International affairs and organisations for CLAT

International news looks endless: summits every month, elections on every continent, conflicts, trade deals, new groupings. CLAT does not expect you to follow all of it. It expects you to read a passage about an international event and know the background: which body is involved, what it can and cannot do, where it sits, and how India fits in.

That background is surprisingly stable. The UN Security Council has had the same five permanent members since 1945. The International Court of Justice has always been in The Hague. Learn the system once and each year's news slots into it.

What to follow

• Summits: G20, BRICS, SCO, Quad, ASEAN-related meetings and the annual UN climate conference. Note the host, the year and the headline outcome.
• Treaties and agreements India signs or joins: trade agreements, defence pacts, climate and maritime agreements.
• The UN system: Security Council debates, General Assembly resolutions, rulings of the International Court of Justice, statements by agencies such as the WHO.
• India's relations with neighbours and major partners: visits, agreements and disputes.
• Major elections and leadership changes in large economies and in India's neighbourhood.
• Conflicts and humanitarian crises, and the international response to them.

The UN in one table

The UN Charter was signed at San Francisco on 26 June 1945 and came into force on 24 October 1945, now observed as UN Day. India was a founding member.

Headquarters worth knowing

ICJ and ICC: a favourite confusion

Both sit in The Hague, which is why questions like to set one against the other.

Groupings in brief

• G20: major economies; leaders' summits since 2008. India held the presidency in 2023, and the African Union became a permanent member at the New Delhi summit that year.
• BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded from 1 January 2024 with new members including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE, and Indonesia in 2025.
• SCO: founded in 2001; India and Pakistan became full members in 2017.
• Quad: India, the United States, Japan and Australia.
• ASEAN: founded in 1967 by the Bangkok Declaration; ten members for most of its history.

A sample CLAT-style passage

Of all the bodies created by the United Nations Charter, only one can take decisions that every member state is legally obliged to carry out. Under Article 25 of the Charter, members agree to accept and carry out the decisions of the Security Council. That power, together with the Council's authority under Chapter VII to impose sanctions or authorise the use of force, makes it the most consequential organ of the UN.

The Council has fifteen members. Five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The other ten are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms, five each year, and a retiring member cannot be immediately re-elected. The Council was enlarged from eleven to fifteen members in 1965, the only expansion in its history.

The ten elected seats are shared out by region: three for African states, two for the Asia-Pacific group, one for Eastern Europe, two for Latin America and the Caribbean, and two for Western Europe and other states. A candidate needs a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly to win a seat. The presidency of the Council rotates every month among its fifteen members, in the English alphabetical order of their names.

On all but procedural matters, a decision needs nine affirmative votes, including the concurring votes of the permanent members. A negative vote by any one of the five therefore defeats a resolution, which is what is commonly called the veto. By long practice, an abstention by a permanent member is not treated as a veto.

Reform has been discussed for decades. Supporters argue that a Council designed in 1945 does not reflect today's population, economic weight or the number of UN members, and that whole regions lack a permanent voice. A group of four countries, Brazil, Germany, India and Japan, supports one another's claims to permanent seats. Another group of states opposes new permanent seats and prefers more elected ones. Any change requires an amendment to the Charter, which must be adopted by two-thirds of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of UN members, including all five permanent members.

India has served as an elected member eight times, most recently in 2021–22.

Q1. According to the passage, the "veto" arises because:

(a) permanent members can suspend the Council
(b) abstentions count as negative votes
(c) the General Assembly must approve every resolution
(d) substantive decisions need the concurring votes of all permanent members

Q2. The group of four countries mentioned in the passage is commonly called:

(a) the G4 (b) the Quad (c) IBSA (d) BASIC

Q3. Which of the following is correct, according to the passage?

(a) The Council has been enlarged twice.
(b) Elected members serve three-year terms.
(c) A retiring elected member cannot be immediately re-elected.
(d) Charter amendments need only a General Assembly vote.

Q4. The International Court of Justice, another principal organ of the UN, is located in:

(a) The Hague (b) New York (c) Geneva (d) Vienna

Q5. How many affirmative votes does a substantive Security Council resolution need, at a minimum?

(a) Five (b) Seven (c) Nine (d) Fifteen

Answers:

1. (d) Stated in the fourth paragraph. (b) is contradicted: abstentions are not treated as vetoes.
2. (a) Background. Brazil, Germany, India and Japan are the G4. The Quad is India, the US, Japan and Australia. IBSA is India, Brazil and South Africa. BASIC is a climate negotiating group (Brazil, South Africa, India, China).
3. (c) Stated. The Council was enlarged once (1965), terms are two years, and amendments also need ratification.
4. (a) Background.
5. (c) Stated: nine affirmative votes, with no negative vote from a permanent member.

How to note international news

Use one line per event: Event — host or parties — date — outcome — background link. Then keep topic sheets for the UN, the ICJ and ICC, and each grouping India belongs to. The summits and reports guide covers how to note summits and indices.

Common mistakes

• Confusing the ICJ and the ICC. States versus individuals; UN organ versus separate treaty.
• Mixing up Geneva and Vienna, or Rome and Paris. Learn the headquarters table in clusters by city.
• Memorising last year's summit host as current. Hosts rotate. Always check the latest edition.
• Ignoring India's role. Many passages are about how India voted, what it signed or what it hosted.

What to do next

• Reproduce the headquarters table from memory, city by city.
• Make topic sheets on the Security Council, the ICJ and ICC, G20 and BRICS.
• For each international story this week, write India's connection in one line.
• Read static GK for CLAT and environment and climate in the news.