Aksai Chin: The high-altitude legacy of sovereignty and strategy | India News

The name “Aksai Chin” means “White Desert of the True Passage”, a title that conveys its historical identity as a rugged, high-altitude extension of the Indian subcontinent. Located at the junction of the Himalayas and the Karakoram Mountain Range, this mountain has an average altitude of 4,300 meters. For centuries, this region was a vital part of the cultural and economic fabric of Ladakh. It was a corridor for Indian traders and pilgrims long before it became the focus of modern geopolitical strife.



Ancient Roots and Indian Sovereignty

Historically, Aksai Chin has never been a “no man’s land.” It was an integral part of the kingdom of Maryul (Ladakh). Rock carvings found in Ladakh show that the region has been inhabited since Neolithic times. The first inhabitants, the nomadic Kampa and later the Brokpa, used these high plateaus for grazing and trade. By the 17th century, Ladakh’s powerful King Sengge Namgyal took control of these northern regions, populating the region with yaks and sheep and establishing the traditional boundaries that India recognizes today.

During this period, the region functioned as a section of the Silk Road, particularly a route connecting India’s trading centers of Ladakh with Central Asia. Boundaries were defined by ‘customary usage’. Ladakhi villagers traditionally collected salt from alkaline lakes and grazed their animals on the Lingzi Tang plains.

19th Century: Formalization of the Frontier

The modern administrative history of Aksai Chin dates back to the expansion of the Sikh Empire and subsequent Dogra rule. In 1834, Raja Gulab Singh’s armies conquered Ladakh, and in 1842 an agreement was signed between the Sikhs and Tibetans confirming the “old, settled borders”.
After the British defeated the Sikhs in 1846, Ladakh joined the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. To define boundaries, WH Johnson’s 1865 line across the Kunlun Mountains placed Aksai Chin in Kashmir. The 1897 Ardagh Line improved this and created a defensible border from British India until 1947.

During this period, the Maharaja of Kashmir maintained a fort at Shahidulla to protect Indian trade caravans and recorded revenue records (Jamabandi and Girdawari) from the Ladakh Wazarat consistently included these northern grasslands as part of India’s administrative jurisdiction.

Mid-20th Century: Rape and Conflict

In the 1950s, the stability of the plateau was disrupted. While India focused on peaceful nation-building post-independence, the newly formed People’s Republic of China (PRC) launched a secret project to connect Xinjiang and Tibet. Between 1951 and 1957, China secretly built a road through the Aksai Chin region, which was depicted as Indian in the Chinese Postal Atlas as late as 1933.

The Indian government discovered this illegal infrastructure only in 1958, based on historical maps and the absence of any previous Chinese presence in the region. This discovery turned the previously agreed-upon border into a national crisis. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru insisted that the border was open and intact, leading the Forward Policy to re-establish India’s presence in the disputed areas.

This resulted in the 1962 Sino-Indian War. After the war, China retained ownership of the western sector and demarcated the Line of Actual Control (LAC). However, despite China taking over the region with its military power, India has never given up its claim on the region. The country still considers Aksai Chin as an integral part of Ladakh.

Aksai Chin has immense strategic value for India despite its harsh and unfavorable climate.

The vitality of the region lies in controlling the headwaters of important rivers and lakes in the Karakorum Mountain Range, which are vital to the region’s water security. It is located near the Kunlun Range and is an important component of India’s territorial integrity. Its high-altitude location also provides significant surveillance over Ladakh, which is vital to the security of India’s northern borders in the long term.

In recent years, especially in the wake of the 2020 Galwan Valley incident, India has significantly increased infrastructure in the Ladakh region to ensure that the historical link with Aksai Chin remains a living reality; This is signaled by the construction of all-weather bridges and airfields, demonstrating India’s intention to protect its territorial integrity.