Alignment of boundary with China based on geographical principle, historical practices: Rajnath Singh

The customary and traditional alignment of India’s boundary with China is based on geographical principles and historical usage and practice, although the Communist country does not accept it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

He said that Beijing did not “accept the customary and traditional alignment of the boundary between India and China”. “We believe that this alignment is based on well-established geographical principles confirmed by treaties and agreements, as well as historical usage and practice, well-known for centuries to both sides,” the Defence Minister said, articulating New Delhi’s position on India-China boundary dispute while making a statement in the Lok Sabha on the current military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations.

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His comment came amid the stand-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh. The stand-off started in May, after the Indian Army responded to the Chinese PLA’s aggressive move to alter the status quo in the border areas and push the LAC – the de facto boundary between the two nations – westwards.

Singh also noted China’s position on the boundary dispute with India. “The Chinese position, however, is that the boundary between the two countries has not been formally delimited, that there exists a traditional customary line formed by the extent of jurisdiction that they claim was exercised historically by each side, and that the two sides have different interpretations of the position of the traditional customary line.”

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He said that the two countries had engaged in discussions during 1950s and 1960s to resolve the boundary dispute, but could not reach a mutually acceptable solution.

The Defence Minister noted that China continued to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq kms in the Union Territory of Ladakh.

He was referring to Aksai Chin – a territory east of Ladakh, claimed by India, but currently under occupation of China.

China had last year joined Pakistan to oppose India’s move to strip Jammu and Kashmir off its special status and reorganize the state into two Union Territories. What had raised hackles in Beijing was Home Minister Amit Shah's statement in the Lok Sabha on August 6 that just as the entire J&K state had remained an integral part of India, the two new UTs too would include, not only India's territory currently under illegal occupation of Pakistan, but also Aksai Chin.

The Defence Minister reiterated New Delhi’s claims, not only on Aksai Chin, but also on 5,180 sq kms of area that Pakistan had illegally ceded to China in 1963. He also noted China’s claim on 90,000 sq kms of territory of India in eastern sector of the boundary in Arunachal Pradesh.