World & IR Current Affairs for UPSC

17 October 2026

Unilateral and secondary sanctions: CAATSA, the 2026 US Act, UN sanctions

Why in news: A US-Russia deal of 9 October 2026 lets Russian diesel into world markets; a US waiver for India under its 2026 Act is undecided.

Unilateral sanctions are penalties one country imposes under its own law; secondary sanctions extend them to foreign firms dealing with the target, unlike UN Security Council sanctions, which bind all members. In the news: a US deal lets Russian diesel reach world markets while a 2026 US Act allows tariffs up to 100% on big buyers of Russian oil.

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16 October 2026

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: members, councils and India's place

Why in news: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is to lead India at the SCO Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe on 19-20 October 2026.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a ten-member Eurasian grouping founded in Shanghai on 15 June 2001, with a Secretariat in Beijing and an anti-terror body in Tashkent. India joined as a full member in 2017. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is to represent India at its Council of Heads of Government in Dushanbe on 19-20 October 2026.

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16 October 2026

Black Sea and the Turkish Straits: drone strikes hit merchant shipping

The Black Sea, shared by six coastal States and linked to the Mediterranean only through the Turkish Straits, has seen drone strikes on merchant ships off Bulgaria and Romania since early October 2026; two sank off Bulgaria. Bulgaria says it lacks clear evidence of who attacked. On 16 October it formally asked NATO for combat aircraft and anti-drone systems.

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16 October 2026

India approves rollover of ₹30 billion currency swap for the Maldives

India has approved the Maldives government's request to roll over a ₹30 billion currency swap facility, the High Commission of India in Malé said on 16 October 2026. The rupees were first drawn on 23 April 2026 under the Reserve Bank of India's SAARC currency swap framework for 2024-27, which carries concessional terms.

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16 October 2026

India presses terrorism, connectivity norms at CICA's Baku summit

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh led India at the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku on 15 October 2026. He urged members to unite against cross-border terrorism and said connectivity projects must respect territorial integrity. The MEA said the summit adopted the Baku Declaration.

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16 October 2026

UN Human Rights Council: membership, elections and the UPR

Why in news: On 13 October 2026 the UN General Assembly elected 15 Council members, all on uncontested slates, for terms from 1 January 2027.

The UN Human Rights Council, created by General Assembly resolution 60/251 in 2006, is a 47-member Geneva-based body that promotes and protects human rights and reviews every UN Member State through the Universal Periodic Review. On 13 October 2026, the General Assembly elected 15 members, all unopposed, for 2027-2029.

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16 October 2026

Electing the UN Security Council's non-permanent members

Why in news: Tajikistan's Foreign Minister told the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2026 that it seeks the 2028-29 seat India is contesting.

The UN General Assembly elects the Security Council's ten non-permanent members, five each year, for two-year terms by a two-thirds majority under Articles 18 and 23 of the UN Charter; a retiring member cannot seek immediate re-election. India, an eight-time member, faces Tajikistan for the Asia-Pacific seat for 2028-29 in a June 2027 ballot.

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16 October 2026

UN DESA's World Social Report 2026 scores 168 countries on inclusive transformation

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) launched the World Social Report 2026 in New York on 15 October 2026. It introduces a Socially Inclusive Transformation (SIT) score for 168 countries over 2000-2024, built on two pillars, transformation and inclusiveness. It finds that countries with similar transformation often reach very different levels of inclusion.

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16 October 2026

Strait of Hormuz, maritime chokepoints and transit passage under UNCLOS

Why in news: The Singapore-flagged GFS Pride sank after being struck in the strait on 13 October 2026; Iran's Guard says a mine, Singapore a projectile.

The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and Oman's Musandam governorate, links the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and carried about a fifth of world oil consumption in 2024. UNCLOS gives all ships a right of transit passage through it that cannot be suspended. Ships hit there on 10-14 October 2026 have again tested that right.

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15 October 2026

Teesta river and India-Bangladesh water sharing

The Teesta rises in north Sikkim, crosses West Bengal and joins the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh. India and Bangladesh agreed a draft interim deal on sharing its lean-season water in January 2011, but it remains unsigned. Bangladesh's May 2026 request for China's support in restoring the river, near the Siliguri Corridor, keeps the issue live.

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15 October 2026

Line of Actual Control: how India and China manage an undefined line

Why in news: On 13 October 2026 the Ministry of External Affairs rejected China's objection to India's standard names for 28 places in Ladakh.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the line India and China have pledged to respect, pending a settlement of their boundary question, though the two have never jointly delineated it. Agreements of 1993, 1996, 2005, 2012 and 2013 govern troops along it. It is in the news after China objected to India's standard names for 28 places in Ladakh.

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15 October 2026

India asks OHCHR at UN Third Committee for PoK rights report

India on 14 October 2026 asked the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) when it would report on Pakistan's steps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), at the UN General Assembly's Third Committee. India cited the OHCHR's own calls for impartial probes into killings, fair trials for detained leaders and an end to internet curbs there.

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15 October 2026

UN Security Council renews Haiti sanctions regime for a year

The UN Security Council on 14 October 2026 adopted resolution 2831, renewing for one year the Haiti sanctions regime of a travel ban, an asset freeze and an arms embargo. The vote was 14 in favour and none against, with the Russian Federation abstaining. Nine individuals and two groups are currently on the sanctions list.

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14 October 2026

UNIFIL: the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon

Why in news: On 14 October 2026, UN peace-operations chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix visited Lebanon as UNIFIL's mandate nears its final end on 31 December 2026.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is a UN peacekeeping mission the Security Council set up in March 1978 to keep the peace in south Lebanon along the Israeli frontier. Resolution 1701 of 2006 enlarged its tasks. The UN's peace-operations chief visited Lebanon on 14 October 2026 as its final mandate nears its 31 December 2026 end.

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14 October 2026

Ganga Water Treaty, 1996: sharing at Farakka and renewal

Why in news: On 9 October 2026 the MEA said river matters run through the Joint Rivers Commission, a day after Dhaka sought a new or revised treaty.

The Ganga Water Treaty of 12 December 1996 shares the river's flow at Farakka Barrage between India and Bangladesh in ten-day periods from 1 January to 31 May, assuring each 35,000 cusecs in turns during the driest weeks. Renewable only by mutual consent, it expires in December 2026, and no renewal had been signed by 14 October 2026.

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14 October 2026

Putin signs law ratifying India-Russia temporary labour agreement

Vladimir Putin signed a law on 12 October 2026 ratifying the India-Russia agreement on temporary labour activity, after both chambers of Russia's Federal Assembly passed it. The pact frames how citizens of each country may work temporarily in the other. It was signed, with a pact on combating irregular migration, during Putin's December 2025 state visit to New Delhi.

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14 October 2026

India rejects UN Indigenous Peoples Rapporteur's reference, cites Forest Rights Act

India has rejected an "unsubstantiated reference" to it in a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, which called Scheduled Tribe recognition "more administrative than rights-based". At the UN General Assembly Third Committee's 81st session, India cited Forest Rights Act land-title data, backed the 2007 UN Declaration and called its entire population indigenous.

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14 October 2026

India tells UNGA Third Committee UN rights bodies must shun selectivity

India told the UN General Assembly's Third Committee on 12 October 2026, in its debate on the Human Rights Council's report, that UN human rights mechanisms should rise above politicisation and selectivity and respect cultural and historical context. A day later, the General Assembly elected 15 countries, including Nepal and Japan, to the 47-member Council for 2027-2029.

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14 October 2026

India-Canada reset: PMs back early CEPA to double trade by 2030

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke on 13 October 2026, agreeing to work for concrete outcomes in trade, energy, technology, security and people-to-people ties. Canada's readout says both reaffirmed concluding the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement at the earliest opportunity, backing efforts to double two-way trade by 2030, ahead of Modi's December visit to Canada.

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14 October 2026

Union Territory of Ladakh: India rejects China's objection to standard names

China's Foreign Ministry said on 13 October 2026 that China has never recognised the Union Territory of Ladakh, and called India's standard names for 28 places there illegal and void. The Ministry of External Affairs replied the same day that Ladakh is an integral and inalienable part of India. The names stand on the official Survey of India map.

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14 October 2026

BIMSTEC home ministers adopt Delhi Declaration at first security meeting

BIMSTEC's seven members held their first Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October 2026 and adopted the Delhi Declaration on security cooperation. It condemns cross-border terrorism, seeks enforcement of UN Security Council sanctions and presses members to implement BIMSTEC's anti-terrorism convention. The Home Ministry said ministers also approved five instruments, including a disaster-preparedness plan.

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13 October 2026

India wants terrorist acts in UN crimes against humanity convention

India told the UN General Assembly's Sixth Committee on 12 October 2026 that terrorist acts meeting the requisite threshold should be reflected in a proposed convention on crimes against humanity. Its Permanent Mission said the treaty must give primacy to national jurisdictions and complement, not duplicate, existing mechanisms. A UN conference of plenipotentiaries meets in 2028 and 2029.

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13 October 2026

UNGA adopts pandemic declaration; WHO Pandemic Agreement awaits PABS annex

The UN General Assembly on 12 October 2026 adopted a non-binding political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response by 153 votes to 3, with 2 abstentions, after consensus failed at the 25 September high-level meeting. It welcomes the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which cannot open for signature until its Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex is agreed.

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13 October 2026

IPC Alert flags rising Famine risk in Sudan's Darfur and Kordofan

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) issued an Alert on 12 October 2026 warning that conflict, displacement and El Niño-induced drought are raising the risk of Famine in parts of Greater Darfur and Greater Kordofan, Sudan. Its Famine Review Committee backed the Alert but found survey data too thin for a full analysis, so no Famine is classified.

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13 October 2026

India, UK hold 8th Science Council, open genomics centre

India and the UK held the 8th India–UK Science and Innovation Council meeting in New Delhi on October 12, 2026, co-chaired by India's Science and Technology Minister and the UK Business Secretary. They opened the BRIC-CDFD–ONT India Genomics Centre of Excellence. Separate talks explored cooperation on small modular reactors, space and Artificial Intelligence.

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13 October 2026

India, Bangladesh trade talks resume; Dhaka seeks post-LDC tariff preferences

India and Bangladesh held the 16th meeting of their Joint Working Group on Trade in New Delhi on 8-9 October 2026, the first since September 2023. Bangladesh sought withdrawal of Indian anti-dumping duties on jute products and PET film, and continued SAFTA benefits after its LDC graduation. India pressed Dhaka to lift land-port curbs on cotton yarn.

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12 October 2026

BIMSTEC: members, Charter and the security pillar

Why in news: The Home Minister said on 12 October 2026 that India will host the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a seven-member grouping linking South Asia and South-East Asia, created by the Bangkok Declaration of 6 June 1997. Its Charter entered into force on 20 May 2024. India leads its Security pillar and hosts the first BIMSTEC Home Ministers' Meeting in New Delhi on 13 October 2026.

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12 October 2026

Seafarer safety and freedom of navigation: two Indians missing off Oman

A drone struck the tanker MT Petro Dolphin at Sohar Anchorage, Oman, on 11 October 2026; two of its 11 Indian seafarers are missing. A projectile set the Marshall Islands-flagged MT Valthera ablaze; its 11 Indian crew are safe. On 12 October the Ministry of External Affairs condemned the attacks, saying freedom of navigation must be upheld under international law.

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12 October 2026

Indians in the Gulf: India condemns Houthi-claimed attack on Riyadh airport

India's Ministry of External Affairs on 11 October 2026 condemned the repeated attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport as "completely unacceptable". An Indian injured in the 10 October attack died, and the Indian Embassy said at least 10 more Indians were among about 300 injured. Saudi Arabia blamed Yemen's Houthis, who claimed the attack.

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12 October 2026

India-Canada CEPA talks: 300-delegate Canadian trade mission begins India visit

Canada's Minister of International Trade leads a Team Canada Trade Mission of nearly 300 delegates to Mumbai and Bengaluru from October 12 to 17, 2026, Global Affairs Canada announced on October 9. It follows the fifth round of India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement talks, in Ottawa on October 5-9. The Terms of Reference were signed on March 2, 2026.

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