India Announces Major Breakthrough With China On Border Patrolling

In a major development ahead of the BRICS summit in Russia, Asian giants India and China have resolved the deadlock over border patrolling that had dodged resolution since the military confrontation in the summer of 2020.

"As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced at a news briefing on Monday. This would mean that the heavy deployment of troops on both sides in Ladakh would be brought down to normal levels.

Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar said at a conference organised by NDTV in the capital that, “Friction happens, but this is a major breakthrough.”

Chances are that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will both attend the BRICS meeting in Kazan tomorrow, will meet. However, the MEA had given no hint that a bilateral with China is on the cards. These announcements are very often made at the venue as both Modi and Xi are expected to have a number of meetings with various leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

Though Misri did not give any details, it is assumed that the agreement is on patrolling in the Depsang and Demchok areas, which had been a sticking point during the military level and diplomatic talks between the two sides. However, there were indications in the last few rounds of talks that differences had narrowed down. The meeting of the working mechanism for consultation and coordination on India-China border on August 29 was very positive, in the lead-up to today’s announcement. Patrolling in the Depsang, Demchok area was a major issue for India; now that it has been resolved, bilateral ties that had been in cold storage since the military confrontation in 2020 would gradually thaw.

“The disengagement is a result of months of negotiations and shows cautious optimism in India-China relations. China is keen to resume economic ties with India and India wanted to return to normalcy in the border areas. The disengagement gives an avenue for both countries to resume normal bilateral activities,’’ says Prathibha, a China expert with the IDSA.

It is in fact a win-win situation for both India and China. For China, which is going through an economic downturn, resuming normal economic activity with India will be a bonus. Since the tariff wars with the US that began with the Trump administration has continued through the Biden Presidency, China has been keen to resume economic ties with India. China wanted that while the military field commanders and diplomats would continue to discuss and resolve the 2020 ingressions, economic and other engagements should continue. New Delhi, however, was firm that it could not be “business as usual” till the pending issues from the 2020 military confrontation were solved.

Chinese investments in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and several other African nations have so far not yielded a lot of returns. India’s growing market is a bonus and Chinese companies make huge profits here. For India too, it is equally important to get Chinese supplies to help the manufacturing sector. Indian businessmen have been asking the government to lift restrictions on visas for Chinese technicians needed to help in the manufacturing sector, including the electronics industry.

Soon after Modi was sworn in for the third time, Alka Acharya, Jawaharlal Nehru University’s China expert , had predicted a thawing of ties with China. “Some movement on the China front may be expected in Modi’s third term,’’ Acharya had told Outlook. She felt it was pragmatic for the government to move in that direction. While India is the fastest-growing global economy, growth has yet failed to generate enough jobs for India’s young population. This was a key election issue for the Opposition. Modi 3.0 will have to tackle the problem of jobless growth.

"The challenge is huge but India cannot be in a time warp," Acharya has said. For economic growth, India, like all other countries including the US, have to do business with China.