UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The year gone by, the Quad’s year of interregnum

Q1. The first Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting of 2025, convened on January 21, 2025 — just one day after the U.S. presidential inauguration — was hosted under whose chairship?

  • A. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
  • B. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
  • C. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya
  • D. Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong

Q2. Which one of the following was the very first multilateral diplomatic engagement hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after assuming office in January 2025?

  • A. Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting
  • B. G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting
  • C. NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting
  • D. APEC Ministerial Meeting

Q3. At the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Washington D.C. on July 1, 2025, the ministers unveiled a broader Quad agenda organised around how many thematic pillars?

  • A. Three
  • B. Four
  • C. Five
  • D. Six

Q4. With reference to the two Quad Foreign Ministers' Meetings held in 2025, consider the following statements: 1. The January 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting was the very first multilateral engagement convened by the second Trump administration. 2. The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework was formally launched at the July 2025 meeting, and had not been adopted at the January 2025 meeting. 3. Both the January 2025 and the July 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers' Meetings were held in New Delhi, India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. The January 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting was the very first multilateral engagement convened by the second Trump administration.
  2. The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework was formally launched at the July 2025 meeting, and had not been adopted at the January 2025 meeting.
  3. Both the January 2025 and the July 2025 Quad Foreign Ministers' Meetings were held in New Delhi, India.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. In the context of Indo-Pacific diplomacy, the 'Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework', launched in 2025, is best described as:

  • A. A framework to guide Quad partners in leveraging economic policy tools and coordinating investment to strengthen critical minerals supply chains, including in mining, processing and recycling
  • B. A binding Quad treaty imposing uniform import tariffs on Chinese rare-earth and critical-mineral exports
  • C. A joint Quad sovereign wealth fund that acquires equity stakes in critical-mineral mines in third countries on behalf of member states
  • D. A maritime patrol regime under which Quad navies interdict illegal critical-mineral shipments in the Indo-Pacific