by Harsh V Pant & Kalpit A Mankikar, Respectively vice-president for studies and fellow, China studies, ORF

This year marks the 75th anniversary of India and China establishing diplomatic relations. While India was the first non-socialist nation to recognise China, the relationship has been marred by several ups and downs. The unsettled boundary dispute has been a source of friction, culminating in the 1962 war, but despite that the Line of Actual Control (LAC) remained largely peaceful. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to Beijing to meet China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1988 paved the way for a new approach.

The Rajiv-Deng accord in effect meant that future generations would resolve the border row, but both nations would build trade and people-to-people ties. The thaw led to the border pacts of the 1990s that many in the Indian leadership wishfully saw as an effective guarantee of peace.

This calm was shattered by the clashes in June 2020 at Galwan that led to the deaths of Indian and Chinese troops. China’s unprovoked bid to unilaterally change the status quo remains an important turning point between the two Asian powers. Bilateral ties went into a deep freeze since 2020. But military and diplomatic negotiations led India and China to agree to a patrolling agreement in October 2024 following which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Russia last year.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri visited China in January to chart the contours of New Delhi’s cautious opening up to Beijing. Both sides resolved to dedicate the year to promoting greater public diplomacy to restore trust and public confidence, which has given the Chinese leadership an........

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