Through the past few weeks, India’s border with China, or the Line of Actual Control (LAC), has become a theatre of ‘actual’ excitement. It must be clarified at the outset that ‘LAC’ is a misnomer, because the line is neither delineated, nor demarcated, and therefore, it is more a line of perception. Over the years, the situation has been managed through a series of agreements, and confidence building measures. The recent series of incidents are, however, calling to question the sustainability of these arrangements.
First, let us briefly recount what has happened. India and China have been locked in approximately a month-long military ‘face-off’ at multiple places in Eastern Ladakh, spread across the Galwan Valley and the Pangong Tso lake. Around the same time, there was a face-off at Naku La in Sikkim.