Sino-Indian border dispute

There is an ongoing territorial dispute between China and India over the sovereignty of two relatively large, and several smaller, separated pieces of territory at their border. The territorial disputes between the two countries stem from the legacy of British colonial-era border agreements, particularly the McMahon Line in the eastern sector, which was drawn in 1914 during the Simla Convention between British-ruled India and Tibet but was rejected by China. In the western sector, the dispute involves Aksai Chin, a region historically linked to the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir but effectively controlled by China after the 1962 war. The lack of mutually recognized boundary agreements has led to ongoing tensions and occasional military clashes.

The first of the territories, Aksai Chin, is administered by China and claimed by India; it is mostly uninhabited high-altitude wasteland but with some significant pasture lands at the margins. It lies at the intersection of Kashmir, Tibet and Xinjiang, and is crossed by China's Xinjiang-Tibet Highway. The second of the disputed territories, Arunachal Pradesh, is a region south of the McMahon Line. The area was formerly known as the North-East Frontier Agency, and is now administered by India as a state. The McMahon Line was signed between British India and Tibet to form part of the 1914 Simla Convention, but the latter was never ratified by China. China rejected the McMahon Line agreement, stating that Tibet was not independent when it signed the Simla Convention, and maintains a claim over the area.