UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, India hosts first meeting of BIMSTEC Home Ministers in New Delhi

Q1. The 2026 BIMSTEC Home Ministers' meeting approved a new Convention against Trafficking in Persons. With reference to how international instruments take legal effect, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. India's signature of a treaty does not by itself make the treaty's provisions enforceable in Indian courts where they conflict with an Act of Parliament.
  2. An instrument adopted at a summit of a regional organisation binds every member state from the date of adoption, even while ratifications are pending.
  3. A state that has signed a convention but not yet ratified it is not bound by the convention's obligations as a party.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 2 and 3 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q2. Consider the following statements in the context of India implementing new regional conventions such as those approved at the 2026 BIMSTEC Home Ministers' meeting: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. Parliament may make a law on a subject in the State List if the law is needed to implement an international agreement to which India is a party.
  2. Under the Constitution of India, a treaty can be ratified by India only after Parliament has approved it by a resolution of each House.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q3. The BIMSTEC Home Ministers called for mutual legal assistance and the repatriation of fugitive criminals among member states. In this context, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Since extradition from India rests on the Extradition Act, 1962, India cannot surrender a fugitive to a state with which it has no bilateral extradition treaty.
  2. A request for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters may seek evidence or the service of judicial documents abroad without asking for the surrender of any person.
  3. Dual criminality requires that the conduct for which a fugitive's surrender is sought be an offence under the laws of both the requesting and the requested state.
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 3 only
  • C. 1 and 2 only
  • D. 2 and 3 only

Q4. The 2026 BIMSTEC Home Ministers' meeting approved an MoU on capacity building to combat money laundering and terror financing. With reference to the anti-money-laundering framework that applies to India, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, banks and other reporting entities must verify the identity of their clients and furnish prescribed transaction information to FIU-IND.
  2. Countries' compliance with FATF standards is assessed through mutual evaluations, after which a country may be placed under regular or enhanced follow-up.
  3. FIU-IND receives and analyses suspicious transaction reports and itself prosecutes the resulting money-laundering cases before Special Courts.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. At the 2026 BIMSTEC Home Ministers' meeting it was noted that drug money funds terrorism, that precursor chemicals are being diverted to illicit drug manufacture, and that drug transactions are increasingly carried out on the dark web. Which of the following inferences can be drawn from the above?

  1. A strategy confined to seizing finished narcotics at land borders would leave parts of the drug supply chain unaddressed.
  2. Drug trafficking in the region is now financed mainly by state actors rather than by criminal networks.
  3. Dark-web transactions have replaced physical trafficking routes as the main channel of drug supply in the region.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 only
  • C. 1, 2 and 3
  • D. 1 and 3 only

Q6. The BIMSTEC Convention against Trafficking in Persons approved in 2026 follows the model of the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons. With reference to that UN Protocol, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. It defines trafficking by combining an act, such as recruitment or harbouring, a means, and a purpose of exploitation.
  2. The exploitation covered by its definition is confined to the prostitution of others and other forms of sexual exploitation.
  3. It is a standalone treaty with no connection to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
  4. Recruitment carried out by abusing a person's position of vulnerability can amount to trafficking even where no physical force is used.
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 1, 3 and 4 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1 and 4 only

Q7. Consider the following statements in the context of India's domestic framework against human trafficking: Which of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. The prohibition of traffic in human beings under Article 23 of the Constitution of India can be enforced against private persons and not only against the State.
  2. As a general rule, the Fundamental Rights in Part III are enforceable against 'the State' as defined in Article 12.
  • A. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  • B. Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  • C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  • D. Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct

Q8. With reference to BIMSTEC as a regional organisation, consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Myanmar and Thailand are members of BIMSTEC but are not members of SAARC.
  2. Because its membership spans South Asia and South-East Asia, BIMSTEC links India's Neighbourhood First and Act East policies.
  3. Under the 2022 reorganisation of its areas of cooperation, each pillar is led by only one member state.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 3
  • C. 2 only
  • D. 1 and 3 only