India China border / Never accepted China's 1959 definition of LAC in Ladakh: India

New Delhi: India on Tuesday said it had never accepted the unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC) and pointed out that various agreements with China committed both countries to a common understanding of the alignment of the boundary.

In response to queries on the recent media report quoting a Chinese foreign ministry statement regarding China's position on the LAC, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it has "seen" the report - published in a national daily -- that quoted the Chinese foreign ministry on China's position on the LAC in the India-China border areas.

Responding to the report, the ministry reminded China that the quoted position is the same as one taken by China in 1959 and the one which India has rejected.

“India has never accepted the so-called unilaterally defined 1959 Line of Actual Control (LAC). This position has been consistent and well known, including to the Chinese side,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

Srivastava pointed out that under several bilateral agreements – including the 1993 Agreement on Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in the military field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of CBMs, and the 2005 Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question – India and China have “committed to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to reach a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC”.

He added, “Therefore, the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements.”

The external affairs ministry also blamed the Chinese side for lack of progress in the process for clarifying and confirming the boundary for almost two decades.

“In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003, but this process could not proceed further as the Chinese side did not show a willingness to pursue it,” Srivastava said.

The ministry said the insistence now of the Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary to the solemn commitments made by China in these agreements.

"As we have previously made clear, the Indian side has always respected and abided by the LAC. As the Hon'ble Raksha Mantri stated in the Parliament recently, it is the Chinese side which by its attempts to transgress the LAC in various parts of the Western Sector, has tried to unilaterally alter the status quo," the ministry said.

The Chinese side has repeatedly affirmed in the last few months that the current standoff situation in the border areas should be resolved in accordance with the agreements signed between the two countries.

In the agreement reached between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on September 10, the Chinese side reiterated its commitment to abide by all the existing agreements.

"We therefore expect that the Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide by all agreements and understandings in their entirety and refrain from advancing an untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC," the ministry said.