The 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing, China on Wednesday, 27 March, 2024.
India and China met to discuss disengagement and resolution of various issues along the border. They agreed to maintain regular communication through diplomacy and military channels in order to maintain peace and tranquility, respecting existing agreements, treaties, etc.
According to an official press release by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Indian delegation was led by the Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the MEA while the Chinese delegation was led by the Director-General of the Boundary and Oceanic Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The same release stated that the two sides had a detailed exchange about achieving complete disengagement in the Western sector of Indo-Chinese border areas, along the LAC (Line of Actual Control). The aforementioned agreement of regular communication and declaration of respect for treaties was mentioned in the same release.
The situation along the LAC has been described as “stable” but “sensitive” by the Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande. He stated that the army has been maintaining a very high state of operational preparedness to deal with any possible incidents.
Precursory Events to the Meet
The External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar, had emphasized on Wednesday that normalcy in bilateral ties will only be achieved through the traditional deployment of troops, a “pre-requisite” for the relationship.
In the meanwhile, India has completely dismissed claims made by China over Arunachal Pradesh, establishing that the state is an “integral and inalienable” part of India. An official statement by the MEA, released on 19 March, stated that the people of Arunachal Pradesh will “continue to benefit” from Indian developmental programmes and infrastructure projects.
On the other hand, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, Colonel Zhang Xiaogang stated on 15 March that Zangnan (South Tibet/Arunachal Pradesh) is an inherent part of Chinese territory and that China never recognizes and firmly opposes India’s illegal establishment of “Arunachal Pradesh.” This declaration followed India’s firm negation of China’s comments regarding the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
What is the LAC?
The Line of Actual Control (LAC) refers to a notional demarcation line which has been subject to controversy because of its poor definition on map. The concept had originally emerged in 1959 but was rejected by India due to its ambiguous nature. After the 1962 Sino-Indian War, the LAC was “solidified” as the line separating the areas under control by the two states.
Some sectors of the LAC still under contention are Depsang (Daulet Beg Oldi sector) and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) (Demchok sector). Twenty-one rounds of talks between China and India at the military level have been to no avail so far.
