NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India said on Monday that it had reached an agreement with China over patrolling arrangements along the disputed Himalayan border the countries share, opening the door to resolving a conflict that escalated in 2020.
Here is a look at what happened and how the nuclear-armed neighbours have tackled the standoff over the years.
1962
India and China went to war over their border, which has been disputed since they established diplomatic ties in the 1950s.
The relationship between the countries has recovered after a series of border agreements since the 1990s.
2020
At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops were killed in hand-to-hand combat in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, northern India.
The same year, New Delhi heightened scrutiny of investments from China, banned popular Chinese mobile apps and severed direct passenger air routes between the neighbours.
FEBRUARY 2022
The number of Chinese mobile apps banned by India climbed from 59 at the time of the border scuffle to 321.
DECEMBER 2022
Minor border scuffles broke out in the Tawang sector of India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is also claimed by China as part of southern Tibet.
AUGUST 2023
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to intensify efforts to disengage and de-escalate when they met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
JUNE 2024
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan, where they agreed to step up talks to resolve issues along their border
SEPTEMBER 2024
Jaishankar said that about 75% of the “disengagement” problems at India’s border with China had been sorted out.
India’s aviation minister also indicated a thaw in the standoff as he said that the two countries had discussed early resumption of direct passenger flights on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Civil Aviation in Delhi.
OCTOBER 2024
India’s army chief said India and China had resolved the “low hanging fruits” with regard to their shared border and now needed to address difficult situations.
He also said talks between Indian and Chinese diplomats had opened options to resolve the rest of the stand-off and it had to be implemented on the ground by military commanders.
(Compiled by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh and Sharon Singleton)
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