UPSC Key: Donroe Doctrine, UAPA, and India’s trade deficit

Preliminary Examination: Current events of National & International importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Amitabh Mattoo writes- “Today, Venezuela is more than a Latin American crisis. It has become a stage on which a new expression of American power is being articulated with unusual clarity. What is being called the “Donroe Doctrine” owes its name to two parents: The nineteenth century “Monroe Doctrine” and the twenty-first-century worldview of Donald Trump.”

— What is the Monroe Doctrine?

— How does the Donroe Doctrine pose a dilemma for India’s foreign policy?

— What are the implications of the US capturing of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro?

— What is the status of India’s ties with Venezuela and the US?

— How have US sanctions on Venezuela impacted India–Venezuela trade relations?

— What is the strategic significance of Venezuela’s oil reserves?

— Read about the India-US relations. — Map work: Locate Venezuela on map. (Refer atlas)

— “From President James Monroe, in 1823, came the assertion that the Western Hemisphere constitutes a special strategic space in which external powers have no legitimate role. From Donald Trump in 2026 comes unapologetic primacy, readiness to use force, and the belief that the United States may not only intervene but also supervise political outcomes. This fusion produces the Donroe Doctrine: An explicit claim not just to influence, but to guardianship.”

— “Three elements give this doctrine its distinctive character. The first is the reassertion of a sphere of influence. The Western Hemisphere is presented not simply as an area of priority concern, but as a privileged security space in which extra-regional actors are treated as intruders rather than ordinary diplomatic participants. Latin America becomes “our neighbourhood”; external engagement is recast as trespass.”

— “The second element is securitisation. Issues long regarded as social or economic migration, narcotics, organised crime and energy volatility are reframed as national security threats. Once problems are narrated in these terms, coercive tools follow more readily. Boundaries blur between domestic governance in another state and the US internal security. What was once a question of diplomacy or development is presented as a matter of homeland protection.”

— “The third element is a shift in normative language. Democracy promotion, so prominent in the post-Cold War period, is no longer central. Stability, predictability and control move to centre stage. In many ways, the “Donroe Doctrine” operationalises what the recent US National Security Strategy implied: Competition with major powers, control of strategic resources and the management of instability close to home will drive American behaviour.”

— “The doctrine does not exist in the abstract. It is reflected in a willingness to claim oversight over political transitions and to blur the line between intervention and administration. Whether such ambitions result in sustained trusteeship or remain rhetorical is less important than the signal they transmit: That the United States now reserves for itself a more explicit guardianship role in its hemisphere.”

— “This shift carries serious implications for the international order. The first is the normalisation of spheres of influence. If major powers insist on special rights in their neighbourhoods, the framework of sovereign equality is weakened everywhere. The second is legitimacy. Latin America is not a blank slate. It carries a long memory of external intervention and regime change. Any contemporary experiment in guardianship will inevitably be interpreted through that history. Force can alter governments; it rarely manufactures consent. The third is precedent. Once accepted in one region, doctrines of supervision travel. Other powers will claim analogous rights in their own vicinity.”

— “Venezuela’s energy dimension intensifies the stakes. The country holds one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and senior officials in Washington have spoken of a major role for American energy companies in revitalising its oil sector.”

— “For India, the “Donroe Doctrine” poses dilemmas that cannot be addressed by slogans. The first concerns principle and precedent. Sovereignty and non-intervention have been central to Indian foreign policy, not out of sentimentality but as practical safeguards for a post colonial state. A world relaxed about externally supervised transitions cannot automatically be assumed to serve India’s long-term interests.”

— “The second concerns partnership. A strong and enduring relationship with the United States is vital to India’s interests. After all, India’s convergence with the United States in the Indo-Pacific, technology, defence and maritime security is real and worth deepening. It reflects genuine alignment on many issues. Yet doctrines of guardianship underline a familiar truth: American foreign policy is deeply shaped by domestic politics; tone and method can shift abruptly even when strategy remains constant. Partnerships must therefore coexist with strategic autonomy and independent judgment.”

— “The third concerns identity and role. India is both an emerging great power in Asia and a principal voice of the Global South. These roles can pull policy in different directions. The challenge is to defend sovereign equality without theatrical moralism, and to pursue national interest without indifference to norms.”

— “New Delhi’s current approach, restrained, careful, and measured, may be the right one. Silence in international politics is not always hesitation; it can be a strategy. By avoiding grandstanding, India has preserved the space for much-needed cooperation with the United States without endorsing the external management of another country’s political future. But restraint should not become passivity. It should be matched by quiet diplomacy in support of regional mediation, humanitarian relief and economic stabilisation, and by a calm restatement in multilateral forums that guardianship carries long-term costs for the international system.”

— The potential stabilisation of Venezuela’s oil sector with American intervention could lead to some volumes of Caracas’s discounted crude oil making their way into India’s oil import mix over the medium to long term to the benefit to the more complex refineries in India, even as any material impact in the near term appears highly unlikely, according to industry experts.

— After US forces captured Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that Washington would take control of Caracas’s oil sector and that American majors would pump in billions of dollars to revive the struggling Venezuelan oil industry and fix its broken oil infrastructure.

— Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, but accounts for less than 1 per cent of global production. If Trump can get Caracas to agree to his terms going forward, it could potentially make the Venezuelan oil industry sanctions-free and open for business, bringing more Venezuelan oil to the international market. Meaningfully increasing Venezuela’s oil production, however, would take years and billions of dollars in investment.

1. It is home to the largest proven crude reserve on Earth. 2. It accounts for more than 15% of global production.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II, III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation, Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Commission for Air Quality Management for “failing in performing its duty” and observed that it “appears to be in no hurry either in identifying the definite causes of worsening AQI (Air Quality Index in Delhi-NCR) or their long-term solution.”

— What is the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)? — What is air pollution and what are its sources?

— Why do northern cities have worse air quality levels? — What are the impacts of air pollution?

— What initiatives have been taken by the government to combat air pollution?

— What is the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)? — What steps should be taken to reduce air pollution?

— It also rapped the CAQM for seeking two more months to come out with a plan to address the issue of traffic congestion at toll plazas on Delhi’s borders, which add to the pollution.

—The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said an expert body like the CAQM should first identify the causes of pollution, determine how much each contributes, and then plan long-term solutions to address them one by one. The biggest cause of pollution must be addressed on priority, it said.

— The bench directed the CAQM to convene a meeting of experts in two weeks and bring on record a report based on their deliberations. The court said the exercise should be completed before the next date of hearing. It also asked the CAQM to start considering long-term solutions, to be introduced in a phased manner.

— On December 17, hearing a plea by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which claimed that traffic congestion at toll plazas run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) were contributing to air pollution, the SC had sought the CAQM’s views. The court had asked the NHAI and MCD to consider either temporarily closing or relocating the toll plazas to ease traffic congestion.

— On Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the CAQM, sought two more months to come out with a comprehensive solution.

— Air pollution is the contamination of the environment, whether indoors or outdoors, by any agent—chemical, physical, or biological—that alters the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost all of the global population (99%) breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits and contains high levels of pollutants.

— The colour-coded AQI index was launched in India in 2014, and it helps the public and the government understand the condition of the air and what subsequent measures are to be taken to combat the situation, based on its severity.

— The pollutants measured include PM 10, PM 2.5, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Carbon, etc. There are six categories of AQI, namely

(iii)‘Moderately polluted’ (101-200), (2) In the cities of our country, which among the following atmospheric gases are normally considered in calculating the value of Air Quality Index? (UPSC CSE 2016)

Describe the key points of the revised Global Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO). How are these different from its last update in 2005? What changes in India’s National Clean Air Programme are required to achieve revised standards? (UPSC CSE 2021)

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

What’s the ongoing story: Gurudas Nulkar writes: The Aravalli mountain range, an ancient geological formation that predates the Himalayas, is at the centre of a high-stakes legal and ecological battle. The hills have been subjected to intensive quarrying and mining in Rajasthan and Haryana, while construction and urban sprawl have shrunk them in the National Capital Region.

— What is the recent controversy around the definition of the Aravalli hills and range?

— What is the extent of the Aravalli hill range? — What is the significance of the Aravallis?

— What do you understand by the term “think like a mountain”?

— How are mountains biological corridors?

— Recently, the Supreme Court paused the controversial order identifying the mountains based on their height, which could have wiped out the legal protection of a large part of the range. However, the crisis persists.

— With over 1,200 active mining leases hollowing out hills, it is time our policymakers “think like a mountain” — a term coined by the ecologist Aldo Leopold.

— In his classic, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold describes how, in his youth, hunting wolves was a celebrated sport — fewer wolves would mean more deer, a hunter’s veritable paradise. On one such hunt, Leopold watched the “fierce green fire” die in the wolf’s eyes.

— It was then that realisation dawned upon him that the mountain did not agree with killing wolves. As more wolves are shot, the population of deer increases, and they strip the mountain of its vegetation. The over-grazed mountains lose their soil to erosion and, over time, face a total ecosystem collapse

— The current approach to the Aravalli hills mirrors Leopold’s early mistake. Policymakers often fall into the trap of prioritising short-term objectives over long-term stability

— The mountains influence the monsoon in northern India and present a formidable barrier that arrests the eastward drift of the Thar Desert. Their fractured rock profiles recharge aquifers. Most importantly, they are biological corridors that maintain the gene pool and capture carbon.

— Defining a hill only by height is an oversimplification for the sake of convenience. The low-lying ridges outside the arbitrary height threshold are exposed to the risk of quarrying.

— To think like a mountain, policymakers must ignore administrative boundaries and treat the Aravalli range as a single system. District-wise mining plans must be replaced by a single management plan for sustainable mining that considers the integrity of the entire Aravalli ecosystem.

— As Leopold’s philosophy implies, prioritising for immediate gains often yields danger in the long run. If our leaders do not learn to think like the mountain, our future will be ecologically poorer, and that would be most unfortunate for the people of a megadiverse country like India.

— At over a billion years old, the Aravallis are one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world, formed during the Precambrian Era due to the collision of tectonic plates of the earth’s crust. The 700-odd-km range stretches across four states (Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi) and 37 districts, with 560 km lying in Rajasthan.

— The range acts as a shield for the northern plains against the incursion of sand from the Thar desert in the west. This also protects air quality in the North. Any rising incursion of sand would be disastrous for the Delhi-NCR Region, which is already struggling to contain local sources of pollution.

— Moreover, the hills also bring in a healthy amount of rainfall, which is essential for agriculture and drinking water needs of settlements that are located around them. As per studies, deforestation, quarrying and erosion has already led to 12 major gaps in the Aravallis.

— Although water drainage and recharge influenced by the Aravallis is not talked about enough, the hills’ rocky formations are essential to recharge aquifers and groundwater levels, and sustain seasonal rivers of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

(3) Which one of the following is the correct order of formation of geological systems in India in terms of their age? (Starting with the oldest) (UPSC CAPF 2016)

What are the consequences of Illegal mining? Discuss the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ concept of GO AND NO GO zones for coal mining sector. (UPSC CSE 2013)

Main Examination: General Studies III: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

What’s the ongoing story: In denying bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots case, the Supreme Court Monday relied on an expansive statutory definition of a “terrorist act”. Both Khalid and Imam are accused under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), India’s principal anti-terror law.

— What are the key features of the UAPA Act? — What is the objective of this act?

— What are the concerns related to this act? — What are reasonable restrictions” on fundamental rights?

— What is the difference between police custody and judicial custody?

— What are the recent amendments made to the Act?

— At the heart of SC’s reasoning lies UAPA Section 15, which defines terrorism in exceptionally broad terms. The provision goes beyond specifying weapons such as explosives, firearms, or poisons and includes acts committed through “any other means.”

— This non-specific phrasing has long been criticised for enabling investigating agencies to invoke UAPA at their discretion, even in cases that do not align with the conventional understanding of terrorism.

— While the UAPA is frequently associated with the Union government’s hardening of national security laws, its evolution into its current form has been incremental and bipartisan. Several of its most far-reaching provisions, including the broadening of the definition of terrorism, were introduced under the UPA government. The Modi government, however, has taken the law further by expanding executive powers.

— The UAPA was enacted in 1967 as a law to deal with “unlawful activities” threatening the sovereignty and integrity of India. Contrary to its present form, the original statute did not address terrorism at all.

— Its origins lie in the work of the National Integration Council (NIC), formed following a conference convened by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 to address divisive forces such as communalism, casteism, regionalism and linguistic chauvinism.

— A decisive shift occurred in 2004 when Parliament amended the UAPA to explicitly deal with terrorism. The title of the Act was altered to include the phrase “and for dealing with terrorist activities”, and a new Chapter IV — “Punishment for Terrorist Activities” — was introduced.

— Section 15 defined terrorism as acts involving explosives, firearms, lethal weapons, poisons, chemicals or hazardous substances that caused or were likely to cause death, injury or damage to property.

— Crucially, such Acts had to be committed with the intent to threaten the sovereignty, integrity or security of India, or to strike terror among the people. Abduction aimed at coercing the Indian or a foreign government was brought within the ambit of terrorism.

— The most consequential changes to the UAPA came in 2008, following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Citing UN Security Council Resolution 1373, which mandates states to combat international terrorism, Parliament introduced amendments that substantially expanded the scope and tightened procedural safeguards for the accused.

— The most controversial change was the insertion of the phrase “by any other means” into Section 15. This single addition vastly broadened the definition of terrorism, allowing virtually any act deemed disruptive or threatening to public order to be construed as a terrorist act.

— Procedurally, the amendments extended police custody from 15 to 30 days and judicial custody from 90 to 180 days, giving investigating agencies significantly more time to file charge sheets while ensuring prolonged incarceration of accused persons.

— Anticipatory bail was barred, and securing regular bail was made exceptionally difficult. Courts were directed to deny bail if the accusations appeared “prima facie true,” a threshold that often relies heavily on the prosecution’s version of events.

— The amendments also shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution. Under Section 43E, if an accused was found in possession of arms or ammunition allegedly used in a terrorist act, the court was required to presume guilt. This marked a departure from a fundamental principle of criminal law.

— In 2012, the UPA government further expanded the scope of the UAPA by including threats to the “economic security” of the country within the definition of terrorism. Economic security was defined broadly to include financial stability, food security, livelihood security, energy security, and even ecological and environmental security.

— The amendments also introduced Sections 22A, 22B, and 22C, extending liability to companies, trusts, and societies. Office-bearers could be held criminally responsible for terror activities unless they proved lack of knowledge. It is under these provisions that Prabir Purkayastha has been accused.

— The most recent changes were in 2019, when the Centre amended the Act to allow designation of individuals as terrorists. Earlier, only organisations could be so designated. This move was criticised for undermining the presumption of innocence by enabling the state to brand individuals as terrorists without prior conviction.

— The Supreme Court’s decision to deny bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Delhi riots case, more than five years after their arrest, is an alarming retreat from the Court’s own dictum that bail is the rule and jail is the exception. The grant of bail under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is already fraught with challenges.

— A key exception to bail under UAPA is when the accused has undergone a prolonged pre-trial incarceration. The SC has previously underlined that even in terror cases, the rigours of bail must “melt down” where there is no reasonable likelihood of a timely trial.

— Now, in a case that is emblematic of the justice system’s delays, the Court concedes that Khalid and Imam’s pre-trial incarceration is “substantial,” but it says it is yet to cross the “threshold of constitutional impermissibility.”

— The Court says that the accused are at liberty to move for bail again “upon the expiry of a period of one year from the date of this order” — as if they have fallen short by a year to cross the constitutional threshold.

(4) With reference to India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2021)

1. Judicial custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned magistrate and such accused is locked up in police station, not in Jail.

2. During judicial custody, the police officer in charge of the case is not allowed to interrogate the suspect without the approval of the court.

Indian Government has recently strengthened the anti-terrorism laws by amending the unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967 and the NIA act. Analyze the changes in the context of prevailing security environment while discussing the scope and reasons for opposing the UAPA by human rights organizations. (UPSC CSE 2019).

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

What’s the ongoing story: An Expert Explains the LAC issue: Late last month, a US government report on China’s defence strategy stated that it considered Arunachal Pradesh as among its “core interests”. Also in December, India and China again exchanged strong statements over Arunachal Pradesh, after a woman born in the state was arbitrarily detained at the Shanghai International Airport.

— Know the history of India-China relations.

— What are the areas of cooperation and conflict between India and China?

— What are the other border disputes of India?

— What are the challenges for the people in the disputed borders?

— What are the steps taken by the government to strengthen the border regions?

— The traditional boundary in the Eastern Sector (present-day Arunachal Pradesh) was formalised and delineated on maps through an exchange of letters between Indian and Tibetan Plenipotentiaries on March 24 and 25, 1914. At that time, Tibet was fully entitled to enter into treaties, and the Chinese government had recognised these rights.

— All three representatives initialled the draft Simla Convention on April 27, 1914. When the final Convention was presented for signature on July 3, 1914, the Chinese Plenipotentiary refused to sign it, while the other two did.

— After the fall of China’s Qing dynasty in 1911, China did not exercise any control over Tibet — even earlier, those links were ambivalent. The Tibetan government administered its territory and engaged in external dealings independently. It was only in 1950, when Chinese Communist forces entered Tibet, that Beijing established control.

— This historical reality underscores that the McMahon Line was negotiated between British India and the competent Tibetan authority of the time, and that China’s objections then were unrelated to the India–Tibet boundary drawn at Simla.

— As for the history of India-China “LAC”, this concept was first mentioned by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in his letter dated November 7, 1959, to Jawaharlal Nehru…Nehru rejected the concept of the LAC as proposed by Zhou.

How did India and China come to an understanding on the LAC?

— India formally accepted the concept of LAC during negotiations leading up to the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement (BPTA) of September 1993. It was a pragmatic change in India’s position.

— The concept of the LAC was incorporated in the BPTA signed during Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao’s visit to China in September 1993. Article 1 of the Agreement says that pending an ultimate boundary settlement, both sides will strictly respect and observe the LAC.

— We accepted the construct of LAC but rejected the Chinese concept of “LAC of 7 November 1959”. The LAC is based on actual control, and not some notional or historical alignment.

— The process broke down around 2004, and since then, there has been no forward movement on LAC clarification. The bottom line is that the Chinese are using ambiguity on the LAC and unsettled borders as a major pressure point against us.

How has India responded to China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh?

— Despite China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh, we are in control up to the watershed boundary. There are only three pockets where they are in what we call “adverse possession” — parts of Namka Chu Valley, Sumdorong Chu Valley and Longju. However, differences in the interpretation of the McMahon line persist, and there are probings by the Chinese side from time to time.

— Over the past decade or so, China has become more aggressive in unilaterally asserting its contested territorial claims through “grey zone operations”, where they incrementally try to change the situation on the ground, staying under the threshold of an outright military conflict.

— Even in Eastern Ladakh, there is still unfinished business of disengagement as there are continuing restrictions on patrolling by Indian troops and grazing activities of Indian herdsmen in areas they were traditionally visiting in “buffer zones”. If these arrangements become permanent, the Chinese side would have partially achieved its objective of making incremental changes.

— We take China’s claims in the Eastern Sector seriously and reinforce our deterrence strategy. Chinese claims are not just a negotiating ploy but part of their territorial agenda, with concomitant risks involved. We must guard against the recurrence of Eastern Ladakh-type Chinese operations across the LAC in the Eastern Sector.

— About the Expert: Ashok K Kantha, a former Ambassador to China and now Subhas Chandra Bose Chair of International Relations at Chanakya University and Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation, was closely involved in border negotiations with China.

— The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory. India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km. It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.

‘China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia’, In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbor. (UPSC CSE 2017)

Preliminary Examination: Current events of National & International importance, Economic development.

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.

What’s the ongoing story: At a time when India is accelerating free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations to diversify exports and soften the impact of US tariffs, a Niti Aayog report has said that India’s trade deficit with its FTA partner countries is rising sharply, but exports from sunrise industries such as electronics are growing their foothold globally.

— What is a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?

— What is the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)? How is it different from FTA?

— Know the types of Trade Agreements. — What are the advantages of FTA?

— Read about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.\

— With how many countries India is having FTAs?

— The Niti Aayog’s ‘Trade Watch Quarterly’ report released Tuesday said India’s trade deficit with FTA partners rose 59.2 per cent between April and June last year compared to the previous year as imports jumped by 10 per cent to $65.3 billion and exports declined by 9 per cent to $38.7 billion.

— India has concluded FTAs with Oman, New Zealand and the UK in 2025 and is in active negotiations with the EU, the US, Australia, Bahrain, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Canada and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). New Delhi is also considering a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Brazil and Israel.

— However, the report said that India’s export performance during the period shows clear structural divergence, with a sharp decline in petroleum exports but a strong surge in electronics exports. Electronics emerged as the standout performer, rising 47 per cent year-on-year, increasing its share to over 11 per cent of total exports, reflecting deeper integration into global electronics supply chains, the Niti Aayog said.

— The widening of the trade deficit was driven by a contraction in exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

— India has been in talks with ASEAN to re-negotiate the terms of the trade agreement; however, India and ASEAN missed the end of 2025 deadline. However, in October last year, ASEAN and China signed an upgraded free-trade agreement.

— India’s shipments to FTA countries contracted as exports to ASEAN, the largest FTA export partners fell by 16.9 per cent, while Malaysia (-39.7 per cent), Singapore (-13.2 per cent), and Australia (-10.9 per cent) also witnessed sharp declines. UAE, India’s second-largest FTA export destination, saw a modest 2.1 per cent dip, whereas exports to South Korea (15.6 per cent), Japan (2.8 per cent), Thailand (2.9 per cent), and Bhutan (10.2 per cent) recorded marginal gains, the report said.

— Meanwhile, India’s share of imports from its top seven markets – China, UAE, Russia, USA increased, contributing around 43 per cent of total imports in Q1 FY26 from 39 per cent in Q1 FY25, amounting to $76.7 bn. In Q1 FY26, India recorded significant y-o-y import growth, with notable increases from the UAE (28.7 per cent), China (16.3 per cent), the USA (16.9 per cent) and Singapore (14 per cent).

— However, import growth declined with Iraq (-13.3 per cent), Russia (-8.7 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (-8.50 per cent).

— The report pointed out that gold compounds and petroleum primarily drove rising imports from the UAE. Gold compounds, which were previously not imported from the UAE, have now made the UAE one of the top import sources, surpassing Japan, which was previously the leading supplier. Imports of petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals have also increased sharply.

Which of the above are among the ‘free-trade partners’ of ASEAN?

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