Arunachal face-offs: has the India-China thaw stalled?

<p><em>Special Reporting from LSN News, adapted from today's Power Play Asia episode. <a href="https://youtu.be/HgI4HMP02eQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch the video on YouTube.</a></em></p>

<p>A thaw at the top, and a face-off on the ground. On Thursday, 22 October, the director general of India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Shatrujeet Kapur, said, in the words reported by The Hindu: "In the past few days, a situation arose where face-off happened at several locations in Arunachal and it still continues." The paper calls it the first official confirmation of the scale of rising tensions on India's north-eastern border since July. The question is not whether India and China are talking. It is whether the talking has changed anything on the mountain.</p>

<h2>The standoff at Taksing</h2>

<p>Kapur was speaking at an annual ceremony for ITBP personnel in Alwar, Rajasthan. He did not name China, the Indian Express notes, but he said the force's newly raised Shaurya commandos "played an exemplary role" in the confrontations. Kapur retires on 31 October. His force guards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, which India Today puts at 3,488 kilometres.</p>

<p>Government sources told The Hindu that since late July, Indian and Chinese troops have been in a stand-off at Asaphila, near Taksing, in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district. According to those sources, after a brief confrontation on patrol, the People's Liberation Army came back in larger numbers and pitched tents six to seven kilometres inside India's perception of the LAC. India has also increased its deployment, and the Indian Express reports that Indian troops remain in the area in large numbers.</p>

<h2>Talks without traction</h2>

<p>Since July, the two sides have held three high-level rounds of border talks, The Hindu reports. The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination met on 6 August. The Special Representatives met in Beijing on 26 August, with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval representing India. And on 6 September came the first-ever Corps Commander-level talks in the eastern sector. In between, President Xi Jinping attended the BRICS summit hosted by India.</p>

<p>The official line in New Delhi is cautious. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju told India Today there had been no new Chinese occupation in Arunachal Pradesh, while acknowledging local concerns over access to some grazing areas. Beijing's position has not moved. In August, China's foreign ministry said "Zangnan region is China's territory" and that it does not recognise what it called the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh".</p>

<h2>India's two-track answer</h2>

<p>Track one is digging in. Kapur said 70 percent of a ₹400 crore modernisation fund went on drones, that every border battalion now has a drone platoon, and that ₹1,000 crore of a new scheme is earmarked for drones. Border outposts will get as many underground structures as structures above ground within three years. "Anything overground can be a target," he said. Our reading: a border force that plans bunkers is not planning for a quick settlement.</p>

<p>Track two is partners. Kyodo reports that Japan and India are arranging talks between their foreign and defence ministers in Tokyo in mid-November, their first "two-plus-two" since August 2024, with China in mind. And Washington has confirmed that Quad leaders will meet in Manila on the margins of the ASEAN summit.</p>

<p>At home, the admission has turned political. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh attacked what he called a "deafening silence" from the Prime Minister, and claimed India's trade deficit with China hit a record $112 billion in 2025-26. Our reading: New Delhi is hedging in both directions, talking to Beijing while thickening ties with Tokyo and Washington.</p>

<p><strong>The scorecard.</strong> On the ground, the edge is Beijing's for now: tents inside India's claimed line, according to sources, three months on. On the talks, stalled: three rounds, and no reported disengagement in Arunachal. On preparation, India is adapting, with drones, commandos and bunkers. On partners, India is building, with a Tokyo two-plus-two and a Quad table in Manila.</p>

<p><strong>Our verdict:</strong> the thaw is real at the summit level, but it has not reached Taksing. Until a disengagement is announced in Arunachal, Beijing holds the initiative on the mountain, and New Delhi holds it only in its partnerships. Three things to watch: whether Beijing answers the border chief, whether the Tokyo two-plus-two names coercion, and whether the Quad in Manila says anything about the Himalayas.</p>

<h2>Sources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/face-off-with-china-continues-at-multiple-locations-along-arunachal-border-itbp-d-g/article71612994.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hindu (Vijaita Singh), published 22 Oct 2026 23:05 IST, updated 23 Oct 06:53 IST</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/india-china-faceoff-arunachal-pradesh-border-itbp-chief-congress-pm-modi-3023232-2026-10-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hindu, 22 Oct — &quot;This is the first official confirmation of the scale of the rising tensions on the north-eastern border since July this year.&quot; Also India Today, 23 Oct 10:47 IST</a></li>

<li><a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/arunachal-pradesh-lac-face-offs-itbp-dg-shatrujeet-kapur-10933127/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hindu, 22 Oct — &quot;Speaking at the Himveer Samman Samaroah, an annual felicitation ceremony for ITBP personnel ... held at the Central Training College (CTC), Alwar, Rajasthan.&quot; Indian Express, 23 Oct 09:17 IST</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/itbp-chief-flags-ongoing-confrontations-with-chinese-troops-at-multiple-sites-along-arunachal-border-congress-questions-pm-s-silence-14058222.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Moneycontrol, 23 Oct 09:10 IST</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xw/fyrbt/lxjzh/202608/t20260810_12001539.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China MFA, Spokesperson Guo Jiakun&#x27;s remarks, 10 Aug 2026</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/523019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kyodo via Tokyo Shimbun, 21 Oct 2026 17:51 JST</a></li>

<li><a href="https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/88977" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&quot;実現すれば２０２４年８月にインドで開催して以来、４回目&quot;. Kyodo English flash, 21 Oct</a></li>

<li><a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3371804/quad-confirmed-manila-envoy-signals-likely-squad-talks-trump-xi-summit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SCMP (Nayan Seth, Khushboo Razdan), 22 Oct 2026 23:00 HKT</a></li>

</ul>