Report on Sino–Indian Border Disputes: International Law and International Relations Perspectives.

This article examines the Sino-Indian Border Dispute (SIBD) through insights gathered from two international online symposiums hosted by the City University of Hong Kong's School of Law in 2021. It highlights the complexity of the dispute, rooted in historical colonial legacies, competing territorial sovereignty claims, and geopolitical dynamics involving China, India, and regional actors. The article emphasizes the limited effectiveness of international law—particularly customary international law and adjudicative mechanisms—in resolving the dispute, given both nations' selective acceptance of international legal jurisdiction. It advocates for a multidisciplinary, pragmatic, and incremental approach to conflict resolution that incorporates legal and non-legal factors, including political, cultural, economic, and ethnographic perspectives, and prioritizes bilateral negotiations, confidence-building measures, and cooperation on shared resources. The article also underscores the importance of considering the perspectives of border populations and calls for transparency, de-escalation, and multilateral engagement grounded in the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence to foster long-term stability and peace in the region.