The Agreement between the Government of the Republic of India and the Government of the People's Republic of China on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question was signed in New Delhi on 11 April 2005. Authentic texts, equally valid: Hindi, Chinese and English. It enters into force on the date of signature, under Article XI. It is the product of the first five rounds of the Special Representatives mechanism set up by the 2003 Declaration on Principles for Relations. It is not the Agreement of 7 September 1993 and not that of 29 November 1996, which remain in force for confidence-building measures.

Article I states that differences on the boundary question should not affect the overall development of bilateral relations and that a final solution is to be sought through peaceful consultations, without the use or threat of force. Article II calls for a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution on an equal footing, in the light of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Article III requires meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments, in a package settlement covering all sectors of the boundary rather than a piecemeal deal.

Article IV requires due consideration of each side's strategic and reasonable interests and the principle of mutual and equal security. Article V lists, among other things, historical evidence, national sentiments, practical difficulties, reasonable concerns and the actual state of the border areas. Article VI provides that the boundary should follow well-defined, easily identifiable natural geographical features mutually agreed. Article VII requires the two sides to safeguard due interests of settled populations in the border areas.

Within the agreed framework of a final settlement, Article VIII provides for delineation by modern cartographic means, surveys and joint surveys. Pending an ultimate settlement, Article IX requires respect for the line of actual control and the maintenance of peace in the border areas; military procedures are not transcribed here. The Joint Working Group and the Diplomatic and Military Expert Group continue under the 1993 and 1996 agreements. Article X keeps the Special Representatives consultations open toward an agreed framework as the basis for later delineation. Amendments: only in writing, by mutual agreement.

Signed at government level during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi, with Manmohan Singh. Cover: the two premiers in New Delhi during the visit that produced the agreement; a period photograph, without restating the date. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India–China Boundary Question, 2005; Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles (Ministry of External Affairs, India).