India, China open door to clarifying LAC perceptions

India and China discussed ways to improve their understanding of each other’s perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the 25th Round of Special Representatives talks on the boundary question held in Beijing on Tuesday (August 25, 2026).

Indian and Chinese officials see differing perceptions of the LAC in some areas as a key factor behind tensions in both Western and Eastern Sectors.

The eight-point outcome document released on Wednesday (August 26), a day after the talks between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, acknowledged those concerns. It said the two sides “discussed ways to improve understanding of LAC in appropriate areas, for better border management”.

The joint consensus statement noted both sides agreed that “any situation on the ground would be addressed promptly through existing diplomatic and military channels, including the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC), local commander‑level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC.”

Another key outcome said an Expert Group on Boundary Delimitation would “advance discussions on an Early and Substantial Harvest of boundary delimitation”. That process, which would start with both sides agreeing to the terms of reference, is expected to focus on sectors where there are no pronounced differences in alignment.

India has long pitched for clarifying the LAC to reduce the likelihood of incidents between patrols in areas where claims overlap. The 1996 agreement on confidence-building measures noted the need for the two sides “arriving at a common understanding of the alignment of the LAC” and said both “agree to speed up the process of clarification and confirmation of the LAC”.

Both sides then agreed to exchange maps indicating their respective perceptions of the entire alignment of the LAC. To that end, maps were exchanged in the Middle Sector a few years later, but the process ran aground when it came to the Western Sector in light of sharp divergences, and was subsequently abandoned in Western and Eastern sectors.

During his first visit to China as Prime Minister in 2015, Narendra Modi made a public pitch to resume the LAC clarification process. That did not happen, with Chinese officials saying a clarification process on LAC alignment would further complicate attempts to resolve the boundary dispute.

However, the tensions in eastern Ladakh starting in April 2020, marking the most serious disruption to peace along the LAC since 1962, sharply underlined the need to address differences over alignment, especially in the Western Sector. In the Eastern Sector in Arunachal Pradesh as well, differing perceptions of LAC alignment were cited for tensions earlier this month.

Both sides have informally addressed the issue to some extent at the ground level at the many rounds of talks between the Senior Highest Military Commanders (SHMCs). Following disengagement from friction points in Ladakh, the two sides worked out modalities to help keep the peace, such as no-patrolling zones and coordinated patrolling in contested areas. Neither side has shared details on the modalities being followed.

The outcome document eschewed any reference to clarification, and, given the contested history of the term, a resumption of the process envisaged in 1996 remains unlikely. However, the two Special Representatives did give a political endorsement of the need “to improve understanding of the LAC in appropriate areas”, opening the door for both sides to, at the very least, initiate a process of better understanding the other’s perceptions.