Representative image | Courtesy: Xinhua
New Delhi: On a day when China declared that it does not recognize “the territory of the illegally established union of Ladakh,” India on Tuesday asked Beijing to refrain from promoting “an unsustainable unilateral interpretation of the Royal Line of Control (LAC).”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the government of India has never accepted the so-called 1959 LAC defined unilaterally.
The MEA makes no bones about it by accusing China of transgressing the de facto border and attempting to unilaterally alter the status quo. “It is China that with its attempts to transgress FTA in various parts of the western sector tried to unilaterally alter the status quo,” said the MEA.
“We have seen a report citing a statement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on China’s position on the Royal Line of Control in the border areas between India and China. India never accepted the so-called 1959 LAC defined unilaterally. The position has been consistent, well known; even the Chinese, ”the MEA declared.
“By virtue of its various bilateral agreements, including the 1993 Agreement on the maintenance of peace and tranquility throughout LAC, the 1996 Agreement on confidence-building measures (CBM) in the military field, the Protocol 2005 on the implementation of CBM, the 2005 Agreement on Policy Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Resolution of Boundary Question between India and China, both India and China have committed to clarifying and confirming LAC to reach a common understanding of the LAC alignment, ”the ministry said.
“The two parties had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC until 2003, but the process could not continue because the Chinese did not show will. Therefore, the Chinese insistence now that there is only one FTA is contrary to the solemn commitments assumed by them, “he added.
India called on China to comply “with sincerity and fidelity” with all agreements and understandings “in their entirety and refrain from promoting an unsustainable unilateral interpretation of LAC.”
LAC’s claim of 1959
The Chinese Foreign Ministry had previously told India Hindustan Times that complies with the version of the LAC that was proposed by his then Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a letter dated November 7, 1959.
“First of all, the border between China and India LAC is very clear, that is LAC on November 7, 1959. China announced it in the 1950s, and the international community, including India, is also clear,” he said. China’s Foreign Ministry last week in a statement issued in Mandarin.
“However, since this year, the Indian Army has continued to illegally arrive and cross the border, unilaterally expanding the scope of actual control. This is the source of tension on border issues. The key to the disconnect between the two armies is the withdrawal from India of all illegal cross-border personnel and equipment, ”he added.
In the 1959 letter, Zhou had written to Nehru: “In order to effectively maintain the status quo of the border between the two countries, ensure the tranquility of the border regions, and create an atmosphere conducive to a friendly settlement of the border issue, the government Chinese proposes that the armed forces of China and India each withdraw 20 kilometers at a time from the so-called McMahon Line in the east, and from the line up to which each side exercises actual control in the west. “
India has officially rejected this unilateral interpretation of LAC by China.
