China-India border row: will Delhi’s ‘solidified’ stance hinder efforts to ease dispute?

India’s foreign minister Jaishankar says there has been progress on some ‘very tense’ areas in the border dispute and talks to ease the stand-off will continue

Modi and Xi could meet at coming summits to discuss the feud, but analysts say India’s assertive foreign policy has led to the stand-off solidifying

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Indian soldiers demonstrate positioning of a Bofors gun at Penga Teng Tso ahead of Tawang, near the Line of Actual Control, in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state in October 2021. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:55pm, 7 Aug 2023Updated: 3:10pm, 8 Aug 2023

China and India may have made progress on some “very tense” areas of a border dispute that has soured relations in recent years, but analysts say New Delhi’s more assertive foreign policy could prove to be a stumbling block to better ties.

Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday said there had been progress on “five [or] six areas that were very tense”, stressing that talks to ease the deadlock at the frontline were “not halted” and another meeting would be “held soon”.

The relationship between the two regional powers suffered a major setback after a deadly skirmish in the disputed Kashmir region killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers in 2020.

This was the first violent encounter on the border since the 1962 Indo-China war, which was also fought because of historic disagreements over the British-era border.

An Indian army truck crossing the Sela pass in the Tawang district of India’s Arunachal Pradesh state in April 2023. Photo: AFP

Since then, both sides have held multiple rounds of military-level talks to prevent further escalation but failed to make any breakthroughs.