UPSCNotes
International Relations

India and its Neighbourhood

UPSC notes on India's relations with its neighbours — Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan and Myanmar — treaties, disputes and policy.

SyllabusGS II · India and its neighbourhood — relations

India shares land borders with seven countries and maritime boundaries with several more. The first line of the GS Paper II International Relations syllabus — “India and its neighbourhood — relations” — is also the line UPSC returns to most often.

What UPSC asks

  • Prelims: treaties and their years (Indus Waters 1960, Simla 1972, Ganga Waters 1996), which Indian states border which country, connectivity projects (Kaladan, Chabahar, the Trilateral Highway), rivers and border passes.
  • Mains: the Neighbourhood First policy, China’s growing footprint in South Asia, water and boundary disputes, refugees and cross-border terrorism, and how India should respond to political change next door.

Chapter map

TopicWhat it covers
India and South Asia: Neighbourhood FirstPakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar
India–China RelationsBoundary history, LAC agreements, Doklam and Galwan, trade and water
Quick revisionBorders, treaties and projects on one page
Practice questionsPrelims MCQs and a Mains question

Read this chapter with Border Management and Regional and Global Groupings — SAARC and BIMSTEC are the multilateral face of the same neighbourhood.

India and South Asia: Neighbourhood First India's relations with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar for … India–China Relations India–China relations for UPSC — Panchsheel, the 1962 war, the three LAC sectors, border agreements of … India and its Neighbourhood — Practice Questions UPSC Prelims-pattern practice questions on India's neighbourhood with full explanations — border states, Land … India and its Neighbourhood — Quick Revision One-page UPSC revision of India's neighbourhood — border lengths and states, treaty years, LAC agreements, …