The foreign ministers of India and China met in New Delhi on Monday, marking a renewed diplomatic effort by the nuclear-armed Asian rivals to ease significant tensions following a five-year border standoff. India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, welcomed Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi for discussions aimed at stabilizing relations that severely deteriorated after a deadly clash along their disputed Himalayan border in 2020. This clash, the worst in decades, resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, leading to a freeze in high-level political engagements between the two nations.

Since the 2020 incident, both India and China have deployed tens of thousands of security forces to the border areas. However, some progress has been made since then; last year, both countries agreed to a pact on border patrols and withdrew additional forces from certain disputed regions. Jaishankar emphasized the need for de-escalation of border tensions to foster positive momentum in bilateral ties, stating, “Having seen a difficult period in our relationship, our two nations now seek to move ahead. This requires a candid and constructive approach from both sides.” Wang Yi affirmed the presence of peace and tranquility along the borders and highlighted China’s allowance for Indian pilgrims to visit key sites in the Tibet autonomous region.

High-level meetings are central to this diplomatic thaw. Wang Yi was scheduled to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, as well as hold talks with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Discussions were expected to focus on the disputed border, with reducing troop numbers in the region being a primary agenda item. Manoj Joshi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, noted that relations are still at an uneasy level of normalization, stressing that settling the boundary issue requires