UPSC Key: US-Iran Peace Deal, National Immunization Program and Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

US and Iran reach deal to end war, reopen Hormuz

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

What’s the ongoing story: The United States and Iran have agreed to end nearly four months of conflict in the Middle East, with Washington confirming plans to lift its naval blockade of Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even as a deadly Israeli strike on Beirut hours earlier threatened to derail the announcement.

Key Points to Ponder:

• US-Iran peace deal-what are the key takeaways?

• What Trump has claimed, and what the record shows?

• What makes the Strait of Hormuz one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints?

• Know the implications of geopolitical conflicts in West Asia for global energy markets.

• Know the significance of US-Iran peace deal in reducing geopolitical risks in the global economy.

• What is the idea of a “new Middle East”?

• How India reacted?

Key Takeaways:

• US President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran had reached an agreement and said Washington would end its naval blockade of the country, marking the biggest breakthrough in months of negotiations.

• “The deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

• Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the agreement in televised remarks early Monday, telling state TV that the halt to fighting would take hold immediately and that a further 60 days of negotiations would follow toward a more comprehensive settlement. He added that Tehran reserved the right to respond if the other side breached the terms.

• Early indicators of how Iran views this tentative deal announced by Pakistan and Trump of a deal between the US and Iran.

• In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump confirmed the broad outlines of the deal, announcing that the Strait of Hormuz a chokepoint that handled roughly a fifth of global oil and gas shipments before the war would reopen, alongside an end to the US naval blockade of Iran. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” he wrote.

Do You Know:

• The idea of a “new Middle East” has been an elusive one. The Oslo peace process in the 1990s, the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Arab Spring of 2011, and the Abraham Accords of 2020 were all presented as decisive turning points. Yet each produced outcomes very different from those originally envisaged.

• One important factor is the shifting mood in the United States. Across the political spectrum, there is growing fatigue with America’s long military involvement in the Middle East. The demand for ending America’s “forever wars” now comes from both the left and the right. Equally striking is the growing willingness in Washington to question long-standing assumptions about US policy towards Israel. While Trump has had to walk back his rhetorical bombast before and during the war with Iran, he has also reaffirmed the US role as the principal external force shaping the geopolitics of the region. As in Gaza, so in the Gulf.

• Israel remains deeply sceptical of any accommodation between Washington and Tehran. For much of the past decade, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted his own vision of a “New Middle East”, one built around the containment of Iran and, more recently, the prospect of regime change in Tehran. That project no longer appears to command the same support in Washington. At the same time, growing political divisions within Israel raise questions about the future direction of its own regional strategy.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍US-Iran MoU: The elusive quest for ‘New Middle East’

Previous year UPSC Main Question Covering similar theme:

📍“India’s relations with Israel have, of late, acquired a depth and diversity, which cannot be rolled back.” Discuss. (UPSC, 2018)

NATION

India and Slovakia elevate bilateral ties to ‘comprehensive partnership

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: INDIA AND Slovakia elevated their bilateral ties to “comprehensive partnership”, and signed pacts on labour migration, defence, digital technologies, higher education and research, quantum communication and student exchange programme with IIT Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico on Monday.

Key Points to Ponder:

• PM Modi’s Visit to Slovakia-what are the major takeaways?

• Map Work– Slovakia and its capital city and bordering countries

• INDIA AND Slovakia elevated their bilateral ties to “comprehensive partnership”-what you understand by the same?

• India-Slovakia Bilateral Relationship-know in detail

• India and Slovakia have engaged at multiple levels through recently-know in detail

• How Indian Diaspora impacts India-Slovakia bilateral relations?

• Know the area of cooperation and area of contention between India and Slovakia.

Key Takeaways:

• The comprehensive partnership aims to take bilateral relations to a new level, strengthen existing cooperation mechanisms and explore new avenues for deepening cooperation, both bilaterally and multilaterally, the joint statement said.

• After meeting PM Fico in Slovakia’s capital Bratislava, Modi said, “India and Slovakia are also moving forward in close coordination on the global stage. We agree that all disputes and tensions should be resolved peacefully. We will continue to work together with all partners in this direction.” This was a reference to the Russia-Ukraine war, which has been ongoing in Slovakia’s neighbourhood for more than four years now.

• The two sides also established a joint working group in counter-terrorism and a consular dialogue. Modi’s visit is the first by an Indian PM to Slovakia since its independence in 1993.

Do You Know:

• PM Modi is on an official visit to Slovakia, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country since it became an independent nation following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

• During the visit, India and Slovakia elevated bilateral ties to a “comprehensive partnership” and signed 11 agreements aimed at strengthening cooperation across several sectors, including migration, digital technology and defence. The agreements were finalised following extensive discussions between the two sides on expanding strategic and economic collaboration.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Talks underway to update Slovakia-India defence MoU’: Secy to Slovak Foreign Ministry

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

1) Consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2023)

The ‘Stability and Growth Pact’ of the European Union is a treaty that

1. limits the levels of the budgetary deficit of the countries of the European Union

2. makes the countries of the European Union to share their infrastructure facilities

3. enables the countries of the European Union to share their technologies

How many of the above statements are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) All three

(d) None

Serum’s HPV vaccine to be included in immunisation programme after 2027

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

What’s the ongoing story: The HPV vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India, with support from the Department of Biotechnology, is likely to be included in the national vaccination drive after 2027 — once the results of the trial to see the efficacy of its single dose become available.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is human papillomavirus?

• Know about Cervical cancer

• What is the main cause of cervical cancer?

• How common is cervical cancer in India?

• Who developed the HPV vaccine in India?

• What is the Global Alliance for vaccine and immunization (Gavi)?

• What is the national immunization program in India?

• Why cervical cancer is most common in India?

• WHO‘s Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer 2030-Know in detail

• HPV vaccination and cervical cancer incidence in India-Know in detail

Key Takeaways:

• Dr Rajesh Gokhale, secretary of department of biotechnology, said, “Cervavac is a two dose vaccine because of which it was not initially launched. The single-dose will come in (to the national programme) after it has been clinically tested.” The study is currently underway with the results expected next year, he added.

• While the cost of Cervavac for the government is not known, it costs around Rs 2,000 in the market.

• The Health Ministry rolled out the HPV vaccination campaign for 14-year-old girls earlier this year using MSD’s (Merck Sharp & Dohme’s) Gardasil, which already has data to show that a single dose is as efficacious as two doses in this age group. “A retrospective study can also be conducted (a study where people, who have missed one dose of vaccination, are selected from the population and their outcomes compared to those who have received the complete two doses) but the current study will take about a year,” said Dr Gokhale.

• Union Minister of Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh said that the current study to test the effectiveness of one dose of the SII vaccine against one dose of MSD vaccine is a better way to do it “for more credibility, especially when it comes to human lives.”

• There is an ongoing study — undertaken by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in three of its institutes — that will follow 504 girls who have received one dose of either Serum’s Cervavac or MSD’s Gardasil for a period of two years. The two vaccines will be compared by testing the levels of antibodies that persist against the two most common strains of HPV (16 and 18) in girls given both the vaccines. If the levels are similar, Cervavac will be considered to be equally efficacious.

Do You Know:

• Persistent HPV infection is known to cause nearly 85% of all cervical cancers, the second most common cancer among women, affecting nearly 1.25 lakh women and killing 75,000 each year. HPV vaccination against the four most common strains known to cause cervical cancer has been shown to prevent most infections and thereby cancers.

• With an estimated 1.15 crore girls turning 14 each year, the country has enough vaccines for the campaign at present. The GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) has provided around 2.6 crore doses to India, which should be enough for the current as well as next year, after which Serum’s Cervavac may be inducted.

• The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) — a body of experts that suggests the government about inclusion of various vaccines into national programmes — had recommended HPV vaccination in 2017 and 2022. The body had recommended the inclusion of the indigenously-developed vaccine as a two-dose regimen, to tide over studies on the one-dose vaccine.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: India launches HPV vaccination drive to prevent cervical cancer — what you must know for UPSC

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

2) ‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to (UPSC CSE, 2016)

(a) Immunization of children and pregnant women

(b) Construction of smart cities across the country

(c) India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space

(d) New Educational Policy

Explained

JCPOA: another Iran deal a decade ago, the concessions it secured

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: The recent framework for a peace deal between the United States and Iran has invited comparisons with the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, which, although signed under different circumstances, tested the limits of cooperation between the countries. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and major global powers in July 2015. It went into effect in January 2016 and put restrictions on Iran’s civilian nuclear enrichment programme.

Key Points to Ponder:

• Know about Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

• What was the 2015 Iran nuclear deal?

• United States and Iran bilateral relations-Know in detail

• Why the relations between the United States and Iran, have been especially bitter since 2018?

• The relations between the United States and Iran now-analyse

• Revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Under USA President Donald Trump-Why?

• Iran and USA bilateral relations-what implications could this have for India?

Key Takeaways:

• Five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, UK, France, China and Russia) and Germany — collectively “the P5+1” — conducted negotiations with Iran, along with the EU. An initiative led by then US President Barack Obama, the deal took two years of back-and-forth. It had the approval of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, considered reformist and moderate in Iranian politics.

• Essentially, Iran was to dismantle its nuclear programme and allow international inspections and verification of its commitments. In exchange, it would receive some relief from crippling economic sanctions.

• The Obama administration said that Iran needed two key elements to construct a bomb: “Enough highly enriched uranium to produce enough material to construct a uranium bomb and tens of thousands of centrifuges.” Iran agreed not to produce highly enriched uranium and plutonium. The deal also mandated that its Fordow, Natanz, and Arak facilities pursue only medical and industrial research.

• At that time, Iran had a uranium stockpile capable of creating 8 to 10 nuclear bombs. As per JCPOA, Iran was to reduce its stockpile of uranium by 98%, and keep its level of enrichment at 3.67% — significantly below the level needed for a bomb. Iran also had nearly 20,000 centrifuges between the Natanz and Fordow uranium enrichment facilities. This was to be reduced to 6,104 for the next 10 years.

• The third way Iran could build a nuclear weapon was by using weapons-grade plutonium. “The only site where Iran could accomplish this is the Arak reactor, a heavy-water nuclear reactor… under this deal, the Arak reactor will be redesigned so it cannot produce any weapons-grade plutonium,” the Obama administration had said.

• Iran agreed to implement a protocol that would allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, unfettered access to its facilities and potentially to undeclared sites. The IAEA issued quarterly reports to its board of governors and the UNSC on Iran’s implementation.

Do You Know:

• In the immediate lead up to President Trump’s announcement, Israeli Defence Forces bombed Beirut, prompting Iran to prepare a retaliatory response while Iranian Speaker MB Ghalibaf warned that the US had to fulfill its commitments.

Almost immediately after Israel’s strike, Trump stated that the attack “should not have happened”, especially “on a special day when we are so close to a peace deal”, and that there should be no more attacks by Israel anywhere in Lebanon (or by Hezbollah)”.

• Apart from proving that the Lebanon front’s inextricable relationship with Iran’s commitment to the ceasefire had registered in Washington, the Israeli strike evidently forced the Trump White House to announce an immediate lifting of the US naval blockade, instead of the reported 30-day post-MoU timeline. This has been a core Iranian pre-condition for negotiations and one that was consistently denied by US officials across the ceasefire period. In turn, Iran refrained from striking Israel (but did not commit to a full, unqualified opening of the Strait). Even as the MoU is yet to be officially released, two aspects are already clear — that the nuclear deal has been deferred, and that the 60-day period following the MoU will be a litmus test for the Iranian position in particular.

• It is now widely acknowledged that the US-Israeli war both failed in its strategic objectives and yielded unprecedented Iranian geopolitical gains which strengthened Iran’s bargaining position vis-à-vis the nuclear question. The MoU, which virtually leaves the nuclear question at the status quo before the war, that is as on February 27, is meant to re-balance the bargaining scales.

• The first is the historical advantage of comprehensive and targeted sanctions having effectively forced Iran out of the global economic order. The second, more recently secured advantage, is the severe damage caused to Iran’s new nuclear enrichment and processing facilities in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow during Operation Midnight Hammer (June 2025), which also dislocated Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium.

But Iran has managed to significantly dilute this US advantage through its control over the Strait of Hormuz and its ability to put American allies’ regional military and energy infrastructure at risk with missiles and drones.

• The latter’s credibility has been proven repeatedly since the war began, with Iran having retaliated at nearly double the number of targets which the US-Israel struck in Iran during the ‘ceasefire’ period since April 8. That American military action in this period failed to dislodge both these Iranian leverages, supplemented Iran’s new negotiating position and undermined historical American leverage.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍For strengthened Iran, a 60-day window of opportunity, a test of resolve

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

3) Which of the following is not a member of ‘Gulf Cooperation Council’? (UPSC, CSE, 2016)

(a) Iran

(b) Saudi Arabia

(c) Oman

(d) Kuwait

THE IDEAS PAGE

At G7 meet, India can be the voice of developing countries

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story: Ajai Malhotra Writes-At France’s invitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join world leaders for the G7 Summit at Evian-les-Bains to discuss issues shaping economic power, technological advantage and development.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What is G7 group?

• Who are the members of G7?

• Know the name of G7 countries

• Map Work-G7 Countries

• The G7 countries Global GDP-know the data

• How did G7 become G8 and again G7-Reasons

• G7 and India-Know in Brief

Key Takeaways:

• The G7 is no longer the dominant body it was in the mid-1970s; the rise of emerging economies and the 2008 financial crisis changed that. Yet, it remains influential in setting standards and shaping financial flows, though far less cohesive today. Differences over trade, climate finance, industrial subsidies, energy policy and ties with Russia are evident, especially between the US and others. Evian will involve negotiations as well as coordination amongst G7 members. For India, that creates greater scope for issue-based partnerships.

• Bilaterals, especially between PM Modi and US President Donald Trump, will attract intense attention. While leaders will discuss hotspots like West Asia and Ukraine, France has deliberately placed economic imbalances and the risks of fragmentation in the global economy at the centre of the agenda, which will focus on economic security, artificial intelligence, the energy transition, climate finance and development.

• As one of the largest economies, a growing energy market and technology hub, India is affected by and increasingly central to these debates. It will bring to the table concerns shared by many emerging and developing economies.

• Indian and G7 interests converge on critical minerals. Securing lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth supplies is central to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing. India’s efforts complement those of G7 economies to reduce supply-chain dependence on China for clean energy and defence technologies. Its market size and processing capacity make it an important node in emerging mineral partnerships.

Do You Know:

• The Group of 7 (G7) is an informal group of seven countries that consists of the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Together these countries represent 40% of global GDP and 10% of the world’s population.

• It has no legal existence, permanent secretariat or official members. There is no binding impact on policy, and all decisions and commitments made at G7 meetings need to be ratified independently by the governing bodies of member states.

• The G7 originated from a 1973 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris, France. This meeting was convened in response to major economic challenges of at time – an oil crisis, rising inflation and collapse of the Bretton Woods system. US Treasury Secretary George Schultz decided that it would be beneficial for the large players on the world stage to coordinate with each other on macroeconomic initiatives.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍From Vajpayee to Modi: India’s growing influence at the G-7 Summit

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

4) With reference to the “G20 Common Framework”, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE, 2022)

1. It is an initiative endorsed by the G20 together with the Paris Club.

2. It is an initiavtive to support Low Income Countries with unsustainable debt.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

5) In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (UPSC CSE, 2020)

(a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa and Turkey

(b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia and New Zealand

(c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam

(d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and South Korea

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1.(a)  2.(a)  3.(a)  4.(c) 5.(a)

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