UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — India and the plausible multilateralism of BRICS
Q1. In the BRICS expansion round that took effect in 2024, how many countries actually took up full membership of the grouping?
- A. Three countries, all of them from the African continent
- B. Four countries, drawn from Africa and West Asia
- C. Five countries, including Saudi Arabia as a full member
- D. Six countries, exactly as invited at the preceding summit
Q2. Consider the following statements comparing the two most recent rounds of enlargement of BRICS:
1. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates entered as full members in the 2024 round, whereas Indonesia became a full member only in January 2025.
2. Saudi Arabia, though part of the same invitation round as Egypt and Ethiopia, does not appear in the list of BRICS full members participating in India's 2026 chairship events.
3. Belarus and Malaysia entered as full members at the same time as Indonesia, while Vietnam was placed only in the partner-country category.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates entered as full members in the 2024 round, whereas Indonesia became a full member only in January 2025.
- Saudi Arabia, though part of the same invitation round as Egypt and Ethiopia, does not appear in the list of BRICS full members participating in India's 2026 chairship events.
- Belarus and Malaysia entered as full members at the same time as Indonesia, while Vietnam was placed only in the partner-country category.
- A. 1 and 2 only
- B. 2 and 3 only
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q3. The inter-governmental agreements establishing the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement were concluded at which BRICS annual summit?
- A. The fifth summit, hosted by South Africa, which set up an inter-bank cooperation mechanism
- B. The sixth summit, hosted by Brazil, which cleared both a development bank and a reserve pool
- C. The seventh summit, hosted by Russia, at which the bank's first board of governors met
- D. The eighth summit, hosted by India, which focused on counter-terrorism and connectivity
Q4. Which one of the following most accurately describes the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement?
- A. A framework for short-term liquidity support among members through currency swaps, to cushion balance-of-payments pressures
- B. A pooled capital institution that finances long-term infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member and other developing economies
- C. A settlement facility that clears intra-BRICS trade invoices in a common unit of account issued by the New Development Bank
- D. A reserve of foreign exchange physically transferred by members into a common pool managed from the Bank's Shanghai headquarters
Q5. With reference to the groupings through which India simultaneously pursues its interests, which one of the following statements is correct?
- A. India acquired full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at its 2017 Astana summit while continuing to participate in the Quad
- B. India's admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2015 at Ufa bars it from participating in any Western-led minilateral grouping
- C. India's membership of I2U2 obliges it to align its West Asia policy entirely with the positions of the other three members of that grouping
- D. All BRICS members are necessarily full members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, so India's positions in the two bodies are identical
Q6. In contemporary analyses of Indian foreign policy, the expression 'multi-alignment' is used to denote which one of the following?
- A. Sustained engagement with several competing power centres at once, so that gains are drawn from each without a binding commitment to any
- B. Abstention from all military blocs coupled with acceptance of development assistance from rival camps, as practised in the Cold War decades
- C. Close alignment with one dominant security partner, with observer or dialogue-partner status retained in groupings led by its rivals
- D. Periodic rotation of treaty partners on a fixed cycle so that no single partner accumulates leverage over defence procurement
Q7. The BRICS outcome document that voiced deep concern over escalation in West Asia and urged maximum restraint, while carrying no reference at all to the Russia–Ukraine conflict, was adopted under which chairship?
- A. India's chairship, as the New Delhi Declaration of 2026
- B. Brazil's chairship, as the Rio de Janeiro Declaration of 2025
- C. Russia's chairship, as the Kazan Declaration of 2024
- D. South Africa's chairship, as the Johannesburg II Declaration of 2023
Q8. The New Delhi Declaration, covering global-governance reform, trade and finance and cross-border payments, was adopted by consensus by how many BRICS full member states?
- A. Five
- B. Nine
- C. Ten
- D. Twelve
Q9. Consider the following descriptions of groupings in which India participates:
1. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — India became a full member at the 2017 Astana summit; its Secretariat is at Beijing and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is headquartered at Tashkent.
2. I2U2 — a grouping of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, whose first leaders' summit was held virtually in 2022.
3. BRICS — a grouping whose full members have included Indonesia since January 2025, and which works through a rotating annual chairship rather than a permanent secretariat.
4. Quad — a grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea, focused on the Indo-Pacific.
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — India became a full member at the 2017 Astana summit; its Secretariat is at Beijing and its Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure is headquartered at Tashkent.
- I2U2 — a grouping of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, whose first leaders' summit was held virtually in 2022.
- BRICS — a grouping whose full members have included Indonesia since January 2025, and which works through a rotating annual chairship rather than a permanent secretariat.
- Quad — a grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the Republic of Korea, focused on the Indo-Pacific.
- A. 1 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1, 2 and 3
- D. 3 and 4
Q10. The BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction held in India in 2026 was hosted by which national agency, and which work plan did its joint statement seek to accelerate?
- A. The National Disaster Management Authority under the Ministry of Home Affairs, accelerating the BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction Work Plan (2025–2028)
- B. The National Institute of Disaster Management under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, accelerating the BRICS Disaster Risk Reduction Work Plan (2021–2024)
- C. The National Disaster Response Force under the Ministry of Defence, accelerating the Sendai Framework Implementation Plan (2025–2030)
- D. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, accelerating the BRICS Urbanisation and Resilience Work Plan (2025–2028)