Normal Patrol: China on India's Border Charge, Insists It Follows Agreements

China on Monday said its military was conducting “normal patrolling and control activities” along the border with India and insisted that Beijing was strictly abiding by bilateral agreements, responding to New Delhi’s concerns over Chinese forces deviating from established patrolling patterns along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks at a media briefing in Beijing on October 26, after India said the situation along the frontier gets disturbed periodically when Chinese troops diverge from established patrol routes.

“China strictly abides by the relevant agreements and common understandings reached between the two countries,” Guo said, adding that Beijing conducts routine border patrols to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maintain stability in border areas.

He said China and India maintained communication through diplomatic and military channels and urged New Delhi to work with Beijing to implement existing understandings and preserve peace and tranquillity along the border through concrete actions.

The response followed remarks by Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on October 23. Jaiswal said deviations by Chinese forces from established patrolling patterns periodically disturb the situation along the India-China border, stressing that peace and tranquillity were essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.

His comments came after Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Shatrujeet Kapur said confrontations with Chinese troops continued at several locations along the border in Arunachal Pradesh.

Speaking in Rajasthan’s Alwar on October 22, Kapur said the ITBP had established drone platoons across its border units. He also said the force had developed a new ‘Strike’ training course to prepare personnel to handle situations similar to the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes.

Jaiswal said both countries continued to use existing diplomatic and military mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstandings and miscalculations along the LAC. He also said India and China had agreed to discuss ways to improve their understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas to strengthen border management.

The latest exchange comes amid efforts by the two countries to rebuild ties strained by the deadly Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020, which killed 20 Indian soldiers, and a military standoff that continued for more than four years.

In October 2024, India and China reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements in Depsang and Demchok, the two remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh. The agreement paved the way for disengagement and the resumption of patrolling under mutually agreed arrangements. Both sides subsequently confirmed progress in implementing the understanding.

Diplomatic engagement also gathered pace. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan in October 2024 and held further talks during his August 2025 visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. The leaders also met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in New Delhi last month.

During the latest meeting, Modi stressed that bilateral relations should be guided by the “three mutuals”, mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest and called on both countries to remain sensitive to each other’s core concerns.