(Bloomberg) -- China and India, nuclear-armed neighbors, have had thousands of troops facing off in a contested region of the Himalayas since 2020, when skirmishes led to the first deadly clashes in four decades. In October, a deal was struck with a view to resolving the dispute that’s bedeviled ties between the world’s two most populous nations. Both sides offered praise for the agreement, but it remains to be seen how much of a thaw will come.
What’s the China-India border dispute about?
In 2020, China surprised India by deploying troops in Ladakh, a remote part of northernmost India abutting Tibet, an autonomous region of China. The 3,488 kilometer (2,167 mile) border is not demarcated on the ground and the reason for the maneuver remains unclear. But earlier actions by India over Ladakh, whose people are culturally close to those of Tibet and Kashmir, had drawn angry responses from China, which accused India of seeking “to undermine its territorial sovereignty.”
The confrontation in 2020 was centered on the Galwan River area and Pangong Tso, a glacial lake at 14,000 feet (4,300 meters) in the Tibetan plateau. Twenty Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese soldiers were killed. In September that year, the two countries pledged to de-escalate tensions. They pulled back troops from some areas, but friction along the disputed boundary remained.
What was the fix?
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s minister of external affairs, said at an event in New Delhi that an agreement was reached to resume border patrols, and the border situation returns to what it was in 2020.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press briefing in Beijing that the two sides had “reached resolutions on relevant matters, which China speaks highly of.” He said the agreement creates a basis for peace and tranquility on the border areas, without giving details of the deal.
Is this the end of China-India tensions?
It looks unlikely that the agreement will end all friction between the two countries.
Both have an interest in improved relations: China is one of India’s largest trading partners, with Indian manufacturing relying on China for components and raw materials.
Yet they are also engaged in a strategic competition. India has positioned itself as a manufacturing hub to rival that of its powerful northern neighbor. China has favored India’s neighbor and archrival Pakistan for foreign investment projects in recent years.
China and India are leading players in the BRICS group of developing countries that’s seen as a rival to the US-dominated Group of Seven industrialized nations.
But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also cultivated ties with the US, which wants New Delhi to be part of a democratic coalition that can counterbalance an increasingly assertive China.
The Quad — a security framework with the US, Japan and Australia — has been revived and held naval exercises in the Indian Ocean. India’s military has studied options for how it could assist the US in case of war over Taiwan, which China’s government regards as lost territory.
What was the the situation before the border deal?
Following the 2020 clash, India blocked hundreds of Chinese mobile applications and services, including TikTok and WeChat. It cut back on visas for business travel and mandated extra checks for investments from China. New Delhi imposed curbs on imports of electronic devices such as laptops and tablets that likely hit China harder any other country. A $1 billion proposal from Chinese carmaker BYD Co. to build an electric vehicle plant was rejected by Indian officials on grounds of security concerns.
More recently there were signs of a thaw. Beijing appointed a new ambassador to India in May 2024, signaling an intent to normalize relations. In July, the foreign ministers of the two countries said the border conflict wasn’t in either side’s interest and agreed to hold more talks.
What’s the history of India-China border tensions?
The dispute has roots in the mid-20th century. Skirmishes were reported after India granted asylum to the Dalai Lama following an uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet in 1959. War broke out three years later after China objected to India establishing outposts along the effective boundary, established by the British in 1914, between the Tibetan region and Northeast India. The current “Line of Actual Control” that forms the unmarked and ambiguous border partially adheres to the British-drawn boundaries.
Clashes were again reported in 1967 and then in 1987 in what’s sometimes referred to as the loudspeaker war — no bullets were fired and soldiers simply kept shouting at each other via loudspeakers. Relations improved as the two governments signed five treaties between 1993 and 2013, with both countries prioritizing economic growth. The border remained mostly calm through 2017, when troops faced off for several months at Doklam, a plateau near the Indian border in the east that is claimed by both China and Bhutan.
--With assistance from Dan Strumpf, James Mayger, Jing Li and Jasmine Ng.
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