Line of Control (LOC)

Subject: International Relations

Context: India-Pakistan announced ceasefire agreement along LOC two days back and Pakistan PM has put onus on India to push the talks.

Concept:

The LoC emerged from the 1948 as “ceasefire line” negotiated by the UN after the Kashmir War.
It was designated as the LoC in 1972, following the Shimla Agreement between the two countries. It is delineated on a map signed by DGMOs of both armies and has the international sanctity of a legal agreement.
The part that is under Indian control is known as the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Pakistani-controlled part is divided into Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan. The northernmost point of the Line of Control is known as NJ9842.

LOC different from LAC:

The LAC, in contrast, is only a concept between India and China’s border areas – it is not agreed upon by the two countries, neither delineated on a map nor demarcated on the ground.
The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.
It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh.
The alignment of the LAC in the eastern sector is along the 1914 McMahon Line, and there are minor disputes about the positions on the ground
The line in the middle sector is the least controversial but for the precise alignment to be followed in the Barahoti plains.
The major disagreements are in the western sector where the LAC emerged from two letters written by Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai to PM Jawaharlal Nehru in 1959, after he had first mentioned such a ‘line’ in 1956.