Exploring Society II · Chapter 2 — India and Her Neighbours

Who are your neighbours? The family next door, surely. But what about the family across the lane, or the shopkeeper you meet every day? Countries face the same question.

Land neighbours. The traditional view is that a neighbour is a country that shares a land border with us. In that sense India's neighbours are Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest; Tibet (a region of China), Nepal and Bhutan in the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east. India's land boundary is over 15,100 km long and crosses deserts, plains, forests, mountains, marshes and river valleys.

Maritime neighbours. India has the sea on three sides: the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. A maritime neighbour is a country linked to another by a shared sea or ocean, even without a land border. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are our nearest neighbours across the water. Seen from a satellite, Iran, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia also belong to our wider maritime neighbourhood.

India's central place. India's coastline is about 11,100 km long, and its peninsula reaches deep into the Indian Ocean. This makes India a link between Southeast Asia, West Asia and Africa. The Indian Ocean, the world's third-largest ocean, is one of its busiest routes:

• about half of the world's container ships cross it;
• about one-third of bulk cargo and two-thirds of the world's oil are carried across it;
• the countries around it are home to about 2.7 billion people.

India's ports are gateways for trade, and its central position lets it send help quickly when disaster strikes nearby. Working together with neighbours for everyone's benefit is called regionalism.

SAARC. In 1985 several countries formed the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC): Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims to share resources for development in science, education, health and other areas, though political tensions among some members have often disrupted its work.

So a neighbour is more than a line on a map. Geography, history, trade and culture all tie neighbours together.

Look at the label on a mobile phone charger at home. There is a good chance it says 'Made in China'. India's links with China are old, close and sometimes difficult.

Geography. The Himalayas separate India and China. From east to west, the border runs along Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territory of Ladakh. China is about three times larger than India in area.

Buddhism as a bridge. Buddhism began in India and reached China around the 1st century CE along trade and pilgrimage routes. Chinese monks such as Faxian and Xuanzang later travelled to Indian centres of learning, while Indian monks such as Bodhidharma, Dharmakṣhema and Kumārajīva carried Buddhist teachings to China. These journeys built deep spiritual and intellectual ties.

Merchants and temples. In the 13th century, Hindu merchants built temples in the Chinese port of Quanzhou. At the Kaiyuan temple there, pillars still show carvings of Viṣhṇu, Śhiva and stories from the Rāmāyaṇa and the Purāṇas.

Trade today. Trade continues on a large scale.

Companies from each country work in the other. But the balance of trade (the difference between what a country sells and what it buys) is heavily in China's favour: China's exports to India are worth about eight times India's exports to China.

Tension and talks. Since 1950 the two countries have had a long, strategic relationship. In recent years there have been phases of tension, mostly about the shared border, and some serious conflicts that you will study in higher classes. At the same time both sides try to settle disputes through trade, dialogue and border mechanisms.

China shows that neighbours can be partners in trade and culture and rivals at the border at the same time.

Imagine standing at a border and looking at a holy shrine through binoculars, unable to visit it. For decades that is what Sikh pilgrims did at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab.

Pakistan. Before the Partition of 1947, a legacy of colonial rule, Pakistan was part of India. Unlike India, Pakistan was founded on a religious basis; you will study this in Grade 8. Since then there have been wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 and the Kargil War of 1999. Frequent terrorist attacks on India, backed by the Pakistan army, have prevented normal relations. The border runs along Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It is a line of shared heritage as well as a tragically divided history.

Shared heritage. There have also been attempts at peace, such as periods of trade and the opening of pilgrimage routes. The Katas Raj temple complex in Pakistan's Punjab, linked to the Mahābhārata, has a sacred pond; the Hinglaj Mata Mandir is in Balochistan. Languages, food, music and festivals still cross the border.

The Kartarpur Corridor. Guru Nānak Dev, founder of Sikhism, spent the last 18 years of his life at Kartarpur, now in Pakistan, where the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib stands. The corridor was first proposed in the 1990s and opened in 2019 for Guru Nānak's 550th birth anniversary. Indian pilgrims need only a permit, not a visa.

Afghanistan. This landlocked, multiethnic country once had a direct land border with India; the creation of Pakistan in 1947 made access harder. Long ago the Uttarāpatha trade route linked the Ganga plains to Central Asia through Afghanistan, passing cities such as Takṣhaśhilā, Varanasi and Pāṭaliputra and carrying goods, Buddhism, Hinduism, art and ideas. Before Islam spread there in the 7th century CE, Afghanistan was a centre of Buddhist and Hindu culture; kingdoms like Kapiśha and Zābul followed Indian styles of rule. The giant Buddhas of Bamiyan, symbols of Mahāyāna Buddhism, were destroyed in 2001.

Help in recent times. India has supported education, healthcare and infrastructure in Afghanistan, including the Afghan Parliament building and the Zaranj-Delaram highway.

A poem in Bangla can be read aloud in Kolkata and in Dhaka and understood by both audiences. Language, rivers and history tie India closely to its eastern neighbours.

Bangladesh, a 'newborn neighbour'. Bangladesh, earlier called East Pakistan, was born in 1971 as the outcome of a war between India and Pakistan. Bangla is spoken both in Bangladesh and in India's West Bengal. The land border with Bangladesh is even longer than India's border with China; it runs along West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Shared rivers and forests. Several rivers of the Ganga and Brahmaputra systems flow through both countries and support farming, fishing, transport and the livelihoods of millions. The two countries also share a coastline. The Sundarban National Park, the world's largest mangrove forest and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is managed jointly; about two-thirds of it lies in Bangladesh. It is home to the Bengal tiger and acts as a barrier against cyclones. Experts expect Bangladesh to face rising sea levels and stronger cyclones because of climate change, which may cost many people their homes and livelihoods.

Myanmar, India's gateway to Southeast Asia. Myanmar (earlier Burma) is linked to India by land and by a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. The northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram border Myanmar. As the land of the Buddha, India is a pilgrimage destination for many people from Myanmar.

Connections. The Land Border Crossing Agreement of 2018 eased movement for people in border areas, boosted trade and deepened ties, though in the last couple of years conflicts have led to some restrictions. India helped restore the Ananda temple at Bagan, damaged by earthquakes, and gifted a 16-foot replica of the Sarnath Buddha to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, starting in Manipur, links India by road to Southeast Asia.

Both neighbours show how shared rivers, faith and roads can join countries, and how climate change and conflict can test those bonds.

A family living in a border town in Bihar can walk across to Nepal to visit relatives or go to market, without a passport. That is what an open border means.

Nepal. Nepal shares a long, open border with Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim. Pilgrims from both countries visit each other's sacred places; the Paśhupatinātha temple in Kathmandu draws thousands of Indian visitors every year. Festivals such as Daśhain (Daśhaharā), Tihar (Dīpāvalī) and Holi are celebrated in both countries.

The 1950 treaty and the open border. The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship provides for open borders, free movement of people and goods, and cooperation in defence and foreign policy. People cross without passports or visas for study, healthcare, work and family. Both countries cooperate to make sure the open border is not misused. India is Nepal's largest trading partner, supplying petroleum, medicines, food and manufactured goods, while Nepal sends farm produce, handicrafts and garments.

Bhutan, 'Land of the Thunder Dragon'. Bhutan, called Drukyul by its people, is a small landlocked kingdom between India and China. Its border touches Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Rivers from Bhutan flow into India; hydroelectric power is one of the biggest areas of cooperation. The Tala Hydroelectric Project, built with India's support, was dedicated by the two prime ministers in 2008 and supplies clean energy to India.

Buddhist bonds. Bhutanese pilgrims visit Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda and Sikkim. Guru Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) took the Vajrayāna school of Buddhism to Bhutan in the 8th century CE. Three schools of Buddhism grew in India and spread to its neighbours:

Happiness as a measure. Bhutan created the idea of a Gross National Happiness index, which measures progress more broadly than GDP by including sustainability, good governance and culture.

At its closest point, Sri Lanka is only about 32 km from India across the Palk Strait, less than the length of a big city. Little wonder the two have shared so much.

Sri Lanka. This island nation lies to the southeast of India. Buddhism was taken there in the 3rd century BCE by Mahendra and Sanghamitrā, the son and daughter of Emperor Aśhoka. Hinduism travelled too, notably through the two Epics. Sri Lankan wooden masks may have links with mask traditions in south India.

A difficult time. From the mid-1980s to around 2010 Sri Lanka suffered a civil war, mainly between the Sinhala-speaking majority and the Tamil minority, which has close cultural ties to India. Many Tamil families fled to south India, especially Tamil Nadu. Today the two countries share a partnership in culture, trade and strategy.

The Maldives, a nation of islets. The Maldives is made up of over 1,100 islets and is only about 130 km from Minicoy, an Indian island in Lakshadweep. This makes it important for trade and security in the Indian Ocean.

Cultural links. Archaeologists have found ancient Buddhist temples and inscriptions there. Influences from Tamil Nadu and Kerala shaped the language, food and arts: coconut curries and roshi taste of south India, and the Boduberu dance echoes Tamil folk rhythms. The Maldivian language, Dhivehi, borrows from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi:

A trusted first responder. India was one of the first countries to recognise the Maldives after its independence in 1965. India helped quickly during the 2004 tsunami, the 2014 water crisis in Malé, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facing the rising sea. Sea level could rise by up to 1 metre by the end of this century, partly drowning many Maldivian islands. In 2009 the Maldives' president and ministers held a meeting underwater, 4 m below the surface, to warn the world. The Maldives is a member of the International Solar Alliance, an Indian initiative for sharing solar energy research.

Fly into Bangkok and you land at 'Suvarnabhumi' Airport, under a huge sculpture of the churning of the ocean (samudra manthana). Indian ideas travelled far across the Bay of Bengal.

Suvarṇabhūmi, the golden land. From a few centuries BCE, Indian traders sailed to Southeast Asia in search of gold and other riches. They visited Java, Sumatra and Malaya so often that these lands were called Suvarṇabhūmi (golden land) or Suvarṇadvīpa (golden island).

Thailand. India and Thailand share a maritime boundary. From as early as the 3rd century BCE, Indian traders and scholars sailed there with spices and textiles, and with religious ideas. Names tell the story:

• the Dvāravatī culture (6th to 11th centuries CE) took its name from a Sanskrit word meaning 'that which has gates', recalling Kṛiṣhṇa's city Dvārakā;
• the Ayutthayā kingdom, founded in 1351, was named after Ayodhyā;
• kings of the present Chakri dynasty are all named after Rāma; the current king is Rama X.

Theravāda Buddhism is widely followed in Thailand, and stories from the Indian epics are part of royal ceremonies, dance and literature. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, from Manipur through Myanmar into Thailand, revives these old links by road.

Malaysia. Links go back over two thousand years across the Bay of Bengal. Hindu and Buddhist influences came early, and around the 4th century CE the region adopted a script based on India's Brāhmī. By the 15th century Islam had become the main religion. In the 19th and 20th centuries many workers from south India went to work on rubber plantations, and today about 9 per cent of Malaysians are of Indian origin. India is one of Malaysia's largest trading partners in palm oil, energy, infrastructure and IT.

Singapore, the 'Lion City'. Its name comes from Singapuram, 'lion city'. After many changes it became a British colony, then part of Malaysia, and a separate nation in 1965. Tamil is one of its four official languages, with English, Mandarin and Malay. About 9 per cent of residents are of Indian origin, many living in 'Little India'. Singapore is a model of clean, well-planned cities, with heavy fines for littering and jaywalking, and is one of the largest foreign investors in India.

Take out an Indonesian banknote, the rupiah, and you will see Garuḍa, the vehicle of Viṣhṇu, as the national symbol. Indonesia and India have been in touch for more than two thousand years.

An archipelago. Indonesia is not one landmass but an archipelago, a large group of islands: several big islands and over 17,000 smaller ones. The Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea separate it from India.

Old links. Trade between Indian kingdoms and the islands of Java and Sumatra goes back over 2,000 years. India's ancient university of Nālandā worked with the Muara Jambi temple complex in Indonesia. Later, Islam also reached Indonesia from India's shores. Indonesian actors still perform scenes from the Rāmāyaṇa.

Borobudur. A stūpa is a Buddhist shrine, often dome-shaped, that holds sacred relics. The Borobudur Stūpa, built in stone in the 8th and 9th centuries CE, is the world's largest Buddhist monument. It rises in five huge platforms like a pyramid, holds over 500 statues of the Buddha and many small stūpas, and its geometric plan copies a mandala, a sacred design standing for the whole cosmos.

The 2004 tsunami. Indonesia lies in a zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanoes. On 26 December 2004 a powerful earthquake under the Indian Ocean near Indonesia set off a huge tsunami.

Learning from disaster. The tragedy showed the need for early warning. India joined Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Indian Ocean countries to set up a network of sensors, satellites and communication links. The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre in Hyderabad now alerts India and its neighbours when an undersea earthquake strikes.

Partners today. India and Indonesia work together for peace, trade and sustainable development in the Indo-Pacific, and on maritime security, defence and disaster relief, because both have long coastlines and share worries about piracy, climate change and safe sea lanes.

A lump of copper found in an Indus city may have come all the way from Oman, across the Arabian Sea, more than 4,000 years ago. India's western neighbours are some of its oldest friends.

Iran. India and Iran have been in contact since the Bronze Age. Trade first went over land through what are now Pakistan and Afghanistan; these routes later became part of the Silk Route. Sea routes were used too, since Iran's ports are within easy reach of India's west coast. The ties show in many ways:

• the Avesta, the sacred text of Zoroastrianism, has parallels with the Ṛigveda;
• the Mahābhārata mentions Persians as Pārasīka;
• Persian, from the same language family as Sanskrit, was the court language of the Mughals and other rulers;
• the Parsis of India are a living link with ancient Persian culture.

Today India is helping develop Iran's Chabahar Port, which gives India better access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. The two countries cooperate in trade, energy and transport despite international challenges.

Oman, the 'Land of Copper'. Oman lies on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, where the Persian Gulf meets the Arabian Sea, and shares maritime boundaries with India. Contact goes back over 5,000 years to the Harappan civilisation. Oman is rich in copper, and Harappan traders are thought to have brought copper ingots (blocks of metal shaped for transport) from there; one such ingot is dated to the 3rd millennium BCE.

People and defence. Over 10 per cent of Oman's population is of Indian origin. Merchant communities from northwestern India settled there over the past few centuries, and the Hindu community was allowed to build a Śhiva temple in Muscat in the early 20th century. Oman is India's closest defence partner in the Gulf: it was the first country in the region where India held joint exercises with all three armed forces, and the two cooperate on Indian Ocean security.

Looking back over the chapter. Old routes such as the Uttarāpatha, the Dakṣhiṇāpatha, the Silk Route and the spice routes linked India with Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Arabia. India's ideas spread peacefully through trade, pilgrimage and culture, and today new ports, highways and partnerships are reviving those links.