Tension between India and China

• Hindi-Chini Bhai-Bhai — the famous slogan which was the tagline of India’s diplomacy with China in the mid-1950s now seems to be a distant dream as the two Asian powerhouses are entangled in a serious border dispute along Eastern Ladakh and Naku La in Sikkim.
• The India-China border has been witnessing tensions over the past couple of months, with incidents reported in at least four different locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• The boundary in the Sikkim sector is broadly agreed, but has not been delineated. Face-offs occur when military patrols encounter each other in the contested zones between overlapping claim lines. Protocols agreed to in 2005 and 2013 detail rules of engagement to prevent such incidents, but have not always been adhered to.

Where and Why do face-off occur?

• Face-off and stand-off situations occur along the LAC in areas where India and China have overlapping claim lines. The LAC has never been demarcated. Differing perceptions are particularly acute in around two dozen spots across the Western (Ladakh), Middle (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), Sikkim, and Eastern (Arunachal Pradesh) sectors of the India-China border.
• LAC that has never been demarcated. As a result, India and China have overlapping claim lines along LAC which leads to such clashes.

Why has not the LAC been demarcated?

• India has already proposed an exercise to clarify differing perceptions of the LAC to prevent such incidents a long time ago. Maps were exchanged in the Middle Sector, but the exercise fell through in the Western Sector where separation between both the border is the greatest.
• China has since rejected this exercise, viewing it as adding another complication to the on-going boundary negotiations. India’s argument is rather than agree on one LAC, the exercise could help both sides understand the claims of the other, paving the way to regulate activities in contested areas until a final settlement of the boundary dispute.

What is behind the latest tensions?

• The northern bank of Pangong lake has always been a point of dispute where there are differing perceptions of the LAC.
• The stand-off in Galwan valley (not many incidents in past as LAC was thought to be settled here) was triggered by China moving in troops & equipment to stop construction activity by India.
• India says that construction was well within India’s side of the LAC, but China thinks otherwise.
• The broader context for the unexpected tensions in Sikkim appears to be a changing dynamic along the LAC, as India plays catch-up in improving infrastructure there.
• China has enjoyed an advantage in infrastructure as well as terrain that is more favourable to mobilisation in Sikkim area and likes to maintain status-quo.