International Relations: syllabus hub.
Syllabus: UPSC Mains GS2: India & neighbourhood, groupings, international institutions, diaspora
Indus Waters Treaty for UPSC: Indus system, eastern and western rivers, India's rights, Indus Commission, Kishenganga and Ratle, and the 2025 abeyance.
India-Pakistan relations for UPSC: Kashmir 1947, wars of 1965, 1971 and Kargil, Simla Agreement, Indus treaty in abeyance, terrorism, Pahalgam, Sindoor.
India-Nepal relations for UPSC: 1950 treaty, open border, Gorkhas, Kosi, Gandak, Mahakali treaties, hydropower trade, Kalapani-Lipulekh map row and China.
India-China relations for UPSC: 1962 war, LAC sectors, 1993-2013 border agreements, Doklam and Galwan, 2024 disengagement, trade deficit, Brahmaputra and BRI.
India-Bangladesh relations for UPSC: 1971, 2015 Land Boundary Agreement, Ganga treaty and Teesta, trade, connectivity, border, migration and post-2024 strains.
World Bank for UPSC: Bretton Woods 1944, IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, ICSID, voting shares, India as borrower, reports, poverty line and reform…
Attempt them here.
Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched ?
The pair 33 Corps : Srinagar is wrong (d). 33 Corps (Trishakti Corps) has its headquarters at Sukna near Siliguri, guarding Sikkim and the Siliguri Corridor. Srinagar hosts 15 Corps (Chinar Corps). Option (a) is correct: 3 Corps (Spear Corps) is at Dimapur. Option (b) is correct: 4 Corps (Gajraj Corps) is at Tezpur. Option (c) is correct: 14 Corps (Fire and Fury) is at Leh, facing Ladakh and the Siachen glacier.
Notice the structure: the Army has seven operational Commands, plus a training command, divided into Corps. The Siliguri Corridor, the "Chicken's Neck", is only about 22 km wide, which is why Trishakti Corps is so vital.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following countries are members of the European Union ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Poland and Germany are EU members (c). Item 2 is right: Poland joined in the big 2004 enlargement. Item 3 is right: Germany is a founder member from the 1957 Treaty of Rome. Item 1 is wrong: Belarus is close to Russia and not in the EU. Item 4 is wrong: Switzerland stays outside, linked through bilateral deals and the Schengen area. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the numbers: the EU has 27 members since the UK left (Brexit, 2020). Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are in the European Economic Area but not the EU. India and the EU concluded talks on their Free Trade Agreement in January 2026.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Match List I with List II and select the answer using the code given below the Lists :
| List I (INTERPOL Notice) | List II (Description)
| A. Silver Notice | 1. To seek information on unidentified bodies
| B. Blue Notice | 2. To collect additional information about a person’s identity, location, or activities in relation to a criminal investigation
| C. Black Notice | 3. To provide warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety
| D. Green Notice | 4. To identify and trace criminal assets
Code :
The correct match is A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3 (c). The Silver Notice, first issued in January 2025 as a pilot, helps trace criminal assets (A-4). A Blue Notice collects more information about a person's identity, location or activities (B-2). A Black Notice seeks information on unidentified bodies (C-1). A Green Notice warns about a person's criminal activities when they may threaten public safety (D-3). Options (a), (b) and (d) mix these up.
Notice the best-known one: a Red Notice asks police worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. A Yellow Notice helps find missing persons, and an Orange Notice warns of an imminent threat. In India, the CBI is the National Central Bureau for INTERPOL, which is headquartered in Lyon.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany visited India in January, 2026. Which of the following is/are not correct in terms of outcomes of this visit ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Outcomes 1 and 4 are not correct (b). Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited India on 12–13 January 2026. Item 1 is wrong: the Ayurveda MoU was between the All India Institute of Ayurveda and Charité University, Berlin, not Hamburg. Item 4 is wrong: Germany's new Honorary Consul was opened in Ahmedabad, not Lucknow. Item 2 is a real outcome: an MoU on youth hockey development between Hockey India and the German Hockey Federation. Item 3 is a real outcome: a new bilateral dialogue on the Indo-Pacific. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the method: for visit questions, UPSC copies the MEA's "List of Outcomes" and changes one word, here a city name. India and Germany have been strategic partners since 2000.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following is/are the most significant implication(s) of obtaining Oeko-Tex certification for Eri Silk in the global textile industry ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Both statements describe the significance (c). Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is an international label showing that a textile has been tested for harmful substances. Statement 1 is right: it lets Indian exporters compete in high-end markets that want chemical-free products. Statement 2 is right: it confirms Eri silk meets international safety, environmental and quality standards, opening premium, eco-conscious markets in Europe and elsewhere. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice Eri silk's story: called "peace silk" or ahimsa silk, because the moth is allowed to leave the cocoon before the silk is spun. It is made mainly in Assam and the North-East. India's other silks are mulberry, tasar and muga, the golden silk found only in Assam.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) recently introduced a national standard to test and assess bomb disposal system. Which of the following statements with regard to this system is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (c). Statement 1 is right: the Bureau of Indian Standards issued IS 19445 : 2025, India's first national standard to test and assess bomb disposal systems. Statement 2 is right: one common test standard improves interoperability of equipment across police, armed forces and security agencies. Statement 3 is wrong: it was developed with DRDO's Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh, with no Russian partner. So options (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the purpose: earlier, agencies tested equipment like bomb suits, containment vessels and robots against foreign standards. A domestic standard helps indigenous makers under Atmanirbhar Bharat. BIS works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and gained statutory status in 1986.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following statements with reference to the Sagarmala Programme of the Government of India :
Which of the following relationships among the above statements is/are correct ?
Select the answer using the code given below :
Relationships 1 and 2 are correct (b). Sagarmala (2015, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways) aims at port-led development. Relationship 1 is right: growth in coastal and inland waterway shipping, plus better global port rankings, is evidence that it works. Relationship 2 is right: Sagarmala 2.0 builds on the same aim with innovation and shipbuilding, linked to Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047. Relationship 3 is wrong: building on an aim is not contradicting it. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the four pillars: port modernisation, port connectivity, port-led industrialisation and coastal community development. Also related: Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. Vizhinjam and Vadhavan are big new ports.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
‘X’, born in the UK, was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2025. He was a professor in an American university when this prize was announced. Identify X :
X is John Clarke (c). John Clarke, born in Cambridge, England, shared the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics while a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He won with Michel Devoret and John Martinis for showing macroscopic quantum tunnelling in an electric circuit. Option (a) is wrong: Devoret was born in France. Option (b) is wrong: Richard Robson (Chemistry 2025) was born in England but works in Melbourne, Australia. Option (d) is wrong: Joel Mokyr (Economics 2025) was born in the Netherlands.
Notice why the physics prize matters: their experiments with superconducting circuits in the 1980s laid the base for today's quantum computers. India's own National Quantum Mission (2023) aims to build 50–1,000 qubit machines.
Robson fits "born in the UK" but fails the second clue: his university is in Australia.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
India will host the 61st meeting of the International Committee of Legal Metrology (CIML) for the first time, in New Delhi from 26 to 28 October 2026. The Department of Consumer Affairs is organising it with the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML), and more than 100 delegates are expected, PIB said on 19 October.
UPSC angle: Prelims: OIML, CIML, Legal Metrology Act 2009, Union List Entry 50. · Mains GS-III: standards and trade.
19 Oct 2026
On 19 October 2026 the Ministry of External Affairs rejected references to India in resolutions adopted at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad on 17–18 October. It called them ‘malicious, biased and false’, said Pakistan orchestrated them, and said the OIC has no locus standi on India’s internal matters.
UPSC angle: Prelims: OIC facts, J&K Reorganisation Act, UN Charter Article 2(7). · Mains GS-II: India, OIC and Pakistan.
19 Oct 2026
On 19 October 2026 China’s Commerce Ministry announced export controls on tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and related items from 18 November, calling them clearly dual-use. India imports TBMs for metro, rail and border tunnels and has faced customs delays on Chinese machines since 2024. China also announced controls on some drones.
UPSC angle: Prelims: export control regimes, SCOMET, Wassenaar, MTCR. · Mains GS-II/III: China dependence and supply-chain resilience.
19 Oct 2026
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will represent India at the 25th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 19–20 October 2026. This is the SCO’s second-highest body, and it looks after trade, economy, connectivity and the Organisation’s budget. The last CHG met in Moscow on 18 November 2025, where External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar spoke for India.
UPSC angle: Prelims: SCO members, bodies (CHS, CHG, RATS), founding year, CHG venue. · Mains GS-II: India and regional groupings, Central Asia.
18 Oct 2026
On 14 October 2026 Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh opened the first ASEAN-India Defence Think Tank Forum at MP-IDSA in New Delhi. The two-day meeting brings India and all 11 ASEAN members together on maritime security, emerging tech and defence-industry ties, under the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation.
UPSC angle: Prelims: ASEAN (11 members), MP-IDSA, ADMM-Plus, SAGAR/MAHASAGAR. · Mains GS-II: India–ASEAN defence engagement and Indo-Pacific.
14 Oct 2026
On 13 October 2026 the Prime Minister addressed the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, welcomed Bloomberg's plans to expand in India, spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the Strategic Partnership, and met former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Forum.
UPSC angle: Prelims/Mains: India's economic diplomacy and bilateral meetings at multilateral business forums.
14 Oct 2026