UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — A turning point for nuclear deterrence

Q1. Which one of the following bodies services the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held in 2026?

  • A. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
  • B. United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA)
  • C. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO)
  • D. United Nations Security Council 1540 Committee

Q2. The New START Treaty, whose expiry in February 2026 ended bilateral legal limits on US and Russian strategic nuclear forces, was originally signed between the two countries in which year?

  • A. 2002
  • B. 2009
  • C. 2010
  • D. 2011

Q3. Which one of the following was the last legally binding bilateral arms-control treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation placing numerical caps on deployed strategic nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles, that lapsed on 4–5 February 2026?

  • A. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
  • B. Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT / Moscow Treaty)
  • C. Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
  • D. New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)

Q4. In the context of NATO and the current debate following the lapse of New START in 2026, the term 'extended deterrence' refers to:

  • A. A nuclear-armed state's pledge to use its nuclear arsenal to deter attacks against its allies, providing them a 'nuclear umbrella'
  • B. The doctrine of mutually assured destruction between two nuclear-armed adversaries of comparable arsenal size
  • C. The extension of an arms-control treaty's verification regime beyond its stipulated expiry date
  • D. The geographical extension of a no-first-use pledge to cover neighbouring non-nuclear states