Disputed Borders: 10 Arunachal Pradesh Facts

Disputed Borders Arunachal Pradesh

It was formerly referred to as the North-East Frontier Agency, and is now called Arunachal Pradesh. The McMahon Line was part of the 1914 Simla Convention between British India and Tibet, an agreement rejected by China

Disputed Borders Arunachal Pradesh Facts

  • Arunachal Pradesh means Land of the Dawn-Lit Mountains, which is the sobriquet for the state in Sanskrit. The state is also known as the Orchid State of India or the Paradise of the Botanists.
  • A major part of the state is claimed by both the People’s Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan) as part of the region of South Tibet, During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, most of Arunachal Pradesh was temporarily captured by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
  • In 1975, the Sikkimese monarchy held a referendum, in which the Sikkimese voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining India. At the time China protested and rejected it as illegal. The Sino-Indian Memorandum of 2003 was hailed as a de facto Chinese acceptance of the annexation.
  • China ultimately rejected the accord, and continues to recognize the region as part of Tibet. However, Arunachal Pradesh is internationally recognized as a state of India.
  • An agreement to resolve the dispute was concluded in 1996, including “confidence-building measures” and a mutually agreed Line of Actual Control.
  • In 2009, India announced it would deploy additional military forces along the border.
  • In 2014, India proposed China should acknowledge a “One India” policy to resolve the border dispute.
  • Chinese officials have also warned India that it should learn “historic lessons” from its humiliating defeat in the 1962 war that both countries fought over their border. In response, Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley retorted that “India in 2017 is different from India in 1962,” referring to its improved military strength.
  • In September 2015, Chinese and Indian troops faced-off in the Burtse region of northern Ladakh after Indian troops dismantled a disputed watchtower the Chinese were building close to the mutually-agreed patrolling line.
  • In May 2020, Indian and Chinese forces in the Sikkim area engaged in fighting and ten were injured.
Disputed Borders Arunachal Pradesh
Disputed Borders Arunachal Pradesh