India and its Neighbouring Countries · UPPCS (Uttar Pradesh)

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies II:

India and its relationship with neighbouring Countries.

Panchsheel (1954), the Gujral Doctrine, Neighbourhood First, Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region)
Regional bodies: SAARC (1985) and its stalled process; BIMSTEC (1997) and the Bay of Bengal focus; the BBIN initiative

Partition, Kashmir and the wars of 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and Kargil (1999)
Indus Waters Treaty (1960) and India's decision in 2025 to hold it in abeyance; Simla Agreement (1972); Lahore Declaration (1999)
Cross-border terrorism; Line of Control; Kartarpur Corridor (2019); China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Downgraded diplomatic ties and the suspension of bilateral trade by Pakistan in 2019

Panchsheel, the 1962 war and the undefined Line of Actual Control; Doklam (2017) and Galwan (2020)
Trade deficit and supply-chain dependence; Belt and Road Initiative; Brahmaputra waters
Border talks and disengagement agreements; China's presence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean
Tibet and the presence of the Dalai Lama in India

Nepal: Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950), open border, Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura dispute, hydropower and the Mahakali Treaty (1996); open border with Uttar Pradesh and cross-border ties
Bhutan: Friendship Treaty (1949, revised 2007), hydropower co-operation, Doklam and Bhutan's security

Bangladesh: liberation war of 1971, Land Boundary Agreement (2015, 100th Amendment), Ganga Water Treaty (1996), Teesta waters, connectivity, illegal migration, political change in 2024
Myanmar: Kaladan multi-modal project, India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, Free Movement Regime, the Rohingya crisis, the 2021 military takeover
Sri Lanka: Tamil question and the 13th Amendment, Indian Peace Keeping Force (1987), Katchatheevu and fishermen, India's help during the 2022 economic crisis, Chinese presence (Hambantota)

Afghanistan: development projects (Salma Dam, Parliament building, Zaranj-Delaram road), Taliban takeover (2021), access through Chabahar port in Iran
Maldives: Operation Cactus (1988), development assistance, swings in relations
Indian Ocean neighbours: Mauritius, Seychelles; maritime security and Indian Ocean diplomacy

Border management and connectivity projects
Sharing of river waters; refugees and migration
Terrorism and security co-operation
Trade, energy and power-grid links; India's lines of credit and development partnership

Lines of credit and grant projects; capacity building through the ITEC programme (1964)
Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, such as Operation Maitri after the Nepal earthquake (2015); vaccine supplies under Vaccine Maitri (2021)
Cross-border electricity trade with Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh; energy pipelines
Integrated check posts and border haats

General Studies III: security challenges in border areas.
General Studies I: frontiers and boundaries with reference to the Indian sub-continent.