Match List – I with List – II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists: List – I (Country) A) Uzbekistan B) Tajikistan C) Kyrgyzstan D) Turkmenistan List – II  (Capital) 1) Tashkent 2) Dushanbe 3) Bishkek 4) Ashgabat

The correct match is A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4: Uzbekistan with Tashkent, Tajikistan with Dushanbe, Kyrgyzstan with Bishkek, and Turkmenistan with Ashgabat. All four are former Soviet Central Asian republics, so this is a capitals question you can answer from regional geography and the Soviet-era republic lists.

Here is why the other options fail:

• Option B pairs Kyrgyzstan with Ashgabat and Turkmenistan with Bishkek. Both are wrong.
• Option C pairs Tajikistan with Bishkek and Turkmenistan with Dushanbe. Both are wrong.
• Option D pairs Tajikistan with Ashgabat, Kyrgyzstan with Dushanbe, and Turkmenistan with Bishkek. All three are wrong.

The core concept is the political geography of Central Asia, which links to the Central Asia section of World Geography and to India's engagement with the region through the SCO, the INSTC and Chabahar in Mains GS-II and GS-I. The capitals have not changed since 2019.

Trap: Aspirants often swap the two landlocked neighbours Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, or confuse Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat with Tashkent. Fix one clear anchor for each country instead of guessing by sound.