Line of Actual Control (LAC)

• The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
• It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.
• India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km.
• India’s claim line is the line seen in the official boundary marked on the maps as released by the Survey of India, including both Aksai Chin and Gilgit-Baltistan. This means LAC is not the claim line for India.
• In China’s case, LAC is the claim line except in the eastern sector, where it claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet. 

Disagreement over the LAC:

• The major disagreements are in the western sector where the LAC emerged from two letters written by Chinese PM Zhou Enlai to PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959, after he had first mentioned such a ‘line’ in 1956.
• After the 1962 War, the Chinese claimed they had withdrawn to 20 km behind the LAC of 1959, which coincides with the so-called McMahon Line in the eastern sector.
• India’s Response to China’s Designation of the LAC:
• India rejected the concept of LAC in both 1959 and 1962, as it is the line China has created.
• The Chinese line was a disconnected series of points on a map that could be joined up in many ways.
• The line should omit gains from aggression in 1962 and therefore should be based on the actual position on September 8, 1962 before the Chinese attack.
• This vagueness of the Chinese definition left it open for China to continue its creeping attempt to change facts on the ground by military force.
• During the Doklam crisis in 2017, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged India to abide by the “1959 LAC”.

Claim Lines Controversial in Ladakh

• Aksai Chin in Ladakh province of the princely state of J&K was not part of British India, although it was a part of the British Empire.
• Thus, the eastern boundary was well defined in 1914 (when the Shimla Agreement on the McMahon Line was signed by British India) but in the west in Ladakh, it was not. 

Current Arrangement to Reconcile Differences over LAC:

• India formally accepted the concept of the LAC when the Indian PM paid a return visit to Beijing in 1993 (after Chinese Premier Li Peng’s 1991 visit to India). The two sides signed the Agreement to Maintain Peace and Tranquility at the LAC.
• The reference to the LAC was unable to make it clear that it was referring to the LAC at the time the agreement was signed, not the LAC of 1959 or 1962.
• To reconcile the differences about some areas, the two countries agreed that the Joint Working Group on the border issue would take up the task of clarifying the alignment of the LAC. 

The Plans for Expeditious De-escalation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh:

• The extent of disengagement and where on the LAC it will take place is not immediately clear.
• However, various modalities have been prepared for possible limited disengagement in phases.
• For example, since 2020, Corps Commanders of India and China have been discussing resolution of the flashpoints along the LAC. The talks led to some forward movement with both sides deciding to pull back troops and dismantle temporary structures from the Galwan Valley.
• Disengagement in most of these areas led to the creation of buffer zones - this stops troops of both sides from accessing areas which they patrolled earlier.

Legacy Issues that Need to be Resolved:

• Other than these friction points, the legacy issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok - which predate the 2020 incursions by the Chinese PLA - continue to fester.
• The Depsang Plains are located close to the strategically important Daulat Beg Oldie. The Depsang Plains issue began in 2013 when China carried out an 18-km incursion in the area. Despite the two countries agreeing then to go back from their positions, the PLA troops did not vacate the area completely.
• In Demchok, which is in the southern part of eastern Ladakh, the problem is mainly at the ChardingNinglung Nullah (CNN) junction. In multiple instances, the PLA also stopped Indian graziers at the Saddle Pass at the CNN junction, well within India’s perception of the LAC.