India, China military commanders meet in eastern Ladakh after a year

Military commanders of India and China have met for the first time in a year in eastern Ladakh and agreed to restore normalcy along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “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.”   

This was the first meeting of the military-level mechanism in Ladakh since the 24th round of Special Representatives (SRs)-level talks held in New Delhi on August 19.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are the two designated SRs.

The talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere, the MEA said.

The last time the Corp Commanders had met was in October 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,” the MEA said.

The armies of the two countries had been locked in a military standoff from April 2020, including a deadly clash at Galwan in June 2020.

After a meeting on August 19, 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.