History of Arunachal Pradesh

In 1912–13 the British Indian government made agreements with the indigenous peoples of the Himalayas of northeastern India to set up the Balipara frontier tract in the west, the Sadiya frontier tract in the east, and the Abor and Mishmi hills and the Tirap frontier tract in the south. Together those tracts became the North East Frontier Agency, which is now Arunachal Pradesh. The northern boundary of the territory (now of the state) determined at that time became known as the McMahon Line; it is about 550 miles (885 km) long and has been a lasting point of contention between India and China.

The boundary takes its name from Sir Henry McMahon, secretary in the Indian foreign department and representative of Great Britain at the conference held in 1912–13 in Simla (now called Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh) to settle frontier and other matters relating to Tibet. To the British, the line marked the geographic, ethnic, and administrative boundary between the two regions, and delegates from Great Britain, China, and Tibet agreed that the frontier between Tibet and northeastern India indeed should follow the crest of the high Himalayas. Two days later, however, the Chinese republican government disavowed its delegate and refused to sign a convention.

After the independence of India in 1947, China made claims to practically the whole upland area of what was then Assam state, arguing that the McMahon Line had never been accepted by China and was the result of British aggression. In letters to the Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Chinese prime minister, Zhou Enlai, quoted a map in the 1929 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica showing the disputed territory as Chinese, with the boundary following the alignment of Chinese maps. Some Chinese maps before 1935 showed the North East Frontier Agency (i.e., Arunachal Pradesh) as part of India and since then as part of Tibet. The Survey of India (1883) depicted the disputed tribal areas as de facto administered by British India. British and Indian maps since 1914 have usually followed the McMahon Line. If the Chinese claims were allowed, the Indian-Chinese border would follow roughly the margin of the Assam plain, a frontier almost impossible to defend. Following that dispute, Chinese troops crossed the McMahon Line on August 26, 1959, and captured an Indian outpost at Longju, a short distance south of the line. They abandoned that outpost in 1961, but in October 1962 they again crossed the line, part of the month-long Sino-Indian War, this time in force. After first striking toward the Tanglha ridge and Tawang near the border with Bhutan, the Chinese later extended their attack along the whole frontier. Deep inroads were made at a number of points. Later the Chinese agreed to withdraw approximately to the McMahon Line, and in 1963 they returned Indian troops who had been held as prisoners of war.

Since then, efforts have been made to more fully integrate the region into India, beginning with its designation as a union territory in 1972 and then as a state 15 years later. Economic growth, though slow, has progressed, notably with the development of some of the state’s vast hydroelectric potential. Efforts have been made to improve Arunachal’s infrastructure, including extending roads into some remote areas, building the state’s first rail line, and expanding access to electricity, drinking water, and telecommunications facilities in tribal villages. However, some of those efforts have raised calls for concern among environmentalists and others who wish to preserve the natural landscape.

There have been no instances of outright hostilities between India and China in Arunachal Pradesh since 1962, but tensions have remained high there. Each country has maintained troops along the de facto international border, and there have been periodic reports of incursions by both sides.