#WORLD AFFAIRS ■ Not For Third Party in LAC Talks , China Tells US

#WORLD AFFAIRS 

■ Not For Third Party in LAC Talks , China Tells US 

✅China's military said it is "opposed to third-party involvement" in the India-China border dispute

✅It responded at the comments from Washington ahead of the 4th round of talks between Indian and Chinese 

military commanders earlier this month 

✅The US had earlier said that it was "closely monitoring" the situation and was concerned about Beijing's "destabilising" behaviour and "attempt to intimidate its neighbours"

 

● India-China border dispute 

✅The root cause of border dispute lies in an ill-defined, 3,440 km (2,100-mile)-long border that both countries dispute. 

✅Four states Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand (erstwhile part of UP), Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh and Union Territories of Ladakh (erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir) share a border with China 

✅There is no mutually agreed Line of Actual Control (LAC) between both countries which separates Indian 

controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory 

✅India claims that it is 3,488 km long while Chinese claim it to be 2,000 km long 

✅LAC is being divided in three sectors namely Western, Middle and Eastern sectors 

✅Western sector: Boundary dispute in this area of Ladakh pertains to Johnson Line proposed by the British in the 1860s 

✅It extended up to Kunlun Mountains and put Aksai Chin in the then princely Jammu and Kashmir. 

✅India used the Johnson Line and claimed Aksai chin as its own. 

✅China, however, does not recognise it as it accepts the McDonald Line which puts Aksai Chin under its control. 

✅Middle sector: there is a minor dispute in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

✅It is least controversial except for alignment followed in Barahoti plains. 

✅India and China have exchanged maps for this area on which they broadly agree. 

✅Eastern sector: the disputed boundary in this Sector is in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim 

✅Chinese representatives initiated the agreement on it but refused to accept it later 

✅The Tawang tract which was claimed by China was taken over by India in 1951 

● Galwan standoff 

✅The Indian and Chinese armies were engaged in a tense stand-off at three points along the Line of Actual Control namely the Galwan River Valley, Hot Springs area and the Pangong Lake in 2020 

✅Even as India and China were engaged in military-level talks and in controlled engagement, there was a violent face-off between the army troops of both sides at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region. 

✅Border remains tense as reports say that China is upgrading and installing radars swifly along the LAC. 

● Disengagement process since standoff 

✅India and China have undertaken 11 rounds of military negotiations for disengagement and de-escalation in Eastern Ladakh since the standoff had began

✅In all of these talks, India's goal has been to restore the status quo of April 2020. 

✅Both sides have agreed to disengage from the finger regions on the North Bank of the Pangong Tso. 

✅Both sides have also emptied the heights of the Kailash ranges on the South Bank, which were advantageous to the Indian Army. 

✅However, disengagement discussions in Gogra and Hotsprings, as well as Demchok and the crucial Depsang Valley, have made little progress. 

SOURCE - THE HINDU