India vs China: A review on the Aksai Chin

India vs China: A review on the Aksai Chin Border Dispute

India and China share a 4,057 km long border, which has never been officially demarcated or delaminated. The disputed region of Aksai Chin is situated along with this LAC. It is mostly a high altitude desert having few salt lakes situated from 4,800 meters to 5,500 meters above sea level. Stretched over an area of 37,244 sq km, Aksai Chin is almost unliveable at the elevation of 17,000 feet.

In 1865, W. H. Johnson, while drawing maps of the region, showed Aksai Chin in Kashmir region in his proposed ‘Johnson Line’. Critics believed that Johnson’s ambitions had motivated him to present this ‘absurd line’. Based on Johnson’s findings, the Maharaja of Kashmir claimed the additional 18,000 sq km. However, this line was never presented to the Chinese authorities for endorsement. After independence, the Indian government used the Johnson Line, including the Aksai Chin, as the foundation for his official claim on its western limits. However, uptill 1954, the maps of India did not show definite boundaries in the Aksai Chin region and they were described as “undermarcated.” In the wake of growing tensions, both countries fought a brief war in 1962 which culminated in the Chinese victory. After a 15 years diplomatic hiatus, India started its efforts to normalize its relations with China. Consequently, India and China held eight rounds of border discussions between 1981 and 1987, but nothing positive came out. However progress on economic front continued. Major improvement in the bilateral relations was seen in 2003, with the Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China when China’s reorganized Indian sovereignty over Sikkim and India formally recognized Tibet as part of China. Besides, China agreed to allow border trade through Sikkim.

New warmth between Sino-Indian relations has been witnessed with Narendra Modi’s swearing in as the India’s 15^th Prime Minister in May 2014. The Chinese Premier became the first major global leader to call Modi and wished to establish robust partnership with his government. Later, both sides agreed to boast ‘pragmatic cooperation’ and blend the China’s “March West” and India’s “Look Eastward” policies. It seems that in the foreseeable future, both countries would enhance their economic cooperation and bilateral trade, without any compromise on their respective positions on the long standing border issue.