China has included parts of Arunachal Pradesh within itsinternational boundaries, an updated version issued by Sky Map has revealed.
Sky Map, China's authority on digital maps, is constructedand operated by a unit directly under Beijing's National Surveying and MappingGeographic Information Bureau. Recently, Sky Map users discovered that it hasupdated the country's map with the latest national borders, including India'sArunachal Pradesh.
Arunachal Pradesh, a hill state in the Northeast borderingTibet, was part of British India in 1913-14 and formally included in India whenthe McMohan Line was established as the border between India and Tibet in 1938.China continues to consider Arunachal Pradesh a part of Tibet, which itoccupied in 1951.
The map of China, until now, is based on the 1989 edition of the Sky Map of its national borders. Though since then, China has successfully solved its border issues with Russia and Central Asian countries, but none of them have been reflected in the map.
However, as per reports, some users noticed that Sky Map has now updated the geographic information at the "county" level. "The county boundaries of some counties clearly transcend the red color marked 1989 edition of the national border, especially in Tibet area bordering Bhutan and India," the report said.
China has claimed its sovereignty over Tibet "countiesbordering India and Bhutan from east to west — "Chayu county, Medogcounty of Linzhi city, Cuona county, Luoza county of Shannan city, Kangmacounty, Yadong county of Xigaze city".
Chayu, Medog, and Cuona counties are divided by the McMahonLine with the northern parts in China and the southern parts in India."Longzi County in Shannan City does not theoretically border India, butthe McMahon Line runs through the county from southwest to northeast, withChinese control in the west and Indian control in the east."
However, China calls the Indian area and part of Chayu county, Motuo county of Nyingchi city and Longzi county and Cuona county of Shannan City, "South Tibet".
As per the updated Sky Map, "the southern boundary ofChayu county is roughly the same as the boundary in 1989, the southern part ofMotuo county has contracted northward, and the southern boundary of Cuonacounty also roughly coincides with the boundary in 1989. The Longzi county doesnot border India at all, as Beijing advocates. Cuona county of Shannan city notonly borders with India but also borders with Bhutan."
"China-Bhutan border dispute area, Mulasading, islocated in Cuona County-south of the McMahon Line. Mulasading originallybelonged to Tibet and was managed by the Tawang Temple. In 1949, India andBhutan signed the Permanent Peace and Friendship Agreement to transferMulasading to Bhutan. In the latest Sky Map, the border of Cuona County in theMulasading region is south of the 1989 edition of the national border."
"In addition to Tibet, the borders of Tashkurgan Countyin the Kashgar region of Xinjiang have also changed. The northwestern part ofthe border is more than the 1989 edition. According to the 2011 borderagreement between China and Tajikistan, this extra part is 1,158 squarekilometers east of the Sarekole Mountains," the report said.
China occupies India's Aksai Chin, around 37,000 sq kmuninhabited high-altitude desert part of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir,bordering China's Xinjiang province.
