(TibetanReview.net, Jun28’25) – As India and China appear to remain stuck in a state of uneasy coexistence with Beijing aligning itself firmly with India’s arch enemy Pakistan even on the issue of terrorism and with military support for it in times of conflict, as happened during the former’s recent Operation Sindoor strikes, New Delhi is seeking a permanent solution to its Tibet-border dispute with Beijing.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has on Jun 26 told his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun that the two countries should seek a “permanent solution” to their decades-old Tibet-border dispute.
The two met on the sidelines of a meeting of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao on Jun 26 during which Singh stressed solving issues through a structured road map, Reuters Jun 27 cited India’s Defence Ministry as having said in a statement on Jun 27.
China has shown reluctance to arrive at an early permanent solution to the border issue, insisting that the dispute should not affect the larger relationship. It has maintained the position that the differences should be managed properly until a mutually acceptable solution is found through dialogue.
But being frustrated by China’s repeated violations of signed agreements on managing the border differences, it has adopted the position that the bilateral ties cannot be fully normalised until the border issue is settled first.
During the meeting, Singh has proposed a Four-Point Roadmap for maintaining peace along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and charting a roadmap for long-term border stability and to prevent further deterioration in India-China relations, reported the ndtv.com Jun 27.
These were spelled out as: strict adherence to the Oct 2024 disengagement agreement covering the remaining friction points in Eastern Ladakh, particularly Demchok and Depsang; continuous efforts to de-escalate tensions and avoid any flare-ups along the LAC; a fast-tracked negotiations towards finalising the boundary delineation process leading to a permanent solution by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue; and addressing trust deficit by creating good neighbourly conditions to achieve the “best mutual benefits” as well as to cooperate for stability in Asia and the world.
Singh has also called for bridging the “trust deficit” created after the 2020 Galwan valley border standoff.
There has been no Chinese Defence Ministry statement yet on the meeting, and its Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on India’s statement, said the Reuters report.
Meanwhile, the SCO defence ministers have been unable to adopt a joint statement at the end of their meeting due to a lack of consensus on referring to “terrorism”, India said on Jun 26.
SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran. The defence ministers’ meeting was held as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders set for autumn.