2020–2021 China–India skirmishes

A series of military confrontations between Chinese and Indian forces along their disputed Himalayan border, including a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020.

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Line of Actual Control: The de facto boundary separating Indian- and Chinese-administered territory in the border regions. Patrols and confrontations occurred where the two countries’ interpretations of this line diverged.
Sino-Indian border dispute: A territorial dispute between China and India over sections of their Himalayan frontier. Unsettled claims underpin the competing patrol routes and positions involved in the skirmishes.
2020 China–India border standoff: A prolonged military standoff between China and India along their Himalayan frontier beginning in 2020. The skirmishes were the violent episodes within this wider deployment crisis.
2017 China–India border standoff: A 73-day military standoff between Chinese and Indian forces at Doklam in 2017. It offers a recent comparison, but occurred near Bhutan and ended without the deadly violence of Galwan.
Galwan Valley clash: A deadly hand-to-hand confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh on June 15, 2020. It was the deadliest episode in the series and its defining event.
McMahon Line: A boundary proposed in 1914 between Tibet and British India, now used by India as the basis of its eastern border. The line's status remains contested by China in the eastern sector.
2020 China–India skirmishes at Naku La: A confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops at Naku La in Sikkim in May 2020. It was an early physical clash during the escalation that preceded Galwan.
Sumdorong Chu standoff: A military standoff between China and India in the eastern Himalayas from 1986 to 1987. It shows that prolonged deployments and negotiations predated the 2020 crisis.
Patrolling Point 14: A patrol area in the Galwan Valley near the site of the June 2020 clash. The confrontation centered on competing access and positions near this patrol point.
Aksai Chin: A high-altitude plateau administered by China and claimed by India as part of Ladakh. Its disputed status is central to the western sector where the confrontations occurred.