UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India, Japan sign maritime security pact to deepen defence cooperation
Q1. The Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation signed by India and Japan in August 2026 is to be operationalised principally by which one of the following pairs of institutions?
- A. The Indian Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard
- B. The Directorate General of Shipping and the Japan Coast Guard
- C. The Indian Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
- D. The National Maritime Security Coordinator and Japan's National Security Secretariat
Q2. The India-Japan Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation (August 2026) was concluded at a meeting held in which one of the following India-Japan formats?
- A. The India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue
- B. Bilateral talks between the two Defence Ministers held in New Delhi
- C. The India-Japan Annual Summit at the level of the two Prime Ministers
- D. The India-Japan Strategic Dialogue between the two Foreign Ministers
Q3. The India-Japan relationship acquired the designation 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' through which one of the following instruments?
- A. The Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation adopted in 2008
- B. The India-Japan Vision Statement adopted at the Annual Summit of 2018
- C. The Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation adopted in August 2025
- D. The Tokyo Declaration adopted at the Annual Summit of 2014
Q4. Consider the following statements about the institutional milestones of the India-Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership:
1. The relationship was designated a 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' at the Annual Summit of 2014.
2. India and Japan have held Annual Summits since 2006.
3. The first India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting was held in Tokyo in 2019.
4. The agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Indian Armed Forces and Japan's Self-Defense Forces was concluded in 2020.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- The relationship was designated a 'Special Strategic and Global Partnership' at the Annual Summit of 2014.
- India and Japan have held Annual Summits since 2006.
- The first India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting was held in Tokyo in 2019.
- The agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the Indian Armed Forces and Japan's Self-Defense Forces was concluded in 2020.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 3 only
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 3 and 4
Q5. The Implementing Arrangement for Deeper Cooperation concluded in 2018 between the Indian Navy and the JMSDF gave effect to cooperation primarily in which one of the following domains?
- A. Reciprocal provision of supplies and services at each other's facilities
- B. Co-development and co-production of naval antenna systems
- C. Maritime Domain Awareness through information exchange between the two navies
- D. Marine pollution response and maritime law enforcement in the Bay of Bengal
Q6. Among the following India-Japan defence instruments, which one was concluded the earliest?
- A. The Implementing Arrangement for Deeper Cooperation between the Indian Navy and the JMSDF
- B. The agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services between the forces of the two countries
- C. The Memorandum of Implementation on co-development of UNICORN masts for the Indian Navy
- D. The Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation signed in New Delhi
Q7. Which one of the following correctly describes the composition of the India-Japan '2+2' Ministerial Dialogue?
- A. A dialogue in which the Foreign and Defence Secretaries of the two sides meet, ministers joining only the concluding session
- B. A dialogue in which two ministers of one side meet two service chiefs of the other, dealing exclusively with defence matters
- C. A dialogue between the Foreign and Commerce Ministers of the two countries, which necessarily precedes every Annual Summit
- D. A dialogue in which the Foreign Minister and the Defence Minister of each side meet their two counterparts in a joint session
Q8. The India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue has alternated between the two capitals. Which of its editions has/have been hosted by the Government of India in New Delhi?
- A. The second edition only
- B. The first and the second editions
- C. The first and the third editions
- D. The second and the third editions
Q9. Which one of the following correctly describes the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit?
- A. Held in Japan in August 2025, hosted by Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru
- B. Held in India in July 2026, during the visit of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae
- C. Held in India in July 2026, during the visit of Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru
- D. Held in Japan in July 2026, during the visit of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae
Q10. Which one of the following statements regarding India's institutional handling of its free and open Indo-Pacific agenda is correct?
- A. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative is administered exclusively by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways as a maritime-transport programme
- B. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative is a legally binding treaty which all East Asia Summit participants are required to ratify
- C. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, launched at the East Asia Summit in 2019, is handled by a dedicated Indo-Pacific Division of the Ministry of External Affairs
- D. India's Indo-Pacific vision flows from SAGAR, enunciated in 2019, and is implemented solely through the Quad's maritime security working group
Q11. Of the following four arrangements — the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement with the United States, the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement with Australia, the agreement on Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services with Japan, and the Implementing Arrangement for Deeper Cooperation between the Indian Navy and the JMSDF — how many were concluded by India in the calendar year 2020?
- A. Only one
- B. Only two
- C. Only three
- D. All four