UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India’s foreign policy must look seaward
Q1. Consider the following statements about India's seafarer workforce as reported in the 2026 Seafarer Workforce Report:
1. The workforce reached about 3.2 lakh by June 2025.
2. It has grown to nearly three times its 2014 size.
3. India accounts for more than 12% of the global seafarer supply.
4. India is the single largest supplier of seafarers globally, ranking ahead of the Philippines.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- The workforce reached about 3.2 lakh by June 2025.
- It has grown to nearly three times its 2014 size.
- India accounts for more than 12% of the global seafarer supply.
- India is the single largest supplier of seafarers globally, ranking ahead of the Philippines.
- A. 4 only
- B. 1 and 4 only
- C. 3 and 4 only
- D. 2 only
Q2. According to the 2026 Seafarer Workforce Report, which country is the single largest supplier of seafarers to the global merchant fleet?
- A. The Philippines
- B. India
- C. China
- D. Indonesia
Q3. Consider the following statements on the legal framework governing seafarers:
1. UNCLOS Article 94 requires every flag state to exercise administrative, technical and social jurisdiction over ships flying its flag.
2. The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 frames enforcement of seafarers' rights across flag, port and labour-supplying states.
3. Port State Control permits a port to detain a ship that lacks a valid Maritime Labour Certificate.
4. The flag state holds exclusive and complete jurisdiction over a seafarer at all times, irrespective of the vessel's location.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- UNCLOS Article 94 requires every flag state to exercise administrative, technical and social jurisdiction over ships flying its flag.
- The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 frames enforcement of seafarers' rights across flag, port and labour-supplying states.
- Port State Control permits a port to detain a ship that lacks a valid Maritime Labour Certificate.
- The flag state holds exclusive and complete jurisdiction over a seafarer at all times, irrespective of the vessel's location.
- A. 1, 2 and 3 only
- B. 1 and 4 only
- C. 2, 3 and 4 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q4. The first civilian fatalities in the Houthi campaign against Red Sea/Gulf of Aden shipping occurred in an attack on which vessel, whose surviving crew were evacuated to Djibouti by an Indian warship?
- A. True Confidence
- B. MV Chem Pluto
- C. Galaxy Leader
- D. Rubymar
Q5. Following the 2023–24 attacks on shipping, the escort of merchant vessels and evacuation of attacked crews (as with MV Chem Pluto and True Confidence) in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden was operationalised by which Indian agency?
- A. The Indian Navy
- B. The Indian Coast Guard
- C. The Directorate General of Shipping
- D. The Ministry of External Affairs' crisis cell
Q6. Of the 14 Indians killed in attacks connected to the West Asia conflict since 28 February 2026, how many were seafarers aboard commercial ships?
- A. At least 8
- B. 3
- C. 5
- D. All 14
Q7. When an Indian seafarer caught in the West Asia conflict must be protected, evacuated or repatriated abroad, the consular responsibility for such Indian nationals rests primarily with which authority?
- A. The Ministry of External Affairs
- B. The Directorate General of Shipping
- C. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
- D. The National Maritime Security Coordinator
Q8. The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), set up by the Indian Navy at Gurugram in 2018, is best described as which of the following?
- A. A maritime information hub that collates, fuses and disseminates maritime domain data among partner nations
- B. A joint operational naval command that directs Indian warship deployments in the Gulf of Aden
- C. A regulatory body that certifies and recruits Indian seafarers for the merchant fleet
- D. A UN-mandated task force that escorts merchant convoys through the Red Sea
Q9. Consider the following statements comparing two global maritime chokepoints:
1. The Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, whereas the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
2. The Bab el-Mandeb lies between Yemen and the Djibouti–Eritrea (Horn of Africa) coast, whereas the Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman.
3. The Bab el-Mandeb is divided into two channels by Socotra Island.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, whereas the Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman.
- The Bab el-Mandeb lies between Yemen and the Djibouti–Eritrea (Horn of Africa) coast, whereas the Strait of Hormuz lies between Iran and Oman.
- The Bab el-Mandeb is divided into two channels by Socotra Island.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q10. Before becoming Dean of the Kautilya School of Public Policy, the final and senior-most diplomatic posting held by Syed Akbaruddin was which of the following?
- A. Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York
- B. Ambassador of India to the United States at Washington
- C. Permanent Representative of India to the WTO at Geneva
- D. Governor for India on the Board of the IAEA at Vienna
Q11. Consider the following statements on the orientation of India's foreign policy as argued in the article:
1. India's foreign policy has traditionally been oriented toward continental concerns such as its land borders with Pakistan and China and its South Asian neighbourhood.
2. The article argues India must reorient toward seaward/maritime concerns, including the protection of its globally dispersed seafarers.
3. India's consular apparatus is organised around the mobile flag-state model rather than around territorial jurisdiction.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- India's foreign policy has traditionally been oriented toward continental concerns such as its land borders with Pakistan and China and its South Asian neighbourhood.
- The article argues India must reorient toward seaward/maritime concerns, including the protection of its globally dispersed seafarers.
- India's consular apparatus is organised around the mobile flag-state model rather than around territorial jurisdiction.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3