What is the Line of Control?

What is the Line of Control?

* A demarcation line was originally established in January 1949 as a ceasefire line, following the end of the first Kashmir war.
* In July 1972, after a second conflict, the Line of Control (LoC) was re-established under the terms of the Simla Agreement, with minor variations on the earlier boundary.
* The LoC passes through a mountainous region about 5,000 metres high.
* The conditions are so extreme that the bitter cold claims more lives than the sporadic military skirmishes.
* North of the LoC, the rival forces have been entrenched on the Siachen glacier (more than 6,000 metres high) since 1984 – the highest battlefield on earth.
* The LoC divides Kashmir on an almost two-to-one basis