Border Tourism and National Security in India: A Study of the Border Tourism with Special Reference to Uttarakhand Stat

Uttarakhand is a crucial border state in India and has a geostrategic importance. The falling population in border villages of Uttarakhand, located within 5 kilometres of the international border, raised a huge concern of border security in recent time. These border village residents as well as nomads in the upper reaches are an invaluable asset for the security forces with respect to early warning and surveillance of unmanned areas. Therefore, it is important to stop the forced migration from the border areas. Border tourism can play a significant role to engage the locals in tourism activities and stop them to migrate other cities in search of bread and butter. In the recent time, border tourism has been given a considerable attention by the Government of India. Amritsar (Atari) and Rajasthan border with Pakistan has been promoted among tourists as border tourism areas. In the same way, the Government of India has promoted North-East Indian states for border tourism with Inner Line Permits. The state of Uttarakhand shares the border with China and Nepal. This border sharing has a huge potential of border tourism development in the state. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the opportunities of border tourism in the Uttarakhand state along with its importance in national security. Furthermore, this paper finds out the opportunities of border tourism in Uttarakhand and the future roadmap of its development.