Brig Anil Gupta (retd)
In a recent move the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party approved formation of two new counties in the Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Province and the same was formally announced by the Chinese state media Xinhua on December 27,2024. The two new counties are named He’an with its county seat (administrative headquarters) being Hongliu Township and Hekang with Xeyidula Township as its county seat. Both are to be administered by Hotan Prefecture. Prefecture is an administrative unit in China akin to our division (group of districts). Normally an administrative action of this nature would not have invited an immediate response from another neighbouring country like it did from India. The reason for India’s objection and protest is the challenge to India’s sovereignty posed by the Chinese action. He’ an County incorporates substantial areas within the 38000 square kilometers of Indian territory under illegal occupation of China since the 1962 war. This territory encompasses the Aksai Chin. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) strongly reacted to the unilateral Chinese action terming it as blatant attempt to alter the status quo in the disputed area.
So what is Aksai Chian ? Well it is a Mountain desert, remote and desolate with harsh climate and super high altitudes beyond the Karakoram Mountains with an area of around 38000 sq km and its lowest point is around 4300 m. As the altitude would suggest its a largely uninhabited area and the population traditionally consisted of nomadic herders with no permanent settlements. This region is a plateau (extention of Tibetan Plateau}and lay somewhere between the Eastern Turkestan (now called Xinjiang) and Tibet both of which came under actual Chinese control in the late 1940s only. The area hardly gets any rain or snow. It has vast salt plains, a lake and a river named Aksai Chin. Is also known as Soda Plain. It is bordered to the west and southwest by the Karakoram Range and to the north and northeast by the Kunlun Mountains. The area mostly remained ignored by both China and India. It had strategic importance for China since it separated the two restive provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang. It came into prominence in 1950s when China began to construct a road connecting Tibet and Xinjiang passing through the Aksai Chin. In fact, India never came to know about this construction except when it got publicized in the Chinese media and then India objected to it since 118 km of the road passed through Aksai Chin. By that time it was too late. The Chinese claim that the Road has been built through territory which is a part of Chinese territory. Later China also created a few settlements along G 219 (earlier known as Aksai Chin Highway) and is administered since then by Hotan prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region while India stakes claim over the entire Aksai Chin as part of Ladakh Union Territory.
The disputed Aksai Chin
The dispute is an historical baggage stemming from different demarcations of the Border at different times in history. The original Indian claim was based on the Johnson line of 1865. Then there was the Macartney-MacDonald Line of 1899 accepted by Chinese till 1959. And then there was the Foreign Office Line of 1875. The 1914 McMohan Line, which demarcated border between India and Tibet also placed Aksai Chin within Indian territory but the Chinese refused to accept the Line. All these lines were drawn by the Britishers who enjoyed suzerainty over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir which included Ladakh to suit their interests in the ongoing Great Game at that time . And then there is the Chinese claim line of post 1962 which more than doubles the territory that it had claimed earlier. The fact is that Ladakh including Aksai Chin was annexed in 1842 by the Dogra forces led by Gen Zorawar Singh under the over all command of Maharaja Gulab Singh. The Dogras maintained control over the region until the Indian independence in 1947.Till 1960 China also recognized it as a disputed territory and was willing to negotiate a boundary settlement with India. The fact remains that no Chinese map showed Aksai Chin as its territory before 1920s. It was historically part of Ladakh and British India since 1842. China militarily captured Aksai Chin through 1950s and during the 1962 war.
In April 1960, Mao had sent Chou Enlai to negotiate a boundary settlement with India to ensure friendly relations with India so that it could concentrate against its main enemy- the US imperialism which threatened it from the east and west.China-USSR relations were on the brink of breaking. China was feeling insecure and weak globally. China decided to take a more pragmatic approach with regards to boundary dispute with a large neighbour like India, avoid armed clashes and seek a negotiated settlement. China offered a settlement wherein China retains control of Aksai Chin and India retains NEFA with McMohan Line recognized as the boundary between the two nations. Nehru vehementally rejected terming it as Horse trading and unacceptable to him. He would never compromise on India’s sovereignty. Stretching it too far, he ordered the Forward Policy which was objected to by the military commanders on ground but vetoed by him and his advisors. The subsequent humiliation suffered by India is well known. China not only retained Aksai Chin but occupied additional Indian territory to provide depth to its strategic Highway. The basic dispute lies in the perception of where the boundary lies? India says it is along the Kunlun Mountains, the Chinese say it is along the Karakoram Range.
The boundary dispute between the two Asian neighbours has been simmering and the effort to resolve the same through negotiations, treaties and protocols have not proved successful.
As China grew stronger economically and militarily, it again began to flex its muscles and intimidate its neighbours particularly with the emergence of Xi jinping as its supreme leader. While India tried to maintain cordial relations with China and engage it diplomatically to resolve the boundary dispute China became more aggressive. It followed the policy of Salami Slicing and continued to exert its presence in the disputed areas so that it could use the Principle of Possession to its advantage during a negotiated settlement subsequently. It follows the strategy of Claim, Legal Warfare, Psychological & Public Warfare, Occupy and Assimilate. Article VII of the Treaty of 2005 states, “in reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled populations in the border areas.” In pursuance of this policy China began the concept of “Xiaokang” or “well-off Villages” and began establishing border settlements, which serves dual purpose of better infrastructure and border defence. The current move of establishing 2 new counties in the occupied territory is part of the same strategy. While India remains firm on its pledge to protect its sovereignty. The Indian protest must be understood in this context.
A sinister narrative is being built by a few key pad activists of social media and those part of the Chinese propaganda machinery in India that the 2 new counties have been established in the territory captured by China post the Galwan clashes thereby trying to pin down the government. It is far from the truth. As explained above, the counties have been established in the disputed Aksai Chin which is a legacy dispute for which the present government cannot be blamed. The objection has been raised by the MEA to re-affirm and reinforce the Indian stance that Aksai Chin is an integral part of India and India has never accepted illegal occupation of its territories. The border settlements made post-2005 should not fall under the ambit of Article VII of the Treaty of 2005. To be noticed and recorded the Indian objection is needed and justified.
The political map of Ladakh UT. It includes all areas under illegal occupation of Pakistan on the West and Aksai Chin in the Northeast.
(The author is an Indian Army veteran, security and strategic analyst and political commentator)
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