Line of Actual Control (LAC)

#GS-02 International Relations

Line of Actual Control:

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is a notional demarcation line that separates Indian–controlled territory from Chinese–controlled territory in parts of Indo-China border.
LAC originally referred only to the boundary in the western sector after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, but since the 1990s came to refer to the entire de facto border.

The LAC is generally divided into three sectors:

the western sector which is divided between Ladakh on the Indian side and the Tibet and Xinjiang regions on the Chinese
the middle sector which is divided between Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh on the Indian side and the Tibet region on the Chinese
the eastern sector between Arunachal Pradesh on the Indian side and the Tibet region on the Chinese side. This sector generally follows the McMahon Line.

The McMahon Line is the boundary between Tibet and British India as agreed in the 1914 Shimla Convention.
The PRC refuses to acknowledge McMahon Line as the legitimate boundary since Republic of China was not a party to the convention.
The Indian government sees the line as the de facto boundary between China and India.
The line is named after Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of British India and was the chief British negotiator of the conference at Shimla.

Officially known as the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet was a treaty concerning the status of Tibet.
It was negotiated by representatives of the Republic of China, Tibet and Great Britain in Shimla in 1913 and 1914.
The Shimla Convention divided Tibet into “Outer Tibet” and “Inner Tibet“.
The outer Tibet was to have considerable autonomy and a Chinese promise not to interfere on its internal matters, however it was to remain under Chinese suzerainty.
Inner Tibet would be under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government.
A draft convention was initialled by all three countries on 27 April 1914, which was immediately repudiated by China.
A slightly revised convention was signed again on 3 July 1914, but only by Britain and Tibet with the Chinese refusing to sign it.
The convention also demarcated the border between Tibet and British India by the McMahon Line.