New Delhi wants China to negotiate a Line of Actual Control (LAC) that is multilaterally agreed upon – potentially risking a furious response from Beijing. At present, the 2,520 mile-long LAC is a combination of the older, McMahon Line and the Demarcation line that existed when both sides announced a cease-fire at the end of the 1962 Sino-Indian War. India disputes the western LAC saying they did not officially recognise it.
Independent Kashmiri journalist Aditya Raj Kaul tweeted: “India says it has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control, LAC, responding to statement by China.
“India asks Beijing to refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of LAC and faithfully abide by all agreements.”
New Delhi has said it never accepted China’s definition of the LAC.
They claim Indian prime minister Nehru publicly rejected it in 1963.
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The 1996 agreement stated: “No activities of either side shall overstep the line of actual control.”
However, a clause in the 1993 agreement mentioned that “the two sides agree that references to the line of actual control in this Agreement do not prejudice their respective positions on the boundary question”.
China announced it abides by the LAC, which was unilaterally proposed by the then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in 1959.
Beijing’s foreign ministry stated: “Firstly, China-India border LAC is very clear, that is the LAC on November 7, 1959.
“China announced it in the 1950s.
“The international community including India are also clear about it.”