Indo-Pacific for UPSC: South China Sea, UNCLOS, ASEAN, RCEP, Quad, AUKUS, MAHASAGAR and India's Act East
How UPSC Tests the Indo-Pacific
🎯 Exam priority: Tier-1. UPSC asked: the Belt and Road Initiative (2016); the Trans-Pacific Partnership (2016); THAAD (2018); ASEAN's free-trade partners (2018); a Mindanao, Catalonia and Crimea pair question (2018); the UNCLOS zones (2022); the Senkaku Islands (2022); Vietnam's economy and political system (2022). In Mains GS-II: India's Look East Policy (2016), India-Japan (2019), the Quad (2020), AUKUS (2021) and, in 2026, IPMDA as the bridge between SAGAR and the Quad.
The Indo-Pacific is the region UPSC has chosen to ask about in four different ways: a sea or a dispute (where, who claims it), a law (what does UNCLOS say), a grouping (who is in ASEAN, RCEP, the Quad) and India's policy (Act East, SAGAR, MAHASAGAR, IPOI). The note has one box for each.
The Seas, the Straits and the South China Sea Dispute
Here is the sea map and the dispute table, with what UPSC actually used.
The seas and straits
Water | Where | Why it matters |
Strait of Malacca | Between the Malay Peninsula (Malaysia) and Sumatra (Indonesia); Singapore at the southern end; joins the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea | India's trade and oil supply line to East Asia; the shortest route between the Indian and Pacific oceans |
South China Sea | Bounded by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, Indonesia (Natuna) and Singapore | Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal; about a third of global maritime trade passes through it |
East China Sea | Between China, Japan, Taiwan and the Korean peninsula | Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands: administered by Japan, claimed by China and Taiwan (2022 PYQ) |
Taiwan Strait | Between mainland China and Taiwan | A flash point; China claims Taiwan and does not rule out force |
Sea of Japan and the Korean peninsula | Japan, North and South Korea, Russia | North Korea's missile tests; THAAD anti-missile system (US) in South Korea since 2017 (2018 PYQ) |
South China Sea: who claims what
Claimants: China (with Taiwan), Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim some features of the Spratlys; China, Vietnam and Taiwan claim the Paracels; China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal. Singapore and Indonesia are not claimants, though Indonesia's Natuna waters overlap China's 'nine-dash line'.
The 2016 award: the arbitral tribunal under UNCLOS (the Philippines versus China, 12 July 2016) held that China's 'historic rights' within the nine-dash line have no legal basis. China rejects the award.
The code of conduct: ASEAN and China have negotiated a binding Code of Conduct for years. The Philippines, ASEAN chair in 2026, set a July 2026 target, but analysts doubted a signing and there were new Scarborough Shoal incidents in March 2026 (secondary sources).
UNCLOS: Zones, Passage and India's Position
The 2022 UNCLOS question had three statements and all were correct. Know the zones by distance.
UNCLOS maritime zones
Zone | Limit from the baseline | Rights |
Territorial sea | Up to 12 nautical miles | Full sovereignty; other states have the right of innocent passage |
Contiguous zone | Up to 24 nautical miles | Customs, fiscal, immigration and sanitary control |
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) | Up to 200 nautical miles | Sovereign rights over living and non-living resources; other states keep freedom of navigation and overflight |
Continental shelf | At least 200 nm and up to 350 nm where the shelf extends | Seabed resources |
High seas | Beyond national jurisdiction | Freedom of navigation, fishing and overflight for all |
Straits used for international navigation | Transit passage | Wider than innocent passage; applies to Malacca, Hormuz and similar straits |
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) came into force in 1994; India ratified it in 1995. The US has not ratified it.
'Innocent passage' belongs to ships of all states, coastal or land-locked, through the territorial sea (2022 PYQ).
ASEAN, RCEP, CPTPP, IPEF, the Quad and AUKUS
These are the groupings and frameworks of the region and the facts UPSC likes.
ASEAN and the ASEAN-led frameworks
Body | Key facts | India link |
ASEAN (1967, Bangkok Declaration; HQ Jakarta) | Five founders (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand); Brunei 1984, Vietnam 1995, Laos and Myanmar 1997, Cambodia 1999; Timor-Leste became the 11th member at the 47th Summit on 26 October 2025. The Philippines chairs in 2026 ('Navigating Our Future, Together') | Sectoral partner 1992, dialogue partner 1996, summit-level 2002, strategic partnership 2012, comprehensive strategic partnership 2022; 22nd ASEAN-India Summit on 26 October 2025; ASEAN-India Plan of Action 2026-2030; 2026 declared the ASEAN-India Year of Maritime Cooperation |
East Asia Summit (2005) | Leaders-led forum of ASEAN plus partners (including India, the US and Russia) | India's EAM delivered the national statement at the 20th EAS in Kuala Lumpur on 27 October 2025 |
ASEAN free-trade partners | Australia-New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea (not the US or Canada) | 2018 PYQ. The ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) is under review |
RCEP | 15 members: 10 ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand; in force from 1 January 2022 | India left the negotiations in November 2019 |
CPTPP (successor to the TPP) | 12 members including Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Vietnam and the UK; the US left the TPP in 2017 and China has applied | India is not a member; the 2016 TPP question asked whether it was a maritime alliance (it is a trade pact) |
IPEF (2022) | Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity: 14 partners, four pillars | India joined the supply-chain, clean-economy and fair-economy pillars but not the trade pillar |
Security frameworks
The Quad: India, the US, Japan and Australia. In 2025 its foreign ministers met in Washington on 21 January and 1 July and announced an agenda on four areas: maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance and emergency response. They launched the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative; India hosted the first Quad Ports of the Future Partnership Conference in Mumbai (29-30 October 2025). No leaders' summit has been held since September 2024 (Wilmington), although one was expected in India; a Quad foreign ministers' meeting was reported in New Delhi on 26 May 2026 (single secondary source).
AUKUS (September 2021): Australia, the UK and the US; its first project is nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. It is a trilateral, not a Quad rival, but 2021 Mains asked whether it supersedes existing partnerships.
IPMDA (Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness): a Quad initiative that uses satellite data to track illegal fishing and dark ships; the 2026 Mains linked it to India's SAGAR vision.
BRI (2013): China's Belt and Road Initiative; the 2016 question had four wrong organisations and one right one (China).
India's Act East, MAHASAGAR and IPOI in 2025
India's own policy has changed names with every decade: Look East (1991) became Act East (2014), SAGAR (2015) became MAHASAGAR (2025), and the Indo-Pacific vision (2018) has a concrete tool in the IPOI.
India in the Indo-Pacific, 2025
Partner | What happened (MEA Annual Report 2025) |
MAHASAGAR | 'Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions', announced as the evolution of SAGAR (March 2025, Mauritius visit) |
IPOI | Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, announced by the PM at the 14th East Asia Summit in Bangkok (November 2019), with seven pillars and lead countries (UK with India on maritime security; Australia and Thailand on maritime ecology; France and Indonesia on marine resources; Germany, the EU and the Netherlands on capacity building) |
IORA | India has been a founding member since 1997, was Vice-Chair in 2023-25 and became Chair for 2025-27 on 12 November 2025 |
Japan | 15th Annual Summit in Tokyo, 29-30 August 2025: Joint Vision for the Next Decade across eight areas, a private-investment target of JPY 10 trillion over a decade, and exchange of 500,000 people; 2025-26 is the India-Japan Year of Science, Technology and Innovation Exchanges |
Republic of Korea | 10th anniversary of the Special Strategic Partnership; the first bilateral naval exercise (October 2025) |
Philippines | President Marcos's state visit (4-8 August 2025) raised ties to a Strategic Partnership with a Plan of Action and 13 MoUs |
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand | Prabowo Subianto was Republic Day chief guest (January 2025); the Singapore President's state visit and a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership roadmap (September); Thailand relations raised to a Strategic Partnership (April) |
Vietnam | Relics of the Buddha from Sarnath were sent to Vietnam for the first time (2 May-2 June); India-Vietnam coast guard and naval port calls |
Oceania | India-New Zealand FTA described as one of the fastest-concluded FTAs; 14 Pacific Island countries receive annual grant-in-aid under the FIPIC framework |
How UPSC Could Ask This Next
Here are the questions this chapter is most likely to produce next.
How UPSC could ask this next
Counts and pairs: 'how many of these countries are ASEAN / RCEP / CPTPP members', and 'consider the pairs: Scarborough Shoal, Spratly, Natuna, Paracel with the claimants'.
The 11th ASEAN member: Timor-Leste (October 2025) is the obvious current-affairs hook, together with the 2026 Philippine chair and the code of conduct.
Named frameworks: IPEF pillars, Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, IPMDA, IPOI, MAHASAGAR (what does the acronym expand to), AUKUS.
Straits and zones: which strait connects which seas; who has 'transit passage'; how far the EEZ extends.
Mains: Quad versus other groupings, India and the South China Sea, the Act East policy's economic and strategic dimensions, India-Japan and India-ASEAN, ASEAN centrality, and India's balancing between the US and China in the Indo-Pacific.
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 — the primary sources behind every fact above.
Test Yourself: Practice Questions and PYQs
Twelve practice questions on the seas, UNCLOS, ASEAN and the trade and security frameworks, followed by the real UPSC Prelims questions and exact Mains questions.
Practice Questions
Q1. Which one of the following is NOT a claimant to features in the Spratly Islands?
(a) Philippines
(b) Vietnam
(c) Singapore
(d) Brunei
Show answer
Answer: (c) — China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the Spratlys; Singapore does not.
Q2. The 2016 arbitral award under UNCLOS in the case brought by the Philippines against China held that
(a) Scarborough Shoal is Chinese territory
(b) the Spratlys form a single Chinese archipelago
(c) the Senkaku Islands belong to China
(d) China's 'historic rights' within the nine-dash line have no legal basis under UNCLOS
Show answer
Answer: (d) — The tribunal ruled on 12 July 2016 that the nine-dash line claim to historic rights was incompatible with UNCLOS. China rejects the ruling.
Q3. Under UNCLOS, the contiguous zone extends up to
(a) 350 nautical miles from the baseline
(b) 12 nautical miles from the baseline
(c) 24 nautical miles from the baseline
(d) 200 nautical miles from the baseline
Show answer
Answer: (c) — The territorial sea is 12 nm, the contiguous zone 24 nm and the EEZ 200 nm.
Q4. India ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea in
(a) 1982
(b) 1972
(c) 2005
(d) 1995
Show answer
Answer: (d) — UNCLOS was adopted in 1982 and entered into force in 1994; India ratified it in 1995.
Q5. Consider the following statements about ASEAN:
1. It was founded in 1967 with five members.
2. Timor-Leste became its 11th member in October 2025.
3. Its headquarters is in Singapore.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (a) — ASEAN's secretariat is in Jakarta, not Singapore.
Q6. Consider the following statements about the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP):
1. It has 15 members.
2. It came into force on 1 January 2022.
3. India is a member.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 and 2 only
Show answer
Answer: (d) — India left the negotiations in November 2019 and is not a member.
Q7. The Quad countries are
(a) India, Japan, Australia and ASEAN
(b) India, the United States, Japan and South Korea
(c) India, the United States, Japan and Australia
(d) India, the United States, the UK and Australia
Show answer
Answer: (c) — The UK is in AUKUS (with the US and Australia), not in the Quad.
Q8. AUKUS, announced in September 2021, is a security partnership of
(a) Australia, the UK and the US
(b) India, the UK and the US
(c) Australia, Japan and the US
(d) Australia, New Zealand and the US
Show answer
Answer: (a) — Its flagship project is nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.
Q9. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) was announced by the Indian Prime Minister at the East Asia Summit in
(a) Singapore in 2015
(b) Kuala Lumpur in 2025
(c) Bangkok in 2019
(d) Manila in 2017
Show answer
Answer: (c) — It has seven pillars; the UK co-leads maritime security with India.
Q10. MAHASAGAR, the policy announced in 2025, stands for
(a) Maritime Alliance for Security and Growth of the Asian Region
(b) Maritime Action for Sea Governance and Regional security
(c) Maritime and Hydrographic Security for Asia-Pacific
(d) Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions
Show answer
Answer: (d) — It evolves SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) of 2015.
Q11. India assumed the Chairship of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) for 2025-27 on
(a) 1 September 2025
(b) 12 November 2025
(c) 26 October 2025
(d) 1 January 2025
Show answer
Answer: (b) — India is a founding member of IORA (1997) and was Vice-Chair in 2023-25.
Q12. The Strait of Malacca lies between
(a) Sumatra and Java
(b) the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra
(c) Taiwan and the Philippines
(d) Borneo and Sulawesi
Show answer
Answer: (b) — It joins the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea and has Singapore at its southern end.
UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Real UPSC Prelims questions, checked against the official paper and answer key.
Q1. (2022) Which one of the following statements best reflects the issue with Senkaku Islands, sometimes mentioned in the news?
(a) A permanent American military base has been set up there to help Taiwan to increase its defence capabilities.
(b) Though International Court of Justice declared them as no man's land, some South-East Asian countries claim them.
(c) China and Japan engage in maritime disputes over these islands in East China Sea.
(d) It is generally believed that they are artificial islands made by a country around South China Sea.
Show answer
Answer: (c) — The Senkaku (Diaoyu in Chinese) Islands in the East China Sea are administered by Japan and claimed by China (and Taiwan); the US treats them as covered by its security treaty with Japan.
Q2. (2018) What is 'Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)', sometimes seen in the news?
(a) An Israeli radar system
(b) India's indigenous anti-missile programme
(c) An American anti-missile system
(d) A defence collaboration between Japan and South Korea
Show answer
Answer: (c) — THAAD is the United States' Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile-interceptor system, deployed in South Korea in 2017.
Q3. (2022) With reference to the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea, consider the following statements:
1. A coastal state has the right to establish the breadth of its territorial sea up to a limit not exceeding 12 nautical miles, measured from baseline determined in accordance with the convention.
2. Ships of all states, whether coastal or land-locked, enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial sea.
3. The Exclusive Economic Zone shall not extend beyond 200 nautical miles from the baseline from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 and 2 only
Show answer
Answer: (b) — UNCLOS fixes the territorial sea at up to 12 nautical miles, gives ships of all states the right of innocent passage and sets the EEZ at up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline, so all three statements are correct.
Q4. (2022) Consider the following statements:
1. Vietnam has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world in the recent years.
2. Vietnam is led by a multi-party political system.
3. Vietnam's economic growth is linked to its integration with global supply chains and focus on exports.
4. For a long time Vietnam's low labour costs and stable exchange rates have attracted global manufacturers.
5. Vietnam has the most productive e-service sector in the Indo-Pacific region.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 2 and 4
(b) 1, 3 and 4
(c) 3 and 5
(d) 1 and 2
Show answer
Answer: (b) — Vietnam is a single-party (Communist Party) state, so Statement 2 is wrong, and its e-service sector is not the Indo-Pacific's most productive. Statements 1, 3 and 4 hold.
Q5. (2016) With reference to the 'Trans-Pacific Partnership', consider the following statements:
1. It is an agreement among all the Pacific Rim countries except China and Russia.
2. It is a strategic alliance for the purpose of maritime security only.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) Neither 1 nor 2
(c) 2 only
(d) Both 1 and 2
Show answer
Answer: (b) — The Trans-Pacific Partnership was a trade (not a maritime security) agreement among twelve Pacific Rim economies; it excluded China and was not 'all Pacific Rim countries except China and Russia'.
Q6. (2018) Consider the following pairs:
Regions sometimes mentioned in news : Country
1. Catalonia : Spain
2. Crimea : Hungary
3. Mindanao : Philippines
4. Oromia : Nigeria
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) 3 and 4 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 2 and 4 only
Show answer
Answer: (c) — Catalonia is in Spain and Mindanao in the Philippines. Crimea is in Ukraine (annexed by Russia in 2014) and Oromia is in Ethiopia.
Mains Practice Questions
Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.
"IPMDA bridges the gap between India's SAGAR vision and the Quad's collective Indo-Pacific strategy." Make a critical assessment of the statement.
"The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is transforming itself into a trade bloc from a military alliance." Discuss.
Evaluate the economic and strategic dimensions of India's Act East Policy.
How does India reconcile ASEAN centrality with its partnerships in the Quad and with the US, Japan and Australia?
UPSC Mains — Previous Years’ Questions on this topic (last 10 years)
These are the actual GS Mains questions UPSC has asked on this theme — real proof of how, and when, it is tested. Try to write a full answer to each.
2026 (GS-II): "IPMDA (Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness) bridges the gap between India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and the Quad's collective Indo-Pacific strategy." Make a critical assessment of the statement focusing on IPMDA.
2021 (GS-II): The newly tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strength and impact of AUKUS in the present scenario.
2020 (GS-II): 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)' is transforming itself into a trade bloc from a military alliance, in present times - Discuss.
2019 (GS-II): 'The time has come for India and Japan to build a strong contemporary relationship, one involving global and strategic partnership that will have a great significance for Asia and the world as a whole.' Comment.
2016 (GS-II): Evaluate the economic and strategic dimensions of India's Look East Policy in the context of the post Cold War international scenario.