LAC Vs LoC: The Lines Of No Control

NEW DELHI: China and Pakistan are two prickly neighbours India has, countries with which India has boundary-related problems. But border trouble on India’s eastern frontier is quite different from the one to the west. The Line of Control (LoC) is part of 3323 km Indo-Pak border. It’s active, violent and has been a preferred infiltration route by terrorists housed and backed by Pakistan. But it’s well-demarcated on the ground. Any intruder can be shot dead. On the contrary, the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that’s seen quite a few violent face-offs between Indian and Chinese in the past month or so is completely imaginary, with both sides having differing perceptions about where the line lies. There’s a clutch of border peace agreements in place but it was violated by China earlier this week, leading to casualties on both sides. In this episode of ‘Simply Nitin’, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale distinguishes the LoC from the LAC and why the latter, despite largely being peaceful for the past 40 years, sees occasional Chinese aggression.