India’s external affairs minister has said the two nations’ relations are currently at the “most difficult phase” since three to four decades of tensions. Since the Galwan Valley attack in June, relations between India and China have remained high.
The hand-to-hand battle was the most serious military confrontation between the two neighbours in more than half a century.
It saw at least 20 Indian soldiers die following a clash with Chinese troops in the area.
China did not confirm the number of casualties on its side.
Both nations have accused each other of intruding across the Line of Actual Control which separates the Indian-controlled territory from the Chinese-controlled territory.
During a virtual meeting by the think-tank Lowy Institute, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said: “We are today probably at the most difficult phase of our relationship with China, certainly in the last 30 to 40 years.”
The external affairs minister for India added: “We could argue even more.
“The last time there were military casualties on our borders was in 1975, so just to give you a sense of a time there.”
Mr Jaishankar explained how since 1988 relations between the two nations were moving in a slightly positive trajectory despite underlying tensions.
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“Naturally, the relationship would be profoundly disturbed by this.”
Earlier this year, Frank O’Donnell, Nonresident Fellow in the Stimson Center South Asia Program, told Express.co.uk that the relationship between India and China is “the worst it has been in decades”.
He said: “Their current bilateral relationship is probably the worst it has been in decades.”
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: “Based on the implementation of current consensus, we will have consultations to determine specific arrangements for further talks.”
Multiple rounds of negotiations between India and China have taken place at both military and diplomatic levels.
However, talks so far have failed to resolve the ongoing standoff at the disputed border.