The governments of India and China announced on October 25, 2024, that they had implemented an agreement to end tensions along the disputed border in the Himalayas. The dispute between the two countries came to the fore in 2020 with clashes along the border in the Ladakh region. Since then, tensions have remained high, but after four years, they have made significant progress and entered a period of détente.
To summarize the points of disagreement on the border, the following can be mentioned. The 3488 km long India-China border is divided into three sectors. These are the Western Sector across the State of Jammu and Kashmir; the Eastern Sector across Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh; and the Central-Central Sector across Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In all three sectors, India has unresolved border disputes with China. While the disputes on the Eastern and Western borders have been a hot topic, the disputes in the central sector are not well known.
The border dispute in the eastern sector is related to China’s non-recognition of the McMahon Line. The line was drawn by the British-controlled Indian Government in 1914 in an agreement with the Tibetan Government. China does not recognize this agreement. Because it claims that Tibet has no sovereignty to sign such an agreement. China considers the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, now controlled by India, as part of Southern Tibet and rejects the McMahon Line.
In the West, the border dispute concerns the regions of Ladakh, Aksai Chin, and Demochek in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Since the 1962 war, China has retained control of Aksai Chin and Demochek. Pakistan has also ceded some of its border territory to China.
The central sector refers to the territories controlled by India and claimed by China. These areas are Chumar, Kaurik, Shipki La, Nelang, and Laptha in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. China claims that these areas are part of Tibet.
Claims to sovereignty over high-altitude areas such as the Tibetan Plateau and the Ladakh region have long been a source of occasional tension in the South Asian region. These disputes have sometimes led to clashes and large-scale military build-ups. Both India and China maintain troops along a 2,100-mile-long de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which is not clearly defined and has remained unclear since the 1962 war between the two countries. [i]
Following the Pangong Lake clash in April 2020, as India’s Army Chief General MM Naravane put it, “temporary and short-lived clashes”[ii] were considered a normal process between the countries. However, the deadly border clash in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh in the same year brought this process to an unprecedented level of tension. For the first time in more than four decades, there were known casualties.
At the 2023 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi agreed to “intensify efforts” to reduce the disputed border tension. Accordingly, the 31st round of border talks was held in August by Chinese and Indian negotiators, but with both sides continuing to patrol the area and the buffer zone remaining in place, no definitive conclusion has been reached.[iii] In addition, the new border agreement, with its more precise judgments and scope, will affect both the regional and global balances between the two countries.
With the new border agreement, is planned to reduce the number of troops in the region, take withdrawal steps, remove structures such as huts and tents, take back vehicles, and maintain the existing border lines in the region. A source in the Indian government announced that the troops facing each other at two points on the border in the Ladakh region of the Western Himalayas have started to withdraw and the tension has ended.
It has also been reported that troops from both sides have begun to withdraw from Depsang and Demchok, the last points of confrontation.[iv] This process is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The agreement could ease tensions between India and China by maintaining peace in the Himalayas region. It could also contribute to the overall stability of South Asia.
India and China are among the world’s largest economies. The easing of border issues could create an opportunity for improved economic relations between the two countries. Platforms such as QUAD, comprising the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, are stepping up efforts to balance China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. India’s approach to such alliances also depends on its relations with China. The easing of tensions on the border may help India to adopt a more cautious stance in possible new alliances with the West.
[i] “India and China have struck a deal that could ease border tensions ahead of expected leader meeting”, CNN World, https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/22/asia/india-china-border-agreement-intl-hnk/index.html, (Accessed: 26.10.2024).
[ii] “A border dispute between India and China is getting more serious”, The Economist, https://l1nq.com/xBxaV, (Accessed: 26.10.2024).
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] “India, China begin implementing new border pact, ending Himalayan face-off”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/india-china-start-pulling-back-troops-border-face-off-points-source-says-2024-10-25/, (Acessed: 26.10.2024).
