India and China on Sunday held corps commander-level military talks to assess the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, in a fresh effort to maintain peace along the disputed frontier. The meeting took place shortly after the two countries resumed high-level discussions on their long-pending boundary dispute.
The talks were conducted at the Wacha-Damai Border Personnel Meeting point in the Kibithoo area of Arunachal Pradesh. According to people familiar with the development, maintaining peace and stability along the border was a key focus of the discussions.
India was represented by Lieutenant General Girish Kalia, commander of the Indian Army’s Dimapur-based 3 Corps. There was no official statement from the Army on the meeting.
The engagement assumes significance amid reports of increased military activity by Chinese troops in the Upper Subansiri sector of Arunachal Pradesh. It was also the first corps commander-level meeting between the two sides to be held at the Wacha-Damai meeting point in the eastern sector.
Military-level talks between India and China have traditionally been conducted at the Chusul-Moldo meeting point in the Ladakh sector. The latest meeting provides a dedicated channel for addressing developments and local issues along the eastern portion of the LAC.
The Indian Army deploys two Corps formations to oversee its responsibilities along the Arunachal Pradesh frontier — the 4 Corps headquartered at Tezpur and the 3 Corps based at Rangapahar. The 3 Corps is responsible for operational areas along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh.
The military engagement followed the August 25 meeting between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. The two officials, who serve as the designated Special Representatives for the India-China boundary talks, discussed issues relating to the delimitation of the boundary as well as trans-border cooperation.
During the Special Representative dialogue, India stressed that continued peace and tranquillity in the border areas was essential for the broader development of bilateral relations. The discussions also underlined that the improvement in ties in recent times has been closely linked to maintaining stability along the frontier.
The August meeting produced an eight-point understanding aimed at strengthening border management and advancing the boundary dialogue. Both sides agreed to pursue consultations towards an early and meaningful outcome on boundary delimitation and tasked the relevant expert and working groups with taking the discussions forward.
India and China also agreed to establish two additional border meeting points for military dialogue and two more military hotline channels in the eastern and middle sectors. The two sides decided that developments on the ground should be dealt with quickly through established diplomatic and military mechanisms, including local commander-level meetings.
The two countries further agreed to work towards improving their understanding of the LAC in relevant areas to facilitate more effective border management. They reiterated their commitment to peace and tranquillity in the border regions and to creating favourable conditions for the stable development of bilateral relations.
The talks also covered cooperation in border trade, pilgrimage and trans-border rivers. The next meeting of the India-China Expert-Level Mechanism on Trans-border Rivers is scheduled to take place in September.
The latest military-level engagement comes as New Delhi and Beijing continue efforts to gradually repair bilateral ties, which deteriorated sharply following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes. As part of the ongoing diplomatic engagement, the two countries have also agreed to convene the 26th round of Special Representative talks in India in 2027.
