from
CIA World Factbook 2006
India
Introduction
Background: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the
world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes
from the northwest infiltrated onto Indian lands about
1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian
inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab
incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in
the 12th were followed by those of European traders,
beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th
century, Britain had assumed political control of
virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the
British army played a vital role in both World Wars.
Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by
Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought
independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into
the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state
of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in
1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate
nation of Bangladesh. Despite impressive gains in
economic investment and output, India faces pressing
problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over
Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental
degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and
religious strife.
Geography
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal, between Burma and Pakistan
Geographic 20 00 N, 77 00 E
coordinates:
Map Asia
references:
Area: total: 3,287,590 sq km
land: 2,973,190 sq km
water: 314,400 sq km
Area - slightly more than one-third the size of the US
comparative:
Land total: 14,103 km
boundaries: border countries: Bangladesh 4,053 km, Bhutan 605 km,
Burma 1,463 km, China 3,380 km, Nepal 1,690 km,
Pakistan 2,912 km
Coastline: 7,000 km
Maritime territorial sea: 12 nm
claims: contiguous zone: 24 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the
continental margin
Climate: varies from tropical monsoon in south to temperate in
north
Terrain: upland plain (Deccan Plateau) in south, flat to rolling
plain along the Ganges, deserts in west, Himalayas in
north
Elevation lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
extremes: highest point: Kanchenjunga 8,598 m
Natural coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), iron ore,
resources: manganese, mica, bauxite, titanium ore, chromite,
natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, limestone, arable
land
Land use: arable land: 48.83%
permanent crops: 2.8%
other: 48.37% (2005)
Irrigated 558,080 sq km (2003)
land:
Natural droughts; flash floods, as well as widespread and
hazards: destructive flooding from monsoonal rains; severe
thunderstorms; earthquakes
Environment - deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing;
current desertification; air pollution from industrial
issues: effluents and vehicle emissions; water pollution from
raw sewage and runoff of agricultural pesticides; tap
water is not potable throughout the country; huge and
growing population is overstraining natural resources
Environment - party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
international Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty,
agreements: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of
the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected
agreements
Geography - dominates South Asian subcontinent; near important
note: Indian Ocean trade routes; Kanchenjunga, third tallest
mountain in the world, lies on the border with Nepal
People
Population: 1,095,351,995 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 30.8% (male 173,478,760/female 163,852,827)
15-64 years: 64.3% (male 363,876,219/female
340,181,764)
65 years and over: 4.9% (male 27,258,020/female
26,704,405) (2006 est.)
Median age: total: 24.9 years
male: 24.9 years
female: 24.9 years (2006 est.)
Population 1.38% (2006 est.)
growth rate:
Birth rate: 22.01 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death rate: 8.18 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Net migration -0.07 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)
rate:
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Infant total: 54.63 deaths/1,000 live births
mortality male: 55.18 deaths/1,000 live births
rate: female: 54.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)
Life total population: 64.71 years
expectancy at male: 63.9 years
birth: female: 65.57 years (2006 est.)
Total 2.73 children born/woman (2006 est.)
fertility
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 0.9% (2001 est.)
adult
prevalence
rate:
HIV/AIDS - 5.1 million (2001 est.)
people living
with HIV/AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - 310,000 (2001 est.)
deaths:
Major degree of risk: high
infectious food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea,
diseases: hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and
Japanese encephalitis are high risks in some locations
animal contact disease: rabies (2005)
Nationality: noun: Indian(s)
adjective: Indian
Ethnic groups: Indo-Aryan 72%, Dravidian 25%, Mongoloid and other 3%
(2000)
Religions: Hindu 80.5%, Muslim 13.4%, Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%,
other 1.8%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
Languages: English enjoys associate status but is the most
important language for national, political, and
commercial communication; Hindi is the national
language and primary tongue of 30% of the people; there
are 14 other official languages: Bengali, Telugu,
Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada,
Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri, Sindhi, and
Sanskrit; Hindustani is a popular variant of Hindi/Urdu
spoken widely throughout northern India but is not an
official language
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3% (2003 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Republic of India
conventional short form: India
local long form: Republic of India/Bharatiya Ganarajya
local short form: India/Bharat
Government federal republic
type:
Capital: name: New Delhi
geographic coordinates: 28 36 N, 77 12 E
time difference: UTC+5.5 (10.5 hours ahead of
Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative 28 states and 7 union territories*; Andaman and Nicobar
divisions: Islands*, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Bihar, Chandigarh*, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar
Haveli*, Daman and Diu*, Delhi*, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep*, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Orissa, Puducherry*, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil
Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, West Bengal
Independence: 15 August 1947 (from UK)
National Republic Day, 26 January (1950)
holiday:
Constitution: 26 January 1950; amended many times
Legal system: based on English common law; limited judicial review of
legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction,
with reservations; separate personal law codes apply to
Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive chief of state: President A.P.J. Abdul KALAM (since 26
branch: July 2002); Vice President Bhairon Singh SHEKHAWAT
(since 19 August 2002)
head of government: Prime Minister Manmohan SINGH
(since 22 May 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the
recommendation of the prime minister
elections: president elected by an electoral college
consisting of elected members of both houses of
Parliament and the legislatures of the states for a
five-year term (no term limits); election last held
July 2002 (next to be held 18 July 2007); vice
president elected by both houses of Parliament for a
five-year term; election last held 12 August 2002 (next
to be held August 2007); prime minister chosen by
parliamentary members of the majority party following
legislative elections; election last held April - May
2004 (next to be held May 2009)
election results: Abdul KALAM elected president;
percent of electoral college vote - 89.6%; Bhairon
Singh SHEKHAWAT elected vice president; percent of
Parliament vote - 59.8%
Legislative bicameral Parliament or Sansad consists of the Council
branch: of States or Rajya Sabha (a body consisting of not more
than 250 members, up to 12 of whom are appointed by the
president, the remainder are chosen by the elected
members of the state and territorial assemblies;
members serve six-year terms) and the People's Assembly
or Lok Sabha (545 seats; 543 elected by popular vote, 2
appointed by the president; members serve five-year
terms)
elections: People's Assembly - last held 20 April
through 10 May 2004 (next must be held before May 2009)
election results: People's Assembly - percent of vote
by party - NA; seats by party - INC 145, BJP 138, CPI
(M) 43, SP 36, RJD 24, BSP 19, DMK 16, SS 12, BJD 11,
CPI 10, NCP 9, JDU 8, SAD 8, PMK 6, TDP 5, TRS 5, JMM
5, LJSP 4, MDMK 4, independents 5, other 30
Judicial Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate
branch: justices are appointed by the president and remain in
office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed
for "proved misbehavior")
Political note - India has dozens of national and regional
parties and political parties; only parties with four or more seats
leaders: in the People's Assembly are listed; Bahujan Samaj
Party or BSP [MAYAWATI]; Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP
[Lal Krishna ADVANI]; Biju Janata Dal or BJD [Naveen
PATNAIK]; Communist Party of India or CPI [Ardhendu
Bhushan BARDHAN]; Communist Party of India (Marxist) or
CPI (M) [Prakash KARAT]; Dravida Munnetra Kazagham or
DMK [M. KARUNANIDHI]; Eqtedar-e-Melli-Eslami (Naional
Islamic Empowerment) [Ahmad Shah AHMADZAI]; Indian
National Congress or INC [Sonia GANDHI]; Janata Dal
(United) or JDU [George FERNANDEZ]; Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha or JMM [Shibu SOREN]; Lok Jan Shakti Party or
LJSP [Ram Vilas PASWAN]; Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam or MDMK [VAIKO]; Nahzat-e-Faragir-e-Democracy
Wa Taraqi-e-Afghanistan (Afghanistan's Democracy and
Progress Movement) [Sher Mohammad BUZGAR]; Nationalist
Congress Party or NCP [Sharad PAWAR]; Pattali Makkal
Katchi or PMK [S. RAMADOSS]; Rashtriya Janata Dal or
RJD [Laloo Prasad YADAV]; Samajwadi Party or SP
[Mulayam Singh YADAV]; Shiromani Akali Dal or SAD
[Prakash Singh BADAL]; Shiv Sena or SS [Bal THACKERAY];
Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS [K. Chandrashekar
RAO]; Telugu Desam Party or TDP [Chandrababu NAIDU]
Political numerous religious or militant/chauvinistic
pressure organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang
groups and Dal, and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh; various
leaders: separatist groups seeking greater communal and/or
regional autonomy, including the All Parties Hurriyat
Conference in the Kashmir Valley and the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland in the Northeast
International AfDB, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), BIMSTEC,
organization BIS, C, CERN (observer), CP, EAS, FAO, G- 6, G-15,
participation: G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,
IOM (observer), IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MONUC, NAM, OAS
(observer), ONUB, OPCW, PCA, PIF (partner), SAARC,
SACEP, SCO (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIS, UNMOVIC, UNOCI,
UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador Ranendra SEN
representation chancery: 2107 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC
in the US: 20008; note - Consular Wing located at 2536
Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 939-7000
FAX: [1] (202) 265-4351
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, New York, San
Francisco
Diplomatic chief of mission: Ambassador David C. MULFORD
representation embassy: Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021
from the US: mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [91] (11) 2419-8000
FAX: [91] (11) 2419-0017
consulate(s) general: Chennai (Madras), Kolkata
(Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay)
Flag three equal horizontal bands of saffron (subdued
description: orange) (top), white, and green with a blue chakra
(24-spoked wheel) centered in the white band; similar
to the flag of Niger, which has a small orange disk
centered in the white band
Economy
Economy - India's diverse economy encompasses traditional village
overview: farming, modern agriculture, handicrafts, a wide range
of modern industries, and a multitude of services.
Services are the major source of economic growth,
accounting for half of India's output with less than
one quarter of its labor force. About three-fifths of
the work-force is in agriculture, leading the UPA
government to articulate an economic reform program
that includes developing basic infrastructure to
improve the lives of the rural poor and boost economic
performance. Government controls on foreign trade and
investment have been reduced in some areas, but high
tariffs (averaging 20% on non-agricultural items in
2004) and limits on foreign direct investment are still
in place. The government in 2005 liberalized investment
in the civil aviation, telecom, and construction
sectors. Privatization of government-owned industries
essentially came to a halt in 2005, and continues to
generate political debate; continued social, political,
and economic rigidities hold back needed initiatives.
The economy has posted an average growth rate of more
than 7% in the decade since 1994, reducing poverty by
about 10 percentage points. India achieved 7.6% GDP
growth in 2005, significantly expanding manufacturing.
India is capitalizing on its large numbers of
well-educated people skilled in the English language to
become a major exporter of software services and
software workers. Despite strong growth, the World Bank
and others worry about the combined state and federal
budget deficit, running at approximately 9% of GDP;
government borrowing has kept interest rates high.
Economic deregulation would help attract additional
foreign capital and lower interest rates. The huge and
growing population is the fundamental social, economic,
and environmental problem.
GDP $3.666 trillion (2005 est.)
(purchasing
power parity):
GDP (official $719.8 billion (2005 est.)
exchange
rate):
GDP - real 8.4% (2005 est.)
growth rate:
GDP - per $3,400 (2005 est.)
capita (PPP):
GDP - agriculture: 18.6%
composition by industry: 27.6%
sector: services: 53.8% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 496.4 million (2005 est.)
Labor force - agriculture: 60%
by occupation: industry: 17%
services: 23% (1999)
Unemployment 8.9% (2005 est.)
rate:
Population 25% (2002 est.)
below poverty
line:
Household lowest 10%: 3.5%
income or highest 10%: 33.5% (1997)
consumption by
percentage
share:
Distribution 32.5 (2000)
of family
income - Gini
index:
Inflation rate 4.2% (2005 est.)
(consumer
prices):
Investment 28.1% of GDP (2005 est.)
(gross fixed):
Budget: revenues: $111.2 billion
expenditures: $135.8 billion; including capital
expenditures of $15 billion (2005 est.)
Public debt: 53.8% of GDP (federal and state debt combined) (2005
est.)
Agriculture - rice, wheat, oilseed, cotton, jute, tea, sugarcane,
products: potatoes; cattle, water buffalo, sheep, goats, poultry;
fish
Industries: textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel,
transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum,
machinery, software
Industrial 7.9% (2005 est.)
production
growth rate:
Electricity - 556.8 billion kWh (2003)
production:
Electricity - fossil fuel: 81.7%
production by hydro: 14.5%
source: nuclear: 3.4%
other: 0.3% (2001)
Electricity - 519 billion kWh (2003)
consumption:
Electricity - 187 million kWh (2003)
exports:
Electricity - 1.4 billion kWh (2003)
imports:
Oil - 785,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)
production:
Oil - 2.32 million bbl/day (2003 est.)
consumption:
Oil - exports: 350,000 bbl/day
Oil - imports: 2.09 million bbl/day
Oil - proved 5.7 billion bbl (2005 est.)
reserves:
Natural gas - 27.1 billion cu m (2003 est.)
production:
Natural gas - 27.1 billion cu m (2003 est.)
consumption:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2001 est.)
exports:
Natural gas - 0 cu m (2001 est.)
imports:
Natural gas - 853.5 billion cu m (2005)
proved
reserves:
Current $-12.95 billion (2005 est.)
account
balance:
Exports: $76.23 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Exports - textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods,
commodities: chemicals, leather manufactures
Exports - US 16.7%, UAE 8.5%, China 6.6%, Singapore 5.3%, UK
partners: 4.9%, Hong Kong 4.4% (2005)
Imports: $113.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
commodities:
Imports - China 7.3%, US 5.6%, Switzerland 4.7% (2005)
partners:
Reserves of $136 billion (2005 est.)
foreign
exchange and
gold:
Debt - $125.5 billion (2005 est.)
external:
Economic aid - $2.9 billion (FY98/99)
recipient:
Currency Indian rupee (INR)
(code):
Currency code: INR
Exchange Indian rupees per US dollar - 44.101 (2005), 45.317
rates: (2004), 46.583 (2003), 48.61 (2002), 47.186 (2001)
Fiscal year: 1 April - 31 March
Communications
Telephones - 49.75 million (2005)
main lines in
use:
Telephones - 69,193,321 (2006)
mobile
cellular:
Telephone general assessment: recent deregulation and
system: liberalization of telecommunications laws and policies
have prompted rapid change; local and long distance
service provided throughout all regions of the country,
with services primarily concentrated in the urban
areas; steady improvement is taking place with the
recent admission of private and private-public
investors, but telephone density remains low at about
seven for each 100 persons nationwide but only one per
100 persons in rural areas and a national waiting list
of over 1.7 million; fastest growth is in cellular
service with modest growth in fixed lines
domestic: expansion of domestic service, although still
weak in rural areas, resulted from increased
competition and dramatic reductions in price led in
large part by wireless service; mobile cellular service
(both CDMA and GSM) introduced in 1994 and organized
nationwide into four metropolitan cities and 19 telecom
circles each with about three private service providers
and one state-owned service provider; in recent years
significant trunk capacity added in the form of
fiber-optic cable and one of the world's largest
domestic satellite systems, the Indian National
Satellite system (INSAT), with five satellites
supporting 33,000 very small aperture terminals (VSAT)
international: country code - 91; satellite earth
stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat
(Indian Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges operating
from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta),
Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar,
Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 5 submarine cables, including
Sea-Me-We-3 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai
(Bombay), Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with
landing site at Mumbai (Bombay), South Africa - Far
East (SAFE) with landing site at Cochin, i2icn linking
to Singapore with landing sites at Mumbai (Bombay) and
Chennai (Madras), and Tata Indicom linking Singapore
and Chennai (Madras), provide a significant increase in
the bandwidth available for both voice and data traffic
(2004)
Radio AM 153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)
broadcast
stations:
Radios: 116 million (1997)
Television 562 (of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power
broadcast and 480 stations have less than 1 kW of power) (1997)
stations:
Televisions: 63 million (1997)
Internet .in
country code:
Internet 1,543,289 (2006)
hosts:
Internet 43 (2000)
Service
Providers
(ISPs):
Internet 60 million (2005)
users:
Transportation
Airports: 341 (2006)
Airports - total: 243
with paved over 3,047 m: 17
runways: 2,438 to 3,047 m: 51
1,524 to 2,437 m: 73
914 to 1,523 m: 81
under 914 m: 21 (2006)
Airports - total: 98
with unpaved 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
runways: 1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 42
under 914 m: 48 (2006)
Heliports: 28 (2006)
Pipelines: condensate/gas 8 km; gas 5,184 km; liquid petroleum gas
1,993 km; oil 6,500 km; refined products 6,152 km
(2006)
Railways: total: 63,230 km
broad gauge: 45,718 km 1.676-m gauge (16,528 km
electrified)
narrow gauge: 14,406 km 1.000-m gauge (165 km
electrified); 3,106 km 0.762-m gauge and 0.610-m gauge
(2005)
Roadways: total: 3,851,440 km
paved: 2,411,001 km
unpaved: 1,440,439 km (2002)
Waterways: 14,500 km
note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals
suitable for mechanized vessels (2005)
Merchant total: 316 ships (1000 GRT or over) 7,772,313 GRT/
marine: 13,310,858 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 96, cargo 72, chemical tanker 13,
container 8, liquefied gas 17, passenger 3, passenger/
cargo 10, petroleum tanker 96, roll on/roll off 1
foreign-owned: 10 (China 2, Hong Kong 1, UAE 6, UK 1)
registered in other countries: 46 (Bahamas 1, Comoros
1, Cyprus 5, North Korea 1, Liberia 3, Malta 1,
Mauritius 2, Panama 19, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines 6, Singapore 5, Venezuela 1, unknown 1)
(2006)
Ports and Chennai, Haldia, Jawaharal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata
terminals: (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), New Mangalore,
Vishakhapatnam
Military
Military Army, Navy (includes naval air arm), Air Force, Coast
branches: Guard, various security or paramilitary forces
(includes Border Security Force, Assam Rifles, National
Security Guards, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Special
Frontier Force, Central Reserve Police Force, Central
Industrial Security Force, Railway Protection Force,
and Defense Security Corps)
Military 16 years of age for voluntary military service (2001)
service age
and
obligation:
Manpower males age 16-49: 287,551,111
available for females age 16-49: 268,524,835 (2005 est.)
military
service:
Manpower fit males age 16-49: 219,471,999
for military females age 16-49: 209,917,553 (2005 est.)
service:
Manpower males age 18-49: 11,446,452
reaching females age 16-49: 10,665,877 (2005 est.)
military
service age
annually:
Military $19.04 billion (2005 est.)
expenditures -
dollar figure:
Military 2.5% (2005 est.)
expenditures -
percent of
GDP:
Transnational
Issues
Disputes - since China and India launched a security and foreign
international: policy dialogue in 2005, consolidated discussions
related to the dispute over most of their rugged,
militarized boundary, regional nuclear proliferation,
Indian claims that China transferred missiles to
Pakistan, and other matters continue; various talks and
confidence-building measures have cautiously begun to
defuse tensions over Kashmir, particularly since the
October 2005 earthquake in the region; Kashmir
nevertheless remains the site of the world's largest
and most militarized territorial dispute with portions
under the de facto administration of China (Aksai
Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad
Kashmir and Northern Areas); in 2004, India and
Pakistan instituted a cease fire in Kashmir and in
2005, restored bus service across the highly
militarized Line of Control; Pakistan has taken its
dispute on the impact and benefits of India's building
the Baglihar Dam on the Chenab River in Jammu and
Kashmir to the World Bank for arbitration; UN Military
Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) has
maintained a small group of peacekeepers since 1949;
India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic
Kashmir lands to China in 1964; disputes persist with
Pakistan over Indus River water sharing; to defuse
tensions and prepare for discussions on a maritime
boundary, in 2004, India and Pakistan resurveyed a
portion of the disputed boundary in Sir Creek estuary
at the mouth of the Rann of Kutch; Pakistani maps
continue to show its Junagadh claim in Indian Gujarat
State; discussions with Bangladesh remain stalled to
delimit a small section of river boundary, to exchange
162 miniscule enclaves in both countries, to allocate
divided villages, and to stop illegal cross-border
trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists
through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's
attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the
border; dispute with Bangladesh over New Moore/South
Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters
maritime boundary delimitation; India seeks cooperation
from Bhutan and Burma to keep Indian Nagaland and Assam
separatists from hiding in remote areas along the
borders; Joint Border Committee with Nepal continues to
demarcate minor disputed boundary sections; India
maintains a strict border regime to keep out Maoist
insurgents and control illegal cross-border activities
from Nepal
Refugees and refugees (country of origin): 92,394 (Tibet/China)
internally 57,274 (Sri Lanka) 9,761 (Afghanistan)
displaced IDPs: 600,000 (resulting from 26 December 2004
persons: tsunami); 500,000 (Jammu and Kashmir conflicts; most
IDPs are Kashmiri Hindus) (2005)
Trafficking in current situation: India is a source, destination, and
persons: transit country for men, women, and children trafficked
for the purposes of forced or bonded labor and
commercial sexual exploitation; the large population of
men, women, and children - numbering in the millions -
in debt bondage face involuntary servitude in brick
kilns, rice mills, and embroidery factories, while some
children endure involuntary servitude as domestic
servants; internal trafficking of women and girls for
the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and
forced marriage also occurs; the government estimates
that 90 percent of India's sex trafficking is internal;
India is also a destination for women and girls from
Nepal and Bangladesh trafficked for the purpose of
commercial sexual exploitation; boys from Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Bangladesh are trafficked through India
to the Gulf states for involuntary servitude as child
camel jockeys; Indian men and women migrate willingly
to the Persian Gulf region for work as domestic
servants and low-skilled laborers, but some later find
themselves in situations of involuntary servitude
including extended working hours, nonpayment of wages,
restrictions on their movement by withholding of their
passports or confinement to the home, and physical or
sexual abuse
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - India has been on the
Tier 2 Watch List since 2004 for its failure to show
evidence of increasing efforts to address trafficking
in persons
Illicit drugs: world's largest producer of licit opium for the
pharmaceutical trade, but an undetermined quantity of
opium is diverted to illicit international drug
markets; transit point for illicit narcotics produced
in neighboring countries; illicit producer of
methaqualone; vulnerable to narcotics money laundering
through the hawala system