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India and its Neighbours/159

India is a vast country with Pakistan,China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar andBangladesh sharing its land frontiersand Sri Lanka and Maldives touchingits maritime borders. Besides theseseven countries, Afghanistan isalso India’s neighbour due to itsphysical proximity with India.

India’s relationship with all itsneighbours has not been the same.Sometimes there have beendifferences and problems with them.Our bilateral relationships besidesbeing guided by historical, culturaland developmental factors have alsobeen influenced by internationalpolitics. It is necessary for us to knowabout India’s relations with itsneighbours.

India-Pakistan Relations

Pakistan is theoutcome of thepartition ofBritish India at the time ofIndependence. M.A. Jinnah, who isregarded as the father of IslamicRepublic of Pakistan, propounded atwo-nation theory. He declared that

Hindus and Muslims were twoseparate nations and that Muslimsshould get a separate country.Contrary to this, Mahatma Gandhi,the father of our nation, believed in asecular India, a home of all religionsand cultures. But eventually Indiawas divided into two countries, Indiaand Pakistan. India followed thesecular path whereas Pakistan optedfor a theocratic state.

Pakistan has been an importantfactor in India’s foreign policy.India’s relationship with Pakistanhas also influenced India’srelationship with other countries toa certain extent. India has alwayssought peaceful, cordial and friendlyrelations with Pakistan. ButPakistan has yet to respond toIndia’s friendly gestures and helpestablish healthy neighbourlyrelations. This is possible only whenPakistan stops cross-borderterrorism, a kind of undeclared waragainst India.

The issue of Kashmir remains theroot cause of tension between the twocountries. Pakistan claims theterritory of Jammu and Kashmir on

INDIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS

CHAPTER 15

160/Social Science: Part II

Sketch map : India’s neighbouring countries

the basis of its two-nation theorywhich collapsed long before in 1971with the creation of Bangladesh. But,for India, Jammu and Kashmir beingits integral part, is a crucial factorfor the maintenance of its secularpersonality.

The Kashmir Problem

Under Indian Independence Act1947, Jammu and Kashmir was oneof the princely states which was giventhe right to join either India orPakistan or to remain independent.The state was a model of communal


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portion of land to China from itsillegally occupied Jammu andKashmir territory. The illegal transferof Indian land to China and theChina-Pakistan collusion againstIndia further deteriorated India-Pakistan relations.

Chinese support and the US armssupply to Pakistan prompted it todeclare a war against India in 1965,with the sole objective of conqueringthe whole of Jammu and Kashmir.But Pakistan was defeated. Both thecountries signed the TashkentDeclaration in January 1966 andagreed to settle their disputesthrough peaceful methods.

The erstwhile Pakistan consistedof East Pakistan and West Pakistan,both situated miles apart on theeastern and western sides of India.In the General Election of December1970, the Awami League Party ofSheikh Mujibur Rehman won theelection by securing a majority. Butthe military rulers of West Pakistandid not accept the leadership fromEast Pakistan. Therefore they choseto flout the people’s mandate. Thevoice of Bengali Muslims was crushedby the Army. A civil war broke outbetween the armed forces and thecivilians. About one crore BengaliMuslims took refuge in India. ThePeople’s army called Mukti Bahinifought for the independence of EastPakistan as a separate state ofBangladesh. India, situated close toits borders, found itself economicallystrained by the sudden influx of

harmony where Muslims, Buddhistsand Hindus lived together in peace.The roots of the problem go back to1947 when Pakistan-backedtribesmen invaded the then princelystate of Kashmir. This promptedMaharaja Hari Singh, the ruler ofKashmir to sign an agreement on26 October 1947 to join the IndianUnion and Kashmir became anintegral part of India.

Indian forces were rushed toJammu and Kashmir. India also tookthe matter to the UN and chargedPakistan with an act of aggressionagainst India. The UN arranged acease-fire on 1 January 1949.Despite India’s insistence on thevacation of Pakistan occupiedKashmir (PoK), Pakistan did notvacate it. The popularly electedConstituent Assembly of Jammu andKashmir once again made it clearthat Jammu and Kashmir was anintegral part of India. Pakistan wasfrustrated in its venture to captureJammu and Kashmir with the helpof tribesmen. In subsequent years,Pakistan adopted different tacticsfrom time to time. These includedPakistan’s decision to join thewestern military alliances, transfer ofa portion of Pakistan occupied Indianterritory to China, open aggressionagainst India, export of cross-borderterrorism and intrusions in theJammu and Kashmir area.

After the India-China war of 1962,Pakistan moved closer to China. In1963, Pakistan handed over a large


refugees. No longer could India be asilent spectator to the ongoingmassacre and murder of democracyin its neighbourhood. India raised itsvoice at international fora against theinhuman acts carried out against theinnocent and unarmed BengaliMuslims of the East Pakistan.

Angered by India’s protests,Pakistan launched a massive attackon India in 1971. The 1971 war wasa historic one in many ways. TheIndian armed forces helped the MuktiBahini and fought against thePakistani forces. About one lakhPakistani soldiers surrendered beforethe Indian forces. Such a largenumber of Prisoners of War (PoW) hadnot been made even during theSecond World War. The creation ofBangladesh came as a blow toPakistan’s two-nation theory whichit seeks to apply in the case of Jammuand Kashmir.

After the war, the Simla Agreementwas signed between India and Pakistanin July 1972. The release of Pakistan’sPoWs and the vacation of the territoriesof West Pakistan won by India, wereagreed by India. In return, Pakistanrecognised Bangladesh as anindependent sovereign country. Theimportance of the Simla Agreement layin the commitment that both countriesagreed to settle their problems,including the Jammu and Kashmirproblem, through bilateral negotiationsin a peaceful manner.

But the spirit of the SimlaAgreement was not carried out by

Pakistan. It missed no opportunity toraise the Kashmir issue ininternational fora. Pakistan providedfinancial and material assistance toterrorists in Punjab and Jammu andKashmir. The militancy killed civilianpopulation, government officials andarmed forces. The lives of Kashmiripandits became miserable. They werecompelled to flee and take refuge inother places. Relations furtherdeteriorated when both the countriesconducted their nuclear tests in May1998 and declared themselves asnuclear power states.

To normalise the relations betweenthe two countries, Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee visited Lahore onFebruary 20, 1999 by bus. This visitpopularly called ‘bus diplomacy’ washailed by the world community.

The Prime Minister of India ShriAtal Bihari Vajpayee expressedIndia’s deep desire for peace, goodwilland friendship with Pakistan. Thefamous quote of his speech says, ‘‘wecan change history, not geography; wecan change our friends but notneighbours”. The two PrimeMinisters, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeand Shri Nawaz Shariff signed theLahore Declaration which containedthe ideals of peace, friendship andcooperation. But India’s efforts werefrustrated when Pakistan illegallyoccupied Kargil on the Indian sideof the Line of Actual Control (LAC).The intention behind the Kargiloccupation was to cut of f the


Srinagar-Leh link highway and thusdisconnect the Laddakh region fromthe rest of Jammu and Kashmir.

India was shocked over thishappening. The world community,including the United States andChina supported India’s position andfavoured Pakistan’s withdrawalfrom Kargil. Indian forces succeededin forcing the enemy to retreat.Pakistan had never been isolated likethis before.

Our relations with Pakistanworsened after the terrorist attackon the Indian Parliament on13 December 2001. Attempts arebeing made by the governments ofboth the countries to ease tensionand normalise relations. Efforts are

also being made on the non-governmental level for facilitatingpeople to people contact. A durablepeace can be established when bothIndia and Pakistan live and workunder the spirit of Simla and LahoreAgreements. They should findsolutions to their problems throughthe bilateral talks in the atmosphereof trust and goodwill.

A new beginning was made whenShri Vajpayee went to Islamabad inJanuary 2004. He once againextended a hand of friendship.Pakistan’s President, General PervezMusharraf, agreed to drop Kashmiras the central issue in bilateralrelations and negotiate with India ona broad range of subjects like culture,

Indian Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi and Pakistan PresidentShri Z. A. Bhutto signing Simla Agreement


trade, river water sharing. This iscalled the Composite DialogueProcess which also includes Jammuand Kashmir. Pakistan also agreedto stop support to terrorists. inFebruary 2004, the two countriesbegan implementation of theComposite Dialogue Process byholding a meeting of their foreignsecretaries in Islamabad.

India-China Relations

India and Chinaare the two largestnations in Asia in

terms of land and population.Moreover, both are the majoreconomic and military powers as wellas nuclear weapon states. Theirrelationship has remained strainedowing to the border dispute and theTibet problem. India’s asylum to theTibetans, the merger of Sikkim withIndia and the border disputesbetween the two countries are themajor irritants.

Prior to this, India had closerelations with China. India was thefirst nation to recognise and establishdiplomatic relations with it, when thePeople’s Republic of China came intoexistence through a revolution in1949. It was through India’s seriousefforts over the years that Chinacould succeed in getting UNmembership and also a permanentseat of the United Nations SecurityCouncil.

India received a rude shock whenthe Chinese army occupied Tibet in

1950. However, in view of itsfriendship it did not question China’sright over Tibet. India peacefullyresolved the matter with Chinasigning a Treaty on 29 April 1954.Under the treaty, India recognisedChinese sovereignty over Tibet andabandoned all its claims over Tibethitherto enjoyed by it since theBritish time.

In 1959, there was a revolt in Tibetagainst the Chinese rule. Tibet’sspiritual and religious leader DalaiLama with his followers fled fromTibet and sought refuge in India.India gave them asylum purely onhumanitarian consideration. But itdid not allow the Dalai Lama to setup a government in exile or to carryout anti-China protests from its soil.India’s stand was clear because it hadalready accepted the Chinese rightover Tibet under the Treaty of 1954.

The issue of asylum to the DalaiLama and Tibetans brought adramatic change in the Chineseattitude and tension started buildingbetween the two nations.

Tibet had been a buffer zonebetween India and China but theChinese occupation changed thescenario. The Chinese borders cameclose to India. Chinese maps startedshowing a large portion of India’sterritory as a part of China. Indialodged protests with China. In replyto India’s protests China promised tocorrect the maps. But they were nevercorrected. Since 1957, Chineseintrusions and incursions into Indian


territories became quite frequent.India’s protests were ignored. In 1957Chou-en-Lai, the Chinese Premierrefused to accept the McMohan Lineas India-China border which hadbeen in operation since 1914, andput claim over thousands of squarekilometres of the Indian territories.

The Chinese launched a massiveattack on Arunachal Pradesh(erstwhile NEFA of Assam) and onLadakh in Jammu and Kashmir on20 October 1962 and occupied vastIndian territories. India’s nationalpride was greatly hurt by this war.Since then, India started building astrong military to defend its frontiersand became a nuclear weapon statein 1998.

After 1962, India-China bilateralrelations went through a cold phase.China came closer to Pakistan. As wehave read earlier, Pakistan illegallyceded the Indian territories of PoK toChina in 1963. China’s associationwith Pakistan in nuclear and missiletechnology threatened India’ssecurity. The China-Pakistancollusion was intended to encircle andisolate India and to penetrate Chineseinfluence in South Asia. This collusioncame to light during India-Pakistanwars of 1965 and 1971 when Chinaopenly supported Pakistan.

China is already a nuclear powerstate but it criticised India when itconducted its first nuclear test forpeaceful purposes in 1974. Again,when Sikkim merged with India in

1975, China accused India forhaving expansionist approach.Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then PrimeMinister of India, reacted sharply andreminded China of its own trackrecord in Tibet.

India and China could develop abroad understanding when Shri AtalBihari Vajpayee, the then ExternalAffairs Minister, visited China in1979. Since then a perceptible changewas noticed in the Chinese attitudeas it stopped giving support to theNorth-East insurgents of India.

The Indian Prime MinisterShri Rajiv Gandhi made a historic visitto China in December 1988. This wasa first ever visit of an Indian PrimeMinister to China, afterPanditJawaharlal Nehru. Both the nationsagreed to set up a Joint WorkingGroup on the boundary issue and aseparate Joint Group on EconomicRelations and Trade, Science andTechnology. Again in 1993, China andIndia signed an agreement tomaintain peace and tranquillity alongtheir border areas.

A breakthrough was achievedduring the visit of the ChinesePresident Jiang Zemin in November1996, which was the first ever visit ofa Chinese Head of State to India. Bothsides signed an accord on ConfidenceBuilding Measures (CBMs) in themilitary field along the frontiers andto delimit the LAC. To instillconfidence, the CBMs providedreduction in military presence on


both sides and maintenance of peaceand tranquillity. It also stated that nomilitary activity would be undertakenon either side of the LAC affecting thesecurity of each other. In a sense itwas virtually a no-war pact. The treatyalso stressed upon the relevance ofPanchsheel initiated by Nehru andChou-en-Lai in 1954.

After the signing of this agreementof 1996 the India-China relationsimproved remarkably in the field oftrade and commerce. The relationshipreceived a temporary setback whenIndia conducted its nuclear test inMay 1998 and became a nuclearweapon state. China, though itself anuclear weapon state, criticised India.

For the first time China supportedIndia against Pakistan during Kargilconflict of 1999. In recent years Chinahas realised the threat posed byglobal terrorism. It condemned theterrorist attack on the IndianParliament on 13 December 2001.China also favoured a peacefulsettlement of the Kashmir problemthrough bilateral negotiationsbetween India and Pakistan. This isinterpreted as tacit support for theIndian position on Jammu andKashmir. In June 2003, PrimeMinister Shri Vajpayee visited Beijing.It was a historic visit as it led to theopening of a new era in Sino-Indianrelations. China agreed to recognise

Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee welcomingChinese President Jiang Zemin at New Delhi


Sikkim’s merger with India andsubsequently stopped depicting thestate as an independent country inits maps. It was also agreed to startborder trade through the NathulaPass in Sikkim. This agreement isexpected to be of great economicimportance to India’s north-east. Toresolve the border dispute, it wasmutually decided to intensify thedialogue through high levelrepresentatives. By January 2004,two rounds of this meeting were held.Trade relations between the twocountries have also expandedsubstantially. It is hoped that the newcentury would see Asia’s two biggestcountries co-exist in harmony in thehighest traditions set by theirrespective ancient cultures.

India-Nepal Relations

The kingdom of Nepalis the only Hindu statein the world. It is

located in the Central Himalayas as abuffer state between Indiaand China. India-Nepal relations areinterwoven with the closegeographical, historical and culturalties.

There exists a special kind of India-Nepal relationship within theframework of the Treaty of Friendshipand the Treaty of Trade andCommerce which were simultaneouslysigned in 1950. These treaties providea stable base to the Indo-Nepalrelations. Under the provisions of thefirst treaty an attack on one would be

viewed as an attack on both thecountries. In addition, Nepal wouldconsult India in case of buying warmaterials from any third country. Withregard to trade and commerce, it is theresponsibility of India to makeavailable to Nepal all commodities bysecuring convenient and economicalroutes. The treaty provides for anextensive economic cooperationbetween them and ensures India’seconomic assistance to Nepal.

Nepal got United Nationsmembership in 1954 with India’ssupport. In 1955, the popularministry was dismissed and theconstitution was abrogated by theKing of Nepal. To escape arrest manypopular leaders fled to India tochannelise their pro-democracy andanti-monarchy movement.

Although India was upset overthe derailment of democracy inneighbouring Nepal, it did not supportanti-Nepal activities from its soil. Buteven then a misunderstandingdeveloped. India’s sympathy fordemocracy was misunderstood by theKing. This led to a difficult phase inIndo-Nepal relations.

Nepal started moving away fromIndia and closer to China. Chineseeconomic assistance was secured byNepal to reduce its dependence onIndia. Much against India’s wish,Nepal entered into an agreement withChina for the construction of ahighway connecting Kathmandu withLhasa. This phase of strainedrelationship continued till 1961.


During the Chinese aggressionagainst India in 1962, Nepal adopteda neutral attitude. In the post-1962period Indo-Nepal relations improved.An agreement, on a large economicassistance to Nepal, was signed byIndia in 1964. Nepal whole-heartedlysupported India during the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971.

After the death of King Mahendrahis son Birendra became the king inearly 1972. During his visit to Indiain 1974 a series of agreements weresigned between the two countries.Under the agreements India agreedto set up a cement plant, a sugar milland an ancillary engineering factoryin Nepal. India also agreed tocollaborate in the industrial field toset up the Karnali project and toassist in the Devighat project.

There was a temporary setback tothe relations when Sikkim’saccession to India in 1975 createdmisapprehension in the minds of theNepali rulers, regarding their ownfuture. Despite India’s efforts toallay these fears, some sections inNepal continued to fan andexploit anti-India feeling for theirvested interests.

But, by and large, Indo-Nepalrelations have remained generallycordial. India continues to be Nepal’smajor trading as well as develop-mental partner. India is also thesingle largest aid giver to Nepal, andhas provided financial and technicalassistance in areas such as roadconstruction, power and irrigation,telecommunications, agriculture,forestry, education and health.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru being greeted by His Majesty Jigure Dorji Wangchuck


India–Bhutan Relations

The kingdom ofBhutan, popularlyknown as the land

of thunderbolt is a land locked countryin the Eastern Himalayas. Like Nepalit is also a buffer state between Indiaand China as it is bordered in the northby China and from all other sides byIndia. Among all its neighbours Indiahas the closest and tension-freerelations with Bhutan.

The relations between India andBhutan are largely governed by theIndia-Bhutan Treaty of Friendshipof 1949. This treaty is a historicallegacy. In 1910 an Anglo-BhutaneseTreaty was signed according towhich non-inter ference in theinternal affairs of Bhutan wasassured by the British but Bhutan’sexternal affairs were placed underthe Government of British India.After the independence of India in1947, the treaty of 1910 wasreplaced by the present treaty of1949. Under the treaty, Indiaundertook not to interfere with theinternal matters of Bhutan andBhutan undertook to seek advice ofIndia in regard to its foreignrelations. The treaty also holdsIndia responsible for the defenceof Bhutan.

India is the principal contributorin the economic development ofBhutan. Bhutan’s five year planshave been largely funded by India.There is a complete free trade regimebetween India and Bhutan under the

India-Bhutan Trade and CommerceAgreement which has been extendedupto March 2005.

At present the presence andactivities of the insurgent groups ofNorth East India in the southernparts of Bhutan adjoining Assam isa matter of security concern for boththe countries. The Government ofBhutan is committed to not allowingits territory to be used by themilitant groups for anti-Indiaactivities. Both the countries are inconstant touch and are cooperatingwith each other in all the matters ofmutual concern.

India-Myanmar Relations

M y a n m a r,known asBurma till

1989, is situated to the extreme eastof India. It was a part of British Indiatill 1935 when it became a separateterritory. Myanmar got independencein January 1948. Friendly tiesbetween the two countries are rootedin history, culture and tradition. Itprovides the basis for mutualunderstanding and cooperation.

India helped Myanmar in framingits constitution after independence.The Indo-Burma Treaty of Friendshipwas signed in 1951 to widen anddeepen the scope of bilateralrelations. India fully cooperated withMyanmar by providing financialassistance in building its infra-structural facilities and humanresource development.


Myanmar is the world’s secondlargest producer of illegal drugs afterAfghanistan. India being on theborder land, is naturally affected bythis. To tackle the menace ofdrug trafficking, insurgency andsmuggling, a Treaty on Control ofCross Border Insurgency and TransBorder Trafficking was signed in1993 by the two countries.

Myanmar has been undermilitary rule since 1962. In 1995 amovement for restoration ofdemocracy started and is still goingon in Myanmar. India maintains aneutral posture and holds the viewthat pro-democracy forces shouldnot be crushed in an anti-democratic manner.

India-Bangladesh Relations

Bangladeshshares morethan 4000

kilometres long border with India. Ithas geographical, cultural andlinguistic affinities with India,particularly with the West Bengal andthe north-eastern states.

Bangladesh, the former EastPakistan, has borders with Indiaon the west, north and east.Bangladesh came into being as anindependent nation in 1971 after along drawn struggle by the peopleof East Pakistan. India played asignificant role in the emergence ofBangladesh.

India was the first country in theworld to recognise Bangladesh as asovereign state. During the initialstages India not only pledged toprotect the territorial integrity ofBangladesh but also promisedeconomic assistance for itsreconstruction as a new state.

Both countries signed a Treaty ofFriendship and Peace for a period of25 years in 1972. Both countriesresolved that their relations shall beguided by the principles ofdemocracy, socialism, secularism,non-alignment and opposition toracialism and colonialism. They alsoagreed to work for making IndianOcean a nuclear-free zone.

The Treaty of Friendship wasfollowed by a comprehensive TradeAgreement in 1972. The agreementenabled Bangladesh to secure a

Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter ofMyanmar’s independence hero AungSan and the leader of the NationalLeague for Democracy Party has beenstruggling for the cause of democracyin Myanmar. She won the Nobel PeacePrize in 1991.

Indo-Myanmar trade relations gota further boost after the signing ofthe Trade Agreement in 1970. TodayIndia is the largest export market forMyanmar as one-fourth of its exportsare directed to India. In 1999, Indiaand Myanmar signed an Agreementon Cooperation in the field of scienceand technology. Defence is the newthrust area where both countries arelooking forward to enlarge theirbilateral cooperation.


market for its products in India.Gradually cooperation was extendedto agriculture, irrigation, education,science and technology. Differenceswhich existed over issues like sharingof the Ganga water and exchange ofareas in each other’s territory havebeen settled peacefully.

The recognition of Bangladesh byPakistan in 1974 opened the door fora Pakistan-Bangladesh friendship,which encouraged pro-Islamic andanti-India elements in Bangladesh.Supported by these forces, a groupof army officers engineered a coupby assasinating Sheikh MujiburRehman. Since then an anti-Indiafeeling has been generated inBangladesh. These fundamentalistand anti-India forces convertedBangladesh into an Islamic Republic.

In 1990, when democracy wasrestored in Bangladesh, the Indo-Bangladesh relations startedbecoming cordial. India transferredthe Teen Beegha Corridor toBangladesh on a permanent leasebasis in 1992, though it was anemotional issue for many Indians.The Chakma refugees from Tripurawere repatriated to Chittagong HillTracts in Bangladesh in 1994. In the1996 elections, Sheikh Hasina Wajed,the daughter of late Mujibur Rehman,was elected as Prime Minister. Ithelped in receding the anti-India tide.The vexed issue of the Ganga waterdispute was finally settled throughnegotiations in 1996. Duringthis period there was a visible

improvement in bilateral relations.The dispute over New Moore Island

still remains unresolved because itis not clearly located in the territorialwaters of either country. Anotherproblem which India faces is theinflux of a large number ofBangladesh nationals which poses astrategic and demographic threat andcreates economic problems. Effortsto curb this infiltration by erectingbarbed wire fences have beenresented and resisted by Bangladesh.

India-Sri Lanka Relations

The Island ofSri Lanka,e r s t w h i l e

Ceylon, is situated in the IndianOcean at about 80 km from thesouth-east coast of India.

India and Sri Lanka attainedindependence within six months ofeach other. Both nations believe inthe principles of peaceful co-existence, non-alignment anddemocracy. The socio-cultural tiesbetween them are centuries old. Wehave already read that King Ashokahad sent his son Mahendra anddaughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lankafor the propagation of Buddhism.Both the ethnic groups of Sri Lanka-Sinhalese and Tamils — trace theirorigin to India.

One of the major problems inIndia’s relations with Sri Lanka hasbeen the Tamil issue. There are twoaspects of the problem. First is thepolitical status of those Tamils who


were brought to Sri Lanka as teaplantation labourers. These Tamilsare different from the original Tamilinhabitants of Sri Lanka. Theselabourers lived and enjoyed votingrights as British subjects in Sri Lankafor generations. The dispute aroseimmediately after the independenceof Sri Lanka in 1948 when the SriLankan government deprived them oftheir voting rights and employment.They were asked to return to India.

The Sinhalese majority consistingof about two-third of the population,was apprehensive of the settlementof the Tamils of Indian origin. Theysuspected more Tamil influx fromIndia would ultimately reduce themto a minority in their own homeland.After several attempts and sincereefforts an agreement was signed in1954 between the two countries bywhich half of these Tamils were to berepatriated to India while the otherhalf would get Sri Lankan citizenship.

The other problem arose onaccount of state patronage tothe Sinhalese and perceivedpromotion of their interests overTamils. The Tamils feared theirextinction. This gave birth toTamil militancy and the demandfor a separate Tamil ‘Eelam’independent state.

The most powerful and prominentTamil militant group is the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) whichhas carried out a very violent terrorcampaign to achieve Eelam State.

This resulted in an exodus ofTamil refugees from Sri Lanka toIndia. Keeping in view the situationmight go out of hand and to preventintervention by any third party, theIndian Prime Minister Shri RajivGandhi and Shri Jayawardhane, thePresident of Sri Lanka signed anagreement in 1987. The agreementprovided for the Indian Peace KeepingForce (IPKF) in Sri Lanka to endviolence and to restore normalcy.However, it was viewed by many SriLankans as an outside interference,and the LTTE wanted the withdrawalof IPKF as a precondition for anypeace talks. India supported SriLankan government’s peace effortsand called back the IPKF in 1990.Even then Shri Rajiv Gandhi wasassasinated by the LTTE militantsduring Lok Sabha election campaignin 1991. India viewed it very seriouslyand declared the LTTE as a terroristoutfit, and banned it. Severalattempts for a peaceful solution to theTamil problem, including the mostrecent facilitated by Norway, havefailed to achieve a final settlement.


EXERCISES

1. Answer the following questions in brief.(i) What is the Kashmir problem? How is it the root cause of

tension between India and Pakistan?(ii) Describe the measures taken by India to establish cordial and

friendly relations with Pakistan.(iii) What tactics has Pakistan been using to harass India from

time to time?(iv) Describe two points each of agreement and disagreement

between India and Pakistan.(v) Describe India–China relations in the post-1962 period.(vi) What measures have been taken to improve Sino-Indian

relations since 1979?(vii) Mention the issues on which India supported China.(viii) Describe India-Nepal relations.(ix) Mention the areas in which India provided financial and

technical assistance to Nepal.(x) Mention the names of India’s immediate neighbours.(xi) Which treaty governs the relationship between India and

Bhutan? Give two main features of this treaty.(xii) What was the impact of Sikkim’s accession to India on Nepal?(xiii) Which two neighbouring countries of India have been under

military rule?(xiv) Which country shares the largest border with India?(xv) Describe two points each of agreement and disagreement

between India and Bangladesh.(xvi) Explain the main points of conflict between the Tamils and

the Simhalese of Sri Lanka.(xvii) Describe the efforts made by India to resolve the Tamil issue of

Sri Lanka.

2. Write short notes on(i) Simla Agreement(ii) War of 1971(iii) Tibet problem.

3. Fill in the blanks.(i) _____________ is a home of all religions and cultures.(ii) India followed the __________ path whereas Pakistan opted for

________ state.(iii) __________, the ruler of Kashmir signed the instrument of

accession with India on ______ 1947.(iv) PoK stands for ____________ ______________ _______________.(v) Bangladesh liberation movement was led by ________ of

______ party.


(vi) The People's Republic of China came into existence in ________.(vii) __________ is the spiritual and religious leader of Tibetans.(viii) LAC stands for ____________ _____________ _____________.(ix) Nepal is the only ____________ State in the world.(x) Nepal became the member of the United Nations in

__________ with India’s support.(xi) The present king of Nepal is ______________.(xii) Bhutan is popularly known as the land of _______________.(xiii) There is a complete free trade regime between ____________ and

_______________.(xiv) India helped _____________ in framing its Constitution.(xv) Prior to its independence Bangladesh was known as __________.(xvi) India transferred _____________ corridor to Bangladesh.(xvii) The two important ethnic groups of Sri Lanka are

____________ and _____________.(xviii) India and Sri Lanka both believe in the principles of

____________ and _____________.

4. Tick ( ) the right statement

(i) Pakistan attacked India in 1962.(ii) The Tashkent Declaration was signed in Moscow.(iii) About 50 lakh Pakistani soldiers surrendered before Indian

forces in 1971.(iv) India did not recognise the sovereignty of China over Tibet.(v) China supported India for declaring itself as a Nuclear Weapon

State.(vi) India assisted Nepal to set up the Karnali and Devighat Project.(vii) Myanmar got independence along with India in 1947.(viii) Bangladesh is a secular State.(ix) The dispute over New Moore Island between India and

Bangladesh has been amicably resolved.(x) The most powerful and prominent Tamil militant group is the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealem.

5. Project Work

• Divide the whole class into eight groups, each representingone country-India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Each group should display thename of the country and its national flag. Hold groupdiscussions or quizzes on the following topics:a. capitalsb. form of governmentc. religiond. physical location like land locked or sea bounde. points of agreement with Indiaf. points of disagreement with India