Deterrence and Disengagement: India China Relations in the Post Galwan Era

India and China had their worst conflict on their common border in over four decades in June 2020 when Indian and Chinese forces clashed in the Galwan Valley and it changed the parameters on which the two countries deal with each other. This research explores the interaction between deterrence and disengagement since that clash, and suggests that the two have largely ran on different tracks rather than one driving the other. In the years that followed, India built up troops, roads and partnerships, while a much slower and more grinding negotiation over troop withdrawal crawled forward at each disputed point along the Line of Actual Control, finally reaching the October 2024 patrolling arrangement for Depsang and Demchok. Drawing mainly on government statements, parliamentary answers and independent strategic commentary, the paper suggests that disengagement was less a result of Indian deterrence forcing China’s hand than a shared, if unequal, interest in calming the border while the deeper rivalry stayed exactly where it was. The last section examines the genuine stability of this new equilibrium and implications for Indian foreign policy going forward.