Authorities to Suspend Cross-Border Transit | 17 Apr 2024
Why in News?
Authorities plan to temporarily close the border between Uttarakhand State in India and Nepal's Sudurpaschim Province from the evening of 19th April as a routine precaution ahead of India's general elections.
- The closure will not impact cross-border emergency services.
Key Points
- An increased security presence will be in place across India with heightened vigilance likely being exercised on both sides of the border.
- Disruptions to cross-border freight and passenger traffic could extend for several days after the closure is lifted as transport companies and customs officials clear their backlogs.
India-Nepal
- Nepal shares a border with 5 Indian states- Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar. Hence an important point of cultural and economic exchange.
- The importance for India can be studied from two different angles:
- Their strategic importance for India’s national security.
- Their place in India’s role perception in international politics.
- Nepal is right in the middle of India’s ‘Himalayan frontiers’, and along with Bhutan, it acts as a northern ‘borderland’ flanks and acts as buffer states against any possible aggression from China.
- Rivers originating in Nepal feed the perennial river systems of India in terms of ecology and hydropower potential.
- Many Hindu and Buddhist religious sites are in Nepal making it an important pilgrimage site for a large number of Indians.
