Page 2 - Lesson 8.xps

Geo-Politics Module - III

Security and Geo-Strategy
The location of a country decides how it has to be prepared militarily to defend itself.
For example, Great Britain used its location effectively to control the neighbouring and
distant land by colonizing them through control of seas.

In the case of India too, geographical and natural resources have determined its power
potential and how its power potential can be utilized to determine its relations with
neighbouring and distant countries. In other words, as politics is about study of power, Note
geopolitics refers to influences of geography on the relationships between nations.

8.2 India's Neighbours

India is centrally located in South Asia and is surrounded by smaller countries. We call
this region the Indian sub-continent because of the enormous size of the region.
History reveals that the entire region was under the influence of India. For example,
what we now call Pakistan and Bangladesh were once part of India. Similarly, the
other countries of South Asian region such as Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives

have at one point or other been under the influence of India. However, after the
colonization by British, changes took place in the political and geographical features of
the region.

The independence of India led to separation of Pakistan from India and Bangladesh
was born in 1971. Today the South Asian region comprises eight countries. They are:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar Nepal and Pakistan. Sri Lanka and
Maldives shares maritime borders with India. China does share a big land boundary
with India and hence it is India's northern neighbour but from a geo-political, historical
and cultural point of view China is not included as part of South Asia.

India shares largest portion of its border with Bangladesh and shortest of it with
Afghanistan. India shares a 699-km long border with Bhutan, 3323 Km (including
LoC) with Pakistan. This border runs along the Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan,
Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. Located in the north of India, Tibet shares boundary
with India's Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and
Uttarkhand.

8.2.1 India's Power

All countries have resources to be utilized as power. International relations are about
how one country can influence the other to do what it wants. A country's power or
Power is defined in terms of Hard power and Soft Power. Hard power is military
power and soft power is the economy, culture etc.

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MILITARY STUDIES 69