Which of the following is geographically closest to Great Nicobar?

The correct answer is A. Sumatra is the closest of the four to Great Nicobar, the southernmost island of the Nicobar group in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Indira Point, India's southernmost tip, lies on Great Nicobar, and the sea gap to northern Sumatra is only about 150 km, which is why the island's geography and strategic relevance are tied to Indonesia.

Why the others fail:

• Borneo lies much farther east, well beyond Sumatra and Java.
• Java is further south-east of Sumatra, separated from Great Nicobar by a much longer stretch of the Indian Ocean.
• Sri Lanka is across the Bay of Bengal to the west, more than a thousand kilometres from the Nicobars.

Core concept: the Nicobar group sits at the Indian Ocean's edge towards Southeast Asia and guards the approaches to the Strait of Malacca, which is why it matters for shipping and naval strategy. For Mains (GS-3), the Great Nicobar Island development project raises the classic tension between infrastructure and strategic needs on one side and the protection of the Shompen tribe and the island's biodiversity on the other.

Trap: candidates pick Sri Lanka because it feels close to India, but the question asks about the nearest landmass to the Nicobars, not to mainland India.