Word count: 3036
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
Author | Meng Hui Hu Tu
Editor | Long Feng Mu Reviewer | Jiang Yi Fan Jiayuan
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The spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India, Yu Jing, wished for Sino-Indian friendship . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
During the Diwali festival, the border defense forces of China and India exchanged candies to show goodwill. However, there was no official statement from the Indian side. Compared to the strong significance of a new chapter in Sino-India relations a year ago, this activity seems to have returned to normal. However, what has not been restored is the large number of non-border defense troops that still remain on the border. The issue of withdrawal has always been the main demand of India in 2025.
Indian media reported that on October 21, the spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in India, Yu Jing, posted on Twitter that during the Diwali festival, the border defense forces of China and India exchanged candies to show goodwill. However, there was no official statement from the Indian side. Previously, on August 15, India's Independence Day, the two sides also exchanged candies, but no photos were released either.
Compared to the strong significance of a new chapter in Sino-India relations in 2024, this candy exchange activity seems to have returned to normal. However, what has not been restored is the "border defense routine", which means the withdrawal of tens of thousands of non-border defense troops stationed on the border by both sides from 2020 to the end of 2025.
Some Indian netizens are very dissatisfied with the act of exchanging candies . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
One, From the Exchange of Candies to the Advances and Retreats of the Two Armies in Recent Years
Diwali is an important festival for Hindus, and it is a traditional custom for the Indian military to exchange candies with foreign armies or for Modi to feed soldiers candies during Diwali. Our military has been friendly in response. Before 2020, our border defense forces also had friendly actions such as doing yoga together at the Zangbo Mountain Pass, Chayu border meeting points, and Naidula Mountain Pass during the International Yoga Day in India (embarrassing ground).
In 2019, our military went to the eastern section of the de facto border to do yoga with the Indian military . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
After 2020, this activity symbolizing border friendship was suspended. It wasn't until the 22nd round of senior officers' talks on October 21, 2024, when an agreement was signed and the demarcation and verification work was implemented within a few days, that the activity of exchanging candies on the western section of the border was resumed on November 30th during Diwali.
The candy and gift exchange activities in 2024 carried a distinct symbolic meaning and a strong flavor of easing tensions, indicating that the four-year-plus tense "contact confrontation" between the two armies finally ended, and the two armies were "finally temporarily relieved from the marathon-style endless disputes and negotiations".
At that time, the Indian side was under great public pressure, with opposition parties questioning Foreign Minister Sujan's repeated promises to the domestic audience and his statements abroad that "the Chinese army must completely withdraw, and the Indian army must fully restore its traditional patrols" had been achieved, and why the two countries did not release a joint statement. Therefore, the Indian military's official accounts published photos of the two sides at five locations, sending signals of "peace and tranquility" on the border with their friendly gestures. Of course, the expressions and gifts in the pictures were also thought-provoking.
Karakoram Pass, Shenxianwan Border Defense Company: DBO Indian Army . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Qianmen Tan Border Meeting Station, Tianwen Point Border Defense Company: DBO Indian Army . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Qianmen Tan Border Meeting Station, Tianwen Point Border Defense Company: DBO Indian Army . Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Moldo-Chushul Border Meeting Station - Spanggur Corridor, Spanggur Border Defense Company: Chushul Indian Army (Sichuan Opera Face Changing). Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Dianjiaoqu, Zhaxigang Border Defense Company: Dianmu Chuoke Indian Army. Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Note that the five locations, Karakoram Pass, Qianmen Tan Border Meeting Station, Kongka Pass, Moldo-Chushul Border Meeting Station, and Dianjiaoqu, are all "contact points" formed over decades by both sides. That is, for this segment of the de facto line, there is a relatively clear consensus, and the two sides basically do not have the possibility of crossing the line, thus becoming places where officers at the regimental, divisional, and lower levels can negotiate and communicate.
Compared to these, the areas where conflicts or standoffs occurred in 2020, such as Galwan River Mouth, North and South of Pangong Lake, Tianshan River Valley, Gananda Ban, Hot Springs, and Dianjiaoqu in 2018, have disputed de facto lines, which can be understood as "de facto ambiguous areas" (see the following figure). The different de facto lines claimed by both sides have led to the situation where the Indian military has long secretly patrolled our territory to maintain its de facto claim. According to the Indian side, the de facto ambiguous area in Tianshan River Valley is as large as 972 square kilometers, equivalent to the total area of the four districts of Chaoyang, Haidian, Dongcheng, and Xicheng in Beijing. In 1962, although our military expelled all Indian outposts and troops on our territory, due to transportation limitations, we could not firmly establish control along the entire line, allowing the Indian military to take advantage. These six places have never been able to clarify the de facto line.
By 2020, the strategy adopted by our side can be understood as "edge proximity risk reduction." That is, after the conflict in Pangong Lake and Galwan, we took the opportunity to station troops across the Indian side's claimed de facto line in Tianshan River Valley, Galwan, Gananda Ban, Hot Springs, and the northern part of Pangong Lake, eliminating ambiguity. This was partly considering the 2019 Modi government's abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution, establishing the "Ladakh Union Territory," and incorporating our Aksai Chin territories into it. The Galwan conflict made us decide to act.
The current situation of the western section of the China-India border after completing the de-escalation. Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
After completing the de-escalation in four areas in September 2022 (left side of the following figure), our side considered the de-escalation complete, while the Indian Foreign Minister insisted that this solved 75% of the issues; he stubbornly demanded that our side withdraw from Tianshan River Valley and the upstream of Dianjiaoqu, which had been stationed since 2018 (right side of the following figure). The exchange of candies on October 31, 2024, represents that our side has finally partially fulfilled the Indian military's wishes in these two places, and the Indian side has also withdrawn from the mouth of Tianshan River.
The yellow area is the "de facto ambiguous area," where most of the areas were controlled by our military in 2020, while some were occupied by the Indian military. After negotiations, the two sides de-escalated to become a buffer zone or "alternating patrol area." Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
Two, Issues Remaining to Be Resolved on the Border
For a year, the two sides seem to have made no progress?
As stated by the Indian Foreign Minister Sujan in December 2024, the short-term focus of the two sides is the military de-escalation on the border. It needs to complete the second "D" (de-escalation and military de-escalation), which means the non-border defense troops leave the border. This word has detailed interpretations in Indian commentator articles; I also analyzed it in 2024. However, after the special representatives' meeting on the border issues between the two countries in August, the Chinese news release used common words like "cooling down and easing the situation." Unless you compare the Indian news release and read related articles, you would not realize how difficult and heavy this issue really is.
As mentioned earlier, since 2020, the Indian military has deployed a considerable scale of troops to the China-India border, and our side is no less. The general Indian media says that both sides have about 50,000 troops on the front lines. In 2024, the Indian Defense Minister stated that more than 120,000 Chinese soldiers equipped with heavy weapons are still gathered along the long border with India. The Times of India said that China has deployed 22-23 combined brigades in the front and training areas of the China-India border, each brigade having 4,500-5,000 personnel.
In late December 2024, it was summarized that among the 14 divisions of the Indian Army facing China, 9 divisions were established or allocated between 2017 and 2021. The Indian Air Force stated that its deployment against China has not yet been adjusted "immediately." The Chief of the Indian Navy answered an interview, "China's actions in the Indo-Pacific region have not shown any changes," and the Indian Navy has mechanisms continuously monitoring the activities of external forces in the Indian Ocean region.
There is reason to believe that the Indian side cannot bear the cost of long-term garrisoning and hopes that we agree to withdraw quickly, so this word appears in every high-level meeting's Indian news release, while our news releases seem to have no word "withdrawal."
India needs to withdraw non-border defense troops deployed to Ladakh and Tsonam since 2020. Image source: WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu"
As mentioned earlier, the issues to resume normalization include: ① restoring Indian pilgrimages (resolved on April 26) and expanding the scale (resolved on August 19), ② India resuming issuing tourist visas (resolved on July 23), ③ reopening border trade markets (resolved on August 19), ④ China lifting restrictions on trade items and equipment (fertilizers, rare earths, and tunnel boring machines) (partially resolved on August 19), ⑤ India agreeing to resume direct flights (resolved on October 2), and unresolved issues including ⑥ military de-escalation, ⑦ adjustments to border management systems, ⑧ China sharing hydrological information of transboundary rivers and renewing cooperation memorandums, ⑨ India opening up to Chinese enterprises investing in India and limiting public visa applications for economic activities, and finally the issue of demarcation.
In fact, I have discussed the difficulties of these five unresolved issues multiple times.
For my research, I originally wanted to compare India to stinky tofu or durian, smelly but edible. But then I thought it wouldn't work, because I really like stinky tofu and durian, and India is not that delicious.
This article is reprinted from the WeChat official account "Meng Hui Hu Tu" on October 24, 2025, titled "Interpretation: From the Exchange of Candies on the De Facto Line Between China and India to the Situation of Easing Over the Past Year."
Editor of this issue: Long Feng Mu
Reviewer of this issue: Jiang Yi Fan Jiayuan
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