An olive branch!

In what could be called a breakthrough development, India and China have reportedly reached an agreement on restoring patrolling rights along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has been a site of heightened military tension since 2020.

Incidentally, the agreement has been announced just ahead of the BRICS Summit in which the Indian PM and Chinese Premier will also participate. The agreement has, obviously, opened the channels of de-escalation at key friction points, particularly in the Demchok and Depsang areas. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, while making the announcement during a briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, described it as a resolution of issues that had arisen since 2020.

It needs no recall that the 2020 standoff marked a dismally low point in India-China relations, with the deadly clash in the Galwan Valley resulting in the loss of 20 Indian soldiers. This physical confrontation was the first such incident in decades. It escalated tensions and led to the freezing of traditional patrolling routes along the LAC. Both nations responded by amassing troops and military hardware, which further complicated an already tenuous situation.