SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 16 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 9 of 75

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which corridor enhances India's access to Central Asia through Chabahar Port?

(a)East-West Corridor
(b)India-Myanmar Highway
(c)North-South Transport Corridor
(d)South Asian Maritime Path

Answer

Why

Correct — C. The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km network of ship, rail and road routes for freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.

India plans to link Chabahar, on Iran's Gulf of Oman coast, into that corridor, giving it a route to Central Asia that does not cross Pakistan → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
East-West Corridor — The East-West Corridor is a domestic highway, from Silchar in Assam to Porbandar in Gujarat, built under the National Highways Development Project. It never leaves India.
(b)
India-Myanmar Highway — The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway runs east, from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand. It points to Southeast Asia, not Central Asia.
(d)
South Asian Maritime Path — Central Asia is landlocked, so no sea path alone can reach it. The access comes from the rail and road legs of the INSTC beyond the port.

Concept

Russia, Iran and India signed the INSTC agreement. The corridor combines a sea leg from India to Iran with rail and road routes onward to Azerbaijan, Central Asia and Russia.

Chabahar lies in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province. India operates its Shahid Beheshti terminal, and the port gives India a route to Afghanistan and Central Asia that avoids Pakistan.

Chabahar's full integration with the INSTC is described as a long-term plan. Iran's busiest port, Bandar Abbas, handles about 85% of its seaborne trade and is congested, which is part of Chabahar's appeal.

Key facts

The INSTC is a 7,200-km ship, rail and road network linking India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
Russia, Iran and India signed the original INSTC agreement.
Chabahar lies on the Gulf of Oman in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province.
India operates the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar.

Study next

India's connectivity projects: INSTC, Chabahar and the Trilateral HighwayThe Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project with MyanmarArabian Sea ports: Chabahar, Gwadar and Bandar Abbas

Common traps

Picking the India-Myanmar highway because it is a well-known cross-border road. It runs east, away from Central Asia.
Mixing up the East-West Corridor, a domestic highway, with India's international corridors.

The question names the port and asks for the corridor, so learn each connectivity project with its end points and the region it opens.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Geography — all 179 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.