External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said India-China relations had improved as the border standoff eased, linking wider diplomatic normalisation to conditions along the frontier. He was speaking at the Asia Society in New York on September 28, 2026. Reports published the following day quoted him saying that a prolonged deterioration in relations served neither country's interests and could instead benefit third parties.
Jaishankar pointed to visas and flights as areas where improvement could follow progress at the border. He argued that India could not treat the wider relationship as normal while serious tensions continued on the frontier. In the same discussion, he said better relations with Beijing also strengthened India's position in its dealings with other countries. These were his assessments of the diplomatic opening, rather than details of a new border agreement.
The earlier negotiations are documented in the External Affairs Ministry's annual report for 2024. It records an October 2024 agreement on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control, reached after diplomatic and military discussions. According to the ministry, that agreement led to disengagement and resolution of issues that had arisen in the affected areas in 2020. During 2024, officials held four meetings of the border consultation mechanism, divided between Beijing and New Delhi.
The ministry also records Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23, 2024, their first delegation-level bilateral meeting in nearly five years. The leaders agreed to use foreign-minister and other dialogue channels to rebuild relations. They also recognised the role of the Special Representatives mechanism in addressing the boundary question and maintaining border peace, keeping those longer-running discussions distinct from the patrolling arrangements.
