India- China Relations

Summary of the main issue between India and China

1. The McMahon line: Border issue is rooted in the disputed status of the
McMahon Line, which defines the border between India and Tibet.
2. India recognizes this agreement as the basis for its territorial claim while
China objected the validity of McMahon Line that was drawn in 1914 Simla
convention.
3. India claims 43,180 squares KM of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by China
including 5180 square KM ceded to China by Pakistan under a 1963 China-
Pakistan boundary Agreement.
4. On the other hand, China claims 90,000 square KM of territory held by India
in Arunachal Pradesh.
5. The issue has been unresolved because China believes Aksai Chin as the
main link between Tibet and Xinjiang province of China. India claims Aksai
Chin is part of Ladakh.
6. Aksai Chin—Biggest disputed territory, is 38,000 sq km in size. For India it is
part of Ladakh. China was claiming the region as its own since the 50s. In
1957, built its Western Highway that connects Xinjiang with Tibet, cutting
across Aksai Chin. Eventually occupied it after 1962.
7. India also claims Arunachal Pradesh as a crucial buffer that also brings in
stability to India’s north-eastern insurgent affected areas.
Geography and History at Play
1. With the independence of the Republic of India in 1947 and the
formation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the year 1949, one
of the key FP issues was who could or should occupy the strategic buffer
region between the two countries?
2. The buffer region was - Tibet.
3. Between 147 and 51 Nehru treated Tibet much like the way Brits
treated- i.e. as an autonomous buffer state. It was not seen as part of
China.
4. In 1950 China marched into Tibet and established control. They had
claimed Tibetan Autonomous Region for long time. India protested
loudly.
5. Fearing Chinese claims on other frontiers, in 1951 Nehru established a
series of Defence treaties with Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim.
6. This formed the background to the Panchsheel agreement in 1954,
under which Nehru tacitly recognized China’s occupation. In return India
expected that China would recognize India’s claim over Indo-Tibetan
border as well as India’s special relations with the Himalayan states of
Bhutan, Nepal and Sikkim.
7. China, though never accepted this in its entirety. By mid-1950’s Chinese
maps showed some 120,000 square kilometers of Indian territory as
Chinese.
 8. Meanwhile trouble erupted in the occupied Tibet region against Chinese
takeover and was followed by a massive crackdown by the Chinese.
Dalai fled to India in 1959 that further complicated the situation.
9. In 1960 China called for a firming up of territorial boundaries in areas
other than Tibet. This India refused.

6 Top People's Republic of China leader, Mao Zedong felt humiliated by the
reception Dalai Lama obtained in India when he fled there in March 1959.
Tensions increased between the two nations when Mao stated that the
Lhasa rebellion in Tibet was caused by Indians.

10.China's perception of India as a threat to its rule of Tibet became one of

the most prominent reasons for the Sino-Indian War. Even today China
claims Arunachal as part of Tibet.

11.Various conflicts and military incidents between India and China flared
up between 1959 through the summer of 1962.

12.The month-long war in 1962 between October and November

culminated with the Chinese unilaterally claiming 43,000 square
kilometers of land in Aksai Chin in Ladakh. It is of the size of Switzerland.
Around 3,250 Indian soldiers were killed.
Current areas of discord spread across the LAC
Line of actual control—a notional line accepted by both India and China
after the 1962 war is currently the working boundary between India and
China.
Total length: 3,440 km. It is divided into three sectors: eastern, middle &
western.

Eastern sector (from Sikkim till the border with Myanmar)

most disputed territories are in Arunachal Pradesh...

Middle sector From Demchok in Ladakh till the border with Nepal 545 km,
runs along Himachal and UP.
Western sector From northwest of Karakoram pass to Demchok.

China’s bid to encircle India: The String of Pearls strategy

Those having slightest of interest in India-China relationship are familiar

with the String of Pearls theory.

The report said that China was working on a strategy to expand its
influence in the Indian Ocean to extract maximum benefit from it and
contain Indian hold in the region.

China was expected to raise civilian and military infrastructure at chosen

points on the islands or ports - metaphorically called pearls - surrounding
India.
String of pearl, in geostrategic parlance, refers to the Strait of Malacca, Sri
Lanka, Pakistan, the Maldives, the Strait of Hormuz and Somalia. It also
includes Bangladesh and Myanmar in Chinese strategy.

In the last 15 years or so, China has assiduously perfected its strategic
encirclement of India.

Myanmar: China has developed assets in Myanmar. It has built a gas

pipeline of about 2,400 km from Myanmar to China.

Straits of Malacca: China is said to have developed a naval base near Strait
of Malacca, which is a distant part of Australia.
Bangladesh: Further north in the Bay of Bengal, China developed the port
of Chittagong in Bangladesh. It has given China a foothold and stake in the
Bay of Bengal. Significant part of Chinese trade passes through this port.

Sri Lanka: China developed a port at Hambantola on the southeastern part

of Sri Lanka. A Chinese company built the port and gained control to
manage it.

Nepal: To add to India's diplomatic woes in the neighbourhood, China has

successfully driven a wedge between India and Nepal by unifying the two
Communist parties in Nepal. Both the militant Nepali Communist leader,
Prachanda, and its PM, KP Sharma Oli, are solidly pro-Chinese and already
have taken some steps to distance themselves from Nepal's traditional
fraternal relationship with India. 

Bhutan: India has to further ensure that its traditional relations with its tiny
but strategic neighbour, Bhutan, does not follow the Nepalese pattern.
After the Chinese engineered Doklam crisis in September, 2017, Bhutan has
become apprehensive of a strong China creating political problems for
them.

Pakistan:

a) Gwadar Port: China has constructed the Gwadar port on Arabian sea, in
Baluchistan to secure Pakistan. The Gwadar port has gained further
significance as China joined what was originally conceived as the Iran-
Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
 India withdrew from the project as it was not assured of the security of
the pipeline in certain stretches in Pakistan. The project is now called
Iran-Pakistan-China pipeline. It touches Gwadar on its route to China.

b) OBOR: 

The one trillion USD, OBOR was announced in 2013 by the current
Chinese President and supreme leader Xi Jinping. The broad plan is to
connect Asia, Africa and Europe.

Belt and Road initiative comprises of a “belt” of overland corridors and a

maritime “road” of shipping lanes.

From South-east Asia to Eastern Europe and Africa, Belt and Road
includes 71 countries that account for half the world’s population and a
quarter of global GDP.

India has opposed the OBOR as it passes through the disputed Gilgit
Baltistan districts ibn POK. It has marked geo-political and military
repercussions for India.

India’s response

India has identified the challenge from China's String of Pearls strategy.
India has made serious attempts to improve its relation with its maritime
neighbours.
Act East Policy: Prime Minister Narendra Modi recast India's Look East
Policy as Act East Policy with emphasis on developing infrastructure in the
East Asian countries. To counter Chinese influence India is extending credit
lines to countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal. Prime Minister

India bids to encircle China:

India has invested wrapped up multiple pacts with countries like

Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia - all
surrounding China.

Maldives: Recently it has signed an agreement with Maldives to develop

and maintain a Coast Guard harbour. This is an attempt to check growing
Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean.

Besides, India has good old friends in Japan, South Korea and Russia.

Quad: Indo-Pacific Security Pact

With the aim to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific

region, India, Australia, US and Japan, formed the “quadrilateral” coalition
on November 12, 2017.

Officials from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Australia’s Department of

Foreign Affairs, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and United States
Department of State met in Manila for consultations on issues of common
interest in the Indo-Pacific region.
Soon after the meeting, India, Australia and Japan issued separate
statements listing the Indo-Pacific as the major area of the deliberations
and resolved to expand cooperation to uphold a rules-based order and
respect for international law in the strategically important region.

The Japanese foreign ministry said officials discussed measures to ensure a

free and open international order based on the rule of law in the Indo-
Pacific.

The Australian foreign ministry said the four countries shared a vision for
increased prosperity and security in the Indo-Pacific region and will work
together to ensure that it “remains free and open,” PTI reported.

Moreover, it underlines the rising significance of maritime geopolitics in an

increasingly integrated world. Economically, the strategy is regarded as an
answer to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is establishing a China-
centric trade route.

Miscellaneous Issues

Water Sharing

While China is already involved in several water-sharing disputes with

countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam over the Mekong
River, its plans to build several dams on the upper reaches of the
Brahmaputra (known as Tsangpo in China) hasn’t gone down well with New
Delhi. The Brahmaputra, which originates as Tsangpo in Tibet, is one of the
major water resources in India’s north-east, especially as a source for
irrigation and industry.
China has a unique, exclusivist policy when it comes to sharing natural
resources. It follows a doctrine that believes in exclusive use of resources
that originate from its soil. India, in the meanwhile, is looking to build 25
hydropower plants in Arunachal Pradesh before China completes its
project. India is also concerned about “a decrease in the flow of the river
water" and “the destruction of the Himalayan ecosystem."

The Kashmir Issue

Its ally China, which is locked in a separate decades-old dispute with India
over the part of Kashmir called Ladakh, also slammed India for unilaterally
changing its status.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Kashmir was a

dispute left from history that should be peacefully resolved.

“The Indian government officially announced the establishment of so called

Jammu Kashmir territory and Ladakh Union territory which included some
of China’s territory into its administrative jurisdiction,” Geng said at a news
briefing.

“China deplores and firmly opposed that. India unilaterally changes its
domestic law and administrative divisions, challenging China’s sovereignty
and interests. This is awful and void, and this is not effective in any way and
will not change the fact that the area is under China’s actual control.”

India’s foreign ministry spokesman rejected China’s comments and said

Kashmir was an integral part of the country and that any reorganization of
the state was an internal affair.

New Delhi has refrained from any comment on China’s policy in remote
Xinjiang, refusing to join U.S.-led calls that it stop detaining ethnic Uighurs
and other Muslims. It has also scaled-back top level official contacts with
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India.