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What does the 1950 treaty still decide between India and Nepal?

Signed at Kathmandu on 31 July 1950, the treaty is why an Indian and a Nepali can live, work and own property in each other's country. Here is what its ten articles decide, the river treaty that sits beside it, and what both governments have said about revising it since 2014.

Short answer

Peace, mutual respect for sovereignty and a duty to tell each other of serious friction with any neighbouring state; Nepal's right to import arms “from or through the territory of India”; and, for citizens, national treatment in economic development and, on a reciprocal basis, “the same privileges in the matter of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movement”. That is the basis of the open border of 1,751 km. Either side may end it on a year's notice; since 2014 both have agreed to “review, adjust and update” it.

By 5 min read
Contents
  1. What does the treaty say?
  2. What does it give each other's citizens?
  3. Why is the border open?
  4. What about the rivers?
  5. Is it being revised?
  6. So what does it still decide?
  7. Using this in the exam
Terms used in this essay
Reciprocal basis
Each country gives the other’s nationals what the other gives its own nationals in return.
National treatment
Treating the other country’s nationals as one’s own, in the matters the treaty names.
UN Treaty Series
The United Nations’ register of treaties; the 1950 treaty is No. 1302, registered by India on 13 July 1951.
Joint Commission
The meeting of the two foreign ministers that reviews the whole relationship.
Barrage
A low dam with gates, built across a river to divert water into canals.

India and Nepal signed two treaties at Kathmandu on 31 July 1950: one on trade and commerce, and a Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which India registered with the United Nations on 13 July 1951. The second is the one still argued over, and it is short: ten articles. Read for what they say, they explain much of the relationship that the GS Paper II syllabus calls India and its neighbourhood.

GS Paper II syllabusIndia and its neighbourhood: relations.

What does the treaty say?

That the two governments are at peace and equal. Article 1 reads: “There shall be everlasting peace and friendship between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal.” The two governments “agree mutually to acknowledge and respect the complete sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of each other.”

The rest is a set of duties and rights between them. Under Article 2 they are to “inform each other of any serious friction or misunderstanding with any neighbouring State” likely to strain their friendship. Under Article 5 Nepal is “free to import, from or through the territory of India, arms, ammunition or warlike material” needed for its security, by a procedure the two agree. Article 8 cancels the earlier treaties made between the British Government, on India's behalf, and Nepal, on the matters it covers. And under Article 10 either side may end it by giving a year's notice.

What the 1950 treaty decides Two columns. What the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship decides between the two governments: Everlasting peace and friendship and respect for sovereignty (Art. 1); Tell each other of serious friction with any neighbouring state (Art. 2); Nepal may import arms from or through India (Art. 5); Replaces the British-era treaties on the matters it covers (Art. 8); Either side may end it on a year’s notice (Art. 10). What it decides for each other's citizens: Industry and development national treatment (Art. 6); Residence, property, trade, movement: the same privileges (Art. 7). Below them: since 2014 the two governments have agreed to review, adjust and update it. Between the governments Everlasting peace and friendship and respect for sovereignty Art. 1 Tell each other of serious friction with any neighbouring state Art. 2 Nepal may import arms from or through India Art. 5 Replaces the British-era treaties on the matters it covers Art. 8 Either side may end it on a year’s notice Art. 10 For each other’s citizens Industry and development national treatment Art. 6 Residence, property, trade, movement: the same privileges Art. 7 Since 2014: under review to “review, adjust and update” it What the 1950 treaty decides Two columns. What the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship decides between the two governments: Everlasting peace and friendship and respect for sovereignty (Art. 1); Tell each other of serious friction with any neighbouring state (Art. 2); Nepal may import arms from or through India (Art. 5); Replaces the British-era treaties on the matters it covers (Art. 8); Either side may end it on a year’s notice (Art. 10). What it decides for each other's citizens: Industry and development national treatment (Art. 6); Residence, property, trade, movement: the same privileges (Art. 7). Below them: since 2014 the two governments have agreed to review, adjust and update it. Between the governments Everlasting peace and friendship and respect for sovereignty Art. 1 Tell each other of serious friction with any neighbouring state Art. 2 Nepal may import arms from or through India Art. 5 Replaces the British-era treaties on the matters it covers Art. 8 Either side may end it on a year’s notice Art. 10 For each other’s citizens Industry and development national treatment Art. 6 Residence, property, trade, movement: the same privileges Art. 7 Since 2014: under review to “review, adjust and update” it
Two kinds of promise. Most of the treaty binds the two governments. Two articles, 6 and 7, are about people, and they are the ones that shape daily life on both sides of the border.

What does it give each other's citizens?

The same footing as one's own. Article 6 gives each other's nationals national treatment in industrial and economic development in its territory. Article 7 goes further. The two governments agree to “grant, on reciprocal basis, to the nationals of one country in the territories of the other the same privileges in the matter of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movement”.

Article 7“the same privileges in the matter of residence, ownership of property, participation in trade and commerce, movement”, on a reciprocal basis.

Why is the border open?

Because Article 7 includes movement. The border is 1,751 km long and runs through five Indian states: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim. The government describes it as open, and says the 1950 treaty provides for the free movement of the citizens of both countries across it. On India's side it is guarded by the Sashastra Seema Bal.

What about the rivers?

A separate treaty governs the largest shared project. The Mahakali Treaty, signed on 12 February 1996 and in force from 5 June 1997, covers the integrated development of the Mahakali river, including the Sarada and Tanakpur barrages and the Pancheshwar project. It gives Nepal 28.35 cubic metres a second from the Sarada barrage in the wet season and 4.25 in the dry season, and keeps at least 10 cubic metres a second flowing downstream for the river's ecosystem. It runs for 75 years, with a review every ten years or earlier if either side asks.

Is it being revised?

Both governments have agreed that it should be, and the record stops there. In July 2014 the Joint Commission asked the two foreign secretaries to discuss the treaty, on proposals Nepal was to provide, and agreed that a revised treaty should better reflect the current realities. On the Indian Prime Minister's visit in August 2014 the two sides agreed to “review, adjust and update the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship” and other agreements. Nepal's foreign minister later described the same commitment as one to “revise, adjust and update the Treaty to better reflect the current reality”.

The statements cited here record that agreement; none of them records a revised text. Until one is signed, the 1950 treaty, as registered with the UN, is the one that applies.

So what does it still decide?

Four things. That the two states respect each other's sovereignty and tell each other of serious trouble with a neighbour. That Nepal may bring in arms through India. That Indians in Nepal and Nepalis in India have the same privileges as citizens in residence, property, trade and movement, which is why the border is open. And that either side can end all of this on a year's notice, which neither has given. A good answer quotes the articles, then says what the review agreed in 2014 has, and has not, changed.

Using this in GS Paper II

Quote the article numbers and the dates. Try these:

  1. GS Paper II, 250 words. “The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship is both the foundation of India-Nepal relations and a source of friction.” Discuss with reference to its text.
  2. GS Paper II, 150 words. Explain how the 1950 treaty shapes the India-Nepal border.
  3. Prelims-style. Which article of the 1950 India-Nepal treaty grants each other's nationals the same privileges in residence, property, trade and movement? (Article 7.)

An outline for the first.

  1. The text: peace and sovereignty (Article 1), consultation on friction (2), arms through India (5).
  2. For citizens: national treatment (6) and the same privileges (7); the open border of 1,751 km.
  3. Beside it: the Mahakali Treaty of 1996 for the shared river.
  4. The review: agreed in 2014 to “review, adjust and update”; no revised text in the record.
  5. Conclude with what either side could do: end it on a year's notice (Article 10), which neither has done.

Practise: GS Paper II mock tests · Read: What does the Ganga Water Treaty with Bangladesh do? · Exam: UPSC Civil Services

Sources

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