On India China Border Defence Cooperation Agreement

India and China share a 3,488 km disputed border along the chilling heights ranging from 12,000-17,000 feet. The fact is that the border has not been agreed on either on ground or on maps and the peace agreement of 1993 has named the border as Line of Actual Control which means military-held line which can be moved by force. Over the years the line has become even more deadly than the Line of Control with Pakistan. Also, the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement 2013 has further complicated the situation.

• After 1998 nuclear tests, PLA breaches of LAC have increased manifold. China as worked hard along LAC by building state of art surveillance systems with satellites in low and polar synchronous orbits, excellent rail and road networks, unmanned aerial vehicles etc. PLA unlike Indian forces, only has border guards and no troops securing its borders.
• BDCA- Border Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed after the PLA’s Ladakh intrusion. It rests on the premise that one side will not follow or tail patrols of the other side in border areas where there is no common understanding. Thus, Indian side has to physically monitor the entire LAC and without leaving any gaps. This has put pressure on manpower, annual defence spending and military modernisation. PLA vacated Depsang only when New Delhi agreed to sign the BDCA. India has now reduced its patrolling limit in Depsang which has resulted in a new de facto LAC
• Thus, PLA breaches LAC at will, followed by Indian acceptance of LAC. Although both sides have broadened the agenda by shifting from resolving to manage the border, China has always objected to Indian enhancement of infrastructure or military capabilities along LAC. BDCA mandates that “Each side will keep military forces by principle of mutual and equal security to the ceilings to be mutually agreed” which means India cannot empower or increase its military capacity along the LAC without China’s consent.