China, India hold new round of border talks days before Xi, Modi head for Brics summit

19th round of military-level talks sparked by deadly Galwan clash comes ahead of August 22-24 Brics summit in Johannesburg

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi both expected to attend summit, where a bilateral meeting has not been ruled out

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Undated handout photograph released by the Indian Army in February 2021 shows Chinese soldiers and tanks carrying out military disengagement along the Line of Actual Control at the India-China border in Ladakh. Photo: Indian Ministry of Defence/AFP

Published: 10:00pm, 14 Aug 2023Updated: 1:06am, 15 Aug 2023

China and India began a new round of military-level border talks on Monday, just a week before Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi come face to face in South Africa for the annual Brics summit, and an expected visit to New Delhi by Xi for the Group of 20 summit next month.

The 19th round of military talks is part of continued efforts to ease a three-year stand-off along the “Line of Actual Control” (LAC) – the effective Himalayan border between the two countries – following a deadly clash in May 2020.

The face-off in Galwan Valley, in eastern Ladakh region along the LAC, claimed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese lives in what was their deadliest border encounter in decades.

Despite 18 rounds of talks and four rounds of disengagement, both India and China maintain a significant number of troops and advanced weaponry in eastern Ladakh.

The previous round of negotiations, held in April, had failed to yield any breakthrough and concluded without a joint press statement.