As the situation in eastern Ladakh remains tense, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Gen. Wei Fenghe that China must strictly respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and not make attempts to unilaterally change its status quo.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

What Is LOC

LOC or Line of Control, is the border set officially under military agreements between two countries. It is clearly demarcated by the militaries, a live line with a lot of activities like firing and face to face interaction.

       The current border between India and Pakistan is called the Line of Control.

The border is divided into three parts: First is the International Border (IB), which stretches for approximately 2,400 km from Gujarat to the north banks of Chenab in Akhnoor in Jammu. Second is the Line of Control (LoC), which is 740 km long and runs from parts of Jammu to parts of Leh. It is a ceasefire line which came into existence after the 1948 and 1971 wars between India and Pakistan. It was delineated in the Simla Agreement (July 1972) whereby both sides agreed not to alter it unilaterally. Third is the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which divides the current position of Indian and Pakistani troops in the Siachen region. It is 110 km long and extends from NJ 9842 to Indira Col in the north.

What Is LAC

LAC stands for Line of Actual Control. It is a boundary between China and India. The concept of “Line of Actual Control” (LAC) came in a bilateral agreement in 1993, although there was no concrete settlement on ground positions between these two countries. Like the LOC, it is a kind of ceasefire set by two countries. The difference between the two is that while the two countries have defined LOC on the map, there is no clear or official definition of LAC. And because of this, there is always a dispute about it. Where the Chinese Army was present after the 1962 war, it was accepted as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In this war, China captured Aksai Chin, which was earlier under the jurisdiction of India. This is the reason why the international community does not consider LAC.

The LAC separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory. It is a big empty region and nearly 50 to 100 km distance is maintained by the armies of India and China.

LAC is divided into three regions: the western sector in Ladakh, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. 

What is the International border?

It is the border of any country that separates it from other neighbouring countries. Meaning, it is a clear border, on which there is no dispute with any neighbouring country. Apart from India and Pakistan, the country’s international borders also join Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.