International Affairs and Summits PYQs – Current Affairs, SSC & Railway

Answer: Option 1 — Washington, D.C., United States
The NATO Summit 2024 was held in Washington, D.C. from 9 to 11 July 2024.
It marked the 75th anniversary of NATO, founded by the Washington Treaty of 4 April 1949.
Revision note — NATO
• NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a military alliance set up in 1949 with 12 founding members.
• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium; military command SHAPE at Mons, Belgium.
• Article 5: an attack on one member is an attack on all — invoked only once, after 9/11 (2001).
• Newest members: Finland (2023) and Sweden (March 2024), taking the total to 32.
• The 2024 summit was held at the same city where the treaty was signed in 1949.
• As of 2026: the 2025 NATO Summit was held in The Hague, Netherlands (24–25 June 2025).
Also asked from this topic: the summit hosted for the first time by the Netherlands in June 2025 (NATO Summit, The Hague).

Answer: Option 3 — Cuiaba, Brazil
Brazil held the G20 presidency in 2024, so all its ministerial meetings were in Brazil.
The G20 Agriculture Ministers' Meeting was held in September 2024 in the farm state of Mato Grosso, at Cuiabá (Chapada dos Guimarães).
Revision note — G20 in 2023–2024
• G20 = 19 countries + the European Union, and the African Union since 2023; formed in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis.
• India's presidency (2023) — 18th summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi; theme Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future.
• At New Delhi the African Union became a permanent member.
• Brazil's presidency (2024) — 19th summit at Rio de Janeiro, November 2024; theme Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet.
• Brazil launched the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty at the Rio summit.
• The presidency passes in a troika: 2023 India → 2024 Brazil → 2025 South Africa (Johannesburg).
Do not mix these up
• Rio de Janeiro hosted the leaders' summit; the agriculture ministers met in Mato Grosso (Cuiabá).
Also asked from this topic: the G20 Summit 2024 venue (Rio de Janeiro); the Rio theme (Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet); the 2025 Johannesburg theme (Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability).

Answer: Option 4 — Astana, Kazakhstan
The 19th meeting of the Secretaries of the Security Councils of SCO member states was held at Astana in April 2024, because Kazakhstan held the SCO chair for 2023–24.
Revision note — Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
• Founded 15 June 2001 at Shanghai by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan (from the Shanghai Five, 1996).
• India and Pakistan became full members in 2017 (Astana summit); Iran joined in 2023, Belarus in July 2024.
• Secretariat — Beijing; RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure) — Tashkent.
• Official languages — Russian and Chinese.
• The 18th Security Council Secretaries' meeting was held at New Delhi in 2023, during India's chairship.
• The 2024 Heads of State summit was also held at Astana (July 2024).
Also asked from this topic: the year SCO was established (2001); the year India became a full member (2017); the body RATS belongs to (SCO); the official languages of SCO (Russian and Chinese).

Answer: Option 3 — 1 and 3 only
The 2024 Quad Leaders' Summit was hosted by US President Joe Biden at Wilmington, Delaware in September 2024, and the Wilmington Declaration named India as host of the 2025 summit.
Statement 2 is wrong: 2024 marked 20 years, not 22, counted from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami response in which the four countries first worked together.
Revision note — Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue)
• Members: India, USA, Japan and Australia; focus: a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
• Roots: the Tsunami Core Group of 2004; the dialogue was first proposed in 2007 by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, lapsed, and was revived in 2017.
• First leaders' summit: virtual, March 2021; first in-person summit: Washington D.C., September 2021.
• Later summits: Tokyo (2022), Hiroshima (2023), Wilmington (21 September 2024).
• Wilmington outcomes: the Quad Cancer Moonshot (cervical cancer) and a planned Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission.
Do not mix these up
• 2004 vs 2007 — 2004 is the tsunami cooperation the "20 years" is counted from; 2007 is when the Quad dialogue was first proposed.
Also asked from this topic: the host of the first in-person Quad Leaders' Summit (United States, 2021); when the Quad was first proposed (2007); the primary focus region of the Quad (Indo-Pacific).

Answer: Option 4 — Finland
NATO decided in October 2024 to set up a new Multi-Corps Land Component Command in Finland (at Mikkeli), to oversee land operations in northern Europe from 2025.
Finland has the longest border with Russia of any NATO member (about 1,340 km).
Revision note — NATO
• NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was founded by the Washington Treaty on 4 April 1949, with 12 founding members.
• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.
• Article 5 — an attack on one member is an attack on all (collective defence); invoked only once, after 9/11 (2001).
• Finland joined on 4 April 2023 as the 31st member; Sweden joined on 7 March 2024 as the 32nd.
• Mark Rutte (former Dutch PM) became Secretary General on 1 October 2024, succeeding Jens Stoltenberg.
• Ukraine, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan are not NATO members.

Answer: Option 3 — Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
It ran from 26 February to 2 March 2024.
Revision note — WTO and its Ministerial Conferences
• The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the WTO; it meets usually once every two years.
• WTO was set up on 1 January 1995, replacing GATT (1947); headquarters Geneva, Switzerland.
• MC12 was held in Geneva (June 2022) — it adopted the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
• MC13 (Abu Dhabi) was chaired by UAE Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi; the accession of Comoros and Timor-Leste was approved there.
• First Ministerial Conference: Singapore (1996); the only one in Africa before 2026: MC10, Nairobi (2015).
• Director-General: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) — the first woman and first African to head the WTO.
• As of 2026: MC14 was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in March 2026.
Also asked from this topic: the country that hosted the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in March 2026 (Cameroon — Yaoundé).

Answer: Option 4 — New Delhi, India
The first BIMSTEC Business Summit was held in New Delhi from 6 to 8 August 2024.
It was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to push trade and investment among member countries.
Revision note — BIMSTEC
• Full form: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
• Formed on 6 June 1997 by the Bangkok Declaration as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand).
• 7 members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand — five from South Asia, two from South-East Asia.
• Permanent Secretariat at Dhaka, Bangladesh (opened 2014).
• 5th Summit (virtual, Colombo, March 2022) adopted the BIMSTEC Charter.
• India leads the Security pillar (counter-terrorism, disaster management, energy security).
• As of 2026: the 6th BIMSTEC Summit was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 4 April 2025.
Do not mix these up
• BIMSTEC vs SAARC — BIMSTEC Secretariat is in Dhaka; SAARC Secretariat is in Kathmandu.
Also asked from this topic: the declaration that created BIMSTEC (Bangkok Declaration, 1997); the host of the BIMSTEC Summit in April 2025 (Thailand).

Answer: Option 4 — Islamabad, Pakistan
The 23rd meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government was hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad on 15–16 October 2024; India was represented by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Revision note — Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
• Founded on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai; grew out of the Shanghai Five (1996).
• Founding members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
• India and Pakistan became full members in 2017 (Astana summit); Iran in 2023; Belarus in 2024 — 10 members.
• Secretariat: Beijing; Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS): Tashkent.
• Official languages: Russian and Chinese.
• The Heads of State Council (summit) is the top body — the 2024 summit was at Astana, Kazakhstan (July 2024); India chaired the SCO in 2023 (virtual summit, New Delhi).
Do not mix these up
• Heads of State vs Heads of Government meeting — the summit (Heads of State) in 2024 was at Astana; the Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) meeting in 2024 was at Islamabad.
Also asked from this topic: the year India became a full member of the SCO (2017); the city where the SCO was established (Shanghai); an official language of the SCO (Chinese).
Jaishankar's trip was the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian External Affairs Minister in nearly a decade — that is why the venue was in the news.

Answer: Option 2 — Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic
The 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting was held at Vientiane, Laos, in July 2024, as Lao PDR held the ASEAN Chair for 2024.
Revision note — ASEAN
• ASEAN — Association of Southeast Asian Nations, formed on 8 August 1967 by the Bangkok Declaration.
• Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand.
• 10 members: the five founders + Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia; Timor-Leste was admitted in principle in 2022.
• Secretariat: Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Theme of Laos's 2024 chairship: "ASEAN: Enhancing Connectivity and Resilience".
• India is a dialogue partner; its Act East Policy (2014) has ASEAN at its centre. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar attended the 2024 meeting.
• As of 2026: Timor-Leste became ASEAN's 11th member in October 2025.
Do not mix these up
• Vientiane vs Jakarta — Vientiane hosted the 2024 meetings as chair; Jakarta is the permanent ASEAN Secretariat.
Also asked from this topic: the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia (Laos); a country that is not an ASEAN member (Pakistan; India is only a dialogue partner).