Influence of Borders on Bilateral Ties in South Asia: A Study of Contemporary India–Nepal Relations

Published date01 April 2019
DOI10.1177/0020881719851420
Date01 April 2019
Subject MatterArticles
Influence of Borders
on Bilateral Ties in
South Asia: A Study
of Contemporary
India–Nepal Relations
Dhananjay Tripathi1
Abstract
In South Asia, the movement of people and goods across borders is strictly
controlled by states. However, there are some exceptions to these factors.
India–Nepal border, for instance, is peaceful and porous with minimal restric-
tions on the movement of goods and people. Albeit there are times when border
issues between these two friendly neighbours have taken a critical turn. One
such recent border-related problem between India and Nepal was witnessed
during the Madheshi movement. In 2015, an agitating section of the Madheshi
community blocked the India–Nepal border. Due to the sociocultural proximity
of Madheshi community with India, the blockade of the Indo-Nepal border has
had repercussions on the bilateral ties. Conceptually, this article argues how bor-
der shapes relations between neighbours in South Asia. Empirically the recent
blockade of the India–Nepal border is presented as an example to substantiate
the primary argument of this article. There is also an attempt in this article to
study the recent changes in the India–Nepal relations from the perspective of
border studies.
Keywords
India–Nepal relations, border studies, mental borders, South Asian borders,
Madheshi Movement
Article
1 Assistant professor, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, South Asian
University, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Dhananjay Tripathi, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, South Asian
University, Akbar Bhawan, Satya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021, India.
E-mail: dhananjay@sau.ac.in
International Studies
56(2–3) 186–200, 2019
2019 Jawaharlal Nehru University
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DOI: 10.1177/0020881719851420
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