UPSC Prelims 2024— Question 12

The correct answer is option (D). Exercise Mitra Shakti-2023 was the India–Sri Lanka joint military exercise, not an India–Bangladesh exercise. Its ninth edition commenced at Aundh, Pune, involved counter-terrorism cooperation, and included personnel from the Indian Air Force as well as the Indian Army. Therefore statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct. The key to this question is to distinguish the exact constitutional provision, factual association, scientific principle, or current-affairs detail being tested from statements that are partly true but incorrectly framed. UPSC often makes distractors plausible by changing one institutional role, partner country, date, classification, or regulatory condition. Option A — “1, 2 and 3” is incorrect. It does not match the established fact or contains the incorrect combination, institution, relationship, classification, or proposition identified above. Option B — “1, 2 and 4” is incorrect. It does not match the established fact or contains the incorrect combination, institution, relationship, classification, or proposition identified above. Option C — “1, 3 and 4” is incorrect. It does not match the established fact or contains the incorrect combination, institution, relationship, classification, or proposition identified above. Option D — “2, 3 and 4” is correct. It matches the established fact described above and gives the complete combination or identification required by the question. For examination purposes, each statement should be tested independently before the answer-code combination is selected. In current-affairs questions, the name of an exercise or programme must be matched with its actual partner country, venue, participating service, or institutional design. In regulatory questions, wording such as 'Indian nationals' versus a broader category can determine the answer. The answer recorded here follows the verified Set C key used for this database.