India-China Relations — The Cautious Reset
India and China are inching through a guarded thaw. After the deadly 2020 Galwan clash froze ties, the two armies pulled back from the last friction points in eastern Ladakh under an October 2024 understanding, and the two capitals have since restarted pilgrim travel, air links and long-stalled talks — most recently a two-day round of meetings by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in Beijing at the end of July 2026. Yet the reset stays cautious: large troop concentrations still face off along the Line of Actual Control awaiting genuine de-escalation, India keeps restating that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of the country against Chinese claims, China's planned mega-dam on the Brahmaputra alarms downstream India, and India's exposure to Chinese critical-mineral curbs remains a sore point.
- India-China relations
- LAC
- Depsang
- Demchok
- Yarlung Tsangpo
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Kailash Mansarovar Yatra
- critical minerals
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