Although the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) under the command of Commander-in-Chief Xi Jinping wants to enlarge the territorial map based on the Green Line defined by a 1959 map distributed by Prime Minister Chou En-Lai under leader Mao Zedong , China’s position on solving the border problem with India has changed over the decades at the convenience of the Beijing ruler.
After Mao Zedong changed the facts on the ground by building the Lhasa-Kashgar Highway (number 219) through Aksai Chin in 1956, Prime Minister Chou En-Lai in 1960 offered his Indian counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru to solve the border. in “as is is the beginning”. This meant that China was recognizing Indian sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh or the Northeast Border Agency as it was known then, while India would recognize Beijing’s claim over Aksai Chin south of the Haji Langar pass. This was never accepted by India and was one of the most important reasons behind Chinese aggression in 1962. Today, China is in adverse possession of more than 38,180 square kilometers of Indian land, including 5,180 square kilometers of the Shaksgam Valley gifted by Pakistan. in 1963.
On February 14, 1979, the then Deputy Prime Minister and later Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping met with Foreign Minister (later Prime Minister) Atal Behari Vajpayee and offered a package to solve the border problem. Deng said that the Chinese were willing to make concessions in the eastern sector to India, while New Delhi should make similar concessions in the western sector. While the concessions were not specified, Deng said the border resolution could be postponed to the next generation as long as both sides maintain a stable situation at the border. Deng reiterated this proposal also in 1985.
The Chinese position took a radical turn again after the 1986 Somdorong Chu incident in northern Arunachal Pradesh. In 1987, China’s Vice Foreign Minister Liu Shuqing told his Indian counterpart, Secretary (East) AP Venkateswaran in New Delhi, that China was seeking concessions in both the eastern and western sectors to solve the problem of the border. Deng was the leader of China and chairman of the all-powerful Central Military Commission.
Since then, a plethora of agreements and protocols have been signed to maintain peace and tranquility on the 3488 km Royal Line of Control (LAC) with China. After the Special Representative dialogue between India and China was established to resolve the border issue in 2005, there have been 22 meetings between the Indian National Security Adviser and the Chinese State Councilor, but the issue of the The border has barely moved towards a resolution. China still calls Arunachal Pradesh south of Tibet and India’s border in Ladakh claims all of Aksai Chin.
While there is hope that the current standoff between the PLA and the Indian Army may result in at least the exchange of maps in the western sector so that each side knows the positions and claims of the other, the Chinese belligerence and the deliberate provocation of Depsang to Pangong Tso this year. it does not bode well for peace.
.
