Aksai Chin and Associated Issues

To prepare for Indian Polity for any competitive exam, aspirants have to know about the basics of Union and Territories. It gives an idea of all the topics important for IAS Exam and the polity syllabus (GS-II). Union and Territories and related topics are extremely important for the UPSC Exam. This is an essential portion of the polity. As IAS aspirants, you should be thorough with the Union and Territories. This article will provide you with relevant details about the Aksai Chin and Associated Issues.

• India and China share a 3,488 km long boundary. Unfortunately, the entire boundary is disputed.
• Four states viz., Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and a Union Territories of Ladakh (erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir) share a border with China.
• India and China had never shared a common boundary till China “liberated” or occupied Tibet in 1950.
• It was then that the hitherto India Tibet boundary was transformed into an India-China boundary.
• Since 1954, China started claiming large tracts of territory along the entire border such as Aksai Chin in Jammu and Kashmir, some areas in Uttarakhand and the entire Arunachal Pradesh.
• This episode was followed by intermittent clashes along the border, which finally culminated in the border war of 1962.
• The boundary, which came into existence after the war, came to be known as Line of Actual Control (LAC). It is a military held line.
• The Sino-Indian border is generally divided into three sectors namely: –
  • Western sector
  • Middle sector
  • Eastern sector
• There have been no fires shot along Aksai chin border over last 40 years.
• There are three stages of negotiation:
  • Agreeing to guiding principles to be followed – this is done
  • Recognizing Boundary and area – evolving consensus – this is the toughest one and process is struck here
  • Demarcation of boundaries

• In the western sector, India shares about 2152 km long border with China.
• It is between Union Territory of Ladakh (erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir) and Xinjiang Province of China.
• In this sector, there is a territorial dispute over Aksai Chin.India claims it as part of erstwhile Kashmir, while China claims it is part of Xinjiang.
• The dispute over Aksai Chin can be traced back to the failure of the British Empire to clearly demarcate a legal border between China and its Indian colony.
• During the time of British rule in India, two borders between India and China were proposed- Johnson’s Line and McDonald Line.
• The Johnson’s line (proposed in 1865) shows Aksai Chin in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir(now Ladakh)e. under India’s control whereas McDonald Line (proposed in 1893) places it under China’s control.
• India considers Johnson Line as a correct, rightful national border with China, while on the other hand, China considers the McDonald Line as the correct border with India.
• At present, Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the line separating Indian areas of Ladakh from Aksai Chin. It is concurrent with the Chinese Aksai Chin claim line.

• In this sector, India shares about 625 km long boundary with China which runs along the watershed from Ladakh to Nepal.
• Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand touch this border with Tibet (China) in this sector. Both sides do not have much disagreement over the border in this area.

• In this sector, India shares a 1,140 km long boundary with China.
• It runs from the eastern limit of Bhutan to a point near the Talu-Pass at the trijunction of Tibet, India and Myanmar.
• This boundary line is called McMahon Line.
• China considers the McMahon Line illegaland unacceptable claiming that Tibetan representatives who had signed the 1914 Convention held in Shimla which delineated the McMahon line on the map were not having rights to do so.