It has long been a truism in the foreign press, an easy way to point out that no matter how much India has progressed it is still quintessentially post-colonial: Independent India doesn't have settled borders with any of its neighbours. That isn't true any more (and it wasn't entirely accurate to start off with). Still, as of this week, India finally has a settled boundary with the country it helped liberate, Bangladesh.
"The visit is at a historic moment," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Dhaka to complete the signing of a Land Border Agreement between the two countries. "We have resolved a question that has lingered since Independence. Our two nations have a settled boundary. It will make our borders more secure and people's life there more stable."
The process actually began with the settlement of a maritime boundary dispute with Bangladesh last year, with a United Nations tribunal awarding Dhaka with the vast majority of disputed sea area in the Bay of Bengal. Both countries accepted the settlement and continued their talks on a Land Border Agreement. The previously confusing land border – a vestige of Mughal politics that left a number of enclaves of territory from either country stuck on the wrong sides – has now been permanently resolved, despite domestic concerns from either side.
India now has one settled border. What about the rest?
Everyone knows about the trouble with Pakistan, over that not-so-insignificant patch of land called Kashmir. And even the dispute with China, from stapled visas to Aksai Chin, is well documented. But even more friendly states on the Indian periphery are not entirely comfortable with the lines New Delhi uses to sketch its outlines.
Lonely Island: Sri Lanka
On paper, India doesn't have any border dispute with the island nation of Sri Lanka. The concerns the two countries shared, such as the uninhabited island of Katchatheevu, were ostensibly settled in 1974 when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi effectively ceded it to Sri Lanka in an accord that also saw the redrawing of the maritime boundary. Tamil Nadu, however, stands in the way.
The state has never accepted the Indira Gandhi accord, and has always called for the retrieval of Katchatheevu. The demand has usually accompanied claims that Sri Lanka perennially harasses India fisherman operating in these waters. Modi, before his election, actually fanned the flames of some of these grievances prompting some to ask why he hasn't seriously taken up the issue of Indian fisherman or for that matter, the island itself.
Whither River: Nepal
Border pillars have been disappearing in the stretch of No Man's Land between India and Nepal, an issue that tow countries that maintain an open-border policy have committed to resolving. New Delhi and Kathmandu maintain very friendly relations, with a generally accepted understanding about the border between the two that dates back to British times. One sticking point remains however.
After India's border war with China in 1962, it's border forces remained in a portion that touches Nepal as well, called Kalapani. A 19th century treaty between British India and Nepal pinpoint the border at the Kali river, but neither New Delhi nor Kathmandu have been able to decide what exactly counts as the Kali. India and China committed to increasing trade along the Lipu Lekh pass in a joint-statement earlier this year, an assertion that troubled Kathmandu because the pass falls squarely in the 75 km area that Nepal sees as being "occupied" by Indian forces.
Dispute by Proxy: Bhutan
Bhutan is often treated as a protectorate of India and this applies to its border disputes as well. New Delhi doesn't have any major issue with its own Bhutan border, except for small territories. India's concern is actually with Bhutan's other border, with China. In addition to Beijing's many maritime boundary disputes, it has two land border problems: India and Bhutan.
For years Bhutan and China have been wary of each other, and India even represented Bhutan in border alks with China. But that seems to slowly be changing, a development that deeply concerns New Delhi. Last year when President Pranab Mukherjee visited Thimpu, he had to convince reporters that his visit had nothing to do with Bhutan-China border talks, with the two Indian neighbours planning to finalise their border – which also touches Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh – as part of a closer relationship between the two.
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"The visit is at a historic moment," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Dhaka to complete the signing of a Land Border Agreement between the two countries. "We have resolved a question that has lingered since Independence. Our two nations have a settled boundary. It will make our borders more secure and people's life there more stable."
The process actually began with the settlement of a maritime boundary dispute with Bangladesh last year, with a United Nations tribunal awarding Dhaka with the vast majority of disputed sea area in the Bay of Bengal. Both countries accepted the settlement and continued their talks on a Land Border Agreement. The previously confusing land border – a vestige of Mughal politics that left a number of enclaves of territory from either country stuck on the wrong sides – has now been permanently resolved, despite domestic concerns from either side.
India now has one settled border. What about the rest?
Everyone knows about the trouble with Pakistan, over that not-so-insignificant patch of land called Kashmir. And even the dispute with China, from stapled visas to Aksai Chin, is well documented. But even more friendly states on the Indian periphery are not entirely comfortable with the lines New Delhi uses to sketch its outlines.
Lonely Island: Sri Lanka
On paper, India doesn't have any border dispute with the island nation of Sri Lanka. The concerns the two countries shared, such as the uninhabited island of Katchatheevu, were ostensibly settled in 1974 when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi effectively ceded it to Sri Lanka in an accord that also saw the redrawing of the maritime boundary. Tamil Nadu, however, stands in the way.
The state has never accepted the Indira Gandhi accord, and has always called for the retrieval of Katchatheevu. The demand has usually accompanied claims that Sri Lanka perennially harasses India fisherman operating in these waters. Modi, before his election, actually fanned the flames of some of these grievances prompting some to ask why he hasn't seriously taken up the issue of Indian fisherman or for that matter, the island itself.
Whither River: Nepal
Border pillars have been disappearing in the stretch of No Man's Land between India and Nepal, an issue that tow countries that maintain an open-border policy have committed to resolving. New Delhi and Kathmandu maintain very friendly relations, with a generally accepted understanding about the border between the two that dates back to British times. One sticking point remains however.
After India's border war with China in 1962, it's border forces remained in a portion that touches Nepal as well, called Kalapani. A 19th century treaty between British India and Nepal pinpoint the border at the Kali river, but neither New Delhi nor Kathmandu have been able to decide what exactly counts as the Kali. India and China committed to increasing trade along the Lipu Lekh pass in a joint-statement earlier this year, an assertion that troubled Kathmandu because the pass falls squarely in the 75 km area that Nepal sees as being "occupied" by Indian forces.
Dispute by Proxy: Bhutan
Bhutan is often treated as a protectorate of India and this applies to its border disputes as well. New Delhi doesn't have any major issue with its own Bhutan border, except for small territories. India's concern is actually with Bhutan's other border, with China. In addition to Beijing's many maritime boundary disputes, it has two land border problems: India and Bhutan.
For years Bhutan and China have been wary of each other, and India even represented Bhutan in border alks with China. But that seems to slowly be changing, a development that deeply concerns New Delhi. Last year when President Pranab Mukherjee visited Thimpu, he had to convince reporters that his visit had nothing to do with Bhutan-China border talks, with the two Indian neighbours planning to finalise their border – which also touches Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh – as part of a closer relationship between the two.
