World & IR Current Affairs for UPSC

22 October 2026

Choosing the UN Secretary-General: Article 97, UNSC veto and straw polls

Why in news: The Security Council's sixth straw poll for the next Secretary-General, on 16 October 2026, was the race's first with colour-coded ballots.

Under Article 97 of the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly appoints the Secretary-General on the UN Security Council's recommendation, which any of its five permanent members can veto. The Council narrows the field through informal straw polls. On 16 October 2026 it held the sixth poll of the race to succeed António Guterres, the first with colour-coded ballots.

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22 October 2026

International Energy Agency: membership, 90-day oil stocks and India's status

The International Energy Agency (IEA), founded in 1974 after the 1973-74 oil crisis, requires each member to hold oil stocks equal to 90 days of net imports and coordinates emergency releases. India is an Association country, not a member. The IEA's sixth and largest collective action, agreed in March 2026, answered oil-market disruption from the Middle East conflict.

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22 October 2026

Vienna Conventions: India presses mission protection at UN Sixth Committee

India told the UN General Assembly's Sixth Committee on 20 October 2026 that receiving States must protect diplomatic and consular missions under the Vienna Conventions of 1961 and 1963. Lok Sabha MP Sanjay Dina Patil voiced concern at reported vandalism, assaults, hostile drone overflights, arson and the online release of diplomats' personal data, and called accountability indispensable.

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22 October 2026

India tells UN Third Committee its safeguards against enforced disappearance

India set out its safeguards against enforced disappearance at the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on 20 October 2026, in the debate on the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. It cited Article 21 of the Constitution, habeas corpus and the NHRC, noted it has signed the 2006 Convention, and offered to clarify properly documented cases through established channels.

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22 October 2026

India reiterates call for binding PAROS treaty at UNGA First Committee

India told the UN General Assembly's First Committee on 20 October 2026 that it prefers a legally binding, verifiable instrument on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS), negotiated at the Conference on Disarmament. Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty said non-binding norms can complement, not replace, it. The stand repeats India's 2025 statements.

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22 October 2026

WHO report maps within-country NCD inequalities: 35 indicators, up to eight dimensions

The World Health Organization (WHO) on 20 October 2026 released State of inequality: noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors, which WHO calls the first comprehensive global assessment of inequalities in NCDs within countries. Drawing on nine multicountry data sources, it analyses 35 indicators by up to eight dimensions, among them sex, age, economic status, education and place of residence.

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22 October 2026

Mecca Joint Defence Agreement goes to Turkey's parliament for ratification

Turkey on 20 October 2026 sent the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on 7 August, to its Grand National Assembly for ratification, and the 16-article text became public. Article 2 treats an armed attack on one party as an attack on all. India's Ministry of External Affairs said in August it was examining its implications.

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21 October 2026

India, US review ties in Mumbai, hold trilateral with UAE

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reviewed India–US relations in Mumbai on 20 October 2026 and reaffirmed their commitment to work towards an early conclusion of the Bilateral Trade Agreement. With UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, they also held a trilateral meeting on trade, investment, technology and artificial intelligence.

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21 October 2026

Lethal autonomous weapons systems and meaningful human control

Why in news: On 20 October 2026, UNIDIR's Director warned at UN Headquarters that AI is on track to crowd out human decision-making in warfare.

Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) select and strike targets without further human input once activated, and no agreed definition of them exists. States discuss them in a Group of Governmental Experts under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW). UNIDIR's Director warned on 20 October 2026 that military AI is crowding out human decision-making.

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21 October 2026

India at UN renews offer of a multilateral No First Use pact

India has reiterated at the UN General Assembly's First Committee that it is ready to make its No First Use pledge, and its pledge not to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states, part of a multilateral legal agreement. India also reaffirmed its voluntary nuclear testing moratorium and said decisions to use nuclear weapons must remain under human control.

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21 October 2026

SCO Council of Heads of Government adopts 2027 budget in Dushanbe

The 25th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Council of Heads of Government, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on 20 October 2026, adopted a Joint Communiqué with the SCO budget for 2027 and a new action plan for economic cooperation. Representing India, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for dismantling the entire ecosystem of terrorism and for connectivity that respects sovereignty.

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21 October 2026

UN dues: India tells Fifth Committee the Charter requires full, timely payment

India told the UN General Assembly's Fifth Committee on 19 October 2026 that, as a major troop-contributing country, it holds that the UN Charter requires Member States to pay their contributions in full and on time. As of 30 September 2026, members owed $1.462 billion to the regular budget and about $4.1 billion to peacekeeping, per the UN Secretariat.

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21 October 2026

Abyei: the area Sudan and South Sudan both claim, and UNISFA

Why in news: A Sudanese army drone strike on Abyei's Amiet market on 19 October 2026 killed 53 people, Abyei's local authorities said on 20 October.

Abyei is an oil-producing area on the Sudan-South Sudan line that both countries claim. The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement promised its residents a vote on which side to join, but its final status is unsettled; a UN force with an Indian battalion guards it. Abyei's authorities blame a 19 October 2026 drone strike on its Amiet market on Sudan's army.

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21 October 2026

MINUSCA: how the Security Council mandates, caps and renews a mission

Why in news: On 20 October 2026 MINUSCA's head urged the Security Council, before its mid-November renewal vote, to keep adequate force levels.

MINUSCA, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, was set up by Security Council resolution 2149 (2014) to protect civilians first. Resolution 2800 (2025) renewed it until 15 November 2026 with up to 14,046 military personnel. On 20 October 2026 its head warned the Council against an early drawdown as Sudan's war spills over.

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20 October 2026

China proposes export curbs on 40 AI, solar and biomedicine technologies

China's Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Science and Technology on 16 October 2026 proposed adding 40 technologies to the Catalogue of Technologies Prohibited or Restricted from Export: 23 in artificial intelligence, five in biomedicine and 12 in solar photovoltaics. Comments close on 15 November. The solar items cover polysilicon, wafer and cell making, where India relies on imports.

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20 October 2026

China puts tunnel boring machines under dual-use export control

China's Ministry of Commerce and General Administration of Customs on 19 October 2026 placed tunnel boring machines, their key parts and remanufacturing technology under dual-use export control from 18 November 2026. Exports to "sensitive countries and regions that have disputes with China" will need a licence. The announcement names no country; India relies heavily on imported tunnel boring machines.

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20 October 2026

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC): organs, members and India

Why in news: On 19 October 2026 the MEA rejected anti-India references in resolutions of the OIC's 52nd Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad, saying Pakistan orchestrated them.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), set up after a 1969 summit in Rabat, is a 57-member intergovernmental body with its General Secretariat in Jeddah. India is neither a member nor an observer. On 19 October 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs rejected anti-India references adopted at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Baghdad.

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20 October 2026

India-Bangladesh maritime boundary under UNCLOS: the 2014 award and grey area

The India-Bangladesh maritime boundary was fixed by a five-member tribunal under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in an award of 7 July 2014. It divided the territorial sea, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, leaving a grey area where seabed and water rights differ. Maritime experts urged cooperation there in November 2025.

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19 October 2026

Pakistan NOTAM extends airspace ban on Indian aircraft to 24 November

Pakistan has extended its airspace ban on Indian aircraft to 24 November 2026, through a fresh Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), its airports authority announced on 17 October. The ban, first imposed in April 2025, spans both of Pakistan's flight information regions and covers military flights. India closed its own airspace to Pakistani airlines on 30 April 2025.

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19 October 2026

EU's Russian-crude fuel ban and the oil price cap

Why in news: CREA's September 2026 analysis, reported on 18 October 2026, found six of seven Russian-crude-linked fuel cargoes unloaded at EU ports came from Jamnagar.

Article 3ma of EU Regulation 833/2014 has barred, since 21 January 2026, imports of petroleum products refined in third countries from Russian crude, while a dynamic price cap limits Western shipping of Russian oil. CREA's September 2026 analysis found six of seven flagged fuel cargoes unloaded at EU ports came from Jamnagar in Gujarat.

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19 October 2026

India's connectivity corridors: Chabahar, INSTC, Kaladan and the Trilateral Highway

Why in news: The US conditional sanctions waiver for Chabahar ended on 26 April 2026; on 4 August the MEA said India is in contact with all partners.

India's connectivity corridors are routes India builds or backs abroad to reach markets past geographic chokepoints: Chabahar Port in Iran and the International North-South Transport Corridor to the west, and the Kaladan project and the Trilateral Highway through Myanmar to the east. The US conditional sanctions waiver for Chabahar ended on 26 April 2026.

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18 October 2026

Chennai–Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor: India–Russia sea route

Why in news: An 8 October 2026 analysis argued the corridor could bring Russian oil to Bay of Bengal ports as Hormuz and Red Sea risks grow.

The Chennai–Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor is a sea link between India's east coast and Russia's Far East, taken up under a 2019 Memorandum of Intent. The Ports Minister put it at 5,647 nautical miles in January 2024. Hormuz and Red Sea disruption has put it in focus as a possible route for Russian oil to Bay of Bengal ports.

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18 October 2026

Deep magnitude-6.9 quake jolts Kamchatka on the Pacific Ring of Fire

A deep earthquake of preliminary magnitude 7.0, later put at 6.9 by the US Geological Survey, struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on 16 October 2026, about 135-140 km below the surface. No tsunami alert was issued: the US National Tsunami Warning Center said the quake was too deep to raise one. Kamchatka sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

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18 October 2026

First tranche of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement finalised, in legal drafting

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on 15 October 2026 that the first tranche of the India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement has been finalised and is in legal drafting. India hopes to operationalise it once it gains a competitive advantage over peer countries, he said. Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said signing is tied to the new US tariff structure.

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18 October 2026

The Quad: origin, summits and the four-nation Indo-Pacific agenda

Why in news: On 17 October 2026, reports said Quad members are exploring a leaders' summit on the margins of the 16-18 November ASEAN meetings in Manila.

The Quad is a diplomatic partnership of India, Australia, Japan and the United States for a free and open Indo-Pacific. It grew out of joint relief after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and became a leaders' format in 2021. Its members are now exploring a delayed leaders' summit beside the ASEAN Summit in Manila in November.

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18 October 2026

Sudan's civil war on the map: SAF, RSF and seven neighbours

Why in news: The UN Security Council met on Sudan on 16 October 2026 as drone strikes killed civilians and famine risk spread across Darfur and Kordofan.

Sudan has been at war since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The army holds much of the centre and east; the RSF holds Darfur and areas in the south. The UN Security Council met on 16 October 2026 as drones and hunger spread.

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18 October 2026

Arctic shipping routes: the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage

Why in news: South Korea's PanStar Acro returned to Busan on 11 October 2026 after a 50-day round-trip trial voyage to Europe through the Northern Sea Route.

Arctic shipping routes are summer sea lanes across the Arctic Ocean: the Northern Sea Route along Russia's Arctic coast, the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and a future route over the North Pole. South Korea's container ship PanStar Acro returned to Busan on 11 October 2026 from a round-trip trial through the Northern Sea Route.

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17 October 2026

H-1B visa programme: cap, wage-weighted selection and the USD 100,000 payment

Why in news: On 9 October 2026, India's Ministry of External Affairs called the US Vice-President's 8 October description of H-1B workers as 'indentured servants' deeply offensive.

H-1B lets US employers hire foreign graduates in specialty occupations under a statutory cap of 65,000 a year, plus 20,000 for US master's holders. DHS now weights selection by wage. A 2025 proclamation, whose guidance a court vacated in June 2026, ties certain new petitions to USD 100,000. India's MEA rebutted US remarks on H-1B workers on 9 October 2026.

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17 October 2026

US President waives Graham Act tariffs on Russian oil buyers

US President Donald Trump on 16 October 2026 signed an executive order that sets the duties of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 and waives them at once, certifying to Congress that the waiver serves US interests. The Act provides for 100% duties on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas, including India.

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17 October 2026

Jaishankar and Rubio to review India-US partnership in Mumbai on 20 October

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is scheduled to meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Mumbai on 20 October 2026, the Ministry of External Affairs said on 16 October. They are to review the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, with energy, trade, defence and critical technologies on the agenda. Over 200 business leaders are to accompany Rubio.

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