Tensions between the Asian powers had flared in recent years following a border clash that left at least two dozen soldiers dead.

India and China have reached an agreement on military disengagement along their disputed border, New Delhi said, a step toward reducing frictions between the nuclear-armed neighbors that comes as both countries’ leaders arrive in Russia for a summit.

India and China have agreed on patrolling arrangements to de-escalate tensions along a disputed Himalayan border which has seen deadly hand-to-hand clashes in recent years, India’s top diplomat has said. Vikram Misri said on Monday the two sides have agreed on “disengagement and resolution of issues in these [border] areas that had arisen in 2020”.

An Indian official says India and China have agreed to a pact on military patrols along their disputed border in the Himalayas.

Four years ago, several soldiers from both sides were killed in a bloody melee. Any thaw between the countries could have global implications.

China has reached a resolution with India on resolving their border conflict and will work to implement solutions, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday. China and India have been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels,

China and India, nuclear-armed neighbors, have had thousands of troops facing off in a contested region of the Himalayas since 2020, when skirmishes led to the first deadly clashes in four decades. In October,