20 multiple-choice (MCQ / objective) questions from this chapter, in every exam-style shape used in the paper. Every question comes with an explanation along with the answer, so you remember why the option is correct, not just which one it is.
1 Direct Questions
Direct Questions
- 1 markPanchsheel, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, was jointly enunciated by Nehru and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai on
(A) 26 January 1950(B) 29 April 1954(C) 1 October 1949(D) 3 July 1972 - 1 markChina launched its invasion of October 1962 while the entire world’s attention was on
(A) the Korean War(B) the Suez crisis(C) the Hungarian uprising(D) the Cuban Missile crisis - 1 markWhich Defence Minister had to leave the cabinet after the 1962 war?
(A) Lal Bahadur Shastri(B) V. Krishna Menon(C) K. P. S. Menon(D) Homi J. Bhabha - 1 markIndia’s first nuclear explosion was undertaken in
(A) October 1964(B) May 1974(C) May 1998(D) 1968 - 1 markThe chapter’s opening photograph, of a meeting of nonaligned nations at New York in October 1960, shows Nehru with
(A) Nkrumah, Nasser, Sukarno and Tito(B) Zhou Enlai and Mao Tsetung(C) General Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto(D) Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon
2 Assertion-Reason
Assertion-Reason
- 1 markAssertion (A): India did not join the public condemnation of the Soviet Union when it invaded Hungary in 1956.
Reason (R): Non-alignment required India to take an identical stand on every action of the two superpowers.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true but R is false(D) A is false but R is true - 1 markAssertion (A): India refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty of 1968.
Reason (R): India always considered the NPT as discriminatory.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A(B) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A(C) A is true but R is false(D) A is false but R is true
3 Match the Following
Match the Following
- 1 markMatch the name in List I with what the chapter says about the person in List II.
List I: (i) Homi J. Bhabha, (ii) the Dalai Lama, (iii) Atal Behari Vajpayee, (iv) Rajiv Gandhi
List II: (P) the first top-level leader to visit China after 1962, in 1979, as External Affairs Minister, (Q) the first Prime Minister after Nehru to visit China, (R) guided the nuclear programme initiated in the late 1940s, (S) the Tibetan spiritual leader who sought and obtained political asylum in India in 1959
(A) (i)-R, (ii)-S, (iii)-P, (iv)-Q(B) (i)-R, (ii)-P, (iii)-S, (iv)-Q(C) (i)-S, (ii)-R, (iii)-P, (iv)-Q(D) (i)-R, (ii)-S, (iii)-Q, (iv)-P - 1 markMatch the person in List I with what the chapter says about them in List II.
List I: (i) Sheikh Mujib-ur Rahman, (ii) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, (iii) Henry Kissinger, (iv) General Parvez Musharraf
List II: (P) made a secret visit to China via Pakistan in July 1971, (Q) the Army Chief whose army took over the government of Pakistan soon after the Kargil conflict, (R) led the Awami League, which swept East Pakistan, (S) his party emerged a winner in West Pakistan
(A) (i)-R, (ii)-S, (iii)-Q, (iv)-P(B) (i)-S, (ii)-R, (iii)-P, (iv)-Q(C) (i)-R, (ii)-P, (iii)-S, (iv)-Q(D) (i)-R, (ii)-S, (iii)-P, (iv)-Q
4 Statement-Based Questions
Statement-Based Questions
- 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) Nehru was his own foreign minister.
(ii) India’s nuclear programme was initiated in the late 1940s under the guidance of Homi J. Bhabha.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(A) Only (i)(B) Only (ii)(C) Both (i) and (ii)(D) Neither (i) nor (ii) - 1 markConsider the following statements.
(i) The Fourth Plan was initiated in 1965.
(ii) The Department of Defence Supplies was established in November 1962.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(A) Only (i)(B) Only (ii)(C) Both (i) and (ii)(D) Neither (i) nor (ii)
5 Chronological Ordering
Chronological Ordering
- 1 markArrange the following in the correct chronological order.
(i) Panchsheel is jointly enunciated
(ii) The Asian Relations Conference is convened
(iii) The Bandung Conference is held
(iv) The First Summit of the NAM is held at Belgrade
(A) (ii), (iii), (i), (iv)(B) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)(C) (ii), (i), (iii), (iv)(D) (ii), (i), (iv), (iii) - 1 markArrange the following in the correct chronological order.
(i) The Tashkent Agreement
(ii) The India-Pakistan Indus Waters Treaty
(iii) The Shimla Agreement
(iv) The 20-year Treaty of Peace and Friendship with the Soviet Union
(A) (ii), (i), (iii), (iv)(B) (i), (ii), (iv), (iii)(C) (ii), (iv), (i), (iii)(D) (ii), (i), (iv), (iii)
6 Fill in the Blanks
Fill in the Blanks
- 1 mark“The three major objectives of Nehru’s foreign policy were to preserve the hard-earned ________, protect territorial integrity, and promote rapid economic development.”
(A) unity(B) sovereignty(C) autonomy(D) neutrality - 1 mark“Throughout 1971, India had to bear the burden of about ________ refugees who fled East Pakistan and took shelter in the neighbouring areas in India.”
(A) 8 lakh(B) 90,000(C) 80 lakh(D) 8 crore
7 Odd One Out
Odd One Out
- 1 markThree of these are named in the Kargil box as points on the Indian side of the LoC occupied in early 1999. Which is the odd one out?
(A) Dras(B) Batalik(C) Kaksar(D) Dharmashala - 1 markThree of the following happened after the 1962 war with China, as the chapter describes. Which one did NOT happen?
(A) Manipur and Tripura, though Union Territories, were given the right to elect their own legislative assemblies(B) For the first time, a no-confidence motion was moved and debated in the Lok Sabha(C) The Soviet Union sent military help to India during the war(D) Nagaland was granted statehood
8 Passage-Based Questions
Passage-Based Questions
Passage
Article 51 of the Indian Constitution lays down some Directive Principles of State Policy on ‘Promotion of international peace and security’. “The State shall endeavour to – (a) Promote international peace and security (b) Maintain just and honourable relations between nations (c) Foster respect for international law and treaty obligations in the dealings of organised people with one another; and (d) Encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration.” How well did the Indian state live up to these principles in the first two decades after Independence?
- 1 markWhich of these is NOT among the things the State is directed to endeavour to do under Article 51?
(A) Promote international peace and security(B) Maintain just and honourable relations between nations(C) Encourage settlement of international disputes by arbitration(D) Refuse to join any military alliance
Passage
India has opposed the international treaties aimed at non-proliferation since they were selectively applicable to the non-nuclear powers and legitimised the monopoly of the five nuclear weapons powers. Thus, India opposed the indefinite extension of the NPT in 1995 and also refused to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). India conducted a series of nuclear tests in May 1998, demonstrating its capacity to use nuclear energy for military purposes. Pakistan soon followed, thereby increasing the vulnerability of the region to a nuclear exchange. The international community was extremely critical of the nuclear tests in the subcontinent and sanctions were imposed on both India and Pakistan, which were subsequently waived. India’s nuclear doctrine of credible minimum nuclear deterrence professes “no first use” and reiterates India’s commitment to global, verifiable and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament leading to a nuclear weapons free world.
- 1 markWhy, according to the passage, has India opposed the international treaties aimed at non-proliferation?
(A) Because India had already built nuclear weapons before they were drafted(B) Because they were selectively applicable to the non-nuclear powers and legitimised the monopoly of the five nuclear weapons powers(C) Because the UN Security Council had rejected them(D) Because Pakistan had signed them first
9 True / False
True / False
- 1 mark(i) The Dalai Lama has made Dharmashala his home in India.
(ii) In the 1950s and 1960s the Socialist Party and the Jan Sangh supported the cause of Tibet’s independence.
(A) Both statements are true(B) Both statements are untrue(C) (i) is true and (ii) is untrue(D) (i) is untrue and (ii) is true
Answer Key and Explanations
Direct Questions
- (B) The chapter gives the full date: “The joint enunciation of Panchsheel, the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, by the Indian Prime Minister Nehru and the Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai on 29 April 1954 was a step in the direction of stronger relationship between the two countries.”
- (D) “Around this time, while the entire world’s attention was on the Cuban Missile crisis involving the two superpowers, China launched a swift and massive invasion in October 1962 on both the disputed regions.”
- (B) “Nehru’s close associate and the then Defence Minister, V. Krishna Menon, had to leave the cabinet.” The chapter’s profile box adds that he had been Defence Minister since 1957 and resigned after the India-China war in 1962. K. P. S. Menon is the diplomat Nehru wrote to in January 1947, a different person.
- (B) “Another crucial development of this period was the first nuclear explosion undertaken by India in May 1974.” October 1964 is China’s test, 1968 is the NPT, and May 1998 is India’s later series of tests, so the three wrong options are each a real date from the same story.
- (A) The caption names all four and then says why they matter: “Nehru with Nkrumah from Ghana, Nasser from Egypt, Sukarno from Indonesia and Tito from Yugoslavia at a meeting of nonaligned nations, New York, October 1960. These five comprised the core leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).”
Assertion-Reason
- (C) A is the chapter’s own sentence: “when the USSR invaded Hungary, India did not join its public condemnation”. R is the opposite of what non-alignment meant here. The chapter says India “did take an independent stand on various international issues”, judging each case on its own, which is why the balance “did not appear perfect” in 1956.
- (A) Both come from one sentence, and the reason is the cause of the refusal: “India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it.” The chapter explains the word discriminatory in its Fast Forward box: the treaty was selectively applicable to the non-nuclear powers and legitimised the monopoly of the five nuclear weapons powers.
Match the Following
- (A) The nuclear programme began in the late 1940s “under the guidance of Homi J. Bhabha”; the Dalai Lama sought and obtained political asylum in India in 1959; the Fast Forward box says Vajpayee (then External Affairs Minister) visited China in 1979, and that Rajiv Gandhi later became the first Prime Minister after Nehru to visit China.
- (D) Mujib led the Awami League, which swept East Pakistan; Bhutto’s party won West Pakistan; Kissinger, adviser to President Richard Nixon, “made a secret visit to China via Pakistan in July 1971”; and the Kargil box ends with the government of Pakistan being “taken over by the Pakistan Army led by the Army Chief, General Parvez Musharraf”.
Statement-Based Questions
- (C) Both are the chapter’s own sentences. “He was his own foreign minister”, and the nuclear programme was “initiated in the late 1940s under the guidance of Homi J. Bhabha” as part of Nehru’s industrialisation plans.
- (D) Both are wrong, and both by the same kind of shift. “The Third Plan (1961-66) was affected and it was followed by three Annual Plans and the Fourth Plan could be initiated only in 1969.” And it was the Department of Defence Production that was established in November 1962; the Department of Defence Supplies came in November 1965.
Chronological Ordering
- (C) The chapter’s dates are March 1947 for the Asian Relations Conference, 29 April 1954 for Panchsheel, 1955 for Bandung and September 1961 for the First Summit of the NAM at Belgrade.
- (D) The Indus Waters Treaty was signed in 1960, the Tashkent Agreement in January 1966, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship in August 1971 and the Shimla Agreement on 3 July 1972.
Fill in the Blanks
- (B) The chapter’s word is sovereignty, and it is worth writing exactly, because the same sentence also uses territorial integrity, which is a different idea. Sovereignty is the right to decide for yourself; territorial integrity is keeping your territory whole.
- (C) The figure is about 80 lakh, and it is the chapter’s strongest single argument that the Bangladesh crisis was a domestic Indian problem as well as a foreign one. About 90,000 is the number of Pakistani soldiers who surrendered at Dhaka, and the two numbers are easy to swap.
Odd One Out
- (D) The box names four such points, Mashkoh, Dras, Kaksar and Batalik. Dharmashala, in Himachal Pradesh, appears in a different box altogether: it is the largest Tibetan refuge settlement in India and the Dalai Lama’s home.
- (C) The chapter says the Soviet Union “remained neutral” during the conflict; India had to approach the Americans and the British for military help. Nehru faced the first no-confidence motion, and in the reorganisation of the Northeast that began soon after the war Nagaland was granted statehood while Manipur and Tripura, though Union Territories, were given the right to elect their own legislative assemblies.
Passage-Based Questions
- (D) Article 51 has four clauses and the fourth option is not one of them. Non-alignment was a policy choice of the government, not a constitutional direction, which is why the chapter says only that the aim of respecting sovereignty and achieving security through peace “finds an echo in the Directive Principles of State Policy”.
- (B) This is the passage’s opening sentence and it is the whole of India’s case. The objection is not to disarmament but to a treaty that binds only those who have no weapons while leaving the five who do exactly as they are.
True / False
- (A) Both are the Tibet box’s own sentences. Dharmashala in Himachal Pradesh is “perhaps the largest refuge settlement of Tibetans in India” and “The Dalai Lama has also made Dharmashala his home in India”; and “many political leaders and parties in India including the Socialist Party and the Jan Sangh supported the cause of Tibet’s independence”.
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