Far East: Modern Surveillance and the Future of Nepal’s Open Border

Elmir Jafarov

On August 20 to 21, 2026, the 14th meeting of the India - Nepal Joint Working Group (JWG) was held in Dehradun, India. During the meeting, the two countries discussed issues and policies in regard with trans-border crime, roads and railway networks, and the removal of encroachments and maintenance of boundary pillars.

The two countries agreed to exploit modern technology, including closed-circuit television (CCTV) and other equipment, to strengthen security surveillance in sensitive areas along a long-standing open international border, where citizens of India and Nepal have had extensive freedom of movement historically. Ms. Pausumi Basu, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs of India, and Mr. Ananda Kafle, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs of Nepal represented their home countries to attend the meeting, where they discussed the growing scale and number of cross-border crimes from drug trafficking and human trafficking to arms smuggling, counterfeit currency and digital fraud. They further cited these factors as a major reason to utilize technology to enhance security surveillance level along the border. 

This move marks a technological shift for a border that has traditionally been open and characterized by the free movement of people and goods. For decades, Nepalis and Indians have crossed much of the roughly 1,880 - kilometer boundary freely — no visas or passports. In the past, Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the border as an "open border" and emphasized its importance in facilitating unhindered movement of people across the two nations. 

Where is the Nepal-Indian Border?

Nepal is a landlocked Himalayan country situated between India to the south, east, and west and China to the north. Nepal's southern frontier with India stretches for roughly 1,750 to 1,800 km. It is both a mountain frontier and a plain frontier, as much of it runs through the Terai, Nepal's southern plains. Meanwhile, The Terai is geographically connected to the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India.

This landscape of the Nepal- India border makes it fundamentally different from an international border at a continuous mountain range or desert. This is largely due to how roads, farms, rivers, towns and settlements are built across the nearby regions along the boundary. Therefore, people and their communities from both countries have long maintained close economic, cultural and family connections. The geography also explains why the border has historically been relatively open, as it is part of an interconnected social and economic landscape.

Since the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between India and Nepal was signed in 1960, a framework for building friendly connections between the two countries has been established. 

India's Ministry of Home Affairs has characterized the border as "open, porous and thickly populated." Furthermore, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) noted that Nepalis cross the border for employment, income-generating opportunities and other forms of mobility. The sense of openness for work, trade, education, family visits and other everyday activities has long existed in the daily life of people living near the border. Particularly for Nepal, a landlocked country, its geographical relation to India makes its economic and cultural access across the border particularly important.

When Openness Creates Vulnerability

According to a United Nations study on trafficking and migrant smuggling in South Asia, called “Standard Operating Procedures to Counter Cross Border Trafficking in Persons: India-Nepal”, as movement from Nepal to India is relatively easy because of the long, open border, many undocumented cross-border movements have occurred outside formal entry points, which makes trafficking more difficult to identify. These trafficking networks have exploited the border's openness to move women and children, and other vulnerable groups to India. Additionally, according to the U.S. State Department's 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report, traffickers exploit Nepal's open border with India to transport Nepali women and children for sex trafficking. 

Surveillance 

The tension and danger caused by human trafficking explains the two governments’ increasing attention to technology. Traditional surveillance, for instance, by instantly patrol officers, became no longer reliable, as people have to consistently look after a long, densely populated border where people have historically moved with relatively few restrictions. A more efficient and convenient approach is technology: CCTV cameras and other surveillance systems allow authorities to observe activity without physically blocking every traveler. 

This change may represent an attempt to make an open border more visible to the authorities who maintain the duty to secure and protect it, which leads to a new question for both governments: how can a system increase the ability to detect trafficking and other crimes while preserving the freedom of movement that has long defined the border?