9 Things to Know About India and China’s Border Disputes

India and China have so many border disputes, it’s difficult to keep track sometimes.

A signboard seen from the Indian side of the India-China border.

So China and India are at it again at the border. This time, it’s a face-off and Bhutan is also involved.

China and India have so many border disputes, it’s hard to keep track.

So here are the top 9 things you need to know about the Sino-Indian border disputes.

1. India and China share a 3,488 km long border.
2. India says Aksai Chin is ours but this territory is controlled and administered by China.
3. Also, the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh is claimed by China. They call it South Tibet.
4. Where did this confusion come from? Well, China’s ancient maps and claims are so flexible they have a lot of different territorial disputes with bordering countries.
5. But it’s not just maps, we should also blame the British Raj. The British drew the Johnson-Ardagh Line and also the Macartney-Macdonald Line and British, Indian and Chinese maps often mixed up these lines creating confusion and conflicting territorial claims. Neither country has backed down from its claims.
6. On the Arunachal Pradesh front, the British, China and Tibet met up in Simla in 1913-14. Henry McMahon drew a line called the McMahon Line. But here’s the thing, China was like kyaaa? Na ho payega. So China says Arunachal Pradesh hamara hai, and India’s like, no bro, hamara hai and that’s another very sticky issue with no resolution in sight.
7. But, what’s the big issue now? It’s the Doklam plateau which is near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet trijunction. Doklam is recognised as part of Bhutan by both India and Bhutan but China also claims it as its own.
8. Why is India involved? Well China’s trying to build a road through the Doklam plateau, which gets dangerously close to a tiny stretch of Indian land that connects the rest of India to its northeastern states.
9. And lastly,this isn’t the only road that’s got India worried. China’s also building a highway through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as part of its One Belt One Road initiative. A real biggie that India totally does not want.

But that’s a story for another video.

Video Editor: Hitesh Singh

Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya