Borders of India

The Republic of India shares borders with several sovereign countries; it shares land borders with China, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.^[1] Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan share both land borders as well as maritime borders, while Sri Lanka shares only a maritime border through Ram Setu. India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia.

India and its borders.

Borders

Policy

See also: Look East policy (India)

India does not have a National Border Policy. For the strategic national interest reasons, there are suggestions that India must define a National Border Policy to comprehensively deal with border related issues, not just the fencing of open borders but also to deal with the negative consequences of porous borders. For example, the India-Nepal border is an open border with no fence, which has been misused by Pakistan's ISI to create trouble in India.^[2]

Land

Barriers

See also: Great Green Wall (India) and Great Hedge of India

India has constructed fences along the following borders:^[3]

• India-Bangladesh border barrier
• India–Myanmar border barrier
• India-Pakistan border barrier

Borders

See also: Disputed territories of India, Indian subcontinent, Greater India, and Indosphere

India shares land borders with six sovereign nations. The state's Ministry of Home Affairs also recognizes a 106 kilometres (66 mi) land border with a seventh nation, Afghanistan, as part of its claim on the Kashmir region; however, this is disputed and the region bordering Afghanistan has been administered by Pakistan as part of Gilgit-Baltistan since 1947 (see Durand Line).^[4]

Land Border Country	Dispute	Length (Km) and (mi)	Force	Comments
Bangladesh	N	4,096 kilometres (2,545 mi)	Border Security Force	Most of the India–Bangladesh enclaves exchanged in 2015. See Bangladesh Liberation War and Bangladesh–India relations.
Bhutan	N	578 kilometres (359 mi)[5]	Sashastra Seema Bal	Open border. See Bhutan–India relations.
China	Y	3,488 kilometres (2,167 mi)	Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Special Frontier Force	Also see Ardagh–Johnson Line, Macartney–MacDonald Line, McMahon Line, Sino-Indian border dispute and China–India relations.
Myanmar	N	1,643 kilometres (1,021 mi)	Assam Rifles and Indian Army	See India-Myanmar relations.
Nepal	Y	1,752 kilometres (1,089 mi)[6]	Sashastra Seema Bal	Open border. See Kalapani territory, Susta territory and India-Nepal relations.
Pakistan	Y	3,320 kilometres (2,060 mi)	Border Security Force	Also see Radcliffe Line, Line of Control, Actual Ground Position Line and Sir Creek. See Partition of India, Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts and India-Pakistan relations.
Afghanistan[7]	Y	106 kilometres (66 mi)	Border Security Force	Part I of the Constitution of India defines India's physical land border with 7 countries including with Afghanistan which lies between Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan and disputed Kashmir region (Gilgit)[7] area administered by Pakistan but also claimed by India.[8][9] Also see Afghanistan–Pakistan border dispute and Durand Line.

Border ceremonies

India co-hosts the joint ceremonies with the neighbouring nations at the following border crossings. The most attended and emotionally charged among these is the one at Wagha-Attari Border near Amritsar-Lahore.

Border	Ceremony Locations	Notes
India-Pakistan border	Attari–Wagah border ceremony near Amritsar in Punjab.[10][11]	Most attended and emotionally charged ceremony
	Ganda Singh Wala–Hussainiwala border ceremony near Firozepur in Punjab.[10][11]
	Sadqi-Sulemanki border ceremony near Fazilka in Punjab.[12][13][14]
	Khokhrapar–Munabao border ceremony in Barmer district of Rajasthan.[10][11]
India-China border	Daulat Beg Oldi	Border Personnel Meeting Point (BPM Point)
	Spanggur Gap (Chushul)	Border Personnel Meeting point
	Nathu La	Used for pilgrims to monasteries in Sikkim; reduces journey time to Lake Manasarovar[15]
	Bum La Pass (Tawang)	Open on Sundays and during cultural ceremonies
	Kaho, India (north of Kibithu in Walong sector)	Border Personnel Meeting point
India-Bangladesh border	Benapole–Petrapole border ceremony	Daily joint ceremony by Border Security Force and Border Guards Bangladesh[16][17]

Maritime borders and EEZs

See also: Exclusive economic zone of India

EEZs in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

Maritime borders of India are the maritime boundary recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea entails boundaries of territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones. India, with its claim of a 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial maritime zone and 200-nautical-mile (370 km; 230 mi) exclusive economic zone, has a more than 7,000-kilometre (4,300 mi) maritime border shared with seven nations.

Maritime Border Country	Length (km) and (mi)	Force	Comments
Bangladesh		Indian Navy	New Moore Island in Bay of Bengal
Indonesia	555 kilometres (345 mi)	Indian Navy	Indira Point in Andaman Sea
Myanmar		Indian Navy	Landfall Island in Andaman Sea
Pakistan		Indian Navy	Sir Creek in Arabian Sea
Thailand		Indian Navy	Similan Islands in Andaman Sea
Sri Lanka	>400 kilometres (250 mi)[18]	Indian Navy	Katchatheevu in Palk Strait
Maldives	1,009 kilometres (627 mi)	Indian Navy	Maliku Kandu in Laccadive Sea

Designated border crossings

The map of ICP and LCS.

Integrated Check Posts (ICP)

See also: Transport between India and Pakistan and Transport between India and Bangladesh

India has 7 functional ICPs, and plans are underway to upgrade 13 more LCS to ICP, including 7 at borders taking total of border ICP to 14, at the cost of ₹3,005 crore (US$360 million)(56 Australian Dollars as of May 2025)(c. June 2024 ).^[19][20] Designated Integrated Check Posts (ICP), with both customs and immigration facilities are:^[21]

Border	State	Check Post	Status	Notes	References
India–Bangladesh	Assam	Sutarkandi	Planned	Connects to Golapganj uppozilla in Sylhet District	[19]
	Meghalaya	Dawki ICP	Operational since 2018	Connects to Tambil post (Bangladesh)	[22]
	Mizoram	Kawrpuichhuah (near Tlabung)	Operational since Oct 2017	On Khawthalangtuipui river (Karnaphuli)	[19][23][24]
	Tripura	Agartala–Akhaura	Operational (c. 2017)	Connects to Dhaka	[20]
		Belonia–Parshuram		Road and rail crossing
	West Bengal	Petrapole	Operational (c. 2017)	Connects Kolkata to Dhaka	[20]
		Ghojadanga	Planned		[19][25]
		Mahadipur	In-principle approval (2019)	Connects to Rajshahi	[25][19]
		Fulbari	Planned		[19]
		Hili	Planned		[19]
India–Bhutan	West Bengal	Jaigaon	Plan approved (c. 2016)	In Alipurduar district	[26]
India–Myanmar	Manipur	Moreh ICP	Operational		[27]
	Mizoram	Zochawchhuah–Zorinpui	Operational since Oct 2017	On Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project	[27][24]
India–Nepal	Uttarakhand	Banbasa	In-principle approval (2019)	In Champawat district	[25]
	Bihar	Bhitthamore	In-principle approval (2019)	In Sitamarhi district	[25][28]
	Bihar	Jogbani			[26]
	West Bengal	Panitanki	In-principle approval (2019)	In Darjeeling district	[26][25]
	Bihar	Raxaul			[26]
	Uttar Pradesh	Sonauli			[citation needed]
	Uttar Pradesh	Rupaidiha			[26]
	Uttar Pradesh	Taulihawa-Siddharthnagar			[26]
India–Pakistan	Punjab	Attari	Operational (2017)	At Wagah (see Samjhauta Express)
	Punjab	Kartarpur Corridor		Visa-free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib
	Rajasthan	Munabao		(see Thar Express)

Land Customs Stations (LCS)

Border	State	Land Customs Station	Connecting To (Bangladesh)	Status	Notes	References
India–Bangladesh	Assam	Mankachar	Rowmari post (Natun Bandar, Rangpur division)	Functional		[29]
		Karimganj Steamer and Ferry Station (KSFS)	Zakiganj post (Sylhet division)	Functional		[29]
		Guwahati Steamer Ghat (Dhubri district)		Functional		[29]
		Dhubri Steamer Ghat	Rowmati (Maymansingh division)	Functional		[29]
		Mahisasan railway station	Shahbazpur (Sylhet division)	Non-functional		[29]
		Golokganj	Sonahaat (Rangpur Division)	Non-functional		[29]
		Silchar Railway Mail Service		Non-functional	Inland LCS (no border crossing)	[29]
India–Bangladesh	Meghalaya	Baghmara (South Garo Hills)	Bijoyour post	Functional		[29]
		Bholaganj	Chatak (Sunamganj division)	Functional		[29]
		Borsara (West Khasi Hills)	Borsara post	Functional		[29]
		Mahendraganj	Bakshiganj	Functional	On NH12	[29]
		Dalu	Nakugaon post	Functional	On NH217	[29]
		Shellabazar	Sunamganj (Sylhet division)	Functional		[29]
		Gasuapara	Karoitol (Mymansing division)	Functional		[29]
		Ryngku (East Khasi Hills)	Kalibari (Sonamganj division)	Non-functional		[29]
		Balat (East Khasi Hills)	Dolura (Sylhet division)	Non-functional		[29]
India–Bangladesh	Tripura	Srimantapur	Bibir Bazar (Comilla division)	Operational	Became operational January 2016	[30]
		Dhalaighat	Kumarghat (Sunamganj division)	Functional		[29]
		Khowaighat	Balla (Habiganj division)	Functional		[29]
		Manu	Chatlapur (Sylhet division)	Functional		[29]
		Muhurighat	Belonia (Feni division)	Functional		[29]
		Old Ragnabazar	Betul (Fultali) (Sylhet division)	Functional		[29]
India–Bangladesh	Mizoram	Kawarpuchiah		Operational	Opened October 2017 by PM Modi	[31]
		Demagiri	Rangamati (Sylhet division)	Non-functional		[29]
India–Pakistan	Rajasthan	Longewala			In Jaisalmer district

Border markets

See also: India-Bangladesh Border Haat

This is incomplete list of designated border markets, also called bazaars and haats, established by the efforts of Ministry of External Affairs.^[21]

India–Bangladesh

India–Bangladesh Border Haats

State	District	Location	Reference
Meghalaya	East Khasi Hills district	Balat	[32]
		Bholaganj	[32]
	South West Garo Hills district	Kalaichar	[32]
		Ryngku	[32]
	West Garo Hills district	Nalikata	[32]
		Shibbari	[32]
Mizoram	Mamit district	Mapara - Longkor
		Tuipuibari - Not provided
	Lunglei district	Silsury - Mahmuam
		Nunsuri - Not provided
Tripura	West Tripura district	Kamalasagar
		Boxanagar
		Bamutia
	South Tripura district	Srinagar, Tripura
		Ekimpur
	North Tripura district	Pal Basti (Raghna)
		Hiracherra (Kailasahar)
		Kamalpur, Tripura (Dhalai)

India–Bhutan

India-Bhutan Border Haat on India-Bhutan border are in operation, such as the Gelephu-Hatisar border market road entry point,^[33] Phuntsholing to its west and Samdrup Jongkhar to its east are two other border market road entry points into Bhutan.

India–Myanmar

India–Myanmar border Haats are.^[34][35]

India–Myanmar Border Haats

State	District	Indian Location	Myanmar Location	Reference
Arunachal Pradesh	Changlang district	Pangsau Pass (Nampong)	Pangsau, Kachin State	[34][35]
		Chingsa (Khimiyang Circle)	Langhong, Kachin State	[34][35]
		Makantong (Khimiyang Circle)	Ngaimong, Kachin State	[34][35]
	Tirap district	Wakka/Pongchao/Lazu	Tirap, Kachin State	[34][35]
Manipur	Ukhrul district	Kongkan Thana	Aungci (suggested by State Government)	[34][35]
	Chandel district	New Somtal	Thenjen, or Khampat	[34][35]
	Churachandpur district	Behiang	Khenman, or Chikha	[34][35]
Mizoram	Lawngtlai district	Hruitezawl	Varang	[34][35]
	Champhai district	Hnahlan	Darkhai	[34][35]
		Vaphai	Leilet	[34][35]
	Siaha district	Chakhang	Nviaphia	[34][35]
Nagaland	Tuensang district	Avakhung	Layshi (32 km apart)	[34][35]
		Pangsha	Lahe/Hkamti District HQ (60 km apart)	[34][35]
	Mon district	Chemoho/Longwa	Lahe (60 km apart)	[34][35]
	Phek district	Molhe	Pansat (10 km apart)	[34][35]

In popular media

Pradeep Damodaran's book Borderlands: Travels Across India's Boundaries chronicles all land borders of India.^[36] The Bollywood director J. P. Dutta has specialised in making Hindi movies with India's border as a key element of the theme, his movies are Border, Refugee, LOC: Kargil, Paltan, etc.^[37]

Gallery

• 
  Border ceremony at Attari–Wagah border.
• 
  Nathu La border in Sikkim.
• 
  Indian and Bangladeshi soldiers at Benapole–Petrapole border ceremony.
• 
  Signage board at Bhitthamore border.

See also

• India portal

India related

• Climate of India

• Geography of India
  • Disputed territories of India
  • Exclusive economic zone of India
  • Extreme points of India
  • How different scales of measurement impacts the length of land border

• Development
  • Look East policy
  • Northeast India connectivity projects

Lists

• List of countries and territories by land borders
• List of countries and territories by land and maritime borders
• List of countries and territories by maritime boundaries
• List of countries that border only one other country
• List of land borders by date of establishment
• List of divided islands
• List of island nations
• List of political and geographic borders