India-Pakistan border
Topic: India and her Neighbours · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 2 "India and Her Neighbours"
Meaning
The India-Pakistan border is about 3,323 km long (MHA). It touches Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. From Gujarat to Jammu it follows the Radcliffe Line, announced on 17 August 1947, and this stretch is the fenced International Border. In Jammu and Kashmir it becomes the Line of Control (LoC), about 740 km long, which ends at point NJ9842. The border crosses desert, marsh, farmland and high mountains, which makes it hard to guard.
Example
At the Gujarat end lies Sir Creek, a 96 km tidal estuary in the Rann of Kachchh between Gujarat and Sindh. India and Pakistan disagree on where the line runs inside it. This matters because it decides their sea boundaries.
Don't confuse with
- Line of Control (LoC): the LoC is only the Jammu and Kashmir part of the border. It began as the 1949 Karachi ceasefire line and was renamed by the Simla Agreement in 1972. It is not a settled international border.
Related concepts
- Radcliffe Line
- Line of Control
- Siachen Glacier
- Sir Creek
- Kartarpur Corridor
- Durand Line
- Wakhan Corridor
- Khyber Pass