International Relations — Prelims MCQs

With reference to the United Nations Security Council, consider the following statements:

1. The ten non-permanent members are elected by the General Assembly for a term of two years, and a retiring member is not eligible for immediate re-election.
2. The G4 group of countries, whose members support one another's candidature for permanent seats, consists of Brazil, Germany, India and Japan.
3. An amendment to the Charter of the United Nations comes into force only when it has been adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of the Members of the United Nations, including all the permanent members of the Security Council.
4. India has served as a non-permanent member of the Security Council on eight occasions, the most recent of these terms being that of 2021-22.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

With reference to the Arctic Council, consider the following statements:

1. It was established by the Ottawa Declaration of 1996, and its permanent Secretariat is located at Tromso in Norway.
2. India was granted Observer status in the Arctic Council in 2013, and released its own Arctic Policy in 2022.
3. India's research station Himadri, which began functioning in 2008, is located in Antarctica.
4. Matters relating to military security fall squarely within the declared mandate of the Arctic Council.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following pairs of multilateral development banks and the facts stated about them:

1. New Development Bank — established by the BRICS countries, with its headquarters at Shanghai
2. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — headquartered at Beijing, with India as its second largest shareholder
3. Asian Development Bank — headquartered at Manila, with the People's Republic of China as its largest shareholder
4. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development — headquartered at London, with India as a member since 2018

How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?

Which one of the following statements about the Special Drawing Right of the International Monetary Fund is correct?

With reference to the G20, consider the following statements:

1. It has no permanent secretariat, and its agenda is steered by a rotating presidency assisted by a troika of the immediately preceding, the current and the incoming presidencies.
2. The African Union was admitted as a member of the G20 at the New Delhi Summit of 2023.
3. The G20 began in 1999 as a forum of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, and was raised to the level of a Leaders' Summit in 2008.
4. Declarations adopted at G20 Summits are legally binding on the member countries.

Which of the statements given above are correct?