The New Indian Express ·
India, China hold first eastern-sector Corps Commander talks over two days
NEW DELHI: India and China have held their first Corps Commander-level flag meeting in the eastern sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), with the first engagement taking place at Wacha on the Indian side in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday and the second talk at Damai on the Chinese side on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Tuesday.
The engagement, described by MEA as the first “Senior Highest Military Commander-Level Flag Meeting” in the eastern sector, comes ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to India for the BRICS summit later this week, as New Delhi and Beijing seek to consolidate the thaw in ties following the 2020 military confrontation in eastern Ladakh.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the meetings followed understandings reached between the two countries’ Special Representatives in August last year and last month, and subsequent discussions at the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) meetings held in Beijing and New Delhi in May and August this year.
“Pursuant to the understandings reached between the Special Representatives of India and China in August 2025 and August 2026, and subsequent discussions at the WMCC meetings held in Beijing and New Delhi in May and August 2026 respectively, the first Senior Highest Military Commander-Level Flag Meeting was held at Wacha on the Indian side in Arunachal Pradesh on 6 September and Damai on the Chinese side on 7 September 2026,” Jaiswal said. He added that a similar mechanism exists in the western sector.
Lt Gen Girish Kalia, commander of the Army’s III Corps, or Spear Corps, is learnt to have led the Indian delegation. The Corps, headquartered at Rangapahar near Dimapur, has operational responsibility for the eastern Arunachal sector.
The Wacha-Damai engagement was held at a designated Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) point in the Kibithoo sector. Wacha has been an established BPM point since 2014, but the latest engagement marks the first Corps Commander-level talks at the venue, according to sources.
"The two sides holding engagements at their respective ends of the BPM point is significant as the new arrangement gives the militaries a higher-level channel to address local incidents in the eastern sector, where commander-level contacts have traditionally been used to defuse friction," a source said.
The development comes against the backdrop of a fresh face-off between Indian and Chinese patrol parties near Taksing in Upper Subansiri district in late July. Chinese troops were reported to have returned to the area in early August. The incident had highlighted the potential for local friction along the Arunachal LAC to escalate.
Corps Commander-level talks have been a key part of the military dialogue in the western sector since the 2020 Ladakh crisis. The two sides have held 23 rounds of such talks at Moldo-Chushul in the western sector of LAC, with the latest round taking place in October last year.
The extension of the senior military mechanism to Arunachal is significant given the operational sensitivities of the eastern sector, where India and China have divergent perceptions of the LAC and Beijing continues to lay claim to the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The latest engagement follows the August meeting between National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the two Special Representatives for the boundary question, and subsequent WMCC consultations. The two sides had agreed to expand the senior military dialogue mechanism as part of efforts to improve border management.
The engagement also comes as the two countries seek to consolidate the thaw that followed the October 2024 disengagement arrangement in eastern Ladakh. While patrolling and border-management mechanisms have gradually been restored, the boundary dispute remains unresolved.