Read the below statements marked as Assertion (A) and Reason (R). Assertion (A): India and Nepal continue to experience unresolved border tensions in regions like Kalapani and Susta, despite finalizing over 90% of their boundary strip maps. Reason (R): The border dispute in Susta arises due to encroachments by Nepalese villagers across the international border marked by the Treaty of Sugauli of 1816.

Correct — C. A is true. India and Nepal have settled about 98 per cent of their boundary, but Kalapani and Susta remain disputed.

R is false. The Susta dispute arises from the Gandak changing its course, not from villagers crossing a fixed border.

Nepal holds the river's 1816 course as the boundary, so the land the Gandak has since moved from one bank to the other is what the two sides contest.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A — R is false, so it cannot explain A. Susta is disputed because the Gandak shifted course after the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli, not because of encroachment.
• (b)
  Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A — This option needs R to be true, and it is not. Susta became disputed when the Gandak moved, carrying land from one bank of the river to the other.
• (d)
  A is false, but R is true — A is true, not false. About 98 per cent of the boundary is agreed, and Kalapani and Susta are the areas still in dispute.

The Treaty of Sugauli (1816), which ended the Anglo-Nepalese War, made the Kali (Mahakali) river Nepal's western boundary.

Kalapani, administered by India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district, is disputed over where the Kali rises: India places the source south of Lipulekh, Nepal at Limpiyadhura.

Susta lies on the Gandak (Narayani) river on the Bihar stretch of the border, and is disputed because the river moved.

Key facts

• About 98 per cent of the India–Nepal boundary is settled, with Kalapani and Susta still disputed.
• The Treaty of Sugauli (1816) made the Kali (Mahakali) river Nepal's western boundary.
• Susta is disputed because the Gandak (Narayani) river changed its course.
• Kalapani is administered by India as part of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand.

Common traps

• Accepting R because encroachment sounds like a typical border story. At Susta the cause is the river's shift.
• Doubting A over the words 'over 90%'. About 98 per cent is settled, which is over 90.

No directly related past PYQ was found.