Line of Control (Kashmir)

The Line of Control (LoC) is the de facto boundary separating the portions of Jammu and Kashmir administered by India and Pakistan. It runs roughly 740 kilometres from a point near Sangam on the Chenab River in the south to map coordinate NJ9842 in the north, beyond which lies the Siachen Glacier region and the disputed Actual Ground Position Line.

The LoC originated as the Cease-Fire Line (CFL) established under the Karachi Agreement of July 1949, which followed the first India–Pakistan war over Kashmir and a UN-brokered ceasefire that took effect on 1 January 1949. After the 1971 India–Pakistan war, the line was renegotiated and renamed under the Simla Agreement, signed by Indira Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on 2 July 1972. Article II of that agreement committed both sides to respect the LoC "without prejudice to the recognized position of either side" and to resolve differences bilaterally.

Crucially, the LoC is not a recognised international border. India treats the entire former princely state as its territory; Pakistan regards Kashmir as disputed and calls for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 47 (1948), which envisaged a plebiscite. China also controls Aksai Chin and the Shaksgam Valley, areas India claims.

The LoC has been a recurring flashpoint:

• The 1999 Kargil War was fought across it.
• A formal ceasefire along the LoC was first agreed in November 2003 and was reaffirmed by the two countries' Directors General of Military Operations in a joint statement on 25 February 2021.
• Cross-LoC firing, infiltration allegations, and "surgical strikes" (notably India's announced action of September 2016) continue to test the line.

Confidence-building measures have included cross-LoC bus services (Srinagar–Muzaffarabad, launched April 2005) and limited trade, though most were suspended after 2019.