Passage-2 Key

Passage -2 Key

1.. Ans.(c) Sol. There are good reasons why the ‘Heart of Asia’ conference, part of a 14-nation process begun in 2011 to facilitate the development and security of Afghanistan, is so named. The Heart of Asia process thus remains critical to forging cooperation to realise Afghanistan’s potential to be a vibrant Asian “hub”.

2. Ans.(d) Sol. The case Mr. Ghani made was clear: progress and development in Afghanistan are meaningless and unsustainable without peace, and peace is contingent on Pakistan ending support to terror groups such the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.

3. Ans.(a) Sol. Refer Last Para, ‘As a result, the measures India and Afghanistan have envisaged in order to avoid Pakistan, such as land trade from the Chabahar port and a dedicated air corridor between Delhi and Kabul, may prove to be insufficient by the time they are put in place…’

4. Ans.(b) Sol. This is the relevant theme for this passage. 

 5. Ans.(d) Sol. Today it is also a focal point for the region’s biggest challenge of terrorism; some of the farreaching battles against al-Qaeda, Islamic State, etc. will be decided on the battlegrounds of Afghanistan.

 6. Ans.(c) Sol. ‘As a result, the measures India and Afghanistan have envisaged in order to avoid Pakistan, such as land trade from the Chabahar port and a dedicated air corridor between Delhi and Kabul…’

 7. Ans.(a) Sol. ‘In tandem, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi focussed their concerns on cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan…’

 8. Ans.(b) Sol. Option is not true, because according to the passage Mr. Ghani has stressed on the fact that to attain peace in Afghanistan it is important that Pakistan stop supporting terror groups. Refer Para 1.

 9. Ans.(e) Sol. Refer Para 1, ‘…on Pakistan ending support to terror groups such the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.’

 10. Ans.(d) Sol. Refer Para 2, ‘A lack of engagement may, in the short term, yield some pressure on Pakistan’s leadership to act, as it did briefly after the Pathankot attack. But in the long run it may deplete the two countries of their limited leverage as Pakistan’s neighbours. It may, for all the affirmations of mutual ties, also succeed in driving more obstacles to trade between India and Afghanistan.’

 11. Ans.(a) Sol. Contingent means occurring or existing only if (certain circumstances) are the case; dependent on.

 12. Ans.(c) Sol. Ally means a state formally cooperating with another for a military or other purpose.

 13. Ans.(d) Sol. Affirmation is the action or process of affirming something which is state emphatically or publicly. Denial is its antonym.

 14. Ans.(b) Sol. Envisage means to contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event. 

15. Ans.(b) Sol. Forging refers to create (something) strong, enduring, or successful. Establish is its synonym.