13. CONFIDENCE BUILDING MEASURES IN ASIA

Abstract

On November 26, 1996, China and India signed the Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas. It was a follow-up to the Agreement between India and China on the Maintenance of Peace and Tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China Border Areas, signed on September 7, 1993. Signatories to the 1996 document agreed that neither side would use military capability against the other. No armed forces would be deployed by either side in the border areas along the line of actual control. Further, no military strength would be used by one side to attack the other or to engage in military activities that would threaten the other side or undermine the peace, tranquillity and stability in the India-China border areas. As part of the agreement, each side reconfirmed its determination to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable settlement of the border dispute. Each country also reaffirmed its commitment to respect strictly the line of actual control. Finally, each country reaffirmed that, in mutually agreed to geographical zones, it would reduce or limit military forces to levels compatible with friendly and good neighborly relations, consistent with the principle of mutual and equal security.