According to the Indian government, China and India have decided to move quickly to force the tens of thousands of troops who have been positioned along their disputed border to leave. This stalemate has been going on for a while.

The two Asian superpowers, China and India, discussed the importance of quickly resolving unresolved issues along the disputed Line of Actual Control, the lengthy Himalayan border that they share. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met with Wang Yi of China on Thursday during ASEAN meetings in Laos.

The Indo-Chinese border ranges from Ladakh in the west to the state of Arunanchal Pradesh in the east, which China claims to be theirs completely and divides lands claimed by China and India.

China and India
Image Source: Geopolitical Monitor

After a military confrontation in July 2020 claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers, relations between the two nations worsened. Each side has stationed tens of thousands of military soldiers in the rough hilly territory, and the situation has descended into a protracted stalemate supported by artillery, tanks, and fighter planes.

Although both China and India have removed their soldiers from parts of the Galwan Valley, Gogra, and the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, they have left other troops in place as part of a multi tier deployment.

A statement released late on Thursday by the Indian government stated that the two foreign ministers "agreed on the need to work with purpose and urgency to achieve complete disengagement at the earliest," adding that border peace is necessary to restore normality in relations between the two nations.

Despite significant efforts by both sides to resolve the border issues, Jaishankar said in his opening remarks that they have "cast a shadow" on India-China relations for the previous four years. The statement quoted him as saying, "The state of the border will necessarily be reflected on the state of our ties."

Wang emphasized that strengthening relations between China and India benefits both nations as well as other countries, according to a report from China's official Xinhua News Agency. It stated that the two parties had decided to cooperate in order to preserve harmony in border regions and promote advancement.

In 1962, a border battle broke out between China and India. Instead of dividing territory, the Line of Actual Control delineates the regions under physical control. China asserts a far shorter length for the de facto boundary than does India, which estimates it to be 3,488 kilometers (2,167 miles).

Leading army commanders from China and India have met many times since the military conflict to discuss removing soldiers from high-tension zones.

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