The Agreement on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas is a foundational bilateral accord, signed on September 7, 1993, in Beijing by India and China. This international agreement, a type of standstill agreement, was created to manage the disputed border following the normalization of relations after the 1962 war and the 1988 visit of Rajiv Gandhi. The problem it solved was the need for a mechanism to prevent military conflict along the undefined border while a final boundary settlement remained elusive.
The core mechanism of the Agreement is the commitment to strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which it introduced as an operative concept in a written bilateral instrument for the first time. Article I mandates that the boundary question be resolved through peaceful means and prohibits either side from using or threatening to use force against the other. Article II commits both parties to reduce military forces along the LAC to minimum levels consistent with the principle of mutual and equal security. Furthermore, the Agreement established a mechanism of diplomatic and military experts to assist the existing Joint Working Group (JWG) in resolving differences and clarifying the LAC's alignment.
This 1993 Agreement is the conceptual cornerstone for subsequent border management accords, most notably the 1996 Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field along the LAC, which provided operational details like the no-firing norm within two kilometers of the LAC. It also connects to the Special Representatives mechanism, established in 2003, which was tasked with exploring the framework for a final boundary settlement. The Agreement has not been formally replaced or amended, but its spirit and provisions were reaffirmed and built upon by the 2005 Protocol and the 2013 Border Defence Cooperation Agreement. Crucially, Article VI ensures the Agreement does not prejudice the respective legal positions of either side on the final boundary question.