{"id":37134,"date":"2023-08-25T12:40:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T07:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=37134"},"modified":"2025-04-22T11:18:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T05:48:59","slug":"line-of-actual-control-lac-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/line-of-actual-control-lac-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Line of Actual Control (LAC)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>\u200b<strong>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is the Line of Actual Control (LAC)?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>LAC vs Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Disagreement over the LAC<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Why are these Claim Lines Controversial in Ladakh?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Current Arrangement to Reconcile Differences over LAC<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Plans for Expeditious De-escalation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Legacy Issues that Need to be Resolved<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Indian PM and Chinese President agreed on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit to intensify efforts for expeditious disengagement and de-escalation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.<\/li>\n<li>With this, the spotlight is now on the exact contours of plans being drawn up by military commanders on the ground to pull back troops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the Line of Actual Control (LAC)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/8\/25\/13\/31\/30\/64e85fdaf150960598091c29_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/>\u200b<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The LAC is the\u00a0<strong>demarcation\u00a0<\/strong>that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It is divided into three sectors:<\/strong>\u00a0the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.<\/li>\n<li><strong>India<\/strong>\u00a0considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the\u00a0<strong>Chinese\u00a0<\/strong>consider it to be only around 2,000 km.<\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s claim line<\/strong>\u00a0is 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.\u00a0<strong>This means LAC is not the claim line for India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>In China\u2019s case<\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>LAC is the claim line except in the eastern sector<\/strong>, where it claims the entire Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>LAC vs Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The LoC emerged from the 1948 ceasefire<\/strong>\u00a0line negotiated by the UN after the Kashmir War.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It was designated as the LoC in 1972<\/strong>, following the\u00a0<strong>Shimla\u00a0<\/strong>Agreement between the two countries (India and Pakistan).<\/li>\n<li><strong>It is delineated on a map signed by DGMOs<\/strong>\u00a0of both armies and has the international sanctity of a legal agreement.<\/li>\n<li><strong>On the other hand, the LAC is only a concept<\/strong>. It is not agreed upon by the two countries, neither delineated on a map or demarcated on the ground.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Disagreement over the LAC:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The major disagreements<\/strong>\u00a0are in the\u00a0<strong>western\u00a0<\/strong>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 \u2018line\u2019 in 1956.<\/li>\n<li><strong>After the 1962 War<\/strong>, the Chinese claimed they had withdrawn to 20 km behind the LAC of 1959, which coincides with the so-called\u00a0<strong>McMahon Line<\/strong>\u00a0in the eastern sector.<\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Response to China\u2019s Designation of the LAC:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India rejected the concept of LAC in both 1959 and 1962, as it is the line China has created.<\/li>\n<li>The Chinese line\u00a0<strong>was a disconnected series of points on a map that could be joined up in many ways<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The line should omit gains from aggression in 1962\u00a0<\/strong>and therefore should be based on the actual position on September 8, 1962 before the Chinese attack.<\/li>\n<li><strong>This vagueness<\/strong>\u00a0of the Chinese definition left it open for China to continue its creeping attempt to change facts on the ground by military force.<\/li>\n<li><strong>During the Doklam crisis in 2017<\/strong>, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson urged India to abide by the \u201c1959 LAC\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why are these Claim Lines Controversial in Ladakh?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Aksai Chin in Ladakh province<\/strong>\u00a0of the princely state of J&amp;K was not part of British India, although it was a part of the British Empire.<\/li>\n<li>Thus, the eastern boundary was well defined in 1914 (when the\u00a0<strong>Shimla Agreement<\/strong>\u00a0on the McMahon Line was signed by British India) but in the west in Ladakh, it was not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Current Arrangement to Reconcile Differences over LAC:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>India formally accepted<\/strong>\u00a0the concept of the LAC when the Indian PM paid a return visit to Beijing in 1993 (after Chinese Premier Li Peng\u2019s 1991 visit to India).\n<ul>\n<li>The two sides signed the\u00a0<strong>Agreement to Maintain Peace and Tranquility at the LAC<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The reference to the LAC was unable to make it clear<\/strong>\u00a0that it was referring to the LAC at the time the agreement was signed, not the LAC of 1959 or 1962.<\/li>\n<li><strong>To reconcile the differences about some areas<\/strong>, the two countries agreed that the\u00a0<strong>Joint Working Group\u00a0<\/strong>on the border issue would take up the task of clarifying the alignment of the LAC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Plans for Expeditious De-escalation along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The extent of disengagement and where on the LAC it will take place is not immediately clear.<\/li>\n<li>However, various modalities have been prepared for possible limited disengagement in phases.<\/li>\n<li><strong>For example<\/strong>, since 2020,\u00a0<strong>Corps Commanders of India and China<\/strong>\u00a0have been discussing resolution of the flashpoints along the LAC.\n<ul>\n<li>The talks led to some forward movement with both sides deciding to pull back troops and dismantle temporary structures from the\u00a0<strong>Galwan Valley.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Disengagement in most of these areas led to the creation of buffer zones<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; this stops troops of both sides from accessing areas which they patrolled earlier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Legacy Issues that Need to be Resolved:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/8\/25\/13\/31\/32\/64e85fdcf150960598091c2a_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/>\u200b<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Other than these friction points,\u00a0<strong>the legacy issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok<\/strong>\u00a0&#8211; which predate the 2020 incursions by the Chinese PLA &#8211; continue to fester.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Depsang Plains<\/strong>\u00a0are 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.\n<ul>\n<li>Despite the two countries agreeing then to go back from their positions, the PLA troops did not vacate the area completely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>In Demchok<\/strong>, which is in the southern part of eastern Ladakh, the problem is mainly at the ChardingNinglung Nullah (CNN) junction.\n<ul>\n<li>In multiple instances, the PLA also stopped Indian graziers at the Saddle Pass at the CNN junction, well within India\u2019s perception of the LAC.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) Who are the new entrants to the BRICS grouping?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have all been invited to become members of BRICS at the 15<sup>th<\/sup> BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) Where is Doklam located?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Doklam plateau is an area in Bhutan, located on the tri-junction of Tibet-Bhutan-India border lies between Chumbi Valley in the north and Sikkim to the west. In 2017, a military standoff occurred between China and India, as China attempted to extend a road on the Doklam plateau.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/india-china-lac-buffer-zones-to-depsang-to-demchok-spotlight-on-pullback-plan-the-extent-8908278\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>India-China LAC | Buffer zones to Depsang to Demchok: Spotlight on pullback plan, the extent<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/line-of-actual-control-where-it-is-located-and-where-india-and-china-differ-6436436\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>IE<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37135,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}