Through which routes is the majority of India’s international trade carried out?

Correct — D. India's foreign trade travels by sea and air, and the two carry different cargo.

Ships take the weight — crude oil, coal, fertiliser, ores, containerised manufactures — because ocean freight is by far the cheapest way to move bulk over long distances. Air takes what is light, urgent or valuable: gems and jewellery, electronics, pharmaceuticals, perishables.

Railways are a domestic carrier. They cross only a few land borders and reach no overseas market at all, which leaves option (d) as the pairing that can describe international trade.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Only Railway — Rail alone cannot carry foreign trade: India's cross-border rail links are few, they serve neighbouring countries only, and no track reaches a market across the sea.
• (b)
  Sea and railway — Sea belongs here, railway does not. Overland rail traffic with neighbours is small beside what the ports handle, and it leaves out the air cargo that carries the high-value trade.
• (c)
  Railway and air — This drops sea, the route that moves the overwhelming bulk of India's trade tonnage, and keeps railway, whose international role is marginal.

Foreign trade is classified by the route it takes — sea, air or land — and a country's mix follows its geography.

India has a long coastline with major and minor ports on both the western and eastern seaboards, so ocean shipping handles the tonnage. Overland trade is limited: the Himalaya closes the north, and relations along parts of the western and eastern land borders keep volumes low.

Air handles the value-dense sliver of the same trade — a small share of the weight, a large share of the worth.

Key facts

• Ocean shipping is the cheapest mode per tonne over long distances, which is why bulk cargo such as crude oil and coal moves by sea.
• Air freight carries goods that are light, perishable or high in value, such as gems and jewellery, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
• Rail and road serve India's internal freight and its limited overland trade with neighbouring countries.

Common traps

• Reading 'railway' as an international mode because rail dominates domestic freight.
• Assuming air has displaced sea because it is faster, when bulk cargo is priced on cost per tonne.

No directly related past PYQ was found.