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Q62 (IAS/2025) International Relations & Global Affairs › India's Bilateral & Regional Relations › Regional connectivity initiatives Answer Verified

India is one of the founding members of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal transportation corridor, which will connect

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: A
Explanation

The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200 km-long multimodal (rail, ship, and road) transport corridor connecting India and Russia, via Iran.[3] The corridor connects the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, then is connected to St. Petersburg and North Europe via the Russian Federation.[6] It connects the countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe through Iran.[8]

Option A is correct as the INSTC specifically routes through Iran to connect India with Central Asia and eventually Europe. Option B is incorrect as the corridor does not pass through China. Option C is incorrect as it describes connectivity to South-East Asia via Bangladesh and Myanmar, which is not the INSTC route. Option D is misleading because while Azerbaijan may be involved in the broader corridor network, the primary and defining route is through Iran, not exclusively through Azerbaijan.

Sources
  1. [1] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/762471/EPRS_BRI(2024)762471_EN.pdf
  2. [2] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/762471/EPRS_BRI(2024)762471_EN.pdf
  3. [3] https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/762471/EPRS_BRI(2024)762471_EN.pdf
  4. [4] https://aric.adb.org/initiative/international-north-south-transport-corridor
  5. [5] https://aric.adb.org/initiative/international-north-south-transport-corridor
  6. [6] https://aric.adb.org/initiative/international-north-south-transport-corridor
  7. [7] https://jices.ut.ac.ir/article_100908_248838d3826fd45385c94035f7c649ea.pdf
  8. [8] https://jices.ut.ac.ir/article_100908_248838d3826fd45385c94035f7c649ea.pdf
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. India is one of the founding members of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal transportation corridor, w…
At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 10/10
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This is a classic 'Map + IR' sitter rooted in India's fundamental geopolitical constraint: the lack of direct land access to Central Asia due to Pakistan. The solution is always 'Sea to Iran → Land North'. If you understand the 'Chabahar Strategy', this question answers itself.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Does the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) connect India to Central Asia and Europe via Iran?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 5/5
"The International North-South Transport Corridor which connects the countries in the South Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe through Iran, plays an important role in the"
Why this source?
  • Explicitly states the INSTC links the South Caucasus and Central Asia to Europe through Iran.
  • Directly supports the claim that the corridor provides a route to Europe via Iran for Central Asian countries (implying regional connectivity that includes India as a participant in the corridor network).
Web source
Presence: 5/5
"This corridor connects [India] Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Islamic republic of IRAN, then is connected to St. Petersburg and North European via Russian Federation."
Why this source?
  • Notes INSTC was established by Iran, Russia and India, showing India is a founding member.
  • Describes the route: connects the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, then to St. Petersburg and Northern Europe via Russia — i.e., India-to-Europe via Iran.
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7 200 km-long multimodal (rail, ship, and road) transport corridor connecting India and Russia, via Iran."
Why this source?
  • Defines INSTC as a multimodal transport corridor connecting India and Russia via Iran, supporting the India-to-Europe via Iran link.
  • Specifies the corridor's length and multimodal nature, reinforcing it as a functional transport route.

Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 88: Foreign Policy > CONNECT CENTRAL ASIA POLICY OF INDIA > p. 612
Strength: 5/5
“deliver, tele·education and tcle-medicine connecti vity, linking all the fi ve Central Asia n Sta tes. • 3. Indian companies can showcase India's capability in the construction sector and build world-class structures at competitive rates.• 9. As for land connectivity, India has reactivated the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).• 10. Absence of a viable banking infrastructure in the region is a major barrier to trade and investment. Indian banks can expand their presence if they see a favourable policy environment.• 11 India's "Connect Central Asia" policy is consonant with its overall policy of deepening engagement in Eurasia, its policy of strengthening relations with China, with Pakistan, and building on its traditional relationship with Russia.”
Why relevant

Explicitly states India has 'reactivated the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)' in the context of a 'Connect Central Asia' policy, linking INSTC to India's Central Asia strategy.

How to extend

A student could check a map to see whether the INSTC's reactivation plausibly creates a land/sea link from India toward Iran/Caspian/Central Asia and onward to Europe.

Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 88: Foreign Policy > CONNECT CENTRAL ASIA POLICY OF INDIA > p. 611
Strength: 4/5
“India launched the "Connect Central Asia" Policy in 2012. This policy is aimed at strengthening and expanding of India's relations with the Central Asian countries. These countries include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. India's "Connect Central Asia" policy is a broad-based approach including political, security, economic and cultural connections. Its features (or elements) are as follows5 : • 1. India will continue to build on its strong political relations through the exchange of high level visits. • 2. India will strengthen its strategic and security cooperation. The focus will be on military training, joint research and counter-terrorism coordination. • 3.”
Why relevant

Describes India's 'Connect Central Asia' policy and lists Central Asian countries India seeks to link with, implying transport corridors (such as INSTC) are relevant to reaching those countries.

How to extend

Using the list of Central Asian states and a regional map, the student can infer likely transit countries (e.g., Iran) that lie between India and those states.

FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 7: Transport and Communication > The Orient Express > p. 60
Strength: 4/5
“This line runs from Paris to Istanbul passing through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade. The journey time from London to Istanbul by this Express is now reduced to 96 hours as against 10 days by the sea-route. The chief exports on this rail-route are cheese, bacon, oats, wine, fruits, and machinery. There is a proposal to build a Trans–Asiatic Railway linking Istanbul with Bangkok via Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.”
Why relevant

Gives an example of a proposed Trans–Asiatic railway that would link Europe (Istanbul) with parts of South and Southeast Asia 'via Iran, Pakistan, India,' showing that Iran is commonly proposed as a transit route between Europe and South Asia.

How to extend

A student can generalize that corridors connecting Europe and India often use Iran as an intermediate transit country and thus consider whether INSTC could follow a similar path.

FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 7: Transport and Communication > PIPELINES > p. 67
Strength: 3/5
“consuming areas. Big Inch is one such famous pipeline, which carries petroleum from the oil wells of the Gulf of Mexico to the North-eastern States. About 17 per cent of all freight per tonne-km. is carried through pipelines in U.S.A. In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India pipelines are used to connect oil wells to refineries, and to ports or domestic markets. Turkmenistan is central Asia has extended pipelines to Iran and also to parts of China. The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan international oil and natural gas pipeline will be the longest in the world.”
Why relevant

Notes that Turkmenistan (Central Asia) has extended pipelines to Iran and to China, demonstrating existing infrastructural links between Central Asia and Iran that could be used or paralleled by transport corridors.

How to extend

A student could combine this with a regional map to infer that Iran serves as a geographic and infrastructural bridge between Central Asia and southern neighbors, making it a plausible route for corridors from India.

CONTEMPORARY INDIA-I ,Geography, Class IX . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 1: India Size and Location > INDIA AND THE WORLD > p. 2
Strength: 2/5
“The Indian landmass has a central location between the East and the West Asia. India is a southward extension of the Asian continent. The trans Indian Ocean routes, which connect the countries of Europe in the West and the countries of East Asia, provide a strategic central location to India. Note that the Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean, thus helping India to establish close contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from the western coast and with Southeast and East Asia from the eastern coast. No other country has a long coastline on the Indian Ocean as India has and indeed, it is India's eminent position in the Indian Ocean, which justifies the naming of an Ocean after it.”
Why relevant

Describes India's central maritime position connecting West Asia, Africa and Europe from its western coast, highlighting India's strategic orientation toward West/West-Central Asian links.

How to extend

A student could use this strategic-geography point plus a map to reason whether sea/land corridors from India's west coast could head northwest toward Iran and beyond.

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