India shares 4096 km (Assam-262 km, Tripura-856 km, Mizoram- 18 km, Meghalaya-443 km, West Bengal-2,217 km) long land boundary with Bangladesh (earlier East Pakistan). The Indo-Bangladesh border, which came into existence after India’s partition in 1947 gave rise to many questions as to the interpretation and implementation of the boundary so drawn. An effort was made to solve the outstanding border disputes with erstwhile East Pakistan and the Nehru-Noon Accord was signed in 1958. While some of the disputes were solved, many continued to haunt even after Bangladesh came into existence.
Hu Jintao's India Visit Boosts Sino-Indian Relations
The Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India signifies an important milestone in bilateral relations. The visit showed that there is a mutual willingness to keep the irritants aside and move forward. Both the powers of Asia have indeed placed greater importance on "stable relations" with each other in the coming days. This was clearly visible in Hu Jintao's "five-point proposals" for developing Sino-Indian relations. The rumours of India-China relations being affected by growing strategic relationship between India and US have been laid to rest for the moment.