India China Relations and Lessons from Recent Wars

Source MEA India X

Indian Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Mr Randhir Jaiswal @MEAIndia tweeted on X “NSA Ajit Doval, KC met Member of the CPC Political Bureau and FM of China, Wang Yi on 22 June 2026 on the sidelines of the BRICS NSAs’ Meeting in New Delhi. The two sides reviewed recent developments in bilateral relations and noted progress towards gradual normalisation. NSA underlined that stable, predictable and constructive bilateral relations contribute to building of trust and better understanding between the two sides.  The discussions were constructive and forward-looking”.

The talks between the two sides are expected to have been comprehensive as included delegations headed by the two principals with the Indian Foreign Secretary Mr Vivek Mishri also participating.

Source MEA India X

The meeting was held in the backdrop of India hosting the BRICS National Security Advisers’ Meeting on 22-23 June 2026 chaired by Shri Ajit Doval, KC. One of the themes of the meet is to discuss the rapidly evolving nature of national security challenges.

Mr Doval and Mr Wang Yi are also the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary issue, and while this meet was not in relation to the same, de-escalation of troops from Eastern Ladakh may have come up as Indian and Chinese military are deployed in the forward posture for the sixth year running since the Doklam Standoff in 2020. Disengagement has occurred on several points thus creating a degree of confidence in avoiding a direct clash.

Reading the lessons from recent conflicts, an obvious conclusion is war as a means for achieving political objectives has limited relevance in today’s wider global security architecture. Be it Ukraine or Iran, the aggressor state has failed to achieve the stated political objectives principally that of regime change and subjugation.  On the other hand, Iran and Ukraine seemed to have emerged stronger from the wars exploiting national resoluteness and asymmetry in military domain to advantage.

Indian military resolution in holding the scabrous front on the Himalayas extending from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh despite highly adverse terrain and weather adding to a face to face contact with the Chinese PLA has emerged as a major factor determining the military equations.

Achieving Chinese political objective of regaining claimed areas on the Line of Actual Control or the McMahon Line is thus passe for now and the recent wars only add to this reality.

On the other hand, there has been progress on other fronts such as investments, business, trade and people to people relations which can provide ample scope for expanding national objectives of the two nations that of prosperity of the masses and emerging as developed nations not only politically but economically right to the bottom of the pyramid.

The first batch of pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra 2026 crossed into China through the India-China border at Nathu La Pass this month. Earlier Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri Pabitra Margherita [MoS (PM)], had flagging-off the inaugural batch of pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra (KMY) 2026 on 12 June 2026 at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi.