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 of the
Kashmir region (see
Durand Line).[2]
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.
India-Pakistan border
At the following border crossing sites the
beating retreat flag ceremonies are jointly held by the military of both nations every day at 6 pm, which are open to the public as tourist attractions.[6][7] No special permit or ticket is needed. From north to south, the ceremony sites are as follows:
India and China have five
Border Personnel Meeting point (BPM points) where they hold the flag meeting to discuss the military matters as well as the ceremonial BPMs for cultural exchange to improve bilateral relations by celebrating
New Year's Day (January 1),[11] India's
Republic Day (January 26), Harvest Festival (April 14),[12]PLA Day ( May 15) and
Indian Independence Day (August 15).[13] These meetings include the playing of each country's
national anthem and saluting of their respective flags, and ceremonial addresses by representative of both armies.[12] On Indian side only Indian citizens are allowed to visit only 2 passes out of these several BPM passes/sites, Bum La Pass and Nathu La, only on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, only after obtaining
Inner Line Permit (ILP) one day in advance.[14]
These BPM passes and border posts where these meetings are held, from west to east, are as follows:-
Nathu La: The pass is used for pilgrims to monasteries in Sikkim such as
Rumtek, one of the holiest shrines in Buddhism. For Hindus, the pass reduces the journey time to
Lake Manasarovar from fifteen days to two days.[15]
Benapole–Petrapole border ceremony, a similar but much friendlier ceremony than the Indo-Pakistani Attari-Wagah ceremony, is held daily jointly by India's
Border Security Force and
Border Guards Bangladesh at India-Bangladesh border from 4.30 to 5 pm. It is open to civilians without any ticket or special permit.[16][17] The
Benapole–
Petrapole joint retreat ceremony results in lowering of national flags of India and Bangladesh.[18]
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) (c. June 2024 ).[19][20] Designated Integrated Check Posts (ICP), with both customs and immigration facilities are:[21]
Karimganj–
Golapganj uppozilla in Sylhet District of Bangladesh via
Sutarkandi integrated checkpost crossing on
NH37(India) and Sheola post (Sylhet division, Bangladesh), the plan announced c. Oct 2017.[19]
Shillong–
Sylhet via
Dawki ICP integrated checkpost crossing (Jaintia Hills, India) and Tambil post (Bangladesh). Dawki ICP foundation stone was laid in January 2017 and is in operation since 2018.[22]
Kawrpuichhuah – official spelling (also spelled as Kawarpuchiah or Kawripuichhuah) – near
Tlabung in
Lunglei district, opened in Oct 2017.[19][23][24] The 22 km long Lunglei–Tlabung–Kawrpuichhuah road was upgraded in 2014–2015 in a
World Bank-funded project to enhance India-Bangladesh border connectivity.[25] It is located on Khawthalangtuipui river (
Karnaphuli)
This proposed list of border
bazaars and
haats is in varying stages of implementation, as suggested by State Governments to the
Ministry of External Affairs for setting up Border Haats.[21]
Pradeep Damodaran's book Borderlands: Travels Across India's Boundaries chronicles all land borders of India.[37] 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.[38]
^Envis Team (4 June 2006).
"Ecodestination of India-Sikkim Chapter"(PDF). Eco-destinations of India. The Environmental Information System (ENVIS), Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India. p. 45. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 19 June 2007. Retrieved 1 December 2006.