India Rejects China’s land border law
Border patrol
China approved a Land Border Law at the closing meeting of a legislative session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Saturday, states that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China are sacred and inviolable.
The law clarifies the leadership system, government responsibilities and military tasks in territorial border work, the delineation and surveying of land borders, the defense and management of land borders and frontiers, and international cooperation on land border affairs.
It emphasized that the state shall take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land border security, and guard against and combat any acts that undermine territorial sovereignty and land boundaries.
India has rejected the unsound and illogical border legislation law recently announced by Chinese legislators. This is in spite of the fact that India and China have no common land border between them.
Though it is a fact that PLA and Indian Army face each other but it is not on any International Border but what is called as Line of Actual Control. India has a well recognized border with Tibet.
However after forcibly capturing Tibet, the Chinese did not stop at the IB but again crossed over and illegally occupied a chunk of area in Ladakh of India in 1962.Thereafter they have been carrying out occasional salami slicing tactics.
Then in 2020 this tactics boomeranged very badly for the PLA in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh. In a clash between the two Armies, the PLA suffered 40 dead and over 45 wounded. This included a Regimental Commander and a Battalion Commander of theirs. Indian Army too lost 20 soldiers including a Battalion Commander of the rank of a Colonel.
The Chinese Law is a clear indication that they are trying to claim parts of Ladakh as Tibetan territory. They already claim Arunachal Pradesh as part of captured Tibet. However India does not bother about such illogical legislations. The Chinese are free to legislate claims on Moon, Mars and even the rest of the Solar System, it is meaningless.
While negotiating with China we Indians are very clear. Firstly the Chinese must vacate all of Ladakh. Secondly the Boundary between Tibet and India must get marked both on ground and on the map and duly authenticated. Thirdly the boundary between Tibet and China also must be marked similarly.
Fourthly and finally both sides must sit together along with the Tibetan Government in Exile and negotiate the future of Tibet. A time frame needs to be decided by which Tibet is given full autonomy and eventually full independence.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Wednesday clearly described China’s decision to bring out the law as a matter of “concern,” and said that China’s “unilateral decision” can have implications on the existing bilateral pacts on the management of the border and the boundary question.
“We also expect China to avoid action under the pretext of this law which could unilaterally alter the situation in India-China border areas,” he said. Bagchi just failed to add that if PLA violates the LAC once again then it will only hasten the independence of Tibet.
On the other hand the Chinese are emphasizing that India’s concern is unreasonable as the law is meant for the country’s land border management.
They claim that the legislation is in line with international law, as every country reserves the right to safeguard its territory.
Passing of the law at a sensitive moment when China and India entered an impasse after the 13th military talk stalled also attracted wide attention from the Indian press. Indian Express cited a military officer as saying on Wednesday, “Why should you want to pass a law in the midst of an ongoing standoff? You are clearly sending a message… Now that they have made a law, how does it reconcile with an agreement tomorrow?”
Chinese say that the law has clear provisions on conducting cooperation with countries sharing a national land boundary with China and handling boundary affairs on the basis of adhering to relevant treaties related to national land boundary affairs and the principle of equality and mutual benefit.
It will not affect China’s compliance with existing treaties related to national land boundary affairs China has already signed or change China’s current mode of boundary management and cooperation with countries sharing a land boundary with it. Nor will it alter China’s position and proposition on relevant boundary issues, Wang said.
India, as well as Bhutan, are negotiating with China on border issues. China and Bhutan have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a Three-Step Roadmap earlier this month to help speed up boundary talks that have been heavily delayed.
In his statement, Bagchi also said that “the passage of this new law does not in our view confer any legitimacy to the so-called China Pakistan “Boundary Agreement” of 1963.”
