# India's Diplomacy in 2025 and 2026 for UPSC: The MEA Annual Report in Numbers and the Timeline to October 2026 Source: https://tracknation.in/story/india-s-diplomacy-in-2025-and-2026-for-upsc-the-mea-annual-report-in-numbers-and-the-timeline-to-october-2026 (TrackNation β€” free UPSC notes with PYQs) > The International Relations capstone: India's 2025 diplomacy in numbers from the MEA Annual Report (23 PM visits, 3,597 evacuated, USD 178 billion GCC trade), a month-by-month 2025 calendar, the 2026 timeline to October (EU FTA, US tariffs, Iran war, BRICS Delhi, SCO Bishkek) and five Mains themes. Includes practice questions and exact Mains questions. ## How to Use This Capstone 🎯 **Capstone note. Read it last, or the week before the exam.** This article turns the whole playlist into one timeline: India's diplomacy in **calendar year 2025** (from the MEA Annual Report 2025) and the key events of **2026 to October** (secondary sources, flagged). Every number below appears again in an earlier article; this is where you revise them in order. The 2025 paper asked 14 IR-type questions and the 2026 paper 13, so the capstone's job is to give you the sequence of events UPSC draws from. ## India's Diplomacy in 2025: The Numbers These are the headline numbers. Learn them as pairs of (item, figure). ## India's diplomacy in 2025: numbers | **Item** | **Figure** | | Countries the Prime Minister visited in 2025 | 23: Argentina, Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Japan, Jordan, Mauritius, Namibia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, the Maldives, the UK and the US | | State visits by the President of India | Portugal (April, first in 27 years), the Slovak Republic (first in 29 years), the Vatican, Angola and Botswana (first by an Indian head of state) | | Visits to India facilitated by the Protocol Division | 10 state visits, 8 official visits at head-of-state or government level and 32 at vice-president, deputy PM or foreign-minister level | | Indians evacuated in Operation Sindhu (Iran, June) | 3,597 (with nine Nepalese, four Sri Lankans, 14 OCI cardholders and one Iranian) | | India-GCC trade; GCC FDI in India | More than USD 178 billion; about USD 28 billion | | India-China trade up to November | USD 96.46 billion, a USD 75.05 billion Indian deficit | | India-Russia trade in 2024-25 | USD 68.7 billion | | Bangladesh power imports from India | About 2,750 MW | | India's UN peacekeepers deployed | 4,267 in nine of 11 missions | | ITEC trainees | About 14,000 from 114 countries | | ISA Framework Agreement | 126 signatories, 112 ratifications | ## The 2025 Calendar, Month by Month Here is the 2025 calendar. Each line is a fact UPSC could ask as a headline. ## 2025, month by month (MEA Annual Report 2025) | **Month** | **Events** | | January | Prabowo Subianto (Indonesia) was Republic Day chief guest and 352 Indonesian soldiers marched; Singapore's President made a state visit; Quad foreign ministers met in Washington (21 January) | | February | PM co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris; PM's US visit (12-13 February) launched COMPACT; the EU College of Commissioners visited India; the Amir of Qatar made a state visit and ties became a strategic partnership | | March | PM's Mauritius visit announced MAHASAGAR and an Enhanced Strategic Partnership; 10th Raisina Dialogue (New Zealand's PM chief guest); Myanmar earthquake (28 March) and Operation Brahma | | April | 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok (4 April); PM's Thailand and Sri Lanka visits; Pahalgam attack (22 April); PM's Saudi visit; US Vice-President Vance's India visit (21-24 April) | | May | Operation Sindoor (7 May) and the cessation of firing (10 May); Iran's foreign minister visited (7-8 May); the Indus Waters Treaty held in abeyance since April | | June | G7 outreach in Kananaskis; PM's Cyprus and Croatia visits; Iran-Israel conflict and Operation Sindhu; fourth India-Central Asia Dialogue (5-6 June); first International Big Cat Alliance Assembly | | July | PM visited Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil (the BRICS summit, 6-7 July) and Namibia; India-UK CETA signed; PM's Maldives state visit (25-26 July) | | August | Philippines' President on a state visit (4-8 August); India-Japan summit in Tokyo (29-30 August); 24th Special Representatives talks with China | | September | SCO summit in Tianjin (31 August-1 September); UNGA80 and the G4, L-69 and BRICS ministerials; Mauritius PM's state visit; Singapore PM's visit | | October | Taliban foreign minister's visit (9-15 October) and the Kabul embassy upgrade (21 October); ASEAN-India Summit (26 October) and East Asia Summit (27 October); India Maritime Week (27-30 October); EFTA TEPA entered into force (1 October) | | November | G20 Johannesburg (22-23 November); President's visits to Angola and Botswana; Israel's foreign minister in India (3-5 November) | | December | Putin's state visit (4-5 December); PM in Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman (Oman CEPA concluded); New Zealand FTA concluded; UNESCO ICH committee in Delhi; WHO traditional medicine summit; BWC 50-year conference (1-2 December); India's IORA chair from 12 November | ## 2026 to October: The Events to Re-Check The 2026 events below are the ones the newest papers are likely to use. They come from secondary sources, so check the latest before the exam. ## 2026, January to October (secondary sources) | **Date** | **Event** | | 12-13 January | German Chancellor Merz's visit to India (23 CEOs; outcomes in defence, critical minerals, traditional medicine, Lothal maritime heritage complex) | | 27 January | India-EU FTA announced as concluded at the 16th India-EU Summit | | 2-6 February | US-India framework for an interim trade agreement: US tariff cut from 25 to 18 per cent and the Russian-oil penalty removed | | 5 February | New START expired with no replacement | | 12 February | Bangladesh election: BNP won; Tarique Rahman sworn in as PM on 17 February | | Mid-February | India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi; the New Delhi Declaration, voluntary and structured around seven pillars, was endorsed by 86 countries and two organisations and later by 91 | | 28 February | US and Israeli strikes on Iran began the 2026 war; the Strait of Hormuz was closed; Operation Urja Suraksha (March) escorts Indian ships | | 5-27 March | Nepal's election and Balendra Shah's swearing-in | | March | WTO MC14 in YaoundΓ© ended without deal; the e-commerce moratorium lapsed | | 26 April | End of the US waiver for Chabahar; status unclear after that | | 22 May | NPT Review Conference ended without a final document; IAFS-IV postponed (21 May) because of an Ebola outbreak | | 27 May | 35th India-China WMCC meeting in Beijing | | 15-17 June | G7 summit in Evian (India as a partner country); Modi met Trump on 17 June | | June | Islamabad memorandum on the Iran war; UNGA elected Bangladesh's Khalilur Rahman as President of its 81st session (2 June); UNSC elections for 2027-28 (Austria, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, Zimbabwe) | | July | India launched its UNSC 2028-29 campaign (against Tajikistan); UN Secretary-General straw polls began on 30 July | | 25 August | 25th Special Representatives talks (Doval-Wang Yi) in Beijing | | 31 August-1 September | 26th SCO summit in Bishkek; chair passes to Pakistan | | 12-13 September | 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi: the New Delhi Declaration | | October | Hormuz ship attacks continued; a local Russia-Ukraine truce at Oleshky and talks planned for November; Brazil's runoff on 25 October | ## Further Reading - the Ministry of External Affairs Annual Report, MEA and PIB press releases and joint statements, United Nations and treaty-body websites, and an atlas β€” the primary sources behind every fact above. ## Five Themes for Mains Answers Use this section to turn the timeline into Mains material. ## Five themes for Mains answers - **Strategic autonomy under pressure:** tariffs (2025), the Iran war (2026), sanctions on Chabahar and Russian oil; India's response was multi-alignment and diversified trade (EFTA, UK, Oman, New Zealand, EU). - **Terrorism and the 'new normal':** Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor, the Indus treaty, all-party delegations to 33 countries, TRF listed by the US and the UN monitoring team, and the SCO and BRICS declarations condemning Pahalgam. - **Neighbourhood politics:** Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar elections; the Ganga treaty's expiry on 12 December 2026; China talks on delimitation; Maldives and Sri Lanka as MAHASAGAR partners. - **Global governance in crisis:** UN80, the Secretary-General race, US withdrawals from 66 bodies, New START and the NPT failure, WTO's failure at MC14, India's UNSC bid and BRICS chair. - **Energy and connectivity:** Hormuz, Chabahar, IMEC, the India-Gulf CEPAs, and the Ganga and Indus water treaties. ## Test Yourself: Practice Questions Twelve practice questions on the 2025 record and the 2026 timeline, with the exact Mains questions for the capstone themes. ## Practice Questions **Q1.** How many countries did the Prime Minister visit in 2025, according to the MEA Annual Report 2025? - (a) 12 - (b) 35 - (c) 8 - (d) 23 **Answer: (d)** β€” They included Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, Namibia, Japan, China, Cyprus, Croatia, Jordan, Oman, Ethiopia, the UK and the US. **Q2.** Which of the following Heads of State visited India as Republic Day Chief Guest in January 2025? - (a) Vladimir Putin of Russia - (b) Emmanuel Macron of France - (c) Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia - (d) Anthony Albanese of Australia **Answer: (c)** β€” A 352-member Indonesian contingent marched in the parade, a first. **Q3.** Operation Sindoor was launched on - (a) 7 May 2025 - (b) 10 May 2025 - (c) 18 June 2025 - (d) 22 April 2025 **Answer: (a)** β€” Pahalgam was 22 April; Pakistan's DGMO asked for cessation on 10 May. **Q4.** The 6th BIMSTEC Summit in April 2025 was held in - (a) Kathmandu - (b) Dhaka - (c) Colombo - (d) Bangkok **Answer: (d)** β€” The 2022 summit was in Colombo. **Q5.** The 25th SCO Summit in 2025 was held in - (a) Kazan, Russia - (b) Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - (c) Tianjin, China - (d) Astana, Kazakhstan **Answer: (c)** β€” The 26th summit was in Bishkek (31 August-1 September 2026). **Q6.** The G20 Leaders' Summit of 2025, at which India proposed a Global Traditional Knowledge Repository, was held in - (a) Johannesburg - (b) Miami - (c) New Delhi - (d) Rio de Janeiro **Answer: (a)** β€” The US holds the 2026 presidency and the 2027 presidency goes to the UK. **Q7.** Which of the following was concluded in December 2025? 1. India-Oman CEPA 2. India-New Zealand FTA 3. India-EU FTA - (a) 1 and 2 only - (b) 1 and 3 only - (c) 1, 2 and 3 - (d) 2 and 3 only **Answer: (a)** β€” The India-EU FTA was announced on 27 January 2026. **Q8.** The 18th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi in - (a) January 2026 - (b) October 2024 - (c) July 2025 - (d) September 2026 **Answer: (d)** β€” India chairs BRICS in 2026; the New Delhi Declaration was adopted by consensus (secondary sources). **Q9.** In 2026 the NPT Review Conference ended on 22 May - (a) with India joining the NPT - (b) without a final document - (c) with a binding timetable - (d) with a ban on nuclear tests **Answer: (b)** β€” It was the third consecutive failure (secondary source). **Q10.** Which is the correct order of these events? 1. Operation Sindoor 2. Operation Sindhu 3. 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis - (a) 1, 3, 2 - (b) 3, 1, 2 - (c) 2, 1, 3 - (d) 1, 2, 3 **Answer: (d)** β€” Sindoor was in May 2025, Sindhu in June 2025 and the Hormuz crisis began in March 2026. **Q11.** The India AI Impact Summit of February 2026 resulted in - (a) India's exit from the Paris AI summit process - (b) a binding global AI treaty - (c) a voluntary New Delhi Declaration endorsed by about 90 countries and organisations - (d) a UN Security Council resolution on AI **Answer: (c)** β€” It built on the Bletchley (2023), Seoul (2024) and Paris (2025) summits. **Q12.** The 1996 Ganga Water Treaty between India and Bangladesh is due to expire on - (a) 1 January 2027 - (b) 31 March 2026 - (c) 12 December 2026 - (d) 12 December 2036 **Answer: (c)** β€” It has a 30-year term; renewal talks are in progress. ### Mains Practice Questions Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly β€” they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover. - "With the waning of globalization, post-Cold War world is becoming a site of sovereign nationalism." Elucidate. - 'Clean energy is the order of the day.' Describe briefly India's changing policy towards climate change in various international fora in the context of geopolitics. - How did India's strategic autonomy hold up during the US tariff shock of 2025 and the Iran war of 2026? - Assess the successes and gaps of India's 2025 diplomacy with the Global South, the Gulf and Europe. ### UPSC Mains β€” Previous Years’ Questions on this topic (last 10 years) These are the **actual GS Mains questions** UPSC has asked on this theme β€” real proof of how, and when, it is tested. Try to write a full answer to each. - 2025 (GS-II): "With the waning of globalization, post-Cold War world is becoming a site of sovereign nationalism." Elucidate. - 2022 (GS-II): 'Clean energy is the order of the day.' Describe briefly India's changing policy towards climate change in various international fora in the context of geopolitics.