UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Questions surrounding the Quad’s future

Q1. The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) traces its earliest origins to coordination among its four future members during which one of the following events?

  • A. The relief and rescue coordination following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami
  • B. Australia's withdrawal from the grouping in 2008
  • C. The revival of the dialogue in 2017
  • D. The first leader-level Quad summit held in 2021

Q2. For approximately how many years had the U.S. combatant command carried the 'Indo-Pacific Command' designation before it was reverted to 'Pacific Command' in June 2026?

  • A. About 4 years
  • B. About 8 years
  • C. About 12 years
  • D. About 20 years

Q3. In terms of its institutional character, the Quad is most precisely described as which one of the following?

  • A. An informal, non-treaty strategic and security dialogue (a minilateral grouping)
  • B. A treaty-based collective-defence military alliance with mutual-defence obligations
  • C. A customs union with a common external tariff among its members
  • D. A subsidiary regional body established under the United Nations Charter

Q4. The quadrilateral (Quad) cooperation referenced in the U.S. National Security Strategy released in November 2025 comprises how many member countries in total?

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

Q5. In the context of U.S. policy, the 'National Security Strategy' (such as the one released in November 2025) is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A periodic document articulating the country's principal national security concerns and how it intends to address them
  • B. A binding bilateral defence treaty ratified with each Indo-Pacific partner
  • C. The annual appropriations law fixing the U.S. defence budget
  • D. The command structure of the U.S. armed forces in a given theatre

Q6. Which one of the following is the nodal Indian ministry that operationalises India's engagement in the India-Japan Annual Summit and coordinates its Quad diplomacy?

  • A. Ministry of External Affairs
  • B. Ministry of Defence
  • C. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • D. NITI Aayog

Q7. India's Act East Policy was formally enunciated by the Prime Minister at the ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits held in Myanmar in which year?

  • A. 2011
  • B. 2012
  • C. 2014
  • D. 2019

Q8. China's flagship connectivity project, launched in 2013 and widely cited as the strategic backdrop against which the Quad frames a 'free and open Indo-Pacific', is which one of the following?

  • A. The Belt and Road Initiative
  • B. The String of Pearls
  • C. The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road
  • D. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank