India's Borders and Neighbours for UPSC: Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar and Afghanistan
How UPSC Tests India's Neighbourhood
🎯 Exam priority: Tier-1. UPSC asked: bridges linking India to Bangladesh and Nepal (2026, provisional key); India-supported projects in Bhutan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives (2026); India's trade with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal (2020); the Mitra Shakti exercise (2024); the longest international border (2024); India's connectivity projects in the East (2023); and the Bangla language demand in Pakistan's Constituent Assembly (2021). In Mains: Sri Lanka's crisis (2022), the Maldives (2024), China's impact on India (2017) and SAARC (2016).
The 2026 paper shows what changed: UPSC now asks named projects, named bridges and named exercises, which come straight from MEA documents. The note has four boxes: the borders, the eight neighbours, the treaties and disputes, and the projects India builds.
India's Land Borders: Lengths, States and Lines
India shares land borders with seven countries. Learn the table once.
India's land borders
Neighbour | Length | Indian states / UTs on the border | Boundary line and issues |
Bangladesh | 4,096 km (MEA) | West Bengal (the longest, about 2,200 km), Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram | Radcliffe line (1947); Land Boundary Agreement 2015 swapped enclaves; fencing, smuggling, 54 shared rivers |
China | About 3,488 km (India's official figure) | Ladakh (UT), Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh | Line of Actual Control (not an agreed boundary); McMahon Line (Arunachal); western, middle and eastern sectors |
Pakistan | About 3,323 km | Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (UTs), Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat | Radcliffe line (Punjab, Gujarat); Line of Control (J&K); Siachen; Sir Creek (Gujarat) |
Nepal | About 1,751 km | Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim | Open border; Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh and Susta disputed by Nepal |
Myanmar | 1,643 km land and 1,060 km maritime (MEA) | Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram | Free Movement Regime; 36 boundary strip maps signed on 29 July 2025 |
Bhutan | About 699 km | Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh | No dispute with India; Doklam is a China-Bhutan issue |
Afghanistan | About 106 km (the Wakhan corridor, in Pakistan-occupied territory) | None physically (through PoK) | Not accessible; India reaches Afghanistan by sea (Chabahar) and air |
The longest border is Bangladesh's; the longest border of any state is West Bengal's (not Rajasthan's). Do not confuse this with the 2024 PYQ on the world's longest border, which is Canada-USA.
Sri Lanka and the Maldives are maritime neighbours: the Palk Strait and Adam's Bridge separate India from Sri Lanka; the Eight Degree Channel separates the Maldives from Minicoy.
The Eight Neighbours in 2025-26
This is the neighbour-by-neighbour snapshot, drawn from the MEA Annual Report 2025 and the 2026 developments (flagged where the source is secondary).
The eight neighbours
Country | Key facts from the MEA Annual Report 2025 | 2026 update (secondary sources) |
Pakistan | After the Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025; 26 killed, one a Nepali) India held the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, closed the Attari check post and its airspace, cut the High Commission to 30 and banned imports. Operation Sindoor (7 May) targeted terrorist infrastructure; on 10 May Pakistan's DGMO asked for cessation of firing. India set out a 'new normal': a fitting reply to terror, no tolerance of nuclear blackmail, no distinction between sponsors and terrorists | The treaty stays in abeyance (MEA, July 2026); the May 2025 ceasefire has held without a wider settlement. India rejected the Court of Arbitration's supplemental award of June 2025 as 'per se void' |
China | Strategic understanding of the Modi-Xi meeting at Kazan (October 2024); 24th Special Representatives talks in New Delhi (August); PM met Xi at the SCO summit in Tianjin; direct flights resumed in October; the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra resumed through Nathu La and Lipulekh; 75th anniversary of ties; trade USD 96.46 billion up to November with a USD 75.05 billion Indian deficit | 35th WMCC meeting in Beijing on 27 May 2026; 25th Special Representatives talks in Beijing on 25 August 2026 on a framework for boundary delimitation (an 'early and substantial harvest') |
Bangladesh | India's LoCs total USD 6.5 billion since 2014; bilateral trade USD 13.49 billion in 2024-25 (India's exports USD 11.49 billion); 54 shared rivers; the Akhaura-Agartala rail link completed; joint dredging of the Brahmaputra and Kushiyara | BNP won the 12 February 2026 election; Tarique Rahman became PM on 17 February; the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty expires on 12 December 2026 |
Nepal | Authorised power exports of 1,131 MW to India; MoUs for two 400 kV cross-border lines (Dododhara-Bareilly, Inaruwa-Purnea); trade USD 8.53 billion in 2024-25; Indian firms hold 35 per cent of Nepal's FDI stock; 19th Surya Kiran exercise | After the September 2025 uprising an interim government ran the March 2026 election; the Rastriya Swatantra Party won 182 of 275 seats and Balendra Shah became PM on 27 March |
Bhutan | All six units of the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II project were commissioned; PM visited in November; India announced an Immigration Check Post at Hatisar (Assam) to serve the Gelephu Mindfulness City; 1,500 scholarships a year | - |
Sri Lanka | PM's state visit in April (first by any head of government since the new President); seven MoUs, debt restructuring concluded; Trincomalee energy hub with the UAE; PM conferred the Mitra Vibhushana | President Muizzu of the Maldives paid a state visit to Sri Lanka in May 2026 |
Maldives | PM was Guest of Honour at the 60th Independence Day (25-26 July); eight MoUs; terms of reference for an FTA; UPI network-to-network link; a new umbrella line of credit of INR 4,850 crore; projects worth over USD 2 billion; defence ministry building and 3,300 housing units handed over | - |
Myanmar | Development portfolio about USD 2 billion (Kaladan, IMT Trilateral Highway); Operation Brahma sent about 1,000 tonnes of relief after the 28 March earthquake; PM met Min Aung Hlaing twice | Junta-run election from 28 December 2025: the army-backed USDP won; ASEAN did not recognise it |
Afghanistan | Taliban Foreign Minister Muttaqi visited India on 9-15 October; India restored its Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of Embassy from 21 October; 20 ambulances gifted; air freight corridor and joint chamber of commerce agreed | - |
River Treaties and Boundary Disputes
River treaties and boundary disputes appear in 'which country, which river' and statement questions.
Treaties and disputes
Item | Facts to remember |
Indus Waters Treaty (1960) | Brokered by the World Bank; the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) go to India, the three western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan with limited Indian use; held 'in abeyance' by India from April 2025 |
Ganga Water Treaty (1996) | India-Bangladesh dry-season sharing at Farakka; 30-year term; expires 12 December 2026 |
Mahakali Treaty (1996) | India-Nepal on the Mahakali (Sharda) river and the Pancheshwar project |
Teesta | India-Bangladesh sharing is unsettled; West Bengal's objection has blocked the 2011 draft |
Land Boundary Agreement (2015) | India-Bangladesh exchange of enclaves (111 Indian enclaves to Bangladesh, 51 to India) and adverse possessions |
Kalapani-Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh | India-Nepal: Nepal's 2020 map claims the area; the Lipulekh pass is a Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route |
Katchatheevu | A small island in the Palk Strait ceded to Sri Lanka by the 1974 and 1976 agreements; the fishermen issue continues |
Sir Creek | A tidal estuary on the Gujarat-Sindh boundary; India-Pakistan |
Simla Agreement (1972) | Converted the 1971 ceasefire line into the Line of Control |
Projects India Has Built Abroad
The 2026 'matching' question asked which project is in which country. Learn the list.
Projects India has built or funded
Country | Projects (standard reference list) |
Bhutan | Mangdechhu (720 MW), Punatsangchhu-I and II, Chukha, Kurichhu; Kholongchhu under way; 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II completed in 2025 |
Nepal | Mechi bridge (Panitanki-Kakarvitta), Jogbani-Biratnagar rail link, Arun-III and Upper Karnali hydropower (Indian firms), Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline, Nepal Police Academy |
Bangladesh | Maitri Setu over the Feni (Sabroom-Ramgarh), Akhaura-Agartala rail link, India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, Rampal (Maitri) power plant, Brahmaputra and Kushiyara dredging |
Sri Lanka | Dickoya hospital, 1990 Suwa Seriya ambulance service, housing, Jaffna cultural centre, Trincomalee energy hub |
Maldives | Greater Malé Connectivity Project, Hulhumalé housing, Ministry of Defence building (2025), Hanimaadhoo airport |
Afghanistan | Salma (Friendship) Dam, Zaranj-Delaram highway, Parliament building in Kabul, restoration of the Stor Palace in Kabul, hospitals and clinics |
Myanmar | Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (Kolkata-Sittwe-Paletwa-Mizoram), IMT Trilateral Highway, Rhi-Tiddim road |
Further Reading
the Ministry of External Affairs Annual Report, MEA and PIB press releases and joint statements, United Nations and treaty-body websites, and an atlas — the primary sources behind every fact above.
How UPSC Could Ask This Next
Here are the questions this chapter is most likely to produce next.
How UPSC could ask this next
Matching lists: project and country, bridge and border town, exercise and partner (Surya Kiran with Nepal, Ekuverin and Ekatha with the Maldives, Mitra Shakti with Sri Lanka, Dharma Guardian with Japan).
Trade facts: Bangladesh is India's largest trade partner in South Asia (not Nepal or Sri Lanka); textiles in India-Bangladesh trade.
Treaties: Indus Waters Treaty and what 'in abeyance' means; the 12 December 2026 Ganga treaty expiry; Mahakali; the Teesta.
Politics: the 2026 elections in Bangladesh and Nepal and the 2025-26 Myanmar poll; India's Neighbourhood First policy (Samman, Samvad, Sahyog, Shanti, Samriddhi).
Mains: India's neighbourhood policy, China's inroads in South Asia, the Maldives' strategic importance (2024), Sri Lanka's crisis (2022), SAARC versus BIMSTEC, and Operation Sindoor's 'new normal'.
Test Yourself: Practice Questions and PYQs
Twelve practice questions on borders, neighbours, treaties and projects, followed by the real UPSC Prelims questions and exact Mains questions.
Practice Questions
Q1. Which Indian state has the longest border with Bangladesh?
(a) West Bengal
(b) Tripura
(c) Meghalaya
(d) Assam
Show answer
Answer: (a) — West Bengal's border with Bangladesh is about 2,200 km, longer than any other Indian state's international border.
Q2. Which one of the following Indian states does NOT share a border with Myanmar?
(a) Assam
(b) Mizoram
(c) Manipur
(d) Nagaland
Show answer
Answer: (a) — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram border Myanmar.
Q3. Which one of the following Indian states does NOT share a border with Nepal?
(a) Assam
(b) Bihar
(c) Uttarakhand
(d) Sikkim
Show answer
Answer: (a) — Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim border Nepal.
Q4. The Mechi bridge connects
(a) Panitanki in India with Kakarvitta in Nepal
(b) Raxaul in India with Birgunj in Nepal
(c) Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh
(d) Moreh in India with Tamu in Myanmar
Show answer
Answer: (a) — The Maitri Setu over the Feni river connects Sabroom (Tripura) with Ramgarh in Bangladesh.
Q5. Consider the following statements about the Indus Waters Treaty (1960):
1. The World Bank was a party to the treaty process.
2. The Ravi, Beas and Sutlej were allocated to India.
3. India placed the treaty in abeyance in 2025 after the Pahalgam attack.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 2 only
(d) 2 and 3 only
Show answer
Answer: (b) — All three are correct. The western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) go to Pakistan.
Q6. The India-Bangladesh Ganga Water Treaty, signed in 1996, is scheduled to expire in
(a) December 2036
(b) January 2030
(c) December 2016
(d) December 2026
Show answer
Answer: (d) — It has a 30-year term, expiring on 12 December 2026, and renewal talks are in progress.
Q7. Operation Sindoor, which India launched on 7 May 2025, was
(a) a naval escort operation in the Gulf of Oman
(b) a relief operation after the Myanmar earthquake
(c) a strike on terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir after the Pahalgam attack
(d) an evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran
Show answer
Answer: (c) — Operation Brahma was the Myanmar earthquake relief and Operation Sindhu the Iran evacuation.
Q8. 'Operation Brahma' in March 2025 was India's
(a) military operation against Pakistan
(b) anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden
(c) evacuation from Sudan
(d) humanitarian relief mission after the earthquake in Myanmar
Show answer
Answer: (d) — It delivered about 1,000 tonnes of relief by air and sea and deployed NDRF rescue teams and a field hospital.
Q9. The 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu-II hydroelectric project, fully commissioned in 2025 with Indian assistance, is in
(a) Bangladesh
(b) Myanmar
(c) Bhutan
(d) Nepal
Show answer
Answer: (c) — India also built the 720 MW Mangdechhu project in Bhutan.
Q10. Effective 21 October 2025, India restored its Technical Mission in Kabul to the status of
(a) a Trade Office
(b) a Liaison Office
(c) a Consulate
(d) an Embassy
Show answer
Answer: (d) — The decision followed Taliban Foreign Minister Muttaqi's visit to India on 9-15 October 2025.
Q11. Katchatheevu, the subject of the India-Sri Lanka fishermen dispute, lies in the
(a) Bay of Bengal near Andaman
(b) Eight Degree Channel
(c) Palk Strait
(d) the Gulf of Mannar
Show answer
Answer: (c) — It was ceded to Sri Lanka under the 1974 and 1976 agreements.
Q12. Which country is India's largest trading partner in South Asia?
(a) Pakistan
(b) Bangladesh
(c) Nepal
(d) Sri Lanka
Show answer
Answer: (b) — India-Bangladesh trade was USD 13.49 billion in 2024-25.
UPSC Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Real UPSC Prelims questions, checked against the official paper and answer key.
Q1. (2026, provisional key) Consider the following statements about river bridges connecting India with neighbouring countries:
1. Maitri Setu, built over Feni river, connects Ramgarh in India with Sabroom in Bangladesh.
2. Jhulaghat suspension bridge connects India with Myanmar.
3. Mechi bridge and its approaches connect Panitanki Bypass in India with Kakarvitta in Nepal.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 2 and 3
(d) 1 and 2
Show answer
Answer: (b) — Maitri Setu over the Feni river joins Sabroom (Tripura, India) with Ramgarh (Bangladesh), the reverse of Statement 1; the Jhulaghat bridge on the Kali river is on the Nepal border, not Myanmar's; the Mechi bridge joins Panitanki with Kakarvitta in Nepal (provisional key).
Q2. (2024) The longest border between any two countries in the world is between:
(a) Chile and Argentina
(b) Canada and the United States of America
(c) China and India
(d) Kazakhstan and Russian Federation
Show answer
Answer: (b) — The Canada-USA border (about 8,900 km including Alaska) is the world's longest international land border.
Q3. (2020) Consider the following statements:
1. The value of Indo-Sri Lanka trade has consistently increased in the last decade.
2. 'Textile and textile articles' constitute an important item of trade between India and Bangladesh.
3. In the last five years, Nepal has been the largest trading partner of India in South Asia.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 2 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Answer: (a) — Textiles are an important item of India-Bangladesh trade. India-Sri Lanka trade has fluctuated, and Bangladesh (not Nepal) has been India's largest trade partner in South Asia.
Q4. (2024) Which of the following statements about 'Exercise Mitra Shakti-2023' are correct?
1. This was a joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh.
2. It commenced in Aundh (Pune).
3. Joint response during counter-terrorism operations was a goal of this operation.
4. Indian Air Force was a part of this exercise.
Select the answer using the code given below:
(a) 2, 3 and 4
(b) 1, 2 and 3
(c) 1, 2 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 4
Show answer
Answer: (a) — Mitra Shakti is the India-Sri Lanka military exercise (held at Aundh, Pune, in November 2023) with a counter-terrorism focus and Indian Air Force participation; it is not with Bangladesh.
Q5. (2026, provisional key) Match List I with List II and select the answer using the code given below the Lists:
List I (Project Supported by India) : List II (Country)
A. Mangdechhu Hydroelectric Project : 1. Maldives
B. Restoration of Stor Palace : 2. Afghanistan
C. District Hospital at Dickoya : 3. Bhutan
D. Institute of Security and Law Enforcement Studies : 4. Sri Lanka
Code (A B C D):
(a) 1 2 4 3
(b) 1 4 2 3
(c) 3 2 4 1
(d) 3 4 2 1
Show answer
Answer: (c) — Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is in Bhutan, the Stor Palace restoration is in Afghanistan (Kabul), the Dickoya district hospital is in Sri Lanka, and the Institute of Security and Law Enforcement Studies is in the Maldives (provisional key).
Q6. (2021) Consider the following statements:
1. 21st February is declared to be the International Mother Language Day by UNICEF.
2. The demand that Bangla has to be one of the national languages was raised in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) Neither 1 nor 2
(b) 1 only
(c) 2 only
(d) Both 1 and 2
Show answer
Answer: (c) — International Mother Language Day (21 February) was proclaimed by UNESCO, not UNICEF. The Bangla-language demand was first raised in Pakistan's Constituent Assembly in February 1948.
Mains Practice Questions
Use these to frame full-length answers. You don't have to answer one exactly — they show the angles UPSC tests, so let them guide which points you cover.
Discuss the geopolitical and geostrategic importance of the Maldives for India with a focus on global trade and energy flows.
"India is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka." Discuss India's role in the recent crisis in Sri Lanka in the light of this statement.
Examine how India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy has been tested by political change in Bangladesh and Nepal in 2025-26.
What does holding the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance mean in international law, and what are its strategic and legal risks for India?
UPSC Mains — Previous Years’ Questions on this topic (last 10 years)
These are the actual GS Mains questions UPSC has asked on this theme — real proof of how, and when, it is tested. Try to write a full answer to each.
2024 (GS-II): Discuss the geopolitical and geostrategic importance of Maldives for India with a focus on global trade and energy flows. Further also discuss how this relationship affects India's maritime security and regional stability amidst international competition?
2022 (GS-II): 'India is an age-old friend of Sri Lanka.' Discuss India's role in the recent crisis in Sri Lanka in the light of the preceding statement.
2017 (GS-II): "China is using its economic relations and positive trade surplus as tools to develop potential military power status in Asia." In the light of this statement, discuss its impact on India as her neighbour.
2016 (GS-II): "Increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in India and growing interference in the internal affairs of several member-states by Pakistan are not conducive for the future of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)." Explain with suitable examples.