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UPSC Prelims 2025 GS Paper 1, question 92

Topic: International relations and organisations

Q92

Consider the following statements in respect of BIMSTEC :

I. It is a regional organization consisting of seven member States till January 2025.

II. It came into existence with the signing of the Dhaka Declaration, 1999.

III. Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Nepal are founding member States of BIMSTEC.

IV. In BIMSTEC, the subsector of ‘tourism’ is being led by India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) I and II
  2. (b) II and III
  3. (c) I and IV
  4. (d) I onlyCorrect answer

Solution.

Answer: (d) I only

  1. Statement I is correct: BIMSTEC consists of seven member States (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) till January 2025.
  2. Statements II and III are incorrect: BIMSTEC was established on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration (not the Dhaka Declaration, 1999), and Nepal was not a founding member (Nepal and Bhutan joined in 2004).
  3. Statement IV is incorrect: under the reorganized seven sectors of BIMSTEC adopted at the 5th Summit in Colombo (2022), India leads the Security pillar, whereas Nepal leads the People-to-People Contact pillar (which subsumes Culture and Tourism).

Trap: If Statement IV is treated as correct based on the pre-reorganization 14-sector framework where India was lead country for Tourism (and hosts the BIMSTEC Tourism Information Centre), option (c) I and IV is the competing reading.