SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 1 · General Awareness · Question 9 of 100

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 11 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.

Examine the statements below and select the most appropriate option. Assertion (A): India’s Dornier aircraft aid and OCC role show a shift in its development partnership with Sri Lanka towards defence focus. Reason (R): President Disanayaka declined India's maritime security assistance and requested only cultural and financial cooperation.

(a)Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
(b)Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
(c)A is false, but R is true
(d)A is true, but R is false

Answer

Why

Correct — D. A holds as the key reads it. The joint statement of 16 December 2024 records Sri Lanka's thanks for a Dornier aircraft for maritime surveillance, and both leaders agreed to explore a framework agreement on defence cooperation.

R is false. President Disanayaka welcomed that maritime help and reiterated that Sri Lanka will not let its territory be used against India's security. A true, R false → option (d).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A — R is false, so it cannot explain A. The 2024 joint statement shows Disanayaka welcoming India's maritime security help, not declining it.
(b)
Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A — This needs R to be true, and it is not. Disanayaka thanked India for the Dornier and the rescue centre, and both sides agreed to advance maritime and security collaboration.
(c)
A is false, but R is true — R is the statement that fails. Far from declining maritime assistance, the joint statement records Sri Lanka's thanks for it.

Concept

India's help to Sri Lanka runs on two tracks. On finance, India gave emergency support worth USD 4 billion during the 2022 economic crisis and co-chaired the Official Creditors' Committee in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring.

On security, India gifted a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft in August 2022, helped set up a Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre, and in December 2024 agreed to explore a framework defence agreement.

In the joint statement, OCC is the Official Creditors' Committee, which India co-chaired during Sri Lanka's debt restructuring. That is a financial role, so A's 'defence focus' rests on the Dornier and the security paragraphs rather than on the OCC.

The answer does not turn on this. R is plainly false, and the keyed option is the one in which R is false.

Key facts

President Anura Kumara Disanayaka held talks with Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi on 16 December 2024, during a state visit.
India gifted Sri Lanka a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft on 15 August 2022.
India co-chaired the Official Creditors' Committee in Sri Lanka's debt restructuring.
Sri Lanka reiterated that it will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to India's security.

Study next

The Colombo Security ConclaveIndia's Neighbourhood First policy and SAGAR visionMitra Shakti, the India–Sri Lanka army exercise

Common traps

Reading OCC as a defence body: in the joint statement it is the Official Creditors' Committee, a debt-restructuring group.
Judging A and stopping there: test R on its own, because a false R rules out three of the four options at once.

Here a state visit is tested as Assertion and Reason. India–Sri Lanka defence ties are also asked at 17 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.9, on the focus of the 10th Mitra Shakti exercise.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Current events — all 156 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.