Comprehension
Days after India-Pakistan tensions spilled over into a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi are expected to meet via a video conference at the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) meeting on September 24. “All member countries have confirmed participation in the meeting, to be chaired by Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, [1] of Nepal. The respective Foreign Ministers will take part,” sources familiar with preparations for the meeting told The Hindu, referring to the eight members of SAARC, including [2], Bangladesh, [3], India, [4], Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A senior Indian official also confirmed that Mr. Jaishankar will attend despite the incident at the SCO virtual meeting of National Security Advisors on Tuesday. During that meeting, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval stormed out after he saw that the Pakistan Special Advisor on National Security Moeed Yusuf had used a map of Pakistan that claimed Indian Territory.
“This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host [5] against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting. After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture,” the MEA had said about the incident. When asked, the sources said that no specific guidelines on background or maps have been issued by the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu that is also the Chair of the SAARC at present, but they hope it would go “smoothly”. A meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers, where an Additional Secretary represented India instead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Pakistan was represented by its Special Advisor on Finance, took place on Wednesday without incident.
“This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host [5] against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting. After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture,” the MEA had said about the incident. When asked, the sources said that no specific guidelines on background or maps have been issued by the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu that is also the Chair of the SAARC at present, but they hope it would go “smoothly”. A meeting of SAARC Finance Ministers, where an Additional Secretary represented India instead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Pakistan was represented by its Special Advisor on Finance, took place on Wednesday without incident.
Question: 1
Which of the following has been replaced by [1] in the passage ?
Which of the following has been replaced by [1] in the passage ?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- Prime Minister
- Minister of Finance
- Minister of External Affairs
- Minister of Home Affairs
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The Correct Option is C
Approach Solution - 1
The correct option is (C) :Minister of External Affairs.
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Approach Solution -2
The passage describes a SAARC foreign ministers' video conference "to be chaired by Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, [1] of Nepal." We need to identify the post that fits this blank.
- Prime Minister: Pradeep Kumar Gyawali was not the head of government of Nepal at the time, so this post does not fit.
- Minister of Finance: The passage separately mentions finance ministers meeting on a different day, represented by different officials, so this post does not fit Gyawali's role in the passage.
- Minister of External Affairs: Pradeep Kumar Gyawali served as Nepal's foreign minister, the equivalent of a Minister of External Affairs, and the passage places him chairing a meeting of foreign ministers of the SAARC countries. This fits.
- Minister of Home Affairs: Nothing in the passage links Gyawali's role to internal or home affairs, so this post does not fit.
Since the meeting he is chairing is explicitly described as a gathering of "respective Foreign Ministers," the post that fits [1] is that of the foreign minister.
Therefore, the correct answer is Minister of External Affairs.
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Question: 2
Which of the following Nations is part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ?
Which of the following Nations is part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- Indonesia
- Thailand
- Myanmar
- Maldives
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The Correct Option is D
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The correct option is (D) :Maldives.
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The question asks which of the listed countries is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. Let's check each one.
- Indonesia: Indonesia is a Southeast Asian nation and a member of ASEAN, not SAARC. It is not a SAARC member.
- Thailand: Thailand is also part of Southeast Asia and ASEAN. It is not a SAARC member.
- Myanmar: Myanmar too belongs to Southeast Asia and regional groupings such as ASEAN, but it is not a full SAARC member.
- Maldives: Maldives is one of the eight founding and current members of SAARC, alongside Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is a SAARC member.
Out of the four countries listed, only Maldives is actually part of the eight nation SAARC grouping.
Therefore, the correct answer is Maldives.
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Question: 3
Which of the following has been replaced by [5] in the passage ?
Which of the following has been replaced by [5] in the passage ?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- Russia
- China
- Japan
- Pakistan
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The Correct Option is A
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The correct option is (A) :Russia.
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The passage describes an advisory issued "by the host [5] against" using a disputed map, during the SCO virtual meeting of National Security Advisors. We need to work out which country hosted that meeting.
- Russia: Russia held the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2020 and hosted the virtual meeting of National Security Advisors that the passage describes, including issuing guidance on the material used at the meeting. This fits the passage.
- China: China is a founding member of SCO but was not the host of this particular 2020 meeting described in the passage. This does not fit.
- Japan: Japan is not even a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, so it could not have hosted this meeting. This does not fit.
- Pakistan: Pakistan is a party to the map dispute described in the passage, not the host issuing the advisory against it. This does not fit.
Since the passage is about an SCO meeting hosted under Russia's chairmanship in 2020, the host referred to as [5] is Russia.
Therefore, the correct answer is Russia.
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Question: 4
India had not agreed to attend a summit hosted in Pakistan, but it remains an important promoter of the SAARC process. In which of the following years the SAARC leaders‘ summit was held lately ?
India had not agreed to attend a summit hosted in Pakistan, but it remains an important promoter of the SAARC process. In which of the following years the SAARC leaders‘ summit was held lately ?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- 2018
- 2014
- 2016
- 2019
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The Correct Option is B
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The correct option is (B) :2014.
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The question asks in which year the SAARC leaders' summit was last held, at the point this passage was written. Let's check each option.
- 2018: No SAARC leaders' summit took place in 2018. This does not fit.
- 2014: The 18th SAARC summit was held in Kathmandu in November 2014, and this remains the most recent summit held at the leaders' level. This fits.
- 2016: A summit was scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad in 2016, but India and several other member states pulled out following the Uri terror attack, and the summit was called off. It was never actually held, so this does not fit.
- 2019: No SAARC leaders' summit took place in 2019 either. This does not fit.
Since the planned 2016 summit was cancelled and no summit has taken place since, the last SAARC leaders' summit that was actually held remains the one in 2014.
Therefore, the correct answer is 2014.
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Question: 5
The above passage mentions about Pakistan‘s Special Advisor on National Security Moeed Yusuf using a map of Pakistan claiming Indian Territory. Which of the following territory is in context here ?
The above passage mentions about Pakistan‘s Special Advisor on National Security Moeed Yusuf using a map of Pakistan claiming Indian Territory. Which of the following territory is in context here ?
Updated On: Jul 15, 2026
- Junagadh
- Aksai Chin
- Pangong Tso
- Limpiyadhura
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The Correct Option is A
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The correct option is (A) :Junagadh.
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The passage refers to Pakistan's Special Advisor on National Security Moeed Yusuf displaying a map that claimed Indian territory. We need to identify which specific territory this refers to.
- Junagadh: Pakistan's revised political map, released shortly before this episode, controversially depicted Junagadh, a princely state that acceded to India in 1947, as part of Pakistan. This matches the territory shown at the meeting.
- Aksai Chin: Aksai Chin is a territory disputed between India and China, and it is not the territory that Pakistan's map claims in this context. This does not fit.
- Pangong Tso: Pangong Tso is a lake area on the India-China border, unrelated to Pakistan's territorial claims. This does not fit.
- Limpiyadhura: Limpiyadhura is an area disputed between India and Nepal, not part of Pakistan's claims. This does not fit.
Since the map controversy in the passage concerns Pakistan and its claims, and Pakistan's map specifically showed Junagadh as its own territory, that is the area in question.
Therefore, the correct answer is Junagadh.
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Top CLAT Questions
- In the realm of contemporary literature, the interplay between character and setting is a nuanced dance that shapes the narrative’s essence. The setting, often described with painstaking detail, becomes more than a backdrop; it becomes a character, influencing the plot and character development.
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[Col. Wedgwood, MP, speaking in the British Parliament, 22 December 1919]
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