Multiple choice

Directions: The question is independent of one another.

Modern warfare does not revolve around the usage of standard weapons and armaments only. Recently China held India hostage, when an artificial lake was formed in a region in Tibet under the control of the Chinese, and the overflow of the lake or a leakage in the dam could overflow the Sutlej and hence flood the entire Sutlej basin in India. China refused permission to Indian specialists to inspect the lake, and held the country ransom to a “water bomb”. Again, the US is arm-twisting India to support US on major issues like Iraq and terrorism, in return for supporting India's demand for a UNSC seat. These are symptoms of war, albeit of a different kind. Which of the following would qualify as war, according to the definition of war described above?

  1. The refusal of the Taliban government in Afghanistan to permit Indian forces to free hostages by use of force, of an Indian plane hijacked in India and taken to Afghanistan.

  2. The refusal of a groom to marry just before the marriage ritual if the bride's family did not provide him a Maruti 800 car in dowry.

  3. The US slapping high duties on Chinese exports to USA, in retaliation to rising trade deficit of USA with China, and the Chinese refusal to devalue its currency to set into order the imbalance in trade.

  4. A strike called by farmers in the rest of Maharashtra to protest against the decision of the government to cut power in the rest of the state to provide uninterrupted power to the capital Mumbai, when the power was actually generated outside Mumbai.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The passage defines modern 'warfare' as asymmetric pressure tactics rather than conventional combat - like China threatening India with water flooding, or the US leveraging UNSC seat support for political alignment. Option C fits this definition: the US using tariff retaliation as economic coercion against China mirrors the asymmetric pressure described. Option A describes a hostage situation (conventional security issue). Option B is a personal dispute, not state-level warfare. Option D is a domestic labor protest over resource allocation, not asymmetric warfare between entities.

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