International Relations Mixed Practice — MCQs with Answers (Set 14)

The correct answer is Habitat III, in Quito. UN-Habitat described the 6th APMCHUD as the first meeting of regional ministers two months after the approval of the New Urban Agenda. The New Delhi Declaration itself calls it the first major regional meeting of ministers since Habitat III. It also cites the endorsement of the New Urban Agenda. Habitat III met from 17 to 20 October 2016. The 2006 Delhi Declaration recalls Habitat II, the Istanbul conference of 1996, as an earlier event. It also recalls the 2005 World Summit and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The correct answer is the Republic of Korea. UN-Habitat’s events page gives 3 to 5 November 2014 and names Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as host. The 2016 New Delhi Declaration thanks Korea for hosting the 5th APMCHUD. Indonesia hosted the 3rd conference in 2010. Jordan hosted the 4th in 2012. Iran hosted the 2nd in 2008.

The correct answer is European Union. BTIA is the name of the earlier India-EU talks on trade and investment. Since 2022 the work has been split into a free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a geographical indications agreement. The official UPSC key for CSP 2017, Series A, gives (a). The paper lists the options in a different order. The answer is the same.

The correct answer is a free trade agreement, an investment protection agreement and a geographical indications agreement. The Commission’s release of 17 June 2022 names all three. The Commission lists the FTA as concluded and the other two as being negotiated. The India-EU Security and Defence Partnership is a separate agreement that leaders welcomed in January 2026.

The correct answer is 2013. The Commission’s FTA page says the talks were suspended in 2013 and relaunched in 2022. The European Parliament research page says the talks stalled since 2013. PIB said in 2017 that the last of sixteen rounds was in 2013. India deferred chief negotiators’ talks in August 2015, which was later. The leaders agreed to resume talks in May 2021.

The correct answer is that it put its proposals for signature and conclusion to the Council. The Commission lists the next steps as Council adoption, signing, the European Parliament’s agreement and the Council’s concluding decision. The EU and India would like to sign in December 2026. The Parliament’s consent comes after signing.

The correct answer is 1 January 2026. Two Commission CBAM pages say the definitive regime applies from 1 January 2026. Under the definitive regime importers must buy and surrender CBAM certificates for the embedded emissions of imported goods. PIB lists forward-looking CBAM provisions in the India-EU FTA.

The correct answer is 97%. PIB says India has gained preferential access across 97% of EU tariff lines, covering 99.5% of trade value. The figure 92.1% is different. It is the share of its own tariff lines that India offers, covering 97.5% of EU exports. Business Standard (news) reported 86% for India’s offer.

The key is 2 only. IONS was launched in New Delhi on 14 February 2008, not 2015, so statement 1 is false. The Indian Navy chaired the first term, from 2008 to 2010. Statement 2 is true. IONS is a voluntary forum that seeks to increase maritime co-operation among littoral navies.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the IONS seminar in New Delhi on 14 February 2008. The seminar opened with his speech and ran on 14 and 15 February. He said the Indian Ocean hosts a third of the world’s population. He listed piracy, smuggling and trafficking as shared threats. He asked navies to help in cyclones and tsunamis.

The UAE took the chair in 2010, after India’s 2008 to 2010 term. South Africa followed in 2012 and Australia in 2014. Bangladesh and Iran came later, in 2016 and 2018. The chair rotates through four sub-regions.

India took over at the 9th Conclave of Chiefs in Visakhapatnam on 20 February 2026. The Royal Thai Navy handed over the chair. India last chaired IONS from 2008 to 2010. Goa hosted the 2022 exercise instead.

IONS runs three working groups. They are HADR, MARSEC and IS&I. HADR covers disaster response, MARSEC covers piracy and trafficking, and IS&I covers information sharing. India and Iran co-chair HADR and MARSEC for 2026 to 2028. IPW is a preparatory workshop, and CORE is India’s theme.

The Philippines joined as an observer on 20 February 2026. It had asked for the status through the IONS Secretariat in October 2025. The Conclave granted it by consensus. Japan was already an observer, and Egypt attended only as a littoral state.

Saudi Arabia will chair IONS from 2028 to 2030. It holds the West Asian turn under the rotation policy. Kenya will follow from 2030 to 2032, for East Africa. Both were confirmed at the 9th Conclave.

IMEX-22 was held at Goa and in the Arabian Sea from 26 to 30 March 2022. Its aim was interoperability in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. Participants validated the IONS HADR guidelines. Warships and aircraft came from Bangladesh, France, India and Iran.

The correct answer is Neither 1 nor 2. Statement 1 is false. The Nuclear Security Summits were a leaders’ process. President Obama announced the idea in his 2009 Prague speech. Countries hosted the summits: the United States in 2010 and 2016, South Korea in 2012 and the Netherlands in 2014. The UN took part as an invited organisation, not as host. So the summits were not UN-run meetings. Statement 2 is false. IPFM calls itself an independent group of experts. Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security gives it administrative and research support. It is not an organ of the IAEA. The IAEA did take part in the summits, and the 2016 Communiqué gives it a central role in nuclear security. That role does not make IPFM part of it. The official UPSC key for CSP 2017, Series A, gives (d), which is Neither 1 nor 2. The paper lists the options in a different order. The answer is the same.

The correct answer is gift baskets. The summit archive says the 2012 Summit introduced the new concept of gift baskets. These are joint statements by groups of participating countries. IDSA, a think tank, also says the process of gift basket pledges began in 2012. The Washington Work Plan came from the 2010 summit. The Action Plans and the Contact Group came from the 2016 summit.

The correct answer is the Nuclear Security Summit process in this format. The Communiqué is dated 1 April 2016. It also says the Communiqués of 2010, 2012 and 2014 and the 2010 Work Plan will continue to guide efforts. The summit archive calls the 2016 meeting the last in its current format. So the work did not end with the summit.

The correct answer is 8 May 2016. The IAEA gives 8 July 2005 as the date the Amendment was adopted. It gives 8 May 2016 as the date it entered into force. Nicaragua became the 102nd state to adhere on 8 April 2016, which met the two-thirds threshold. The original CPPNM entered into force on 8 February 1987.

The correct answer is Washington, 2010. India’s 2016 national progress report says India announced GCNEP during the 2010 summit in Washington. The Prime Minister’s statement at Seoul in 2012 also says he announced it at the Washington Summit. The Government of India approved the centre in September 2010.

The correct answer is to adopt and enforce effective laws that bar non-State actors from weapons of mass destruction. Resolution 1540 acts under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Paragraph 2 asks States to adopt and enforce such laws. The CPPNM Amendment is a treaty, not part of Resolution 1540. The Contact Group dates from 2016. India says its 2005 Weapons of Mass Destruction Act gives effect to its 1540 obligations, among other things.

The correct answer is 39. The joint statement of 1 April 2016 lists the governments. The Contact Group fact sheet counts thirty-nine Summit participants, plus the UN and INTERPOL. Forty-seven countries took part in the 2010 summit and 53 in Seoul in 2012.

The correct answer is EU. The European Commission adopted the Digital Single Market Strategy on 6 May 2015 as document COM(2015) 192. It set out 16 key actions under three pillars. Its aim was to move from 28 national markets to a single one. ASEAN, BRICS and G20 did not issue it. The strategy is a Commission document, and the Commission is an EU institution.

The correct answer is 16. The Commission’s release of 6 May 2015 was headed “Commission sets out 16 initiatives” and spoke of 16 key actions under three pillars. The figure 28 is the number of national markets the strategy aimed to replace with one. The figure 35 is the number of proposals and initiatives the Commission said it had delivered by its mid-term review of 10 May 2017.