India’s Eastern Border – Assessing the security landscape of India’s Eastern Border
The Eastern front for India includes borders with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, out of which perhaps the most important border is with the Chinese. The Webinar elucidated upon India’s borders with these countries and how our relations with these countries shape our borders with them.
In the context of Bangladesh, it should be noted that with more than 4000 kilometres of length, it is the country we share our longest border with. This border is also completely fenced due to some of the issues India and Bangladesh face with each other. These issues include illegal immigration, which is the single largest issue India currently has on its border with Bangladesh with hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants entering India through illegal means and settling inside the country. Other issues include the past disagreement of enclaves riddled throughout the two countries, where a small territory of one country was completely surrounded by the other country’s territory. India and Bangladesh did solve these issues through negotiations in the past. That being said, issues of illegal migration of cattle and drug trafficking are still rampant on the India-Bangladesh border.
When it comes to China, India faces a large security threat, given its troubled relations with China due to the vast border issues. China also boasts superior technology for its armed forces, which might be a point of threat for India. It is important to note that one of the biggest logistical problems India has with China is the rough terrain that they share. It is very difficult to conduct warfare on these high-altitude environments and freezing atmospheres, where issues such as the freezing of vehicle oil and loss of oxygen take place. The Indian government has also focused on the improvement of infrastructure near the border with China which includes improving roads and other military infrastructure along the order. This effort put forth by the government aims to help the Indian Armed Forces in containing the Chinese threat on the Indian border.
(Read More: Decoding the India-Pakistan Cross-Border Challenges)
The border with Myanmar, much like Bangladesh, also has a problem of illegal immigration, which has led to millions of Rohingyas (a Muslim community facing genocide in Myanmar) to enter India through illegal means as well.
India’s eastern border faces a plethora of issues that are not exclusively related to security threats, such as illegal immigration. How the government aims to deal with these is still a very complicated and multi-faceted topic though.
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