External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India-China ties are in better shape now, but stressed that the border situation remains the decisive factor in the relationship.

The minister’s remarks, reported on September 29, reflect New Delhi’s consistent position that stability along the Line of Actual Control is the precondition for normalising broader ties with Beijing.

India and China have been working through a long, phased disengagement process after the border standoff, with diplomatic and military channels engaged in parallel.

While trade and people-to-people exchanges have continued, New Delhi has repeatedly made clear that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship.

The comments come amid a busy diplomatic calendar, with both countries engaging each other across multilateral forums and exploring ways to keep tensions from spilling into the wider relationship. The minister has made similar remarks in recent months, holding that disengagement along the border must precede any broader reset. Officials on both sides describe the current phase as one of cautious stabilisation rather than full normalisation.