UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Does the BRICS summit signify a shift for Indian foreign policy?
Q1. With reference to BRICS, the expression 'Partner Country', as used following the grouping's recent enlargement, denotes which one of the following?
- A. A non-member state that has subscribed to the capital of the New Development Bank without seeking any status within the BRICS grouping itself
- B. A state permitted to sit in on the Sherpas' track of BRICS but excluded by rule from all ministerial-level BRICS meetings
- C. A category distinct from full membership, into which ten states including Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba and Vietnam entered during 2025
- D. A member of the Non-Aligned Movement whose application for full BRICS membership has been tabled and awaits consensus among existing members
Q2. India's chairship of BRICS in 2026 was which one of the following in the sequence of chairships India has held since the grouping's inception?
- A. Its second chairship, the first having been in 2012, when a Delhi Declaration was adopted
- B. Its fourth chairship since the grouping's inception
- C. Its third chairship, and the first ever held by any founding BRIC member after the 2024 enlargement
- D. Its fifth chairship, making India the member that has held the largest number of chairships
Q3. Under India's BRICS Chairship, the more than 350 meetings and high-level engagements held in the lead-up to the 18th BRICS Summit were spread across how many Indian cities?
Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the 18th BRICS Summit:
1. It was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 12-13 September 2026.
2. The theme guiding India's Chairship was 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'.
3. A 'Bharat Innovates' Exposition showcasing India's deep-tech innovations was held at the same venue on 11-12 September 2026.
4. It was the first BRICS meeting at the level of leaders ever hosted by India, earlier Indian chairships having yielded only ministerial-level declarations.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- It was held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on 12-13 September 2026.
- The theme guiding India's Chairship was 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'.
- A 'Bharat Innovates' Exposition showcasing India's deep-tech innovations was held at the same venue on 11-12 September 2026.
- It was the first BRICS meeting at the level of leaders ever hosted by India, earlier Indian chairships having yielded only ministerial-level declarations.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 4
- D. 3 only
Q5. Which of the following are correctly identified as positions recorded in the BRICS New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit?
1. Condemnation of unilateral coercive measures, including unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, as contrary to international law.
2. A stated determination to reform institutions including the UN Security Council, the World Trade Organization and multilateral development banks.
3. Support for an urgent ceasefire and accelerated delivery of humanitarian aid, together with a lasting and sustainable peace in the region concerned.
4. A decision to introduce a single common BRICS currency to replace the US dollar in the settlement of intra-BRICS trade.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Condemnation of unilateral coercive measures, including unilateral economic sanctions and secondary sanctions, as contrary to international law.
- A stated determination to reform institutions including the UN Security Council, the World Trade Organization and multilateral development banks.
- Support for an urgent ceasefire and accelerated delivery of humanitarian aid, together with a lasting and sustainable peace in the region concerned.
- A decision to introduce a single common BRICS currency to replace the US dollar in the settlement of intra-BRICS trade.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. Consider the following statements comparing the outcome document of the 18th BRICS Summit with those of earlier BRICS summits:
1. Alongside its outcome declaration, the 18th Summit also adopted an Action Plan for strengthening BRICS cooperation.
2. The declaration adopted at the BRICS summit immediately preceding the 18th was titled 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'.
3. Before 2026, no BRICS outcome document had been named after the Indian capital.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Alongside its outcome declaration, the 18th Summit also adopted an Action Plan for strengthening BRICS cooperation.
- The declaration adopted at the BRICS summit immediately preceding the 18th was titled 'Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance'.
- Before 2026, no BRICS outcome document had been named after the Indian capital.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 2 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q7. The 1955 Asian-African Conference, on whose principles the Non-Aligned Movement later drew, articulated its central security prescription in which one of the following terms?
- A. Immediate creation of a third military bloc of newly decolonised states operating under a single joint command structure
- B. Permanent armed neutrality on the Swiss model, coupled with a treaty bar on hosting any foreign military facility whatsoever
- C. Simultaneous association with both Cold War alliance systems so that smaller states might extract concessions from each in turn
- D. Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defence to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers
Q8. The first conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, held in 1961, was hosted by the country then led by which one of the following among its founding leaders?
- A. Gamal Abdel Nasser
- B. Josip Broz Tito
- C. Kwame Nkrumah
- D. Sukarno
Q9. Consider the following statements regarding BRICS institutional mechanisms:
1. The New Development Bank, operationalised in 2015, has its headquarters in Shanghai.
2. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement provides short-term liquidity support to members through currency swaps to help mitigate balance of payments crisis situations.
3. Membership of the New Development Bank is confined to BRICS member states, and it has admitted no country from outside the grouping.
4. The BRICS Grain Exchange is a fully operational commodity trading platform established by the New Delhi Declaration, with its trading floor located at Indore.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- The New Development Bank, operationalised in 2015, has its headquarters in Shanghai.
- The Contingent Reserve Arrangement provides short-term liquidity support to members through currency swaps to help mitigate balance of payments crisis situations.
- Membership of the New Development Bank is confined to BRICS member states, and it has admitted no country from outside the grouping.
- The BRICS Grain Exchange is a fully operational commodity trading platform established by the New Delhi Declaration, with its trading floor located at Indore.
- A. 1 and 2
- B. 2 and 3
- C. 4 only
- D. 3 and 4
Q10. At the 18th BRICS Summit, the Prime Minister of India urged that the existing 'pyramid of privilege' be turned into a 'platform of partnership'. As he set it out, the latter was to be an order characterised by which one of the following?
- A. Every country having a voice and every member having a stake, with the advancement of humanity at the heart of every endeavour
- B. Decision-making weight distributed in proportion to each member's subscribed share of multilateral development bank capital
- C. A plurilateral trade architecture in which the WTO's dispute settlement function is replaced by arbitration panels run by the grouping
- D. A rotating veto to be exercised on behalf of the Global South by its representatives in an enlarged UN Security Council
Q11. The Prime Minister of India held leader-level bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit. Consider the following descriptions of those counterparts and their countries' standing in BRICS:
1. President Vladimir Putin of Russia, a founding member of the grouping.
2. President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, a full member of the grouping since January 2024.
3. The President of Kazakhstan, whose country holds BRICS Partner Country standing.
4. The President of the Philippines, whose country holds BRICS Partner Country standing.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- President Vladimir Putin of Russia, a founding member of the grouping.
- President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran, a full member of the grouping since January 2024.
- The President of Kazakhstan, whose country holds BRICS Partner Country standing.
- The President of the Philippines, whose country holds BRICS Partner Country standing.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 3 and 4
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q12. Consider the following statements about India's place in plurilateral groupings:
1. India has been a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation since 2017.
2. Iran was granted the status of a Member State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at the summit hosted virtually by India in July 2023.
3. The admission of the African Union to the G20 during India's G20 Presidency brought 55 African nations into that forum.
4. Iran, admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2023, remains outside BRICS, having declined full membership at the time of the 2024 enlargement.
Which of the above is/are NOT correct?
- India has been a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation since 2017.
- Iran was granted the status of a Member State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at the summit hosted virtually by India in July 2023.
- The admission of the African Union to the G20 during India's G20 Presidency brought 55 African nations into that forum.
- Iran, admitted to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2023, remains outside BRICS, having declined full membership at the time of the 2024 enlargement.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 4 only
- D. 2, 3 and 4