UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India’s sprint beyond the dairy red line to the Pacific

Q1. Consider the following items, reportedly kept outside India's tariff concessions (sensitive exclusion list) under the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, 2025: 1. Dairy and milk products 2. Coffee 3. Tea 4. Edible oils Which of the above is/are NOT correctly identified as being on the exclusion list?

  1. Dairy and milk products
  2. Coffee
  3. Tea
  4. Edible oils
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3
  • D. 3 and 4

Q2. In the context of the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement concluded in December 2025, the expression 'dairy red line' is most appropriately used to denote:

  • A. India's refusal to include dairy and milk products in its tariff concessions, keeping the sector outside the FTA's market-access offer
  • B. A WTO-set ceiling on domestic dairy subsidies that India had to respect while negotiating the FTA
  • C. New Zealand's minimum farm-gate price for milk used as a reference for any tariff-rate quota
  • D. The Codex sanitary threshold for milk imports above which Indian dairy cannot be exported to New Zealand

Q3. The negotiation and signing of the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (2025) on the Indian side was led by which one of the following Union Ministries?

  • A. Ministry of External Affairs
  • B. Ministry of Finance
  • C. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • D. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

Q4. In how many formal rounds of negotiations was the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement concluded, as officially stated by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in December 2025?

  • A. Three formal rounds
  • B. Five formal rounds
  • C. Seven formal rounds
  • D. Nine formal rounds

Q5. Which one of the following is officially described as the fastest-concluded Free Trade Agreement signed by India with a developed economy, having been wrapped up in roughly nine months from the launch of negotiations?

  • A. India–United Kingdom FTA
  • B. India–Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA)
  • C. India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)
  • D. India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement