Border and Borderland Studies A brief overview of India’s territorial borders with her neighbouring countries from 1947 to 2022
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Abstract
This research is a brief overview of how the territorial borders of India with her neighbouring countries is conceptualised among scholars in social science. Since the Independence Day in 1947, the territorial borders of India have been changed due to political dynamics with her neighbouring countries. According to the Department of Border Management of India, nowadays her borders are 15,106.7 kilometres in length with seven neighbouring countries. They are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Nepal and Myanmar. This research explores how the territorial borders are conceptualised in different disciplines in social science that include International Relations, history, geography, government, anthropology and sociology. It argues that there are three groups of scholars with three different perspectives to explain territorial borders. First, the border is perceived as the physical line that separates sovereign states. It can be natural terrain such as rivers and mountains or human made such as wires, fences and towers. Accordingly, the border is peripheral under the supervision of the central government. Second, peoples on the move that cut across the state boundary are the foci of the analysis. The ways in which different group of people who cross the border are examined. Some groups cross the borders with comfort but the others experience hardship in the host state as they lack of legal protection. Third, the zone adjacent to territorial line that separates sovereign states is the focus of the study. The area is called borderland as the politics of the physical border and the movement of people who make everyday crossing are studied. The review of the scholarship of border and borderland studies on the territorial border of India with her neighbouring countries will be a springboard to fieldwork for future research in the disciplines of social science in the future.
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บทความทุกบทความเป็นลิขสิทธิ์ของสถาบันเอเชียศึกษา ดูตัวอย่างอื่นประกอบReferences
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