China and India have agreed on how soldiers will patrol the disputed border in the Himalayas. The disputed border has led to tensions between the two nuclear powers for decades.

The last violent confrontation was in 2020. Patrols from both countries encountered each other on terrain they believed was part of their territory. A total of 24 soldiers were killed, twenty of whom were from India.

The confrontation soured the already difficult relationship between China and India, both of which have tens of thousands of troops stationed in the area. The agreement that has now been concluded is a sign of rapprochement between the two countries.

Indian Foreign Minister Vikram Misri announced the agreement at a press conference on the eve of the BRICS summit, the group of nine countries of which China is a member. He said it had been negotiated for weeks. China has not yet said anything about the agreement.

The agreement states, among other things, that both countries will "act with restraint". Agreements have also been made about patrols. Misri did not provide further details. According to the AP news agency, both countries have withdrawn troops from the border area.

Both China and India do not speak of a border, but of a line of control that they call 'the line of current control'. It is more than 3,400 kilometers long and runs through wildly flowing rivers, lakes and moving glaciers. Both China and India claim the area.

In 1962, the two countries fought a war in the Himalayas for over a month, and there have been several armed confrontations since then.

* grobi