India-Nepal Border: Regional Cooperation and Cross Border Trade

Contents: Preface.  1. Regional cooperation and cross border trade. 2. Historical boundary of Indo-Nepal. 3. Border trade. 4. India-Nepal power trade agreement: challenges before opportunities. 5. India’s casual trade with Nepal. 6. Turbulence in Nepal, cross border trade disrupted. 7. 2015 Nepal blockage. 8. India-Nepal partnership. 9. Border trade disrupted as Nepal’s anti-constitution protests maintain. 10. Political dimension of Nepal’s economic policy. Bibliography. Index.

India is Nepal's largest trade partner and source of foreign investment; India is also the only transit providing country for Nepal. Nepal shares a border of about 1850 kilometres with five Indian States - Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim. An estimated 6 million Nepalese live and work in India. As close neighbours, India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation characterized by open borders and deep-rooted people-to- people contacts of kinship and culture. The relation between trade, infrastructure and economic development within countries is a much debated issue. Most trade economists have a view of a world in which countries freely exchange goods, factors of production and technology. Free trade in goods leads to equalization of factor prices across countries.