Elections in India for members of the Lok Sabha began on April 19, 2024 and will continue through June 1, 2024. Polls indicate that the Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to win the most seats in the Lok Sabha, which would enable Prime Minister Narendra Modi to secure a third term. In an interview before the elections, Modi said he would work to improve relations with China if he won another term as Prime Minister. Relations between India and China have worsened in recent years due to skirmishes between troops on the countries’ disputed border. For relations to improve, China and India will need to decrease their military presence near the border and work to resolve their border dispute.

The BBC reported that Prime Minister Modi said, “I hope and believe that through positive and constructive bilateral engagement at the diplomatic and military levels, we will be able to restore and sustain peace and tranquility at our borders.” According to the Hindustan Times, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, stated, “Sound and stable relations serve the interests of both countries,” adding that the border dispute does not “represent the entirety of China-India relations.”

Border disputes have existed between India and China since India’s independence from Britain in 1947. In 1962, the two countries fought a war over their disputed border, which China won, taking control of Aksai Chin—an area in the Tibet and Xinjiang regions. Although both countries continued to claim areas controlled by the other after the war, the border dispute caused fewer conflicts, and relations between China and India improved. However, relations have worsened again as both Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have supported increased military presence near the border. According to CNN, the two countries have each sent 200,000 soldiers near the border, and constructed roads to make it easier to move more troops to the border.  There have been many clashes between soldiers, and the two sides often accuse troops of entering the other country’s territory. One of the worst clashes occurred in June 2020 in Aksai Chin, when 20 Indian soldiers and at least five Chinese soldiers were killed. If China and India withdrew troops from the border, clashes would likely decrease. This is possible, as E-International Relations reported that the two countries signed the Border Peace and Tranquility Agreement in 1993, which outlined plans for decreasing the number of soldiers and weapons sent to the border. If there were fewer troops near the border, both countries would feel less threatened and could agree to negotiations to end the border dispute.

Several solutions have been proposed to resolve the border dispute between China and India. In 2003, the two countries signed the Declaration on Principles for Relations and Comprehensive Cooperation, which included plans to resolve the dispute by establishing a mutually acceptable border. However, the International Crisis Group reported that little progress has been made, as both countries continue to propose borders that would allow them to control most of the disputed territory. Another proposed solution is a territorial swap, which would involve India relinquishing its claim to Aksai Chin, while China would end its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, a region near the border controlled by India. China supported a territorial swap after the 1962 war, but the proposal has not been revisited by either country since then. While neither of these solutions has been fully endorsed by both countries, they remain viable options if negotiations to resolve the dispute resume.

Although the border dispute between China and India has persisted for many years, it has not always caused conflict. Both countries should support agreements aimed at reducing their military presence near the border. With fewer troops on both sides, the dispute would likely cause fewer conflicts, and China and India could work toward a negotiated resolution.