UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — ‘Brazil, India forging ties for a changing world’
Q1. With reference to India-Brazil merchandise trade and the targets set by the two sides, consider the following:
1. Bilateral trade in 2025 stood at about USD 15.21 billion, a rise of over 25 per cent compared with 2024.
2. A five-year bilateral trade target of USD 20 billion was set during the Indian Prime Minister's State Visit to Brazil in July 2025.
3. USD 30 billion is the bilateral trade figure the two sides have reaffirmed as their objective for the year 2030.
4. The seventh meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism was held in Brasilia.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Bilateral trade in 2025 stood at about USD 15.21 billion, a rise of over 25 per cent compared with 2024.
- A five-year bilateral trade target of USD 20 billion was set during the Indian Prime Minister's State Visit to Brazil in July 2025.
- USD 30 billion is the bilateral trade figure the two sides have reaffirmed as their objective for the year 2030.
- The seventh meeting of the India-Brazil Trade Monitoring Mechanism was held in Brasilia.
- A. 1 and 4 only
- B. 2, 3 and 4 only
- C. 1, 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 3 and 4 only
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the two high-level India-Brazil engagements of July 2025 and February 2026:
1. The USD 20 billion five-year trade target emerged from the July 2025 engagements in Brazil, whereas the USD 30 billion by 2030 objective gained momentum around the Brazilian President's 2026 visit to India.
2. The India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting that preceded both these visits was co-chaired by India's External Affairs Minister and Brazil's Foreign Minister.
3. The 2026 understanding on setting up a final assembly line in India for Embraer's regional jets pairs the Brazilian manufacturer with NMDC Limited.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The USD 20 billion five-year trade target emerged from the July 2025 engagements in Brazil, whereas the USD 30 billion by 2030 objective gained momentum around the Brazilian President's 2026 visit to India.
- The India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting that preceded both these visits was co-chaired by India's External Affairs Minister and Brazil's Foreign Minister.
- The 2026 understanding on setting up a final assembly line in India for Embraer's regional jets pairs the Brazilian manufacturer with NMDC Limited.
- A. 1 and 3 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The New Development Bank, described as the first multilateral development bank set up by developing and emerging economies, was constituted by an agreement signed at which one of the following BRICS Summits?
- A. The 5th BRICS Summit held at Durban, South Africa in 2013
- B. The 7th BRICS Summit held at Ufa, Russia in 2015
- C. The 6th BRICS Summit held at Fortaleza, Brazil in 2014
- D. The 8th BRICS Summit held at Goa, India in 2016
Q4. With reference to BRICS as constituted in 2026, consider the following:
1. Indonesia is a full member of the grouping, having joined in January 2025.
2. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates became full members with effect from 1 January 2024.
3. Vietnam and Nigeria are full members of the grouping.
4. India assumed the BRICS chairship on 1 January 2026, doing so for the fourth time.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Indonesia is a full member of the grouping, having joined in January 2025.
- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates became full members with effect from 1 January 2024.
- Vietnam and Nigeria are full members of the grouping.
- India assumed the BRICS chairship on 1 January 2026, doing so for the fourth time.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q5. The India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum was formally constituted and named by which one of the following instruments?
- A. The Brasilia Declaration issued by the Foreign Ministers of the three countries in June 2003
- B. The Tshwane Declaration adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the three countries in 2007
- C. The Joint Declaration of the first IBSA Summit of Heads of State held at Brasilia in September 2006
- D. The IBSA Declaration on South-South Cooperation adopted at a Trilateral Commission meeting of the three countries
Q6. With reference to the IBSA Dialogue Forum, consider the following:
1. Its membership is confined to India, Brazil and South Africa.
2. Its cooperation is organised on three fronts, one of which is political consultation and coordination on global and regional issues.
3. Participatory democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law are among its declared guiding principles.
4. Its Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger finances development projects within the three member countries.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Its membership is confined to India, Brazil and South Africa.
- Its cooperation is organised on three fronts, one of which is political consultation and coordination on global and regional issues.
- Participatory democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law are among its declared guiding principles.
- Its Fund for the Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger finances development projects within the three member countries.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 3 only
- C. 4 only
- D. 2 and 4
Q7. Consider the following, with reference to India-Brazil high-level engagements in 2025 and 2026:
1. Government-to-government agreements concluded during the Brazilian President's February 2026 visit covered supply chains relating to steel production, mining and critical minerals.
2. Pharmaceuticals featured among the private-sector agreements concluded during that visit.
3. The Indian Prime Minister's State Visit to Brasilia in July 2025 followed his participation in the BRICS Summit at Rio de Janeiro.
4. The 9th India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting was held on the margins of the 2025 BRICS Summit at Rio de Janeiro.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Government-to-government agreements concluded during the Brazilian President's February 2026 visit covered supply chains relating to steel production, mining and critical minerals.
- Pharmaceuticals featured among the private-sector agreements concluded during that visit.
- The Indian Prime Minister's State Visit to Brasilia in July 2025 followed his participation in the BRICS Summit at Rio de Janeiro.
- The 9th India-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting was held on the margins of the 2025 BRICS Summit at Rio de Janeiro.
- A. 1 and 4 only
- B. 1, 2 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 4 only
- D. 1, 3 and 4 only
Q8. In bilateral protocol terms, the Brasilia leg of the Indian Prime Minister's July 2025 travel to Brazil was noteworthy for which one of the following reasons?
- A. It was only the second bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brazil, coming 57 years after the first such visit
- B. It was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Brazil to attend a BRICS Leaders' Summit hosted by that country
- C. It was the first occasion on which an Indian Prime Minister addressed a joint session of the National Congress of Brazil
- D. It was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to any Latin American country in more than a decade
Q9. Consider the following, with reference to the outcomes of the 30th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC held at Belem in November 2025:
1. The Belem Adaptation Indicators, establishing a common framework to assess progress towards the global goal on adaptation.
2. A decision fixing an explicit timeline for the phase-out of fossil fuels.
3. The Belem Gender Action Plan covering the period 2026-2034.
4. A new mechanism for international cooperation on just transition.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as outcomes of that Conference?
- The Belem Adaptation Indicators, establishing a common framework to assess progress towards the global goal on adaptation.
- A decision fixing an explicit timeline for the phase-out of fossil fuels.
- The Belem Gender Action Plan covering the period 2026-2034.
- A new mechanism for international cooperation on just transition.
- A. 1, 3 and 4 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4 only
- D. 3 and 4 only
Q10. The 30th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, hosted by Brazil in 2025, was distinctive in which one of the following respects?
- A. It was the first Conference of the Parties to the Convention to be convened in the Amazon region
- B. It was the first Conference of the Parties to the Convention to be hosted by a founding member of the BRICS grouping
- C. It was the first Conference of the Parties at which a Gender Action Plan under the Convention was adopted
- D. It was the first Conference of the Parties held under a presidency drawn from the Latin American and Caribbean States group
Q11. Consider the following, with reference to Brazilian companies prominent in India-Brazil economic engagement:
1. Embraer, associated with a proposed regional-jet final assembly line in India, is an aerospace manufacturer.
2. Vale, a party to an understanding on an iron-ore blending facility at an Indian port, is a mining company.
3. WEG, cited among the Brazilian firms driving bilateral trade, operates principally in electrical equipment.
4. The Embraer aircraft proposed for final assembly in India is the KC-390 medium military transport.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- Embraer, associated with a proposed regional-jet final assembly line in India, is an aerospace manufacturer.
- Vale, a party to an understanding on an iron-ore blending facility at an Indian port, is a mining company.
- WEG, cited among the Brazilian firms driving bilateral trade, operates principally in electrical equipment.
- The Embraer aircraft proposed for final assembly in India is the KC-390 medium military transport.
- A. 1 and 4
- B. 4 only
- C. 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q12. Consider the following statements comparing India's trade arrangements with Latin American partners:
1. The India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement, in force since 2009, covers a limited set of roughly 450 tariff lines, and both sides are examining its expansion into a fuller agreement.
2. Unlike the MERCOSUR arrangement, India's preferential trade engagement with Mexico is at the stage of finalised Terms of Reference rather than an operational agreement.
3. MERCOSUR, the bloc with which India has this preferential arrangement, is a grouping of ten South American states.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The India-MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement, in force since 2009, covers a limited set of roughly 450 tariff lines, and both sides are examining its expansion into a fuller agreement.
- Unlike the MERCOSUR arrangement, India's preferential trade engagement with Mexico is at the stage of finalised Terms of Reference rather than an operational agreement.
- MERCOSUR, the bloc with which India has this preferential arrangement, is a grouping of ten South American states.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3