India–China Boundary Problem 1846–1947: History and Diplomacy by A.G. Noorani

The Sino-Indian border dispute is one of the longest running border disputes in the world, which has so far eluded a solution. While China has settled its territorial disputes with most of its neighbours, including Russia and Vietnam, the border dispute with India is yet to be resolved, even after 15 rounds of negotiation under the new framework of Special Representative Talks initiated in 2003 during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China, which indeed gave an impetus to the border talks. A significant breakthrough achieved during this visit was the Chinese recognition of Sikkim as an integral part of India. The positive vibe for border settlement continued and in 2005 it reached yet another threshold, when the two countries signed the Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question. The spirit of accommodation between the two countries could be gauged from Art. 6 of the agreement, which stipulated, ‘In reaching a boundary settlement, the two sides shall safeguard due interests of their settled population in the border areas’. This revived hopes for a package deal between the two countries. The Agreement on Political Parameters, indeed, makes a mention of the ‘package settlement’ in Art. 3.