SUMMARY
The conflict over larger and smaller border areas between India and China has been less intense in terms of fatalities than the protracted border conflict between India and Pakistan in the past few decades. After tense years following the Sino-Indian war in 1962, India and China resumed formal diplomatic relations in 1976. Since then, several bilateral dialogues and agreements over the border issues have taken place between the two countries. However, the disputed border areas remain unsettled, which results in periodical border transgressions that sometimes escalate to military stand-offs along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Since 1975, all border confrontations and military stand-offs between the two countries had been diffused without suffering any fatalities until the border clash turned deadly in 2020. UCDP recorded 25 fatalities in 2020, the highest since the conflict between India and China in 1967. After nine rounds of talks, India and China agreed to withdraw their military forces from the Pangong Lake area on 11 February 2021.
IN DEPTH
Post-Independence of India
When India gained its independence in 1947, the demarcation of borders between British India and China had occurred at only a few places. In spite of unsettled border issues, Sino-Indian relations in the early 1950s were relatively cordial. India was among the first countries to recognize the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru even acted as a mediator between the USA and China during the Korean War, in addition to pushing China's representation at the United Nations. On 29 April 1954, the historic Panchsheel agreement that highlighted five principles of peaceful coexistence was signed between the two countries.
The relationship, however, started deteriorating with a series of relatively small border clashes in the late 1950s. India responded by adopting the so-called “Forward Policy” in November 1961 and started building military outposts to control contested border areas. China saw this as an intrusion into what China claims to be part of its territory. The Tibetan rebellion in 1959 further complicated their relationship. Granting political asylum to the Dalai Lama in March 1959 was perceived as direct interference in its internal affairs by China. China accused the Dalai Lama of carrying separatist activities from India, which India denied. Overall, the India-China relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s were marked by diplomatic accusations and several smaller border skirmish, which eventually led to a brief but bitter war in 1962.
1962 Sino-Indian war and violent conflict in 1967
The Sino-Indian war began on 20 October 1962; this would become the only conflict between India and China that ever reached the intensity of war. The main disputed areas were – the Aksai Chin plateau on the western edge of the India-China frontier and the McMahon Line on the eastern end. The Ardagh Johnson line included the Aksai Chin within British India in contrast to another proposed British border, known as the Macartney-MacDonald line, which placed almost all of the Aksai Chin’s main section in Sinkiang. After independence, the Indian government endorsed the Ardagh-Johnson line and claimed Aksai Chin as a part of the union territory of Ladakh. On the other hand, China claimed that the border had never been delineated, and the Macartney-MacDonald line was the only border that was ever proposed to the Chinese government. Even regarding the Macartney-MacDonald line, there was no formal agreement between China and British India. Thus, China claims the Aksai Chin area as a part of its Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Tibet.
China also challenged the McMahon Line's legitimacy and claimed the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA; present-day Indian state of Arunachala Pradesh) in its entirety. The McMahon Line, demarcating the borders between Tibet and Arunachala Pradesh, was decided based on the Simla Convention between Tibet and British India in 1914. China argued that Tibetan authorities had no legal right to conclude any border treaty with the British. Largely centered around these two border issues, the interstate war in 1962 lasted for roughly a month. Although the border dispute was not settled, China declared a unilateral ceasefire on 21 November 1962 and withdrew its troops to the border held before 20 October. India and China engaged in another brutal border skirmish in 1967 along Nathu La and Cho La mountain passes that connected Sikkim, a protectorate of India at the time, and Tibet. On 11 September, clashes began in Nathu La, which allegedly emerged over India's fence construction near the disputed border area. After the five-day clash in Nathu La, another military clash took place in Cho La pass, a few km north of Nathu La, in early October. According to the Indian version of events, the clash began after Chinese troops infiltrated into Sikkim and claimed Cho La Pass.
The last fatalities until the clash in 2020 were recorded in 1975 when border patrols from respective countries engaged in a minor scuffle near Arunachal Pradesh's border.
Negotiations and Bilateral Relationship post-1975
Formal diplomatic relations between India and China resumed in 1976, but border issues were left out of discussion till 1980. From late-1981 to mid-1986, several rounds of bilateral dialogues were held in both countries. Both parties finally agreed to review the boundary issue in its entirety in 1985 and maintain the status quo at the disputed borders for the time being.
The progress made over the years was abruptly strained after India accused China of intruding into Arunachal Pradesh in 1986. The rift eventually subsided without suffering any fatalities, and diplomatic engagements in the following years resulted in the signing of the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement (BPTA) in 1993. In accordance with BPTA, an agreement on confidence-building measures in the military field along the LAC was signed in 1996. The agreement prohibited gun and explosives usage and limited military forces and armaments along the LAC. In late 1998, both countries agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) to defuse tension along the borders. Another agreement in 2005 addressed standard operating procedures in disputed border areas. In late 2007, both sides agreed to hold an annual defense dialogue to address common border concerns. However, such meetings have not taken place since 2015. Two other bilateral agreements on border issues were signed in 2012 and 2013.
Military stand-offs and deadly clash in 2020
In spite of the progress in bilateral relations and several agreements on border issues, the dispute over the border is far from resolved. Due to the lack of properly demarcated borders, border patrols from respective countries have periodically accused each other of transgressing into each other's claimed border posts. Infrastructure constructions, like roads, around the disputed areas, are usually immediate triggers for the sporadic hostilities between the two countries. In recent times, military stand-offs between the two countries were observed near the border areas along Depsang valley in 2013, Chumur village in 2014, Doklam in 2017. Although the Doklam territorial dispute primarily concerns China and Bhutan, it turned into an India-China dispute in 2017 after India sent troops to stop China’s road construction in the area. India argued that Chinese military activity posed a security threat to its northeast region. The military stand-off lasted for more than two months until both parties finally agreed on troops’ disengagement in the area. Similar to the 2017 military stand-off, other border tensions between the two countries usually end without any fatalities even if they last for days or months; however, the clash in 2020 broke this trend of avoiding any fatalities.
Before the deadly clash in June 2020, Indian officials had accused the Chinese military of intrusion across the border in the northern side of the Pangong Tso Lake and some of the Galwan river valley. On 5 May, the first military standoff began near Pangong Tso lake, which extends from Ladakh to Tibet. Soldiers from both countries engaged in stone-pelting and fistfights along the LAC. A similar incident occurred on 10 May in Muguthang valley in Sikkim. While these events ended with only injuries, the border clash on 6 June killed twenty Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers near the Galwan Valley in the eastern Ladakh. India's construction of a new road near the disputed board areas is seen as one of the main triggers behind the conflict in June. Both countries then stationed tens of thousands of soldiers along the Line of Actual Control. Tensions reemerged on 29 August after India accused Chinese soldiers of intruding Pangong Tso lake's southern bank. A day later, an Indian solider died in a mine blast while patrolling the area.
After nine rounds of talks, India and China agreed to withdraw their military forces from the Pangong Lake area on 11 February 2021.
