India, Dec. 24 -- A recently released report by the United States Department of Defense draws a clear distinction between China's engagement with India and Pakistan, portraying New Delhi as a border-management and sovereignty interlocutor, while placing Islamabad firmly in the category of China's most important defence export partner.

On India, the report records that in October 2024, Indian leadership announced an agreement with China to disengage from remaining standoff points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), days before a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit. The Xi-Modi meeting, the report says, marked the start of monthly high-level engagements focused on b...