(TibetanReview.net, Oct29’25) – Talks between India and China for the restoration of normalcy along the Ladakh-border has been ongoing at both diplomatic and field-commander levels for a number of years and the latest one has taken place after a gap of a year on the Indian side of the border on Oct 25. The talk focused on the management of the border the countries share, and both agreed to use existing mechanisms to resolve any “ground issues”, reported Reuters Oct 29,
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere while China said the two sides conducted positive and in-depth exchanges on managing the western sector of the China-India boundary.
“The 23rd round of the India-China Corps Commanders-level meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point along the LAC on October 25,” said the MEA in a statement.
This was the first meeting of the military-level mechanism in Ladakh since the milestone 24th round of Special Representatives (SRs)-level talks held in New Delhi on Aug 19. India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are the two designated SRs, noted tribuneindia.com Oct 29.
After that meeting, the SRs had announced a multi-point programme that crucially laid down ‘delimitation’ – defining of the boundary – as one of targets. They suggested ‘settling specific issues along the borders’ and agreed to build ‘consensus’ on specific goals of the ‘boundary consultations’.
The two SRs had also pulled out a two-decade-old agreement and said the resolution would be in accordance with the ‘Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question signed in 2005’. The agreement, among other things, lays down defining the LAC.
Meanwhile, the report said the last time the Corp Commanders had met was in Oct 2024, around the time the two sides had announced a patrolling arrangement at Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
“The commanders shared the view that peace and tranquillity has been maintained in the India-China border areas. Both sides agreed to continue to use existing mechanisms to resolve any ground issues along the border to maintain stability,” said the MEA statement.
On China’s side, the Ministry of National Defense has said Oct 29 that the two sides engaged in “positive and in-depth” communications on management and control along the China-India border’s western sector.
Both sides agreed to take guidance from the important consensus of the two countries’ leaders, and to maintain communication and dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the China-India border areas, it added.
China’s official gobaltimes.cn Oct 29 described the meeting as the 23rd round of general-level talks on the western sector of the border. This time, holding the talks reflects the continuous improvement in bilateral relations, indicating an ongoing positive trend. It further demonstrates that both militaries are strictly implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries in Kazan, Russia, during the 24th SCO summit, the report cited Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, as saying.
As military exchanges between the two countries increase, this will facilitate the restoration and rebuilding of political mutual trust, which is fundamentally key to ensuring the stable and enduring development of bilateral relations, Qian has added.
The armies of the two countries have been locked in a military standoff from Apr 2020, including a deadly clash at Galwan in Jun 2020.