Explained: What Is Line Of Control And How It Came Into Existence

The Pakistani army opened fire at multiple locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. The Indian Army immediately retaliated, effectively countering the attack.

Military sources told NDTV that Pakistan targeted several Indian posts. Their troops initiated small arms fire along the LoC, but Indian security forces responded decisively, with no casualties reported.

The exchange of fire came two days after the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, killed 26 people. In response, India has taken strict action, including the expulsion of Pakistani military attaches, suspension of the Indus Water Treaty and closure of the Attari land-transit post, citing "cross-border links" to the Pahalgam attack.

What Is LoC

The Line of Control is a de facto boundary separating the Indian and Pakistani armies in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The LoC came into being after the 1972 Simla Agreement and is a bilaterally agreed military line and not a legally recognised border.

The LoC demarcates the points to identify Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and India's Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

The Union Territory of Ladakh was created after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government. Before 2019, Ladakh was a part of Jammu and Kashmir.

History Of The Loc and Where Is It?

The origin of the existing LoC can be traced to the first Cease-Fire Line (CFL) established after the India-Pakistan war of 1947, which lasted until 1948.

On October 27, 1947, a battalion of 1 Sikh landed in Srinagar, starting India's military operations to defend Jammu and Kashmir from the tribal raiders (known as Lashkars) backed by Pakistan. The war, which began just after Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India, lasted till the end of 1948.

In 1949, a UN-brokered ceasefire was announced, after which the 1949 Karachi Agreement was signed between the two armies, demarcating points that would define the de facto boundary between the two countries in Jammu and Kashmir.

The military representatives of India and Pakistan met in Karachi in July 1949. The meeting was for "military purposes" and "political issues were not considered".

"That the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan, in its letter dated 2 July 1949, invited the Governments of India and Pakistan to send fully authorised military representatives to meet jointly in Karachi under the auspices of the Commission's Truce Sub-committee to establish a cease-fire line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, mutually agreed upon by the Governments of India and Pakistan," the text of agreement read.

It was decided that January 1, 1949, would be the cut-off date for the establishment of the cease-fire line, which starts from Manawar in Jammu near Akhnoor, running north to Keran in Kupwara district in Kashmir, then running east toward the glacier region, which now lies in Ladakh. NJ9842 was the last point marked on the CFL because the areas north to the glaciers were considered 'inaccessible'.

The exact wording of the agreement identifying the starting and the end point of the CFL is as follows: "The cease-fire line runs from MANAWAR in the south, north to KERAN and from KERAN east to the glacier area."

"A period of 30 days from the date of ratification shall be allowed to each side to vacate the areas at present occupied by them beyond the cease-fire line as now determined. Before the expiration of this 30-day period their shall be no forward movement into areas to be taken over by either side pursuant to this agreement, except by mutual agreement between local commanders."

The hostilities between the countries continued, and in 1965, Pakistan violated the agreement and crossed the CFL. The war, which had two phases - Operation Gibraltar and Operation Grand Slam (The name given by Pakistan to its operation - ended in September with a ceasefire, which was followed by the signing of the Tashkent Agreement

1971 War And Establishment Of LoC

Six years later, in 1971, Pakistan's brutal crackdown on its Bengali population in the east led to a two-week-long war on India's two fronts - the West and the East. The crisis reached a climax with one of the most significant wars in modern history, which led to the splitting of Pakistan into two and the creation of Bangladesh and the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani troops in Dhaka.

On the western front, after a unilateral ceasefire was declared by India on December 17, 1971, firing stopped and the war ended. Almost 7 months later, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto met in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, on July 2, 1972, to sign the Simla Agreement.

The Simla Agreement was a peace treaty aimed to"put an end to the conflict and confrontation that have hitherto marred their relations and work for the promotion of a friendly and harmonious relationship and the establishment of durable peace in the sub-continent."

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Pakistan's Zulfikar Ali Bhutto signed the agreement in 1972.

The Simla Agreement had an important clause related to the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan.

Subsections 1 and 2 of clause 4 of the Simla Agreement state:

In order to initiate the process of the establishment of durable peace, both the Governments agree that:

(1) Indian and Pakistani forces shall be withdrawn to their side of the international border.

(2) In Jammu and Kashmir, the line of control resulting from the cease-fire of December 17, 1971, shall be respected by both sides without prejudice to the recognised position of either side. Neither side shall seek to alter it unilaterally, irrespective of mutual differences and legal interpretations. Both sides further undertake to refrain from the threat or the use of force in violation of this Line.

(3) The withdrawals shall commence upon entry into force of this Agreement and shall be completed within a period of 30 days thereof.

The Line of Control that exists now is based on the December 17, 1971 cease-fire line. During the war, India took over several territories in the western sector along the Punjab border and regions in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, one of which was Turtuk in Sub Sector West (SSW), which lies southeast of the Siachen glacier and parts of Poonch and Uri.

India took Turtuk back from Pakistan's occupation. According to the 1949 CFL, this remote village was under Pakistani occupation, but post-1971, Turtuk had its homecoming.

While the existing LoC had its roots in the 1949 CFL, the two military boundaries differ in the demarcation of territory. The former was a mutually agreed-upon de facto boundary, and the latter is a UN-brokered military line.

Pakistan Threatens Simla Agreement

Yesterday, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a rare National Security Committee (NSC) meeting and took several decisions, during which the committee said it "Shall exercise the right to hold all bilateral agreements with India, including but not limited to the Simla Agreement in abeyance."

Pakistan's announcement is significant because the Simla Agreement makes provision for the ceasefire line to be known as the Line of Control. Should Pakistan suspend the Simla Agreement, it will raise a question on the validity of the Line of Control.