Frontiers and Boundaries of the Indian Sub-continent

What the official syllabus says

UPPCS Main Examination, General Studies I.

Frontiers and boundaries with reference to Indian sub-continent.

Topics in detail

Learn the geographical concepts first, then India's land and maritime boundaries one neighbour at a time: how each line was drawn, what is disputed, and how the border is managed.

Concepts

• Frontier (a zone) and boundary (a line)
• Genetic classification of boundaries: antecedent, subsequent, superimposed, relict
• Natural (mountains, rivers) and artificial or geometric boundaries
• Buffer states and the role of the Himalaya as a frontier

Lines that shape the sub-continent

• Durand Line (1893): between British India and Afghanistan, now the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
• McMahon Line (Simla Convention, 1914): the eastern boundary with Tibet
• Radcliffe Line (1947): the partition boundaries with Pakistan and East Pakistan
• Line of Control (the 1972 Simla Agreement) and the Line of Actual Control with China

India's neighbours one by one

• Pakistan: Jammu and Kashmir, the Line of Control, Siachen, Sir Creek
• China: Aksai Chin in the west, the middle sector, Arunachal Pradesh in the east
• Nepal: an open border under the Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950); the Kalapani area
• Bhutan: an open border; the India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty (2007)
• Bangladesh: the Land Boundary Agreement (1974) and its implementation by the 100th Amendment (2015), the exchange of enclaves
• Myanmar: a border through hills and forests; the Free Movement Regime
• Afghanistan: a short border in the area of Jammu and Kashmir held by Pakistan

Maritime boundaries

• Agreements with Sri Lanka (1974 and 1976, including Katchatheevu), Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar
• Settlement of the maritime boundary with Bangladesh by arbitration (2014)

Border management

• Border guarding forces: BSF (Pakistan, Bangladesh), ITBP (China), SSB (Nepal, Bhutan), Assam Rifles (Myanmar)
• Fencing, floodlighting, integrated check posts
• Border Area Development Programme and the Vibrant Villages Programme
• Problems: infiltration, smuggling, trafficking, difficult terrain, disputes

Lengths as published by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Overlaps

Uttar Pradesh borders Nepal; security in border areas is in General Studies V and General Studies III; relations with neighbours are in General Studies II.