Line of Actual Control
The Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the context of the Sino-Indian border dispute, is a notional demarcation line[1][2][3][4] that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.[5] The concept was introduced by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in a 1959 letter to Jawaharlal Nehru as the "line up to which each side exercises actual control", but rejected by Nehru as being incoherent.[6][7] Subsequently, the term came to refer to the line formed after the 1962 Sino-Indian War.[8]
Not to be confused with Line of Control, Actual Ground Position Line, Line of Contact, or Line of Contact (Nagorno-Karabakh).
The LAC is different from the borders claimed by each country in the Sino-Indian border dispute. The Indian claims include the entire Aksai Chin region and the Chinese claims include Zangnan (South Tibet)/Arunachal Pradesh. These claims are not included in the concept of "actual control".
The LAC is generally divided into three sectors:[5][9]
The term "line of actual control" originally referred only to the boundary in the western sector after the 1962 Sino-Indian War, but during the 1990s came to refer to the entire de facto border.[10]
In fiction[edit]
The Line of Actual Control is one of the settings in Neal Stephenson's novel Termination Shock, where volunteer martial artists from India and China fight to move the line in skirmishes covered on social media.