The India–China border dispute remains an unresolved and sensitive issue. To address it, both nations established a high-level dialogue mechanism, which has held over two dozen meetings since 2005. India’s National Security Advisor and China’s Foreign Minister are the key representatives in these talks. The primary objective of this mechanism is to define and finalize a clear boundary between the two countries—a task made difficult by deep-rooted historical disagreements.
China continues to reject the McMahon Line, drawn in 1914 during a border demarcation meeting in Shimla between representatives of India, China, and Tibet. The Chinese delegation boycotted the talks after British official Henry McMahon recognized Tibet as an independent entity and invited its representative to participate. As a result, the India–China border issue has remained unresolved ever since.
Over the decades, the geopolitical landscape has changed significantly. India gained independence in 1947, and China became a sovereign nation in 1949. In the 1950s, China officially incorporated Tibet into its territory. Until 2003, India continued to recognize Tibet as an independent region. However, in 2003, under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP-led NDA government shifted its stance, formally acknowledging Tibet as an autonomous region of China and giving in-principle approval for the creation of a high-level dialogue mechanism to settle the border dispute.
When the Congress-led UPA government under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took office in 2004, it continued the process initiated by the Vajpayee administration and formally established the dialogue mechanism that remains in place today.
Government in India is a continuous process, and each successive government must complete the tasks left by the previous one. This task, particularly in international affairs, is the responsibility of the Foreign Ministry. Following the Manmohan Singh government, the BJP-led Modi government at the center also continued this process and held meetings of the high-level dialogue mechanism. However, despite more than two dozen meetings, the border issue remains unresolved. However, in June 2020, China committed a massive incursion into India’s Ladakh region, resulting in the martyrdom of 20 Indian soldiers. A significant number of Chinese soldiers were also killed. Since then, this border area has become considered tense. China makes every incursion into Indian territory a matter of perception. Since then, 23 rounds of talks have taken place between the Corps Commanders of India and China. The Corps Commanders’ meeting currently discusses measures to maintain peace and tranquility along the Ladakh border, including military patrols, and to ensure complete peace along the Line of Control between the two countries. Currently, both countries have deployed at least 50,000 troops on each side of the border. Therefore, given the deployment of troops on the Ladakh border, maintaining peace is a crucial issue. This is why Corps Commanders regularly engage with each other to ensure that tensions do not escalate. Recently, commanders from both countries held talks in the Chushul-Maldo area on the Ladakh border and pledged their commitment to maintaining peace along the border. This was the 23rd round of talks. Previously, at the 22nd Commanders’ Meeting last year, it was decided that troops from both sides would not engage in any confrontation and maintain the status quo. Therefore, after almost a year, the commanders have once again expressed their commitment to maintaining peace and tranquility.
Only by respecting the Line of Actual Control between India and China can cordial relations be maintained. As everyone knows, China has a military mindset, so preventing it from engaging in military operations on the border is no small feat. Whenever China encroaches on Indian territory, it claims it is motivated by its own ideology. China is certainly considered a world power, but this does not mean it can continue to assert its claims on areas along the border. However, last year, China agreed to maintain complete peace on the Ladakh border. Therefore, this pledge was made at the 23rd round of commanders’ meeting held on October 25th. When the military commanders of both countries discuss peace and harmony, it simply means that the high-level dialogue mechanism should proceed with its work and intensify efforts to resolve the border dispute. This is because China is a country with which India shares borders on six sides. Additionally, China, a neighboring country of India, unprovokedly attacked India in 1962 and advanced its troops into the Assamese city of Tezpur. Following international pressure, China withdrew its troops and arbitrarily relocated to the border. However, it is 2025, and global realities have changed radically. India’s stance on China has remained positive, but China occasionally provokes India due to its expansionist policies. In the 1990s, during the tenure of the P.V. Narasimha Rao government at the center, several mutual agreements were reached, primarily focusing on peaceful border management.
