Context

According to defence sources, China has set up a ropeway near the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction and is strengthening roads and other infrastructure along the entire eastern sector.

About

More about the news:

• The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has installed a ropeway close to the Torsa Nalaon their side near the confluence point (India-Bhutan-China tri-junction).
  • A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-borderarea is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet.
  • There has been hectic activity and construction along the eastern sector.
    
    

India-China Border:

• India shares 3488 Km of the border with Chinathat runs along the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh.
• Both countries have differing perceptionsowing to the Un-demarcated boundary, which leads to transgressions and face-offs as each side patrols up to the areas.
• Border Guarding Force: The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) is the Border Guarding Force at Indo-China Border.
• Line of Actual Control (LAC): It is divided into the western (Ladakh), middle (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand), and eastern (Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim) sectors.
  • LAC in the eastern sector consisting of Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim is called the McMahon Line which is 1,140 km long.

McMahon Line

Line of Actual Control

The 890-km McMahon Line separating British India and Tibet was drawn by Sir Henry McMahon at the China-Tibet-Britain Simla Convention (1914). The line marked out previously unclaimed/undefined borders between Britain and Tibet. Also, the Line put Tawang (a region of the present Arunachal Pradesh) in the British Empire. The line was forgotten until the British government published the documents in 1937. Subsequently, China refused to accept the line.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the effective border between India and China. LAC was supposed to divide areas under Indian and Chinese control since the end of the Sino-Indian War of 1962. Unlike the LoC (between India and Pakistan), the LAC was not mutually agreed upon. This was because the war ended with a unilateral ceasefire by China.

• India and China have mutually agreed on disputed areas and areas of differing perception along the 3,488 km-long LAC.
• For instance, in eastern Ladakh, there are two mutually agreed disputed areas, Trig Heightsand Demchok, while there are 10 areas of differing perception. Similarly, Yangtse is one of the eight major friction points in the eastern sector.

Some Strategic Constructions by China:         

• Railway Line: In 2020, China had begun work on a strategically significant railway line that will link Sichuan province with Nyingchi in Tibet, which lies close to the Arunachal Pradesh border.
• New Villages: In January 2021, there were reports of the Chinese construction of three villages in Arunachal Pradesh 5 kilometres from the Bum La pass.
• Bridge across Pangong Lake: China is building a new bridge on Pangong Tso which will provide an additional axis to deploy troops faster between the north and south banks of the lake, and closer to the LAC (Line of Actual Control).

Current Areas of a dispute between India & China

• In the Western sector: Here India shares a 2152 km long border with China, and territorial disputes over the Aksai Chin region of Jammu and Kashmir, with both countries claiming the region as their own.
• In the middle sector: Here India roughly shares about a 625 km long boundary with China with a few minor disputes regarding Tibet.
• In the Eastern Sector: The major dispute here is around the region of Tawang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh, Chumbi Valley (Dokalam Tri-Junction) which India shares with Bhutan.