Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed on 24 August to seek a resolution to years of tensions along the Himalayan border area between the two nuclear-armed countries.

Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra stated that Modi had spoken to Xi on the sidelines at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Modi highlighted India’s concerns about the unresolved issues along the “Line of Actual Control” (LAC), which serves as the effective India-China border.

“The prime minister underlined that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and observing and respecting the LAC are essential for the normalization of the India-China relationship,” Kwatra said.