Notes-Class 9-Political Science-Chapter-5-India and other Countries-Maharashtra Board

Topics to be learn : India’s relations with neighbouring countries. ·        India and her Neighbours ·        India and other neighbours India’s relations with some faraway nations. ·        India and America ·        India and Russia ·        India and European Nations ·        India and the Continent of Africa ·        India and the Indo-Pacific area ·        India and South East Asia

India and her neighbours : -

• India’s position in Asia is geographically and politically important.
• Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Maldives are India's neighbours.
• India has established relations with neighbouring countries on the basis of the values of equality and mutual respect.
• India is the biggest and economically most developed country in the Indian subcontinent.
• India is technologically more advanced also.
• It is thus natural that India has a great influence among the South Asian countries.

India and Pakistan :

• Independent nations, India and Pakistan came into existence in 1947.
• Indo-Pak relations are influenced by the following factors : (i) Differences in the world views of both the countries (ii) Kashmir issue and (iii) Nuclear rivalry between the two countries.
• Sir Creek area is another border dispute between India and Pakistan.
• All attempts of dialogue with Pakistan have remained unsuccessful till date.
• India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in 1998 and there is perceived threat of nuclear conflict.

India and Pakistan world views :

• India and Pakistan have totally different world views.
• India opposed the military alliances of the Cold War and tried to solve the Indo-Pak conflict bilaterally. The Shimla Agreement of 1972 was based on this principle.
• On the other hand, Pakistan tried to maintain relations with the Islamic world and China. It has entered into a military agreement with America.
• Kashmir is the root cause of conflicts between India and Pakistan.

Conflicts between India and Pakistan on Kashmir:.

• Pakistan considers Kashmir as the biggest hurdle in establishing normal relations with India.
• The first Indo-Pak War took place in 1965 over Kashmir. The Tashkent Agreement was signed in 1966, but nothing much came out of it.
• Even though the 1971 war was about the creation of Bangladesh, it also had the dimension of the Kashmir problem to it.
• The Shimla Agreement in 1972 provided a new format to the interaction between both.
• There was a conflict between India and Pakistan over the infiltration by Pakistan in the Kargil region in 1999.
• Kashmir question is the main cause of conflict, which has changed to terrorism, nowadays.

Shimla Agreement :

After the defeat of Pakistan in Indo-Pak war of 1971, Shimla Agreement was signed by the Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1972,

• It provided a new format to the interaction between India and Pakistan.
• The agreement states that both the countries should settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations.
• They should have mutual respect for each other, observe international border and govern their future relations.
• Pakistan has never followed the Shimla agreement.

Sir Creek : Sir Creek is a 96 km tidal estuary on the border of India and Pakistan. The creek which opens up into the Arabian Sea divides the Gujarat State of India from the Sindh Province of Pakistan. The line which demarcates India and Pakistan passes through it. The dispute lies in the interpretation of the maritime boundary. Though the creek has little military value, it holds immense economic gain. Much of the region is rich in oil and gas below the sea bed and control over the creek would have a huge bearing on the energy potential of each nation.

Significant Events :

Year 1947   1947-48 1965 1966 1971 1972 1998 1999

Event (1) Partition of India (2) Creation of Pakistan Indo-Pak war on Kashmir issue Indo-Pak war on Kashmir issue Tashkent Agreement between India and Pakistan Indo-Pak war and creation of Bangladesh Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan Nuclear tests by India and Pakistan Kargil war

India and China :

• The conflict between India and China is on two issues : (i) Border issue and (ii) Status of Tibet

• The growing friendship between China and Pakistan is a threat to India's security.
• China supplies weapons and missiles and nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan.

(i) Border issue :

• The Border dispute between India and China is related to Aksai Chin area and the MacMahon line.
• China claims that the area south of Aksai Chin and MacMahon line (Arunachal Pradesh) is Chinese Territory.
• China does not accept that MacMahon Line is an international border.
• India's efforts to sort this border dispute by dialogue did not succeed and China attacked India in 1962.

(ii) Status of Tibet :

• Tibet was traditionally autonomous.
• Dalai Lama took asylum in India, when China was stepping up its military control in Tibet.
• This issue is also responsible for conflict between the two.

Sino-Indian relations :

• India tried to restore normalcy in the relationship since 1987.
• A joint executive group was set up to solve the Sino-Indian border dispute.
• With the increase in the economic growth rate, trade relations between India and China have strengthened.
• A series of tripartite talks between Russia, China and India, indicate that Sino-Indian relations are improving.
• The border dispute has taken a back seat and relations in other areas have become more important.

India and other neighbours :

Afghanistan :

There is a lot of political instability in Afghanistan. The dominance of the terrorist organization Taliban is responsible for this.

• With the return of normalcy in Afghanistan, India has extended help to bring peace, security and stability, curb violence and establish a democratic government.
• India is helping Afghanistan in reestablishing communication facilities, build roads, schools, health facilities and irrigation projects.
• India is also extending cooperation in the field of science and technology.
• But political situations in Afghanistan again changed in 2021, Taliban takeover of the country and now ruling over Afghanistan.

Bangladesh :

• Initially, Pakistan was made up of two parts, i.e. West Pakistan and East Pakistan. Today’s Bangladesh is the erstwhile East Pakistan.

• Due to linguistic and political conflicts between them, a movement to liberate Bangladesh from West Pakistan took place.
• Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 due to India's help in its freedom struggle.
• Treaties on sharing river-waters and shared boundaries have been signed.
• Now, trade relations are improving between India and Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka :

• India has friendly relations with the southern neighbour Sri Lanka.

• Political instability in Sri Lanka was a result of the differences between the Tamils and the Sri Lankan Government.
• India had sent a peacekeeping force in 1987 to help the Sri Lankan government.
• Friendly relations with Sri Lanka are important from the point of view of security in the Indian Ocean. '

Nepal :

• Nepal is a landlocked country, surrounded by mountainous terrain..
• The foundation of friendship between India and Nepal was laid with lndo-Nepalese Friendship Treaty in 1950.
• The year 1990 marked the beginning of Nepal’s transition to democracy.
• According to this treaty, Nepalese citizens can enter India, take up government jobs and carry on trade in India.
• Nepal is dependent on India for economic and infrastructure development, basic food, trade and energy needs. India sent help to Nepal at the time of the 2015 earthquake.

Bhutan :

• Bhutan are landlocked countries surrounded by mountainous terrain.
• Bhutan’s boundaries are linked with India and China.
• India has taken upon itself the responsibility of the defence of Bhutan.
• India has helped Bhutan in the hydel power project.

Myanmar :

• Myanmar is India's door to the South East Asian countries.
• The rail and roadways will bring development, increase trade and other exchanges with India.
• India will be able to import natural gas from Myanmar.

Maldives :

• India’s relations with Maldives have been friendly right from the beginning.
• Maldives is dependent on India for development of trade, infrastructure, health and communication.
• The trade relations from 1981 and cooperation in the military field has started in 2006.
• They have entered into treaties to cooperation in space research, conservation of historical objects, tourism and fight against terrorism.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) :

• SAARC was established in 1985.
• The aim of this organisation is to encourage economic cooperation between South Asian nations and thereby achieve the development of the South Asian region.
• It is a platform for South Asian countries to come together and discuss common questions and interests.
• Their common interests are alleviation of poverty, development of agriculture and technological revolution.
• For an equitable development of South Asian nations, a treaty about forming South Asian Free Trade Area was signed
• South Asian University was established.

India and America :

• India and America are two powerful democratic systems in the world.
• America has been India's most important trading partner. After the end of the cold war, military relations between both the countries increased considerably.
• The two came closer after India accepted free market economy in 1991.
• There was tension in relations between two countries because India conducted nuclear tests in 1998. However, India managed to convince America that it will use nuclear weapons responsibly.
• Indo-American relationship was totally transformed and led to increasing cooperation between India and America.
• The Civil Nuclear Agreement signed in 2005 and approved by the US Congress in 2008 was a landmark event in Indo-American relations.
• Due to this deal, it became possible for India to get nuclear technology from other countries as well.
• Many Indians went to America for work and educational.
• Due to Non-resident Indians, cultural social and economic relations also improved.
• Since then cordial relations of cooperation in different areas have developed between India and America.

India and Russia :

• India and the erstwhile Soviet Union and Russia today share friendly relations.
• In 1971, the Indo—Soviet Treaty of friendship and cooperation was signed. It gave an impetus to cooperation between the two countries in defence and technology.
• The Soviet Union had given economic and military help to India on a large scale.
• After the collapse of Soviet Union and due to political and economic problems in Russia relations did not improve much.
• Indo-Russian relations improved after 1996.
• India and Russia have jointly undertaken production of military equipment, exploration and production of mineral oil.

India and European Nations :

• There are trade relations between European nations and India.
• Germany and France invest in the field of technology in India on a large scale.
• India gets the technology of production of weapons from European nations.
• India is a major exporter of engineering and information technology to Europe.
• Several treaties have been signed in the fields of climate change, clean energy, defence production, disaster management, security of air space and terrorism.
• The European Union was reorganised and launched anew on 1st November, 1993.

EU Single market :

• Single market was originally set up through the ECC (European Economic Community) Treaty in 1957. The single market we know today was created in 1993.
• The European Commission describes it as, "One territory without any internal borders or any regulatory obstacles to the free movements of goods and services”.
• The ‘Euro’ is the official currency of European Union Countries (19 of the 28).
• After US dollar, euro is considered as the most powerful currency in the world.

India and the Continent of Africa :

• India has consciously taken steps to build cooperation between India and the continent of Africa.
• As many African countries are developing rapidly, close relations with them will be beneficial to both.

• India has given help in the areas like technology, agriculture and tourism.
• India's energy needs can be fulfilled by energy rich nations like Egypt, Nigeria, Angola and Sudan.
• The Summit Conference of India and Africa was held in 2015.
• The representatives of 54 African nations attended it. In this conference, discussions were held on climate change, terrorism and piracy.

India and the Indo-Pacific Region :

• The Indo-Pacific area includes countries like Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South-east Asian nations.
• All of these have close trade relations with India.

• India and Australia have signed treaties on social security, extradition of criminals, the mission against smuggling of drugs, terrorism, art and culture.
• Japan has extended technical cooperation to India in the development of infrastructure, information technology, atomic energy and railways.
• Japan has agreed to extend co-operation and technological help to India in the development and security of coastal areas.
• Joint naval exercises are carried out by the navies and coast guards of the two countries.

India and South East Asia :

• India has had very cordial relations with South-east Asian nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Brunei.

• Trade relations between the two have improved after 1991 as India adopted free market economy.
• The policy of increasing trade with south-east Asian nations is known as the ‘Look East’ policy.
• After 2014, this policy was made further more active and is known as the ‘Act East’ policy.

India and West Asia :

• The West Asian countries are primarily suppliers of oil and natural gas to India.
• India imports oil from Iran, Baharein, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
• Israel provides modern technology for agriculture and defence equipment.
• Many Indians live in Israel for jobs and businesses.

India’s foreign policy :

The main objective of India’s foreign policy is

• To maintain friendly relations with all nations and
• Help each other so as to bring about development of India as well as other nations.

Significant Events :

Year 1950 1962 1966 1971 1971 1981 1985 1990 1991 2005 2006 2008   2014 2015 2015

Event Indo-Nepalese Treaty of Friendship China attacked India Tashkent Agreement between India and Pakistan Indo-Pak war and creation of Bangladesh Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship Trade relations between India and Maldives Establishment of the SAARC Nepal's transition to democracy India adopted free market economy Civil Nuclear Agreement with USA Military co-operation with Maldives International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) gave approval to the Indo-US Treaty ‘Act-East‘ Policy Earthquake in Nepal India-Africa Summit Conference