UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Taliban seek deeper farm ties with India
Q1. The official statement announcing the conclusion of the six-day visit of the Taliban administration's Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock to India in July 2026 was issued by which one of the following?
- A. Ministry of External Affairs
- B. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
- C. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- D. Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Q2. 'Value addition in food processing', one of the cooperation areas identified during the July 2026 India-Afghanistan agricultural talks, is best defined as:
- A. Converting raw agricultural produce into processed forms that fetch a higher realisation than the unprocessed commodity
- B. Raising the minimum support price paid to farmers for the raw commodity
- C. Providing a freight subsidy for the transport of unprocessed produce to export markets
- D. Grading and certifying raw produce to meet the sanitary standards of the importing country
Q3. In diplomatic practice, 'de facto recognition' of a government, as distinguished from 'de jure recognition', is best defined as:
- A. A provisional acknowledgement that an authority exercises effective control over territory, which is revocable and does not imply full legal acceptance
- B. Full and permanent legal acceptance of a government, conferring complete treaty-making capacity and sovereign immunity
- C. Recognition that takes effect only when conferred by a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly
- D. Recognition extended to a government-in-exile that does not control the territory it claims
Q4. With reference to India's engagement with the Taliban administration in Afghanistan since 2021, consider the following:
1. India re-established a technical mission in its Kabul embassy in June 2022.
2. The Technical Mission of India in Kabul was upgraded to the Embassy of India in 2025.
3. India extended formal de jure recognition to the Taliban administration before commencing ministerial-level engagement.
4. India's External Affairs Minister held talks with the Afghan Foreign Minister in New Delhi in October 2025.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- India re-established a technical mission in its Kabul embassy in June 2022.
- The Technical Mission of India in Kabul was upgraded to the Embassy of India in 2025.
- India extended formal de jure recognition to the Taliban administration before commencing ministerial-level engagement.
- India's External Affairs Minister held talks with the Afghan Foreign Minister in New Delhi in October 2025.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 1, 3 and 4
Q5. On the Indian side, the India-Afghanistan Joint Agricultural Working Group announced in 2026 is to be operationalised principally by which one of the following?
- A. Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
- B. Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare
- C. Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- D. Ministry of Food Processing Industries
Q6. The India-Afghanistan Joint Agricultural Working Group was announced in 2026 during bilateral talks held by the Afghan Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock with which one of the following Union Ministers of India?
- A. Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan
- B. Dr. S. Jaishankar
- C. Shri Piyush Goyal
- D. Shri Chirag Paswan
Q7. Which one of the following has constituted the single largest component, by quantity supplied, of India's humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan since 2021?
- A. Wheat
- B. Medicines and vaccines
- C. Winter clothing
- D. Pesticides and agro-chemicals
Q8. Consider the following statements comparing India's assistance to Afghanistan before and after August 2021:
1. Whereas pre-2021 Indian assistance was largely project-based development cooperation, post-2021 assistance has been predominantly humanitarian, comprising food, medicines and vaccines.
2. India's post-2021 wheat commitment to Afghanistan was of the order of 50,000 metric tonnes.
3. Post-2021 humanitarian consignments were despatched only after India extended formal recognition to the administration in Kabul.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Whereas pre-2021 Indian assistance was largely project-based development cooperation, post-2021 assistance has been predominantly humanitarian, comprising food, medicines and vaccines.
- India's post-2021 wheat commitment to Afghanistan was of the order of 50,000 metric tonnes.
- Post-2021 humanitarian consignments were despatched only after India extended formal recognition to the administration in Kabul.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q9. Consider the following India-assisted projects in Afghanistan:
1. Afghan-India Friendship Dam on the Hari Rud river in Herat province
2. Zaranj-Delaram highway (Route 606)
3. Afghan Parliament building in Kabul
4. Lalandar (Shatoot) Dam in the Kabul river basin
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as India-assisted projects completed and handed over before 2021?
- Afghan-India Friendship Dam on the Hari Rud river in Herat province
- Zaranj-Delaram highway (Route 606)
- Afghan Parliament building in Kabul
- Lalandar (Shatoot) Dam in the Kabul river basin
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 2, 3 and 4
- C. 1 and 4
- D. 3 and 4
Q10. Which one of the following is the largest hydro-electric-cum-irrigation project built by India in Afghanistan, executed by WAPCOS Ltd. and designed to generate 42 MW of power while irrigating about 75,000 hectares?
- A. Afghan-India Friendship Dam
- B. Lalandar (Shatoot) Dam
- C. Kajaki Dam
- D. Naghlu Dam
Q11. Consider the following areas:
1. Agricultural trade and agri-trade promotion
2. Irrigation
3. Food processing and value addition
4. Joint training of border security personnel
Which of the above is/are correctly identified as areas of cooperation taken up in the bilateral talks between India's Union Agriculture Minister and the Afghan Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock in July 2026?
- Agricultural trade and agri-trade promotion
- Irrigation
- Food processing and value addition
- Joint training of border security personnel
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1, 2 and 4
- C. 2, 3 and 4
- D. 1 and 4 only