India said on Friday that it seeks a permanent solution to its longstanding border dispute with China.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh made the comments in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defense ministers' meeting in China's Qingdao.

What did India say to China in border talks?

The ministers held in-depth talks on the necessity to maintain peace along the Indo-China frontier, India's Defense Ministry said in a statement published Friday.

Singh "acknowledged the work being undertaken by both sides to bring back semblance of normalcy in the bilateral relations. He highlighted the necessity of solving the complex issues through a structured roadmap of permanent engagement and de-escalation," the statement said.

"Singh also stressed on border management and to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue," the statement said, in reference to previous talks between the two powers.

"It is incumbent on both the sides to maintain this positive momentum and avoid adding new complexities in the bilateral relationship," Singh said in a post on social media platform X.

Why do China and India have a border dispute?

The border between the two neighbors, called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh on the western side to Arunachal Pradesh in the east.

The largely undemarcated frontier is the longest disputed land border in the world, sprawling across 3,488 kilometers (2,167 miles).

The dispute goes back to claims made by the British Empire when it ruled India, claims that were inherited by India upon independence.

Soldiers on both sides have adhered to longstanding protocols to avoid the use of any firearms.

In 2020, clashes involving troops from both sides left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead, putting the relations between the two nuclear-armed countries under strain.

Singh on Thursday called for "bridging the trust deficit" that was created after the standoff by "taking action on ground," the Indian Defense Ministry said.

Edited by: Alex Berry