Border situation 'gets disturbed' when Chinese forces deviate from patrolling patterns: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday that the situation in the India-China border areas “gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns”, responding to a question on remarks by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director-General about confrontations with Chinese troops at multiple sites along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.

Speaking at the bi-weekly media briefing in Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said both sides continue to use “existing diplomatic and military mechanisms” to resolve outstanding issues and to “avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”.

“As we have noted in the past, the situation in the India-China border areas gets disturbed from time to time when Chinese forces diverge from established patrolling patterns,” Mr. Jaiswal said. “Both sides continue to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstandings and miscalculations along the Line of Actual Control.”

He added that the two sides have agreed to discuss ways to “improve understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas” for better border management. The maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas, he said, is essential for the “overall development of bilateral relations”.

On the specifics of the incidents, Mr. Jaiswal declined to elaborate, saying, “Insofar as the specifics are concerned, I would refer you to the Ministry of Defence.”

The MEA statement followed remarks by ITBP Director-General Shatrujeet Kapur on Thursday. Speaking at the Himveer Samman Samaroh, the force’s annual felicitation ceremony, he said: “In the past few days, a situation arose where face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues.”

It was the first official confirmation of the scale of the rising tensions on the north-eastern border since July this year.

According to a report citing government sources, India and China have been in a stand-off at Asaphila near Taksing in Arunachal Pradesh since late July. Personnel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army are reported to have pitched tents at an elevation within 6 km to 7 km of India’s perception of the LAC, near the Maja company operating base in the Taksing circle of Upper Subansiri district. India has also increased its deployment along the border, the report said.

There has been no public comment from the Ministry of Defence on these specific reports.

The Line of Actual Control is not a formally demarcated boundary, and India and China hold differing perceptions of its alignment in several sectors — a factor that has repeatedly produced localised face-offs. The two sides have for years relied on military and diplomatic channels, including corps commander-level talks and border personnel meetings, to disengage from such situations. Peace along the frontier has remained a central condition in the bilateral relationship since the clashes of 2020, and both governments have maintained that restoration of tranquillity in the border areas is necessary for the normal development of ties.

The MEA’s remarks on Friday indicate that the established channels remain in use even as the stand-off persists on the ground. Officials did not provide a timeline for a resolution or details of the discussions proposed on improving mutual understanding of the LAC in the affected areas.