India's Modi attacks China's territorial aims

On 23 February, Indian opposition leader Narendra Modi travelled to Arunachal Pradesh, close to a disputed Himalayan border, to hold an election rally in which he bluntly warned China against its territorial ambitions. Modi, who is currently the front-runner in the race to become India’s next prime minister, said that China "will have to leave behind its mind-set of expansion".

China’s Foreign Ministry on 24 February dismissed the latest comments, denying the country had expansionist territorial ambitions, instead framing the decades-long dispute as a sensitive hangover from history. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hua Chunying, replied by saying that "you can all see in history China has never actively launched a war of aggression to invade and occupy one inch of territory".

This rather diplomatic response is in stark contrast to the recent comments made by Beijing towards Tokyo, where it has also been accused of robust territorial aims in the East China Sea. Many see the unusually muted stance towards India as purely strategic, coming as it does in an election year. Worryingly for China, Japan’s Premier Shinzo Abe recently visited New Delhi and signed various peace and trade agreements with India’s incumbent Manmohan Singh in a bid to bolster ties between to the two nations.

India-China relations have been tense and prone to flare-ups since the two fought a border war in 1962, which saw tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. When Britain withdrew as the colonial power and granted independence to India in 1947, it left behind a myopic legacy of clumsily demarcated borders between India and its northern neighbours. The disputed land covers an area of 150,000 km² along a 4,000 km frontier that has never been explicitly delineated. This is problematic, given that both countries account for around one third of the world's population, with a total GDP of over US$10 trillion.

In the last 50 years, the Asian giants have held 16 rounds of talks in an effort to settle their border dispute, almost to no avail. A border pact was signed in Beijing on 23 October 2013 following territorial incursions that brought tensions to the fore last year. Both sides have pledged to increase bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2015, following a 20% drop in Indian exports to China last year.

China and India agree to restore defence ties, despite border dispute

Indian PM Singh (L) and Chinese PM Wen in 2008

India and China have agreed to restore defence ties after meetings between Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao on Monday 11th April.

Defence ties were suspended last year after China refused a visa to a Kashmir-based general. In July 2010, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal was prevented from joining a delegation to Beijing because he served in Jammu and Kashmir.

China and India have a number of long running border disputes, but both sides agreed to work together to resolve tensions along their 3,500km long shared border.

Two areas are disputed. Aksai Chin is administered by China as part of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, however India claims it as part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Arunachal Pradesh, a state in the far northeast of India is also disputed, and China claims that it is a part of South Tibet.

The two sides fought a brief border war in 1962, and several rounds of talks over the border in the past few years have made little real progress. India remains suspicious of China's ties to Pakistan, and both sides seem largely unwilling to compromise on territorial questions. Despite this, ties have been relatively strong in recent years, and China is now India's largest trading partner.

Speaking on Wednesday 14th April, India's National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon said the two sides would set up a consultation mechanism for the border dispute.

"This will handle important border affairs relating to maintaining peace and tranquility," Menon said, though he added that "in practice it is one of the most peaceful borders that we have."

Menon said that a multi-command Indian Army delegation would visit China later in the year, likely in June, and suggested joint exercises could be held at some point in the future.

The two countries have also agreed to boost economic ties, and address the currently assymetrical trade relationship. Menon said of Singh, "The PM spoke of taking our relationship to a higher level, focusing more on cross-investment, and also spoke of China providing better market access for Indian exports, particularly in IT, pharmaceuticals, agricultural products and in the engineering sectors."

Singh is in China as part of a formal summit of the “BRICS” countries, which along with China and India includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa. The summit is being held in Sanya, southern China on 14th April.

Sources: BBC News, Xinhua, Economic Times, International Business Times

For more information, please see the Menas Borders website, here.

Google in trouble again over Kashmir map

Given the prevalence of disputed borders around the world, the task of mapping the world is fraught with difficulties. Google Maps, a theoretically objective service, often find themselves caught in political disputes between nations, and there is often no clear 'right' answer on where to mark the border.

Mapping India's borders has been one of the company's biggest challenges. The issue first emerged in 2005, when Google's political map of the subcontinent had a clearly defined boundary between India and Pakistan, with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) on the Pakistani side of the border. Political remonstrations resulted in Google marking the border as disputed. The issue flared up again on 21st August when Indian authorities announced that Google Maps had 'given' POK back to Pakistan. Indian officials threatened Google with legal action if a change was not made immediately.

"Any wrongful depiction of Indian map and its boundaries is liable for action under the India Information Technology Act. Google has been asked to immediately correct this inaccuracy," Minister of state for telecom and IT Sachin Pilot said. Google has said that the responsible department has rectified the maps.

Google has faced issues in India before, when in 2009, Google's satellite maps showed parts of Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese territory, labeled with Chinese script. China claims parts of Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, while India claims it in its entirety.

One solution Google has used in the past has been to depict maps differently for local versions. The Chinese version of Google Maps for example shows parts of Arunachal Pradesh as inside China's borders. Similarly, the Indian version depicts the state as part of India. The global version of Google Maps shows Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory through using broken lines on the map.

Further disputes include the placement of the border between Thailand and Cambodia, with Cambodia complaining that the map ceded territory to Thailand. Thailand and Cambodia have a longstanding dispute over an 11th century Hindu temple called Preah Vihear. Despite an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling in 1962 in favour of Cambodia, disputes have remained because the area around the temple was not covered. The two countries came close to dispute this summer over new site management plans submitted to UNESCO by Cambodia; in particular, a 4.6sq km area at the base of the temple is under continued dispute. Cambodia argued that the Google map put half of the temple in Thai territory.

Even countries which have resolved their border disputes have had issues with Google Maps. In March 2010, Vietnam claimed that Google had misrepresented their border with China, situating it a few kilometers south of the agreed line.