India announced on Monday that it has reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), marking a significant breakthrough in a four-year military standoff. This development raises the possibility of a meeting between the leaders of both countries during the upcoming BRICS Summit in Russia.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri provided details of the agreement at a media briefing ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia on October 22-23. Following this, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that both sides have restored the situation along the LAC to what it was in 2020, and confirmed that the disengagement process with China "has been completed."
There has been no official response from China on the agreement. Jaishankar, however, described it as a "positive" and "good" development achieved through persistent diplomacy. Misri noted that the agreement was the result of several weeks of discussions via diplomatic and military channels, and the next steps would follow.
This progress fuels speculation about a potential meeting between Modi and President Xi Jinping, who are both scheduled to attend the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, according to anonymous sources familiar with the matter. Neither side has provided official details of any bilateral meetings between the two leaders.
The sources described the agreement as a positive step but noted that much depends on the outcome of a possible Modi-Xi meeting. The last formal interaction between the two leaders occurred at the G20 Summit in Indonesia in November 2022.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said the agreement was the outcome of several rounds of discussions through diplomatic and military channels over several weeks. (PTI File Photo)
The LAC standoff began in May 2020 after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops near Pangong Lake. A subsequent deadly skirmish in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops—the first such casualties in 45 years—plunged bilateral relations to their lowest point since the 1962 border war. Jaishankar has consistently maintained that relations cannot be normalized without peace and stability along the border.
Previous negotiations through the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs, involving diplomats and military leaders, led to the withdrawal of forces from areas around Pangong Lake, Gogra, and Hot Springs. However, two key "friction points"—Depsang and Demchok—remain unresolved, with China having blocked India's access to critical patrolling areas.
Misri, who served as India's ambassador to Beijing during the onset of the standoff, acknowledged that while several standoffs were resolved through diplomatic and military talks, some areas remained unsettled. He noted that the agreement on patrolling is "leading to disengagement and ultimately the resolution of issues that arose in 2020."
Both nations have agreed to respect the LAC's sanctity, laying the groundwork for restoring peace and tranquillity to pre-2020 conditions, Jaishankar emphasized.
Security expert Sameer Patil commented that while the agreement addresses immediate issues, India and China must now focus on rebuilding trust, which was severely damaged during the standoff. Both sides have stationed approximately 60,000 troops each in the Ladakh region.
Misri’s Statement
“As a result of these discussions, agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” Misri added.
Jaishankar’s Statement
Speaking thereafter at the NDTV World Summit, Jaishankar said: “We reached an agreement on patrolling. With that...we have gone back to where the situation was in 2020, and...the disengagement process with China, you can say, has been completed.”
Jaishankar said details of the agreement will emerge in due course. Both sides had blocked access to patrolling points since 2020 and the understanding is that “we will be able to do the patrolling which we were doing in 2020”, he said.
“At various points of time, people almost gave up...We have always maintained that, on the one hand, we had to obviously do the counter-deployments, but side by side, we have been negotiating...since September 2020, when I met my counterpart, Mr Wang Yi, in Moscow,” he added.
“That was our major concern, because we always said that if you disturb the peace and tranquillity, how do you expect the rest of the relationship to go forward...The understanding was reached only today. So, I think we have to see what the consequences of that are,” he said.
Samir Patil’s statement
“The agreement on patrolling is a welcome development, though we have to see how it is implemented on the ground. This being the most protracted border stand-off between the two countries during peacetime, regaining trust won’t be easy. Both militaries will have to deal with mutual animosities among troops deployed on the ground. Moreover, its overall impact on bilateral dynamics won’t be evident immediately, Patil said.
“Nonetheless, this agreement demonstrates that if willing, India and China can agree to mend fences,” he said.
Galwan Clash
The Galwan incident on June 15, 2020, was a violent confrontation that did not involve firearms, resulting in the loss of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel. While China officially reported only four casualties, estimates suggest that up to 40 PLA soldiers may have perished in the clash.
This encounter was the most deadly since the 1962 war and caused a sharp decline in China-India relations, leading to significant changes in the geopolitical and strategic outlook of both countries, with wide-ranging impacts on their bilateral relations, regional stability, and global geopolitics.
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