Orient Book Of Quotations

About the Book: Contested Lands: India, China and the Boundary Dispute

A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTERESTINGLY TOLD HISTORY OF THE INDO-CHINA BOUNDARY DISPUTE

The IndiaChina border dispute predates Independence, going back a century and a half. As complex as the issue is, it pivots on two key questions: Who does Aksai Chin belong to? Will China accept the McMahon Linewhich separates Indias northeastern front regionsas the international border between the two countries?

The dispute over Aksai Chin can be traced back to the military expeditions of General Zorawar Singh of the Sikh Empire into north Baltistan and Tibet in 184142 and the Treaty of Chushul of 1842. The McMahon Line, on the other hand, came into being after a long-drawn-out boundary conference in Simla in 191314. India and China have had a chequered past: the month-long military confrontation in 1962 and several instances of incursions, including the recent troop confrontation in May 2020, bear testimony to this. The fact that the Dalai Lama and his followers found refuge in India has only complic...