Just two days ahead of Beijing’s new ‘Land Border Law’ coming into effect, China has ‘renamed’ 15 places including eight residential areas, four mountain areas, two rivers and a mountain pass in Arunachal Pradesh, which India’s northern neighbour claims as its own territory under the name ‘South Tibet.’
The move was roundly rejected by India with External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi saying, “We have seen such. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017.”
“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” he added.
The Land Border Law
The timing of the move holds significance in light of a law passed by Beijing in late October relating to the protection and exploitation of land border areas.
The law, which becomes operational on January 1, calls for the state to “take measures to safeguard territorial integrity and land boundaries and guard against and combat any act that undermines [these],” according to Xinhua.
Measures can be taken to “to strengthen border defence, support economic and social development as well as opening-up border areas, improve public services and infrastructure in such areas, encourage and support people’s life and work there, and promote coordination between border defence and social, economic development in border areas.”
It’s important to note that the law does not specifically relate to the Sino-Indian border. China shares a 22,457-km land border with 14 countries, however, disputed boundary issues only exist between Bhutan and India.
Over the years, talks have been ongoing between New Delhi and Beijing to resolve boundary disputes across the 3,488-km border the two countries share but have, in recent months, reached an impasse in the wake of the bloody clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020. Since then, Chinese and Indian troops have agreed to disengage from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake and at Gogra but continue to be stationed in large numbers at various other friction points.
What are the implications of the law?
Following Beijing’s announcement of the law, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “China’s unilateral decision to bring about legislation which can have an implication on our existing bilateral arrangements on border management as well as on the boundary question is of concern to use. Such unilateral move will have no bearing on the arrangements that both sides have already reached earlier, whether it is on the boundary question or for maintaining peace and tranquillity along the LAC in India-China Border areas.”
Although the law states that China will follow “the principle of equality, mutual trust and friendly consultation” and “handle land border-related affairs with neighbouring countries through negotiations,” India’s apprehensions appear to arise from Article 4 in the law that states that “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the People’s Republic of China are sacred and inviolable.”
While it seems like the primary intention behind the law is to lay the groundwork for settling communities in border areas, Beijing’s recent actions on the ground are the real cause for consternation.
There is little in the legislation itself that seems controversial and some scholars have also argued that it was framed also keeping in mind the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and growing concerns of Islamic extremists crossing the border into Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
But it is the larger context of China deploying huge amounts of troops at strategic locations at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the timing of its formulation – it emerged after the 13th round of military talks between New Delhi and Beijing collapsed – which has worried some experts. In this regard, the law could prove to be another potential obstacle in resolving decades-old boundary disputes between India and China.
