The Agreement between India and China on Border Defence Cooperation (BDCA) covers border stability and security, information asymmetry, smuggling, socio-economic reconstruction, environment and disease transmission along the
line of actual control
The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...
.
It is an incremental addition to the previous border agreements related to the
Sino-Indian border dispute
The Sino-Indian border dispute is an ongoing territorial dispute over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory between China and India. The first of the territories, Aksai Chin, is administe ...
.
BDCA is one of the growing number of defence cooperation agreements being signed between countries worldwide.
Background
China proposed the BDCA as early as the 5th India-China annual defence dialogue (ADD) in January 2013. The following months saw negotiations and counter-proposals by India.
In April 2013, India reported a Chinese
PLA
PLA may refer to:
Organizations Politics and military
* People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party
* People's Liberation Army (disambiguation)
** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...
incursion at the mouth of
Depsang Bulge
The Depsang Bulge or Burtsa Bulge
is a 900 square kilometre area
of mountain terrain in the disputed Aksai Chin region, which was conceded to India by China in 1960 but remains under Chinese occupation since the 1962 Sino-Indian War.
P. J. S. ...
near the
Line of Actual Control
The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation lineAnanth KrishnanLine of Actual Control , India-China: the line of actual contest, 13 June 2020: "In contrast, the alignment o ...
in eastern Ladakh.
This three week
face-off
A face-off is the method used to begin and restart play after goals in some sports using sticks, primarily ice hockey, bandy, floorball, broomball, rinkball, and lacrosse.
During a face-off, two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the ...
was one of the border incidents that took place during the drafting of the agreement.
In July 2013, India also saw PLA movement into
Chumar
Chumar or Chumur () is a village and the centre of nomadic grazing region located in south-eastern Ladakh, India. It is in Rupshu block, south of the Tso Moriri lake, on the bank of the Parang River (or ''Pare Chu''), close to Ladakh's border wit ...
and transgressions in
Barahoti
Barahoti (Bara Hoti, Hoti Plain), also called Wu-Je or Wure (), is a sloping plain located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, Chamoli district. It is disputed by China, which also disputes a area surrounding it. The entire disputed area also go ...
and Dichu.
In July 2013, the Indian Minister of Defence met his counterpart General
Chang Wanquan
Chang Wanquan (; born January 1949) is the former Minister of Defense and State Councilor of the People's Republic of China and a general in the People's Liberation Army. He has been a member of the Central Military Commission of the People's Re ...
, as well as Chinese Prime Minister
Li Keqiang
Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...
and State Councilor
Yang Jiechi
Yang Jiechi (; born 1 May 1950) is a high-ranking Chinese politician and diplomat, who served as a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party between 2017 and 2022.
Yang spent much of his professional life in the United States, wh ...
. In a joint statement, with regard to "peace and tranquility in their border areas" both sides appreciated "that border defence cooperation would make a significant contribution in that regard" and "they agreed on an early conclusion of negotiations for a proposed agreement on border defence cooperation between the two Governments".
The agreement was finalized at a meeting of the
Joint Working Group a few weeks before it was finally signed in Beijing in October 2013.
Agreements
BDCA mentions the "India-China Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity" and four previous border agreements:
*
Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement, 1993
The Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement (BPTA or MPTA; formally the ''Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India–China Border Areas'') is an agreement signed by China and India in Sep ...
*
Agreement on Confidence Building Measures, 1996
*
Protocol for the Implementation of Military Confidence Building Measures, 2005
*
Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs, 2012
Articles
BDCA has ten articles. The agreement outlines ways to implement border defence cooperation "on the basis of their respective laws and relevant bilateral agreements". This includes the exchange of information, joint smuggling efforts, assistance in locating trans-border movement, disease transmission or "any other way mutually agreed upon the two sides". The agreement goes on to elaborate on mechanisms for implementing this border defence cooperation including flag meeting,
border personal meetings, hotlines and meetings between representatives at various fora. This agreement goes a step further by saying that cooperation can be enhanced through CBMs such as cultural exchanges, "non-contact" sports, military exercises, and "small scale tactical exercises along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas." Military clauses cover tailing patrols, seeking clarification in areas of
differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control and practice
military restraint in all ways. The agreement clearly stated that the agreement would be honoured irrespective of the alignment of the LAC. The agreement concludes in an ''elastic'' nature, "It may be revised, amended or terminated with the consent of the two sides. Any revision or amendment, mutually agreed by the two sides, shall form an integral part of this Agreement'.
Aftermath
The BDCA was met with skepticism from a number of Indian analysts.
Monika Chansoria, head of the China-study program
Centre for Land Warfare Studies
The Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, India is an autonomous think tank on strategic studies and land warfare. The mandate of CLAWS covers national security issues, conventional military operations and sub-conventional warf ...
, called the agreement as a Beijing "engineered" with no clear progress or differentiation from previous agreements, adding that the main issue of resolving the border dispute was not part of the BDCA.
Jayadeva Ranade pointed out that there was no reference to status quo, ambiguity in the way certain arguments were framed including lines related to infrastructure development. However, D Suba Chandran, director at Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, stated "even the worst critique would not find faults with it
he agreement.
In a press conference on 24 October 2013, a day after BDCA was signed,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China () is the first-ranked executive department of the State Council of the Chinese government, responsible for the foreign relations of the People's Republic of China. It is led ...
spokesperson
Hua Chunying
Hua Chunying (; born 24 April 1970) is a Chinese official and former diplomat serving as spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China since 2012 and as the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2021. H ...
stated that "Over the past decades, with the concerted efforts of the two countries, negotiations on the boundary question have sustained a sound momentum and the border areas are basically peaceful and tranquil."
During the
2020-21 China-India border skirmishes the BDCA and other border agreements failed in their purpose.
See also
*
Restraint (military)
Restraint in the military or armed groups, during war or insurgency, refers to "behaviour that indicates deliberate actions to limit the use of violence" with the aim of upholding the modern and professional principles of war, humanitarian rights ...
References
;Bibliography
*
{{China–India relations
China–India border
China–India relations