NEW DELHI: India said on Monday that it had reached an agreement with neighbour China for military patrols in highly contested border zones to resolve issues that flared when their armies clashed in 2020.
The announcement comes just before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to attend the BRICS summit in Russia.
The two countries, who share a 3,500-kilometer (2,200-mile) border, have long been rivals, frequently accusing each other of trying to seize territory along their undefined boundary known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The 2020 border skirmish in the Galwan Valley, which resulted in the deaths of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers, led to both nations reinforcing their positions by deploying tens of thousands of troops to the area. Following the clash, both sides agreed to pull back forces from key locations and avoid sending patrols into a narrow buffer zone along the LAC.
Vikram Misri, India’s top foreign ministry official, shared the latest development during a press briefing, stating, “Over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other. As a result of these discussions, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas.”
Misri noted that the new agreement paves the way for disengagement and “eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.”
Despite the agreement, tensions between the two nations remain high, particularly over disputed territories. China lays claim to India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it regards as part of Tibet, and the two countries fought a brief but intense war over their border in 1962.
India remains wary of China’s growing presence in the region and its intentions along the contentious frontier.
