– released by Indian Army sources.

In an ad-hoc ceremony reminiscent of the famous Christmas Truce of the First World War, Chinese and Indian troops along a disputed border region exchanged sweets on Diwali.

The two nations have contested a region called Ladakh for decades, but following a recent agreement to draw back from strategic chokepoints, relations are on the up and up such that the soldiers, who now have mutually exclusive patrolling schedules to prevent accidental conflict, met to exchange presents of sweets on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

A traditional practice on the holiday, the gifts were exchanged at five designated Border Personnel Meeting Points in much the same way that the Germans and Allies emerged from their trenches and exchanged gifts in no man’s land along the Western Front in the Winter of 1914.

An Indian army official who was not authorized to speak to journalists confirmed that “sweets were exchanged between troops of India and China at several border points on the occasion of Diwali,” according to the Straits Times.

Ladakh itself is part of the Jammu-Kashmir union territory of India, but since the 1962 Sino-Indian War, a portion of land along the border has been claimed by both nations. The two are not divided by recognized borders but by a notional demarcation line called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a term presented by CCP leader Zhou Enlai as a compromise—that each nation could claim land up the point at which they actually can control it.

While it’s one of the most hotly contested border areas on Earth, each nation prides itself on restraint. It’s said that not since 1975 have shots been fired at men along the LAC.

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Such is the reluctance by both forces to ever be the first to fire a shot in anger, the most recent flare-up in tensions escalated into a massive street brawl, lasting 6 hours, involving hundreds of border patrolmen from both sides wielding makeshift hand-to-hand weapons, and causing the deaths of 20 Indians and between 4 and 43 Chinese, all without either group ever opening fire on the other.

On October 21st, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping negotiated a disengagement of several key friction areas along the LAC which was completed, as confirmed by the Indian military scouring the area with drones.

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The completion of the disengagement led the Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, to declare “China-India relations are standing at a new starting point,” adding later to reporters that “The most important thing is how to handle the differences.”

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