Speaker: T. Ananthachari
Punjab
when the entire complexion of the border situation in western and northern
India
was transformed. Unfortunately there is no comprehensive reference material available on the subject despite its critical nature. The government possesses considerable information but denies access to outside analysts.
India
shares a border with
Pakistan
,
China
,
Bangladesh
,
Nepal
,
Bhutan
and
Myanmar
. Not all these borders are manned or guarded.
India
does not pay much attention to guarding its borders with
Nepal
,
Bhutan
and
Myanmar
. Assam Rifles is supposed to monitor the Burmese border but is barely able to fulfil that function given its preoccupations with tackling insurgency.
India
's problems with its other neighbors.
Pakistan
:
India
shares two kinds of boundaries with
Pakistan
; one being the international border that is not violated by either side while the other is the Line of Control (LoC) which is around 700 kilometers in length and the scene of constant infiltration by terrorists and
Pakistan
army regulars. There is also a stretch of 199 kilometers in the Kaccha sector which has not been demarcated which facilitates intrusion and infiltration.
Pakistan
is actively engaged in exporting drugs and fomenting terror. Militants infiltrating into
Kashmir
have been known to carry drugs in their knapsacks, reportedly a condition for procuring arms from the
Pakistan
army.
Bangladesh
:
Bangladesh
comprising around 70,000 acres, and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in
India
covering an area of 7,000 acres. The Bangladeshis in
India
do not want to return to their country, while the Indians want to do so. Instead of addressing outstanding issues comprehensively,
Bangladesh
wants to extract concessions from
India
by a piecemeal approach, obviously an approach intended to embarrass the bigger country into making concessions.
Nepal
:
India
's 1,590-kilometer long border with
Nepal
across the states of Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar
,
West Bengal
and
Sikkim
is a destabilizing situation for
India
. The 1950 Indo-Nepal Friendship Treaty does not permit the deployment of Indian paramilitary force to man the border. This provision has become a major irritant since
Pakistan
uses
Nepal
as conduit to infiltrate terrorists, and conduct smuggling activities including narcotics.
India
has furnished details of such activities to Nepalese authorities on several occasions who have shown no inclination to act.
Nepal
thanks to the influx of Muslims from
Bihar
and
Bangladesh
. Muslims now comprise 12 percent of the population in the
Hindu
Kingdom
; they run madrassas and other charities, now have members of Parliament who have called for lifting the ban on cow slaughter. This is similar to the situation along the Rajasthan border where there is a marked demographic change, to the extent that even the dress code of the men has changed from the typical Indian turban to blue Sherwanis. There is reason to believe that the Mumbai underworld is active in these communities.
India
in addition to Bangladeshi migrants. Nepalese migration has an impact on the Gorkhaland agitation and is bound to intesify the conflict.. The informal channel of financial flows between
Nepal
and
India
is considerable.
Bhutan
&
Myanmar
Bhutan
will consult
India
on its foreign policy, leaving out the crucial element of security.
Bhutan
is a safe haven for insurgents like the ULFA and the Bodo militants.
Nepal
and
Bhutan
appear to dictate terms to
India
at the local level by taking advantage of international attention.
Myanmar
, only 52 kilometers is manned by Indian security forces. The Assam Rifles deputed to man this border is preoccupied with anti-insurgency operations to attend to the
Burma
border.
Gujarat
and Tamil Nadu are therefore setting up their own coast guard.
India
's border problems comprise external support for insurgency in the northeast, infusion of narcotics, and support to terrorism in
Kashmir
.
India
is host to various refugee communities like those in Rajasthan and
Jammu
who have been the victims' of war and insurgency. The government has not defined their legal status, but it is not prudentfor a nation-state to keep ambiguious the identity of those within its borders.
West Bengal
who have orchestrated migration to suit the electoral purposes of the Communist government beside conducting cross border criminal activity. Criminal activity like smuggling sustains the Bangladeshi economy on a day to day basis since it facilitates the movement of goods. For instance, the recent all-India transporters strike saw a 20-40 percent rise in the prices of essential food items in
Bangladesh
.
Indian territory
, of which 10 million are Muslims and 6 million are Hindus. The security forces too have contributed to this, albeit in an individual capacity. Personnel of the Border Security Force (which was an exclusively
Assam
based force at the time of its inception) are known to have colluded with the illegal immigrants, eventually altering the demographic profile of neighbouring areas of
India
.
Bangladesh
and
Myanmar
. To the south of the state, the distance between borders with both these countries is less than 100 kilometers. The Chakmas moved into Mizoram during partition. Most of them are Buddhists and are viewed with suspicion by the Christian-dominated Mizoram government. Migration from
Myanmar
is also noticeable in Mizoram; most of the taxi-drivers and teachers in Aizawl happen to be Myanmarese.
India
. The trade and development focus of these states is eastward and not necessarily toward the Indian mainland owing to their landlocked status. The Indian government would do well to marry the fulfillment of this aspiration with political initiatives geared to offset destabilizing tendencies. There is also a tremendous potential for tourism in the northeast, which could exacerbate these tendencies and the implications the government must look into.
Bangladesh
have asked
India
to consider the Northeast as a separate economic zone.
India
must remember that, in the absence of formal arrangements, people to people transaction will nonetheless continue across borders. For instance, there are a lot of private medical centers in
West Bengal
near the border whose clientele are Bangladeshis who come from across the border.
Lahore
and
Delhi
, which has been used for various nefarious activities. The security of the border outpost at Attari needs to be beefed up, but the Railways are unwilling to foot the bill of Rs. 84 lakhs. A comprehensive policy on border welfare also needs to be made evolved with economic, cultural and ethnic inputs. To support this policy greater investment needs to be in infrastructure of border areas, apart from improved coordination between the various security agencies manning the border. Till now border management has only looked at from the perspective of border security whilst ignoring the other inputs that make for a comprehensive border policy.
Myanmar
and
Bangladesh
. A distinction needs to be made in terms of deployment needed and weaponry used on each stretch. Further, various border forces need to be made accountable to the Home Ministry to improve coordination and performance. For example, there is a proposal to deploy the Special Security Bureau on the
Nepal
border. It it is not accountable to the Home Ministry. Coupled with better coordination is an urgent need to reduce overdependence on manpower. Technological inputs like electronic fencing, sensors, underground mechanisms and advanced surveillance equipment need to be used for border management. Lastly, the aspirations of the border population need to be factored into any comprehensive border management policy.
Nepal
to
India
and the Nepalese government, as a matter of policy, does not stop them. This also affords
Nepal
with some kind of a bargaining chip against
India
.
Bangladesh
to Nepal Bihari Muslims?
India
in
Bihar
. These areas have been created by the steady inflow of Bihari Muslims from
Bangladesh
to
India
. There is also direct movement of Bihari Muslims from
Bangladesh
to
Nepal
through
Indian territory
, and
India
must take responsibility for this, as it has contiguous borders both with
Nepal
and
Bangladesh
.
India
encourages migration from
Bangladesh
but what is the reason for migration from
Bangladesh
to
Nepal
?
East Pakistan
has followed an official policy of trying to improve the land to man ratio by pushing people into neighbouring states and cutting down the birth rate. After the formation of
Bangladesh
also, the government has continued this policy. Better economic opportunities dictates this migration from
Bangladesh
to neighbouring countries.
India
's borders with
Pakistan
and
China
are not demarcated borders and therefore not under international treaty obligations. In the case of both the LoC and LAC, the border is in a state of flux..
India
's response on both fronts is essentially military in nature and tactical in operation. In fact, in some places in the northeast of
India
, along the LAC, border forces are deployed deep within
Indian Territory
and not on the border itself.
Myanmar
has a demarcated border with
India
, it is really not discernible because of the mountainous and forest terrain. Further, the NSCN has great affinity with the Kachins tribals in
Myanmar
. There is open smuggling across the border as there is a 10 km zone allowing free movement on both sides of the border. The Indo-Bangladesh border, too, has similar problems of daily movement of people across the border and large-scale smuggling. However, since most people cross over on a daily basis to go and work across the border, this movement cannot be stopped without hurting the economic conditions of the border population. Hence border management has to take into account a number of complex issues while keeping the security interest paramount.
India
is not involved as border management is under the purview of the Central government.
Jammu
region.
Jammu
region, the problem is two fold. Successive wars and insurgency have brought about demographic changes that have been compounded by movement of people from the Valley to
Jammu
especially from Doda. The militants are instrumental in encouraging the internal migration in J&K as they want to change the demographic complexion of the state to suit their purposes.
India
have the right to check what goods pass through its territory under its obligation to offer landlocked countries like
Nepal
and
Bhutan
transit routes to the nearest port?
India
and its neighbours. Since one cannot demarcate the border in the sea, electronic gadgetry can help demarcate and monitor the border. It is necessary not only for protecting fishing rights, but also for the protection of off shore oil resources.
India
border problems are not peculiar to
India
. All nations face ethnic problems as well as smuggling on the border. Why, then, is it difficult for
India
to mange these problems?
China
which has a number of outstanding border problems with its neighbours, kept its trade routes open with these neighbouring countries even at the height of their conflicts with them.
India
has never generated refugees. However, the other countries in the South Asian region generate a constant stream of refugees into
India
. The economic aspect is only a part of the solution, but there are many other factors like statesmanship, economic, cultural and social inputs that need to be considered in border management.
South Asia
and the Kargil crisis prove it. There is a need to review
India
's strategic assessment regarding its borders. In fact, one of the Chiefs of the Babbar Khalsa had openly announced that his organisation would aim at the "Balkanisation" of
India
. In pursuit of similar objectives the ISI has formed an operational alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami of
Pakistan
and the Afghan mujaihideens. Further, an encirclement of
India
has been happening at a steady rate by
Pakistan
. In border management the focus should remain on security concerns.
India
needs to strike a balance between security concerns and welfare concerns to arrive at a comprehensive border management policy.
Former Director General, Border Security Force
Analysts and policymakers tend to treat specific issues of national security in isolation, with the result that the totality of problems arising out of improper border management gets obscured. In the subcontinent, border management is primarily seen as an inter-state issue undermining the nature and potential of people to people contact across borders.
1984 was a watershed year in border management owing to the rise of militancy in
Mr. Anantachari briefly outlined
A stretch of 6.1 kilometers is a problem area for Indo-Bangladesh ties, though their relations are generally courteous. There are 111 Indian enclaves in
There has been a 12-15 percent growth of Muslim population in
The other problems include incessant Nepalese migration to
The Indo-Bhutan Treaty says that
Along the 1,643 kilometer border with
The coastal management also leaves much to be desired as the Navy is unwilling to involve itself. The states of
Illegal immigration is another problem exacerbated by Indian politicians for whom the movement of people represents vote banks. A large number of Bangladeshis are known to possess Indian voter identity cards and cross over to vote in Indian elections and then return home. There are gangs in
This apart, a recent study indicates that there are around 16 million Bangladeshis now residing within
Mizoram has borders with both
Border Trade:
It must be noted that the Northeastern states share 90 percent of their borders with other countries and not with
Analysts in
Border management needs rigorous overhaul in view of existing threats. The lackadaisical approach of the government machinery is evident in the case of the Samjhauta Express between
There is need to distinguish between the different stretches of the Indian border. The Indo-Pak and Indo-China border are the most contentious, followed by Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan border and, finally,
Questions & Answers
Q: Please comment on the migration of Muslim population to the Indo-Nepal border.
A: A number of Muslims come from
Q: Are the Muslims migrating from
A: Bihari Muslims have three or four centres of concentration in
Q: Better economic conditions in
A: The push and pull factor at work in the Bangladeshi economy is responsible for this migration. Since partition
Q:
Though
A: The active involvement of the local administration in areas like the Indo-Bangladesh border and the Indo-Myanmar border would help in factoring the aspirations of the border populations into a comprehensive border management policy. Currently the local administration in
Q: Are there specific rules of engagement on the border? Please comment on the demographic change in the
There are specified rules for engagement on the border that are followed by the border forces. However, most of the problems arise in relation to the civilian population in the border areas.
In the
Q: Please comment on patrolling overlapping Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Does
A: There are overlapping economic EEZs between
As for monitoring the goods that pass through Indian Territory from landlocked countries to Indian ports, the best solution would be to allow goods to transit only in containers and not to allow the containers to be opened anywhere in Indian Territory.
Q:
A: Police or military solutions have been sought for most of the Indian border problems. But a holistic approach needs to be adopted to solve them. For example,
Q: Border problems are born of economic disparities. Instead of concentrating on trade with its neighbours, which is inherently of an unequal nature, India should think on the lines of making industrial investments in neighbouring countries to discourage migration to India in search of better economic opportunities.
A: As far as migration is concerned, except for 1947,
Q: It would not be prudent to categorise only the Indo-Pak and the Sino-Indian border as threat prone and other part of the border as immune and safe stretches. The 1990s saw a change in the strategic situation in
A: The government of
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