What is the significance of the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement of 2015?

Implemented via the 100th Constitutional Amendment in 2015, the LBA exchanged 162 enclaves and regularised adverse possessions, resolving a dispute rooted in the 1947 Partition. It is a landmark in peaceful boundary settlement and a key BCS topic.

Is India a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?

No. India has consistently refused to sign the NPT, calling it discriminatory. It conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran in 1974 and 1998 and maintains a 'No First Use' doctrine and credible minimum deterrence posture as a de facto nuclear power.

What major water-sharing disputes exist between India and Bangladesh?

The principal disputes concern the Teesta River, where a sharing agreement remains stalled, and the Ganges, addressed by the 1996 Ganges Water Treaty governing flows at the Farakka Barrage. Both feature prominently in BCS international affairs questions.

India

India, officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a federal parliamentary democratic republic constituted by the Constitution of India, adopted on 26 November 1949 and brought into force on 26 January 1950. The Preamble, amended by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976, declares India a "Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic." Article 1 describes India as a "Union of States," a phrase deliberately chosen by the Drafting Committee under B.R. Ambedkar to signify that the federation was not the result of an agreement among states and that no state has a right to secede. India achieved independence from British rule on 15 August 1947 under the Indian Independence Act 1947, partitioning the subcontinent into India and Pakistan. It is the seventh-largest country by area, shares borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, and surpassed China as the world's most populous country in 2023 per UN estimates (over 1.4 billion).

India's governance follows the Westminster model. The President (Article 52) is the constitutional head of state, elected by an electoral college, while real executive power rests with the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister (Article 74–75). The bicameral Parliament comprises the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The Supreme Court, established under Article 124, exercises judicial review and articulated the Basic Structure Doctrine in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973), limiting Parliament's amending power under Article 368. Federalism distributes powers via the Seventh Schedule's Union, State and Concurrent Lists. Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12–35), Directive Principles (Part IV) and Fundamental Duties (Part IV-A, added 1976) frame citizen-state relations. The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 reorganised Jammu & Kashmir into Union Territories.

In foreign policy, India was a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement (Belgrade, 1961) and champions strategic autonomy. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth, SAARC, BIMSTEC and a member of the G20, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Quad (with the US, Japan and Australia). India is a declared nuclear-weapons state since Pokhran-II (1998) but is not a signatory to the NPT. For Bangladesh, India is the decisive regional partner: it intervened in the 1971 Liberation War, signed the 25-year Treaty of Friendship (1972), concluded the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) ratified in 2015 exchanging enclaves, and remains entangled in the Teesta water-sharing and Farakka Barrage disputes. India held the G20 presidency in 2023 and continues to seek permanent UN Security Council membership through the G4.

For the exam, India appears across multiple papers. In Bangladesh BCS "International Affairs," candidates must master India-Bangladesh bilateral relations—the 1971 war, LBA 2015, Teesta, Ganges Water Treaty (1996) and connectivity projects. In IR papers, India is tested on non-alignment, strategic autonomy, nuclear policy, and its rivalry-cooperation balance with China and the US. UPSC Polity demands precise recall of constitutional articles and landmark judgments. Typical question angles include comparing India's federalism with classical federations, evaluating its NAM legacy, and analysing the legal mechanism of the 2015 enclave exchange.

Frequently asked questions

Article 1 describes India as a 'Union of States,' not a federation born of agreement. The phrasing, defended by Ambedkar, indicates that states have no right to secede and the Union is indestructible, distinguishing it from the US compact model.

Frequently asked questions