India, China review border situation: ‘Satisfied with progress made in maintaining peace’

India and China have held another round of border talks with an eye on restoring normality in bilateral ties.

An Indian delegation visited Beijing to hold the 35th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India–China Border Affairs (WMCC) on Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The Indian delegation led by Joint Secretary (East Asia) Sujit Ghosh held talks with the Chinese delegation led by Hou Yanqi, Director General of the Boundary and Oceanic Affairs Department, to review the situation in border areas and progress towards gradually normalising the relationship.

Describing the discussions as constructive and forward-looking, the MEA said the two sides "expressed satisfaction with the progress made in maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas, which has enabled progress towards gradual normalisation of bilateral relations".

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"The two sides discussed issues pertaining to delimitation, border management, mechanism building and cross-border cooperation. Indian side stressed on early meeting of the next Expert Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers," the MEA further said.

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During the visit, Ghosh met Liu Jinsong, Director General of the Department of Asian Affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, and made a courtesy call on Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei, the MEA said.

The WMCC talks also worked towards laying the groundwork for the upcoming Special Representative (SR)-level talks between India and China, a mechanism set up in 2003 to address outstanding issues in the bilateral relationship and resolve boundary disputes. Since 2014, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval has served as India’s SR. Currently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi is China’s SR.

India and China are currently working to restore normality to a relationship that was shattered by Chinese actions in early 2020.

In early 2020, Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control —the de facto India-China border— in eastern Ladakh to attack Indian personnel and occupy territories that were traditionally either held by India or patrolled by both sides.

The Chinese actions led India to deploy tens of thousands of additional soldiers, tanks and armoured vehicles, fighter aircraft, and other war-fighting equipment to the frontlines, as the two sides moved into their worst military standoff since the India-China War of 1962. The relationship nosedived to its lowest point since 1962 when Chinese soldiers in June 2020 attacked Indian personnel in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh and killed 20 soldiers.

After several rounds of talks at various levels, India and China reached an agreement in 2022 for disengagement at Pangong Tso, Patrolling Point (PP) 15, PP-17, and the Galwan Valley. Another agreement for Depsang and Demchok was reached in 2024.