Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for March 3, 2026. If you missed the March 2, 2026, UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Moving to transform ties to a “next level partnership” and put behind a bitter recent past, India and Canada signed a “landmark deal for long-term uranium supply” after Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Mark Carney held talks in New Delhi Monday.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the status of the India-Canada bilateral relations?

— What were the reasons for the constraints in the India-Canada relations?

— How significant is Canada for India in the current geopolitics?

— What are the areas of cooperation between India and Canada?

— What efforts have been made by both the nations to mend their ties?

— Know about the agreements recently signed between both countries.

— Read about the critical minerals and Uranium.

— Know about the International Solar Alliance, Indian Ocean Rim Association and the Global Biofuel Alliance.

— What is the role of the Indian diaspora in strengthening ties with other countries?

Key Takeaways:

— The two sides also signed pacts on critical minerals, decided to establish the India-Canada Defence Dialogue, and agreed to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement by the end of the year.

— In all, they signed eight government-to-government pacts, and 24 MoUs or partnerships among universities and institutions in areas such as AI, healthcare, agriculture, and innovation.

— This a huge turnaround in bilateral ties which took a severe hit after Carney’s predecessor Justin Trudeau, in September 2023, alleged that Indian government agents were involved in the killing of Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

— Following bilateral talks with Modi, Carney said, “So this is not merely the renewal of a relationship, it is the expansion of a valued partnership with new ambition, focus and foresight, a partnership between two confident countries charting our own course for the future.”

— Calling this an “important milestone”, Modi said, “Since our first meeting, our relationship has been infused with new energy, mutual trust, and positivity. I credit my friend, Prime Minister Carney, for the growing momentum in every area of cooperation.”

— Carney said, “As India seeks access to critical minerals for its manufacturing, its clean tech and its nuclear plans, Canada’s resource base and world leading companies position it as a strategic partner. As one example, the nuclear agreement, the uranium agreement signed today… the fact that 40 per cent of the world’s mining companies are listed in Canada.”

— On defence cooperation, Modi said, “Growing cooperation in the field of defence and security is a symbol of our deep mutual trust and the maturity of our relationship. We will work to enhance defence industries, maritime domain awareness, and military exchanges. To this end, we have today decided to establish the India-Canada Defence Dialogue.”

— “We are natural partners in technology and innovation. With the Canada and India innovation partnership, we will turn ideas into global solutions,” Modi said.

— “In the energy sector, we are building a next generation partnership which will place special emphasis on hydrocarbons as well as renewable energy, green hydrogen, and energy storage.”

— “We are pleased that Canada has decided to join the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuel Alliance. To advance our shared efforts, we will hold the India-Canada Renewable Energy and Storage Summit this year,” he said.

— Canada, Modi said, is an important partner for India in the Indo-Pacific. “We welcome their interest in becoming a Dialogue Partner in the Indian Ocean Rim Association. This will add new depth to our maritime cooperation,” he said.

From the Nation Page- “India, Canada deepen educational ties with new talent, innovation strategy”

— Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday highlighted strong Canada-India ties, noting that 4 lakh Indian students are currently in Canada. “That is twice the number in the United States and four times the number in the United Kingdom,” he said, addressing reporters alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

— While announcing the Canada-India Talent and Innovation Strategy with 13 university partnerships in New Delhi on Monday, Carney said these students “deepen our ties”.

— In the past couple of years, Indian students — for whom Canada is among the top destinations — have faced an unprecedented spike in visa refusals, long processing delays, and confusion over housing and post-study work rules. In that context, during Carney’s visit, the two sides discussed ways to get around this and looked towards a shift in education policy — moving away from “volume-driven student mobility to structured academic collaboration”, said MEA, Secretary (East), P Kumaran, briefing reporters at the conclusion of the Canadian PM’s visit on Monday.

— Talking about the importance of international academic collaboration and building a future-ready workforce, the two leaders — as per joint statement — agreed to deepen cooperation between higher education institutions by enhancing industry aligned skills training, expanding joint and dual-degree programmes and facilitating the establishment of offshore campuses of leading Canadian institutions in India.

— Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand welcomed the new strategy, which will facilitate research, student exchanges, hybrid campuses, and AI centres of excellence between Canada and India.

Do You Know:

— With Canada’s vast natural resources and India’s expanding energy demand, energy cooperation remains a key pillar of the bilateral relationship. The partnership encompasses both conventional and renewable sources, with Canada pitching itself as a reliable supplier of oil, gas, LNG, LPG, crude oil, and critical minerals.

— The education sector has significantly strengthened people-to-people ties between the two countries. Indian students represent the largest group of international students in Canada. More than 3.92 lakh Indian students were studying in Canada as of December 31, 2024.

— With over 1.8 million Indo-Canadians and approximately a million non-resident Indians, Canada is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Indian diasporas in the world. Indo-Canadians have had a profound impact across a wide range of sectors, and their influence continues to grow.

— Canada is an important strategic partner for major western powers — it is part of the G7 grouping and shares the table with the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan. It also shares intelligence with the Five Eyes grouping which also includes the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. All these countries are also close strategic partners for India.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍How India and Canada mended their frayed ties

📍 Mark Carney’s visit is about a vital reset in India-Canada ties

📍Knowledge Nugget: India and Canada sign Uranium pact: What you must know about uranium

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

‘Indian diaspora has a decisive role to play in the politics and economy of America and European Countries’. Comment with examples. (UPSC CSE 2020)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance. 

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What’s the ongoing story: Despite recent advancements in breast cancer treatments, new breast cancer cases are predicted to rise by a third globally from 2.3 million in 2023 to more than 3.5 million by 2050. Similarly, annual deaths are projected to increase by 44% from around 764,000 to 1.4 million, according to the latest analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study Breast Cancer Collaborators.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is Cancer? 

— Read about breast cancer. 

— Why is early awareness and detection important? 

— Which type of cancer is the most common in India?

— What are some of the major government programmes aimed at cancer care and treatment in India?

— How can India integrate breast cancer control into its broader Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) strategy?

— Know about the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

Key Takeaways:

— Deaths from breast cancer have been increasing since 1990. Laos had the world’s largest increase in deaths (214%). Other notable increases were in Bangladesh (91%), Vietnam (80%), Indonesia (78%), India (74%), Japan (52%), and the Philippines (41%). China’s death rate decreased by almost 37%.

— Published in the ‘Lancet Oncology,’ the analysis uses data from population-based cancer registries, vital registration systems and interviews with family members or caregivers of women who have died from breast cancer to provide an updated global and regional analysis. The report estimates the burden and risk factors of breast cancer from 1990 to 2023 in 204 countries with forecasts up to 2050.

— In India, the age standardised incidence rate (ASIR)/one lakh climbed from 13.0/per lakh in 1990 to 29.4 per lakh in 2023. The age-standardised mortality rate (ASMR) also climbed from 8.9/per lakh in 1990 to 15.5 per lakh in 2023. While there were no country-level forecasts, study authors have projected the ASIR to rise to around 38.5 per lakh for South Asia by 2050 and ASMR to 18.9.

— New cases have risen much faster in women aged between 20 and 54 (up 29%) since 1990, with rates in older women not changing substantially.

— More than a quarter (28%) of the global breast cancer burden is linked to six modifiable risk factors such as smoking, high blood sugar and obesity. The analysis suggests that maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including not smoking, getting sufficient physical activity, lowering red meat consumption and having a healthy weight could prevent over a quarter of healthy years lost (around 24 million years) to illness and premature death due to breast cancer worldwide. — Although women in low- and lower-middle-countries account for 27% (around 628,000) of new cases globally, they contribute to more than 45% of all the ill-health and early deaths from breast cancer globally (nearly 11 million years of healthy life lost).

— A younger age at diagnosis has major downstream consequences. These are often peak earning and caregiving years with limited savings buffers. Treatment often stretches across months with surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and follow-ups. That creates a double shock: direct medical costs plus indirect losses from time away from work (for the patient and often a caregiver), travel and stay near treatment centres, and reduced household productivity, pushing many families into long-term financial stress. 

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍 Explained: What India’s cancer map shows

📍Knowledge nugget of the day: Cancer Moonshot Initiative

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With reference to the treatment of cancerous tumours, a tool called cyberknife has been making the news. In this context, which one of the following statements is not correct? (UPSC CSE 2010)

(a) It is a robotic image guided system   

(b) It delivers an extremely precise dose of radiation   

(c) It has the capability of achieving sub-millimetre accuracy   

(d) It can map the spread of tumour in the body

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II, III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation; Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life

What’s the ongoing story: The Supreme Court has termed the reliance of a trial court’s order on non-existent, artificial intelligence (AI)-generated judgments as “misconduct” and signaled its intent to “examine … in more detail” its “consequences and accountability”.

Key Points to Ponder:

— How is AI being used in the judiciary?

— What are the concerns related to the use of AI?

— What do you understand from AI hallucinations?

— How is AI hallucination a concern for anyone solely relying on AI tools?

— Know about India’s MANAV vision

Key Takeaways:

— The observation was made by a Bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe, while hearing a petition challenging an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The apex court noted that the issue raises “considerable institutional concern”, “ … about the process of adjudication and determination”.

— While hearing a property dispute, an additional junior civil judge in Vijayawada had appointed an Advocate Commissioner to survey the land concerned and determine if it fell within the boundaries of a specific sale deed. The defendants raised objections to the commissioner’s report, challenging its findings.

— In August 2025, the judge dismissed these objections, citing four Supreme Court judgments.

— However, none of these judgments were found to exist, as emerged when the order was challenged before the Andhra Pradesh High Court in January 2026.

— In a report to the High Court, the additional junior civil judge admitted she had used an AI tool to research case law, saying it was the first time she had done so. The judicial officer said that she believed the answers the tool threw up to be genuine, and admitted she had not verified the citations against authentic legal databases. However, she said, she had no intention to misquote.

— While disposing of the civil judge’s order, Justice Ravi Nath Tilhari of the High Court accepted her explanation that the mistake occurred in “good faith”. The High Court held that while the citations were fake, the “principles of law” applied in the order were correct, and hence refused to set aside the lower court’s order only on the grounds of erroneous citations.

— Earlier too, cases have come up of both litigants and authorities relying on what the Supreme Court referred to last week as “AI generated non-existing, fake or synthetic alleged judgments”

— On February 13, 2026, the apex court dismissed a special leave petition after finding that the petitioner had cited non-existent judgments. When questioned by the Supreme Court Bench, the counsel admitted to drafting the petition based on articles found online, without verifying the original judgments.

— In January 2026, a Bench of the Bombay High Court imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on a litigant for citing a fake case in written submissions. Justice M M Sathaye noted that the submission contained “give-away features” of AI generation, such as “green-box tick-marks, bulletpoint-marks, repetitive submissions etc”.

— In November 2025, the Supreme Court released a ‘White Paper on Artificial Intelligence and Judiciary’, which identified “Fabrication of Cases and Hallucination” as a primary risk associated with the use of AI. It referred to multiple court orders that were found to be based on “fictitious judicial precedents”.

— The document noted that AI tools can “hallucinate judgments, citations, quotes, or refer to any legislation that may not be in existence”.

— To mitigate this, the White Paper recommended the establishment of AI ethics committees within courts and mandated that “all information obtained through AI tools shall be independently verified”.

— Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are not search engines that look through a verified database for facts. Instead, they are predictive engines designed to mimic human language – based on patterns learned from vast amounts of data. When asked for case law, these tools predict what a legal citation would look like – assembling party names, volume numbers and legal journals in a citation format that appears authentic.

— Because the AI prioritises linguistic fluency over factual accuracy, it simply determines that such a combination of words is statistically probable in a legal context.

Do You Know:

— Courts across jurisdictions have been confronting similar challenges. In the United States, the federal court in Roberto Mata v Avianca, Inc, imposed monetary sanctions after counsel relied on fake precedents generated by ChatGPT. 

— In England, courts have encountered multiple instances of fabricated citations in high-value commercial disputes, including an £89 million damages claim in which several cited authorities were found to be fictitious. 

— These cases highlight a global reality: Generative AI systems, while powerful, are not designed as reliable legal databases and require human verification.

— The judicial response internationally has largely taken two forms. First, courts have imposed costs or sanctions on counsel who submit unverified AI-generated material. 

— Second, professional bodies and courts have begun issuing guidance, including certification requirements that either no AI has been used or, where it has been used, the content has been independently verified.

— In India, however, there are at present no comprehensive guidelines on the use of generative AI in court pleadings.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Hallucinations in the Supreme Court: Poor drafting isn’t just an AI problem

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (UPSC CSE 2020)

1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units

2. Create meaningful short stories and songs

3. Disease diagnosis

4. Text-to-Speech Conversion

5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2, 4 and 5 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Introduce the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI). How does AI help clinical diagnosis? Do you perceive any threat to privacy of the individual in the use of AI in healthcare? (UPSC CSE 2023)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: India and its neighbourhood- relations

What’s the ongoing story: Sharat Sabharwal writes: Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s defence minister, has said that his country is in the midst of an “open war” with Afghanistan because its patience has run out due to terror attacks from Afghan soil.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the ongoing crisis between Pakistan and Afghanistan?

— What is the Durand Line?

— How has been India’s relationship with the Taliban government?

— What are India’s concerns with ongoing conflict in the neighbourhood?

— What is the status of India-Pakistan relationship?

— Know about India’s new counter terrorism doctrine

Key Takeaways:

— Is war a solution to Pakistan’s problems with Afghanistan? Has the Pakistani establishment forgotten that Afghanistan has been the graveyard of empires? Irony also died a thousand deaths when Pakistan expressed impatience with terror attacks against it.

— At the core of the crisis is Pakistan’s perennial desire to turn Afghanistan into a vassal state. The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan, hailed in Pakistan as a vindication of its policy, has turned into a nightmare. No longer dependent on Pakistan, the Taliban has charted an independent path. It does not recognise the Durand Line. 

— Pakistan accuses it of providing sanctuary and support to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban denies the charge — it describes the TTP as Pakistan’s internal problem, and accuses Islamabad of harbouring terrorists of its nemesis, the Islamic State-Khorasan Province.

— Pakistan has resorted to restrictions on the transit trade of landlocked Afghanistan, expelled a large number of Afghans and carried out periodic airstrikes in Afghanistan. 

— Hostilities broke out in October last year following Pakistan’s airstrikes in Afghanistan, but they ceased as a result of the efforts of friendly countries. However, the two sides failed to build upon the ceasefire.

— Pakistan upped the ante by launching Operation Ghazab lil-Haq and carried out airstrikes on targets in Kabul, Kandahar and some other areas.

— An all-out military conflict is not in the interest of either party. Pakistan can cause considerable damage from the air, but cannot hope to succeed where the Soviets and US-led NATO forces failed.

— There have been calls for restraint from the international community. Apprehensive about the threat to its CPEC stakes, China tried its hand at mediation in the past, but failed. The Americans have leaned towards Pakistan.

— India has strongly condemned Pakistan’s recent airstrikes in Afghanistan and reiterated its support for Afghanistan’s sovereignty. Radicalisation and instability in Afghanistan and Pakistan have resulted from the internal dynamics of these countries and the short-sighted policies of major powers.

— Besides its civilisational links with the Afghan people, India has also remained their partner in development and against Pakistan’s attempts to subjugate them. With the bad memory of the 1990s, when Pakistan used Afghan territory to engineer terror against it, India can not afford to cede strategic space in Afghanistan to hostile forces. 

Do You Know:

— The 2,640-km Durand Line adds another layer of complexity, with attacks along this border in recent days. Established in 1893 by the British, Afghanistan later rejected it for cutting through the Pashtun and Baloch areas.

— The TTP was formed in 2007 by several militant outfits active in northwest Pakistan. ‌It is commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban. The TTP has attacked markets, mosques, airports, military bases, police stations and also gained territory – mostly along the border with Afghanistan, but also deep inside Pakistan, including the Swat Valley.

— The group was behind the ‌2012 attack on then schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, ​who received the ​Nobel Peace Prize two ​years later.

— The TTP also fought alongside the Afghan Taliban against US-led forces in Afghanistan and hosted Afghan fighters in Pakistan. Pakistan has launched military operations against the TTP on its own soil with limited success, although an ​offensive that ended in 2016 drastically reduced attacks till a few years ago.

— THE CENTRE has unveiled India’s first counter-terrorism policy, ‘Prahaar’, a comprehensive framework built on zero tolerance, intelligence-led prevention and coordinated response to extremist violence. The policy seeks to deny terrorists, their financiers and supporters access to funds, weapons and safe havens – both within the country and abroad.

— Announced by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Prahaar lays out a multi-layered strategy structured on seven key pillars — prevention, responses, aggregating internal capacities, human rights and rule-of-law based processes, countering conditions that enable terrorism including radicalisation, alignment with global efforts and shaping the international efforts to counter terrorism and recovery and resilience through a whole-of-society approach.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Govt unveils country’s first counter-terrorism policy — Prahaar

📍India-US-Quad pledge to expand cooperation to combat terrorism

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) Durand line separates which of the following countries?

(a) India and Bangladesh

(b) China and Pakistan

(c) India and Pakistan

(d) Afghanistan and Pakistan

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Border management is a complex task due to difficult terrain and hostile relations with some countries. Elucidate the challenges and strategies for effective border management. (UPSC CSE 2016)

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-I, II, III: Geography, Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development.

What’s the ongoing story: Amid the disruption in oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz due to the conflict in West Asia, the government and public sector refiners are mulling increasing imports of Russian crude as part of the effort to ensure oil supply continuity, according to people in the know. 

Key Points to Ponder:

— Read about the US-Israel attack on Iran. 

— What key factors led to the United States and Israel’s attack on Iran?

— Read about the status of India’s relations with the US, Israel and Iran.

— Know about the Strait of Hormuz.

— What is the significance of the Strait of Hormuz?

— What can be the implication of the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz on global oil and gas flows?

— How can it affect India?

— Know about the portfolio of India’s crude oil imports.

— Read about India’s strategic petroleum reserves. 

— How do tensions in West Asia affect global energy security?

— Map work: Locate Iran, Israel, Oman, UAE, Strait of Hormuz, Israel, and other places in the news related to the US-Israel attack on Iran on the map.

Key Takeaways:

— India has, in recent months, cut down significantly on its oil imports from Russia amid trade negotiations with the US. But with shipments through the Strait of Hormuz effectively suspended, Russian oil—available in ample volumes—could come to India’s aid.

— Roughly 2.5–2.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of India’s crude imports—accounting for around half of the country’s total oil imports—transit the Strait of Hormuz, mainly from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait. India is the world’s third-largest consumer of crude oil with an import dependency level of over 88%. Majority of the country’s gas consumption is also met through imports, and oil and gas supplies from West Asia—which primarily come through the Strait—are critical for India.

— The Strait of Hormuz—the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea—is seen as the most important oil transit chokepoint globally, handling approximately one-fifth of global liquid petroleum consumption and global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade. 

— Late Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) transmitted messages to vessels saying that the Strait has been closed, which led to a large number of trading houses, insurers, and vessels suspending shipments through the maritime passage to avoid any potential risk from regional conflict.

— According to trade sources, apart from the option of getting oil from Russia, there is continued availability of Russian crude cargoes in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea region, including volumes in floating storage. This volume build-up was partly a result of Indian refiners substantially reducing their intake of Russian crude. Roughly 10 million barrels of Russian crude is available in Asian waters, as per industry estimates.

— According to industry insiders and experts, Indian refiners already have crude inventories of over 10 days, along with about a week’s worth of fuel stocks; about a week’s worth of crude is also available in the country’s strategic petroleum reserves. To cover any potential shortfall in import volumes, India could draw on the strategic reserves, accelerate spot procurement from non-Hormuz regions, and deepen supply contracts with alternative suppliers like the US, West Africa, and Latin America. From a near-term perspective though, the Russian oil readily available in the region could come in handy even as India exercises its other options.

Do You Know:

— Oil imports top India’s merchandise imports, and the heavy reliance on imported crude oil makes its economy vulnerable to global oil price fluctuations. This also impacts the country’s trade deficit, foreign exchange reserves, the rupee’s exchange rate, and inflation rate, among others. Against that backdrop, the fall in international crude oil prices has been a positive for the Indian economy.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Disruption at Strait of Hormuz: India covered, for now

UPSC Prelims Previous Year and Practice Questions Covering similar theme:

(4) In the context of global oil prices, “Brent crude oil” is frequently referred to in the news. What does this term imply? (UPSC CSE 2011)

1. It is a major classification of crude oil.

2. It is sourced from the North Sea.

3. It does not contain sulfur.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 2 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

(5) Which of the statements about the Strait of Hormuz is not correct?

(a) It is a critical region for international oil and gas supplies.

(b) It is a narrow waterway between Bahrain and Qatar.

(c) It connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.

(d) Disruption of shipping in this strait can significantly affect global energy prices.

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story: The assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, marks the end of a significant figure of a style of leadership that the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79 and the country’s post-revolution politics have produced.

Key Points to Ponder:

— Who was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

— What are the reasons for the recent conflict between US-Israel and Iran?

— What was the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79?

— What is velayat-e-faqih?

— Understand the political setup of Iran government

— How is India’s relationship with West Asian countries?

— Know about India-Iran relationship

— What diplomatic challenges can India face in balancing its ties with Israel, the US and Iran?

— What is India’s Middle East policy?

— What are India’s strategic interests in Iran? (Know about Chabahar Port)

Key Takeaways:

— Khamenei was killed in an attack by the US and Israeli forces, and a process to find his successor was set in motion immediately, so that the Assembly of Experts, a deliberative body, can choose the next leader.

— Meanwhile, the three-member Interim Leadership Council that will assume the duties of the Supreme Leader has already been formed under Constitutional provisions. The events showcase the established procedures that the Iranian political system has in place for times of crisis.

— Ayatollah Khamenei represented and led a political system consisting of hierarchical but interrelated institutions and a political culture developed through a variety of processes over the last 47 years, since the revolution.

— The close linkages between religion and politics in the Shia-majority Iran have a history that predates 1979. The anti-monarchist ethos of Shia religious leaders and their participation in a range of political movements in modern Iranian political history warrants recognition here.

— Key examples include the Tobacco Movement of the 19th century, launched against concessions granted by the Iranian royals to the British, the Constitutional Revolution of 1906-11 for a constitutional monarchy, agitations against a reform package under Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1963 (called the White Revolution), and the 1979 revolution. An anti-monarchist stance was visible in the participation of religious leaders.

👁 Iran’s power pyramid, with Supreme Leader at the top

👁 Iran’s power pyramid, with Supreme Leader at the top

— The strategic advantage for the Shia clergy can be attributed to multiple factors, a significant one being the role of mosques as a major site of political activism. The Friday prayer gatherings became a pivotal point of religio-political assembly. This was because the Shah’s apparatuses, like his secret police known as SAVAK, surveilled public places, leaving mosques among the few bast (sanctuary) in a repressive society.

— The ideological leadership of religious scholars and intellectuals further lent a revolutionary interpretation of religious texts and practices. It enabled people to link the transformative potential of their belief system to the requirements of anti-monarchist and anti-imperialist political action.

— While Islamic interpretations given by intellectuals like Ali Shariati did not envisage a political leadership of the clergy, Ayatollah Khomeini’s interpretations on the linkages between Islam and politics projected the idea of Islamic Government under the leadership of the religious jurisprudence. 

— Khomeini’s idea of velayat-e-faqih (rule of the jurisprudent) thus became a cornerstone of the political system, covering not only his political theology, but also the post-revolutionary government.

— The Islamic Republic’s Constitution drew heavily from Ayatollah Khomeini’s ideas mentioned above and from the republicanism of the French political system. The overarching power of the Supreme Leader in the 1979 Constitution is adopted from the rule of the jurisprudent idea.

— Ayatollah Khomeini was followed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the Supreme Leader after Khomeini died in 1989. The Constitutional changes in 1989 led to some reassigning of roles and the abolition of the position of the Prime Minister, but the system broadly maintained its original character. 

— The Supreme Leader, selected by the elected Assembly of Experts, a popularly elected President and the Majlis (the Parliament) represent different facets of the political system. The selection of Khomeini’s successor was not without controversy. 

— Even though Ayatollah Montazeri was designated to the position, it ultimately went to Ayatollah Khamenei, who was already President of Iran for two terms between 1981 and 1989.

— In that sense, Ayatollah Khamenei fit both religious and political roles well. Usually known for his hardline politics internationally, and seen as a pragmatic leader by some Iranian analysts, his leadership came under severe scrutiny in recent years.

— The political system of Iran has seen elections being regularly held for the presidency, the Majlis and local governments. The ideological divergence among the so-called reformists and hardliners has remained a major feature of Iranian politics for decades now. 

— Another component of the state’s power is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), founded immediately after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. It expanded its activities not only in the general sense of defending the revolution but also in projecting Iran’s power in the West Asian region through support for militant organisations like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

— However, continued sanctions, Iran’s international isolation and the Iranian people’s desire to have more say in the affairs of the country, along with a more meaningful participation, created a significant divergence between the system and its people.

— After 47 years of the Islamic Republic, there are many legitimate questions that arise out of the gap between people’s demands and perceptions on the one hand, and the delivery and conduct of the state on the other. The ongoing war, the attack on its sovereignty and the assassination of its leadership place unprecedented challenges to the political order in Iran.

From the Explained Page: After strikes on Iran, expanding theatre of conflict in West Asia

— Missiles continued to fly across West Asia on Monday (March 2), as the US and Israel bombed Iran and it retaliated, aiming for US military bases that dot the region.

— Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE have all been impacted, shattering the calm these countries have enjoyed so far, insulated from their volatile surroundings and emerging as a destination of choice for expats from around the world.

— Iran’s strikes have been aimed at Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and the UAE. In many regions, debris and injuries have been attributed not to the attacks but to the interceptors thwarting them.

— Unlike past conflicts, the widening spread of attacks suggests an Iran under great pressure, with President Masoud Pezeshkian describing Khamenei’s killing as “a great crime.”

— Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a letter to the UN, said they would utilise “all necessary defensive capabilities and measures” to counter the US-Israeli attacks. “Consequently, all bases, facilities, and assets of hostile forces in the region are considered legitimate military targets. Iran will exercise this inherent right decisively until the aggression is completely and unequivocally halted,” he wrote.

From the Front page: Bahrain and Saudi struck by Iran, Modi speaks to rulers, condemns attacks

— A day after he spoke to UAE President and Abu Dhabi ruler Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held phone conversations Monday with the rulers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and, without naming Iran, condemned the attacks on their countries and thanked them for looking after the Indian community “in these difficult times”.

— The condemnation of the attacks signals that Delhi has chosen to speak for the Gulf countries, India’s strong regional partners.

— Modi also spoke to the King of Jordan Abdullah II. Jordan made peace with neighbour Israel in 1994, the second Arab country after Egypt in 1979.

Do You Know:

— Chabahar, which sits at the mouth of the Gulf of Oman, is Iran’s first deepwater port that puts the country on the global oceanic trade route map. The port lies to the west of Iran’s border with Pakistan, about as far as Gwadar (a competing port developed by China in Pakistan) that lies to the east of the border.

— Chabahar is of strategic importance to both Iran and India. It can potentially help Tehran ward off the effect of Western sanctions, and offers New Delhi an alternative route that bypasses Pakistan, which does not allow India land access for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia.

— The port is also part of the proposed International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multi-modal transportation project linking the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Iran, and onward to northern Europe via St Petersburg in Russia.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget | US-Israel war on Iran: 10 must-know tidbits for UPSC Exam

📍Supreme Leader gone, Revolutionary Guards hold key to Iran’s future

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(6) What is the importance of developing Chabahar Port by India? (UPSC CSE 2017)

(a) India’s trade with African countries will increase enormously.

(b) India’s relations with oil-producing Arab countries will be strengthened.

(c) India will not depend on Pakistan for access to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

(d) Pakistan will facilitate and protect the installation of a gas pipeline between Iraq and India.

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

In what ways would the ongoing US-Iran Nuclear Pact Controversy affect the national interest of India? How should India respond to its situation? (UPSC CSE 2018)

ALSO IN NEWS

In a judgment delivered last month, Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma reframed how courts assess homemakers, stating that the contribution of a spouse managing the household cannot be dismissed merely because it does not generate income or appear in financial records. The judgment treats homemaking not as dependency but as labour that shapes legal entitlements arising from marriage, including maintenance and financial support after separation. The observations came in a case concerning maintenance claimed by a wife who had left employment and was caring for the couple’s child while the husband worked abroad, raising the question whether educational qualifications or theoretical earning capacity could justify the denial of maintenance. The judgment reframes homemaking as a legally relevant role rather than a purely social description.

Note: Due to the Holi festival, there won’t be a UPSC Key on March 4, 2025.

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