India and China have begun implementing a pact agreed to earlier this week to wind down the military standoff along their disputed border. Troops from both sides began pulling back from the last two remaining flashpoints where they had stood face-to-face since a deadly skirmish in 2020. (Reuters)
Our Take
India and China’s border has been undelimited for decades, but had remained relatively quiet until Chinese President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, after which Beijing began to deepen its presence on disputed territory. Still, it wasn’t until a skirmish in April 2020 left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead that the issue became a full-blown standoff. And since then, bilateral relations have been significantly hampered.
As a result, this deal represents a major development for both sides, paving the way for Xi and Indian PM Narendra Modi to hold their first formal talks in five years at the annual BRICS summit earlier this week. Neither India nor China has made the details of the pact public, but even a withdrawal to pre-2020 troop positions removes a substantial obstacle to repairing ties between two major powers in the region.