastal state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baseline determined in accordance with the convention.
- 2. Ships of all states, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
- 3. The Exclusive Economic Zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Which of the statements given above are correct ?
Answer (d) & explanation
All three statements are correct (d). Statement 1 is right: under UNCLOS (1982), a coastal state can fix its territorial sea up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, where it has full sovereignty. Statement 2 is right: ships of all states, coastal or landlocked, have the right of innocent passage through it, as long as they do not threaten the coastal state. Statement 3 is right: the Exclusive Economic Zone cannot go beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline; there the coastal state owns fish, oil and minerals.
Notice the other zones: the contiguous zone goes to 24 nm, for customs and immigration control, and the continental shelf can stretch to 350 nm. Beyond lie the high seas, now covered by the BBNJ treaty.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following statements best reflects the issue with Senkaku Islands, sometimes mentioned in the news ?
Answer (b) & explanation
The Senkaku Islands are disputed by China and Japan (b). The small, uninhabited Senkaku islands, called Diaoyu by China, lie in the East China Sea, north-east of Taiwan. Japan controls them, while China and Taiwan claim them. Option (a) is wrong: they are natural islands; China's artificial islands are in the South China Sea. Option (c) is wrong: there is no permanent US base on them. Option (d) is wrong: the ICJ has never ruled on them, and South-East Asian countries do not claim them.
Notice that the USA says its defence treaty with Japan covers the Senkakus. Do not mix up the seas: the Spratly and Paracel disputes are in the South China Sea, involving China, Vietnam, the Philippines and others.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following pairs :
| Country | Important reason for being in the news recently
| 1. Chad | Setting up of permanent military base by China
| 2. Guinea | Suspension of Constitution and Government by military
| 3. Lebanon | Severe and prolonged economic depression
| 4. Tunisia | Suspension of Parliament by President
How many pairs given above are correctly matched ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Three pairs are correctly matched (c). Pair 2 is right: Guinea's army ousted President Condé in September 2021 and suspended the constitution. Pair 3 is right: the World Bank called Lebanon's economic collapse, from 2019, one of the worst anywhere since the mid-19th century. Pair 4 is right: Tunisia's President Kais Saied suspended parliament in July 2021. Pair 1 is wrong: Chad was in the news for President Idriss Déby's death in 2021 and military rule; China has no base there. China's only acknowledged overseas military base is in Djibouti, opened in 2017.
Notice the wave of coups in Africa's Sahel and west: Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger, many turning away from France and towards Russia.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements :
- 1. The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) has a ‘Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air’.
- 2. The UNCAC is the ever-first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument.
- 3. A highlight of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) is the inclusion of a specific chapter aimed at returning assets to their rightful owners from whom they had been taken illicitly.
- 4. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is mandated by its member States to assist in the implementation of both UNCAC and UNTOC.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 2 and 4 are correct (c). Statement 1 is wrong because the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air belongs to UNTOC, the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo, 2000). UNTOC has three protocols: on trafficking in persons, migrant smuggling and firearms. Statement 2 is right because UNCAC (2003, in force 2005) is the first legally binding global anti-corruption treaty. Statement 3 is wrong because the asset-recovery chapter (Chapter V) is in UNCAC, not UNTOC. Statement 4 is right because UNODC, based in Vienna, supports both.
India ratified both in 2011. Notice that 9 December is International Anti-Corruption Day, marking UNCAC's signing at Mérida, Mexico.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following adopted a law on data protection and privacy for its citizens known as ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ in April 2016 and started implementation of it from 25th May, 2018?
Answer (c) & explanation
The European Union adopted the GDPR (c). The EU's General Data Protection Regulation was adopted in April 2016 and came into force on 25 May 2018. It requires clear consent for using personal data, and gives rights such as the right to be forgotten, data portability and the right to know about breaches. Fines can reach 4% of global turnover or €20 million. It applies to any company handling EU residents' data, even outside Europe. Australia (a), Canada (b) and the USA (d) have their own, different laws.
Notice India's law: the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which followed the Puttaswamy privacy ruling and the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee. Its Rules were notified in November 2025, with a Data Protection Board.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Recently, India signed a deal known as ‘Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field’ with which of the following countries?
Answer (b) & explanation
The deal was signed with Russia (b). India and Russia signed the Action Plan for Prioritization and Implementation of Cooperation Areas in the Nuclear Field in October 2018, at the Modi–Putin summit in New Delhi. It covers more units at Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu, a second site for Russian-designed reactors, and joint projects in third countries, such as Bangladesh's Rooppur plant. Japan (a) signed a civil nuclear deal with India in 2016. The UK (c) and USA (d) have other nuclear ties.
Kudankulam will have six VVER reactors of 1,000 MW each. Notice India's new nuclear push: the SHANTI Act (2025) opening the sector to private firms, and the target of 100 GW of nuclear power by 2047.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What is/are the consequence/consequences of a country becoming the member of the ‘Nuclear Suppliers Group’ ?
- 1. It will have access to the latest and most efficient nuclear technologies.
- 2. It automatically becomes a member of “The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)”.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), formed in 1974 after India's Pokhran test, is a group of 48 supplier countries that controls exports of nuclear material and technology. Members trade more freely with one another, so joining brings easier access to advanced nuclear technology (1). Statement 2 is wrong because NSG membership does not automatically make a country a member of the NPT. The two are separate, though most NSG members have signed the NPT.
India got a special NSG waiver in 2008 after the India–US nuclear deal. Its bid to become a full member is blocked mainly by China, which says only NPT members should join. Notice that India is a member of the MTCR, the Wassenaar Arrangement and the Australia Group.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Very recently, in which of the following countries have lakhs of people either suffered from severe famine/acute malnutrition or died due to starvation caused by war/ethnic conflicts ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Yemen and South Sudan faced war-driven famine (d). In 2017–18, the UN warned of the world's worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, caught in the Saudi-led war against the Houthis and a naval blockade. Millions faced famine and a cholera outbreak. In South Sudan, famine was formally declared in parts of Unity State in 2017 after the civil war. Both crises were caused by conflict. Angola and Zambia (a) and Morocco and Tunisia (b) had no such crises. Venezuela's crisis (c) was economic, with hyperinflation and mass migration.
Notice the more recent cases: the UN-backed IPC confirmed famine in Gaza in August 2025 and in parts of Sudan (Darfur), where the war began in 2023.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The term “two-state solution” is sometime mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of
Answer (b) & explanation
The "two-state solution" is about Israel (b). It means an independent State of Palestine next to Israel, roughly along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital. The idea goes back to the UN Partition Plan of 1947 and is the basis of the Oslo Accords (1993–95). It has nothing to do with China (a), Iraq (c) or Yemen (d). India officially supports a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state living side by side and at peace with Israel.
After the Gaza war that began in October 2023, France, the UK, Canada, Australia and others recognised Palestine in September 2025. Notice that India recognised Palestine back in 1988, and in 2025 it voted for the UN's New York Declaration on the two-state solution.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India enacted The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 in order to comply with the obligations to
Answer (d) & explanation
The GI Act was passed to meet India's WTO obligations (d). The WTO's TRIPS Agreement (1995), Articles 22–24, requires members to protect geographical indications: names that link a product's quality or reputation to the place it comes from. India passed the GI Act in 1999, and it came into force in 2003. Darjeeling tea was the first Indian GI (2004). The GI Registry in Chennai, under DPIIT, registers them, and a GI lasts 10 years at a time, renewable. The ILO (a), IMF (b) and UNCTAD (c) have no role here.
India now has over 650 GIs, with Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu leading. Notice that TRIPS gives wines and spirits stronger protection. India wants the same for products like Basmati.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Indian context, what is the implication of ratifying the ‘Additional Protocol’ with the ‘International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’ ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The Additional Protocol brings India's civilian reactors under IAEA safeguards (a). India signed an India-specific safeguards agreement after the 2008 nuclear deal and ratified the Additional Protocol in 2014. It gives the IAEA more information and access, but only for the civilian facilities India has declared and placed under safeguards. That is 22 or more reactors. Military sites stay outside (b). The protocol gives no right to buy uranium from the NSG (c), since that came from the 2008 waiver. It does not make India an NSG member (d).
India split its civil and military nuclear facilities under the separation plan (2006). Notice that the protocol is part of the case India makes for NSG membership.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following countries :
- 1. Australia
- 2. Canada
- 3. China
- 4. India
- 5. Japan
- 6. USA
Which of the above are among the ‘free-trade partners’ of ASEAN ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Australia, China, India and Japan are ASEAN's free-trade partners (c). ASEAN has free trade agreements with China (ACFTA, 2010), Japan (AJCEP), South Korea, India (AITIGA, 2010, for goods), and Australia and New Zealand (AANZFTA, one shared deal). These were the six partners in the RCEP talks, which India left in 2019. ASEAN has no FTA with the USA or Canada, though ASEAN–Canada talks began in 2021. So options with 2 or 6 are wrong.
ASEAN also signed an FTA with Hong Kong (2019). Notice India's demand: it is pushing to review AITIGA because of its widening trade deficit and rules-of-origin abuse, with the review due by 2025–26.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.