India says ties with China normalising as top officials meet in Delhi

India declared on Wednesday that its ties with China are normalising, following a meeting between senior officials from both governments in New Delhi — the latest in a series of diplomatic steps aimed at pulling bilateral relations back from the deep freeze triggered by the 2020 Ladakh border standoff.

The Galwan Valley clash of June 2020 killed 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops, triggering the worst crisis in India-China relations in decades. India responded with sweeping economic restrictions, banning hundreds of Chinese apps and tightening scrutiny of Chinese investments. Diplomatic and military-level talks to disengage troops from forward positions along the Line of Actual Control took years to produce results.

The shift in tone, reported by Reuters, reflects a broader recalibration that gained momentum through late 2024 and into 2025, including troop disengagement agreements at key friction points in eastern Ladakh. Both governments have signalled a willingness to restore normal channels of communication, trade and cultural exchange, even as underlying border disputes remain unresolved.

For India, normalisation carries significant economic implications. China is India's largest trading partner by volume, and the freeze imposed post-Galwan disrupted supply chains across sectors from electronics to pharmaceuticals. A genuine diplomatic reset could reopen pathways for Chinese investment in Indian manufacturing — an option that had been politically difficult to pursue — while also reducing the risk of military miscalculation along the world's longest disputed border.