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Can India get its occupied land back from neighbors like Pakistan and China? If yes, how?

by dindiaadmin
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Redrawing borders by military might is well nigh impossible in today’s world.
Doing so by diplomatic means is a ‘give and take’ business and termed as settling boundary disputes and is a possibility.

In case of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, both India and Pakistan claim the territory internationally , but also understand that any change in status quo of boundaries is well next to impossible and the same belief is held by UN, given strategic importance of Jammu and Kashmir to both India, Pakistan and China (China occupies Aksai Chin area , besides some territory  ceded by Pakistan to it) see the image below

cok 1 is Shaksgam valley ceded to China by Pakistan.
The Aksai chin area on map is represented as COK2 , is of strategic importance to China as it connects the Xinxiang province to the north with West Tibet in the south through China National Highway 219 (G219). see map below 


In so much, as Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan is concerned neither side is ready to make any concession on territory either by diplomatic or military means.

As far as China is concerned, lets see the dispute in east. It  lies over Arunachal Pradesh which became an Indian state 20 Feb 1987 . See the map below

The red portions depicts the state of Arunachal which China refuses to recognise and considers as disputed. The history of that is quite long but suffice to say that China is prepared to recognise it in exchange of India giving its claims over Aksai Chin, which China  considers important for its control over West Tibet. In 1960, Zhou Enlai unofficially suggested that India drop its claims to Aksai Chin in return for a Chinese withdrawal of claims over NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh).

So basically dispute between China and India can be resolved by letting them have Aksai Chin officially (which anyway China has) in return for letting India have Arunachal (which anyway India has).

As for India and Pakistan, such give and take is impossible as both consider the territory of J& K,  non -negotiable real estate due to its strategic and political implications.

Military options doesnot have significant take aways compared to the costs involved. South Asia is seen as nuclear flashpoint and rightly so as all three nations involved are nuclear enabled state, and forcible redrawal of boundaries are bound to have unacceptable repercussions in the region.

On hypthetical basis, it may happen if some how pakistan fragments and India is forced to send forces to reclaim the territory to safeguard its interests in the follow up events to such fragmentation.

 With China, hypothetically a Thirld world war may cause it to be so much at the receiving end (like happened to Germany after second world war),  that it ceases to claim these territories and India if untouched by the war, is easily able to integrate them within its fold.

Thanks for A2A   Mr Rajagopal


Viraj Deshpande
Viraj Deshpande, Striving to bell the CAT

Historically speaking, the moderates always ruled the INC and the extremists were written off, India has been a country that won’t attack unless attacked, and rightly so.
Talking about the POK, this encroachment into the Indian territory happened right after the partition, wherein the ruler of J&K was convinced to be a part of India but Pakistan was far from letting go. The loss of property and life was so extreme following the partition that the UN intervention got India’s hands tied. Hence the ceasefire agreement was settled upon.
As far as China occupied ladakh is concerned, there have been different theories in both of the countries regarding the “LINE OF ACTUAL CONTROL” and the fundamentals are still being worked upon.
Now in terms of action that can be taken, India can take back POK in a jiffy considering the humongous strength of the army. But as far as the Chinese are concerned they have been known to be notorious, be it the Tibet issue or be it ladakh, and countering them is gonna be a real uphill task.

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India is not going to get an inch of land from either Pakistan or China for the foreseeable future. Pakistan and India have an equal claim to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir —Azad Kashmir & Gilgit-Baltistan. From Pakistan’s POV, India and Pakistan were divided along religious lines, and thus Kashmir should belong to Pakistan, since Kashmir was Muslim majority when the partition happened. From India’s POV —the provision was that areas under the direct control of British India was to divided along religious lines, and not the princely states, which had the option to either join India or Pakistan. Kashmir had no obligation to accede to Pakistan, given that it was not at all under the direct control of British India.
As it happened, the princely states enclosed by Pakistan acceded to Pakistan, and the ones which were enclaves of India acceded to India (a few states like Hyderabad, Manipur and Tripura put up a defensive; the ruler of the princely state of Hyderabad was defeated by Indian forces, while Manipur and Tripura acceded to India, after India gained control of Hyderabad).
However, Kashmir was bordered by both India and Pakistan, and the ruler of Kashmir wanted to remain independent. The Muslim Conference of the state wanted to accede to Pakistan, since Kashmir was 90% Muslim back then. Result? 1947 Poonch Rebellion. So the Maharaja doesn’t have the military might to quell this revolution and asks India for help, promising to accede to India.
If you ask me —this gives equal right to both India and Pakistan. Differing from where you’re from, you might have a slight bias towards one side, but really, the differences are subtle. As for Aksai Chin —the territory controlled by China, but claimed by India and parts of Arunachal Pradesh —the territory controlled by India but claimed by China, the differences go back to the British era.
In the first few decades after Indian independence, China used military might to gain pieces of land. Pakistan and India fought over disputed Kashmir —and ended up getting almost half each. I wouldn’t say either of them “gained” over the other. No country had any right to Kashmir whatsoever and so nobody lost and nobody gained (as far as I’m concerned).
But that was the 20th century. The three nations were rebelling kids back then and have now learnt the lessons of what a full scale war can bring. China and India are easily among the 5 most powerful nations in the world. A war between these two countries can derail the robust economic growth both countries have had in the past few decades, and I’m sure neither country wants a war. Even if, say, China (or India) gets to control both Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, the benefits (the gained territories) will be far, far, lesser than the damage, both in terms of lives lost and economic loss. Pakistan is a far lesser military power than India, but even then it can put up a stellar defense against any Indian incursion, and it’ll be much like India and China fighting. A full scale war probably won’t trigger a nuclear war, but the damages caused by even a conventional war can be enormous, again, considering the fact that these countries are in their golden period of growth. You don’t want to derail a train that’s moving on the right track with great speed.
Thus, we’re left with a few options:
  • Preserve status quo, but maintain claims: Talk all you want for political gains or international diplomacy —but nobody is getting anything. Whatever border exists now will remain so in the future. There will be no wars, only claims. The three countries can claim all they want —Pakistan can claim the entirety of Kashmir, or even parts of Punjab or fuck it, Tamil Nadu, and India can claim Islamabad! But again, really, nobody is getting anything. 

    What this means: Pakistan gets to keep Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; China gets to keep Aksai Chin; India gets to keep the remaining of Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Formally withdraw claims, preserve status quo: The three kids can all grow up and formally withdraw all claims on each other’s territory and preserve status quo.
  • Diplomacy: Get other countries to withdraw claims on your territory —but refuse to do the same yourselves. Ha! Not happening, not happening at all. Or, exchange territories. China gets to keep the parts of Arunachal Pradesh it wants, and India gets to keep Aksai Chin —this is not preferred, of course, but just saying that it is one possibility.
I think the best option, and the one currently practised by all three nations is (1). All three nations talk quite a lot; they don’t withdraw their claims, but they’re not warring each other other. Sure, there are a couple of skirmishes along the borders every now and then but that’s about it. (1) is the best option, because it pleases the nationalists in all three countries and so it is a viable option for the political parties in all three nations (a majority of the population won’t prefer war, but still can’t digest the fact that their country has withdrawn claims over some territory and so the “Ah! They’re doing stuff” will be there). No party will be willing to take the serious risk of giving up claims —that’s suicide.
That said, China and India have taken steps to that effect: China ready to make concessions in Aksai Chin if India cedes part of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, China offers India fresh proposals to mend ties. As a democracy, it’s hard to expect India to publicly state that it will also withdraw its claim on Kashmir or give up parts of Arunachal Pradesh, but has supposedly expressed its intent behind closed doors”: India ‘will let China keep Aksai Chin’ in return for Arunachal Pradesh (note: This is not an official statement, rather a derived intent from “foreign ministry documents”, as quoted by the Daily Mail). An excerpt:
Publicly, India has been holding to its stated position that there can’t be any territorial concessions. But behind the closed doors of the negotiating room, India has told China that it “may not be averse to status quo position”.
With some maturity amongst the majority population, this is a viable option. But it’s hard to tell when the population will attain that level of maturity. Until, a war of words should continue, with no real expectations. The words released to the press will purely be to satisfy the public.
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Chaitanya Patwardhan
Chaitanya Patwardhan, An IAS Aspirant and Keen Observer
Yes your right that we Indian people and Indian media seldom talk about china occupied Kashmir part.There are some reasons for it.
The state of Jammu&Kashmir is divided into five regions. Jammu and Ladakh are retained by India, as to Kashmir India retains Kashmir Valley while Pakistan occupied Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan illegally and the division of Aksai chin which lies to the north-east of kashmir state is occupied by china.
China right after the Communist Party took over the political power from the hands of Kuomintang under Chiang kai shek refused to recognized the border settlement China had with her neighbors. India too faced the problem in 1950s.
Border between China and India was demarcated by Simla Accord between British Govt in India and China and Tibet Govt. As per the accord today’s region of Tibet was placed wholly under the administration of Tibet Government and other regions which lied on her vicinity were placed under Chinese control. So basically the British Govt through the Accord ensured that Chinese borders didn’t touch Indian borders and retained their right to interfere in Tibet should Russia set her eyes on Tibet for expansion.
China objected to this Simla Accord because she contended that Tibet has been part of all empires China had in her history and the Accord had sought to separate Tibet from China. First Kuomintang and later Communist refused to acknowledge the simla accord and MacMohan and Johnson line drawn by the accord. So the Communist Party sought to do what Kuomintang couldn’t. The Chinese under the name of unified China began to invade Tibet in 1950s.
India’s Position:- As to your question, India will face following difficulties if she tried to invade Aksai chin.
1] Geography:- The division of Aksai chin lies to the east of Karakoram Ranges which is rough terrain to move and march. If India want to retain Aksai Chin then she will have to place a separate division of Army and Air Force near that area. It means we will be sacrificing life of our brave soldiers not due to war with China but because of harsh weather conditions and rough terrain.
2] Armed conflict:- looking at geography the area around Aksai Chin and Tibet is more accessible to Chinese Army rather than Indian Army, plus Chinese Army has gained experience of war in high-altitude regions as she invaded Tibet in 1950 while Indian Army might not have that experience as our armed forces have fought all wars since our independence on flat grounds (with pakistan) or in Forests (with LTTE). So in the event of war China may yet again prevail.
3] Barren Land:- since Aksai Chin lies in the rain-shadow region of Himalayas, due to extremely rare rainfall and chilling cold winds this region lacks any kind of vegetation. Due to lack of geological survey we do not know if it has deposits of any mineral or ores. So economically retaining and expending huge amounts for its defense is not viable. BUT if India stressed on expanding her trade ties with western China and Tibet and also pursued  China to start a new Silk Route then this region may see a kind of importance being given. But in both the cases India will have to Pursue China and not to confront it.
4] No Population:- due to adverse geographical conditions there is no population in this region. Unlike Kashmir region which is full of people and rife with issues of humanitarian rights Aksai Chin has very little population. China uses the area for military training and exercises. So there our media may not get sensational news like they do get in PoK and Kashmir.. so no news, no attention
So if India want to do something to retain Aksai Chin then she will have to come up with a better development plan including a greater emphasis on infrastructure which can give her a better access. India will have to look for better agricultural technologies which may make taking of two or more food or cash crops possible. India can survey the land and find mineral deposits and build plants. If the region has some rivers then we can use it for Hydroelectric power generation purpose. India will have to focus on expanding her trade ties with Tibet and Sinkiang Province of China.Lastly we will have to encourage the settlement of people of Indian origin in this area so that it can be claimed area of India legitimately.
Raj Kumar, Political observer

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