With Chinese troops still reported to be pitching tents on disputed territory and blocking Indian patrols along the Line of Actual Control, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has fired a pointed question at the government: why is New Delhi rolling out the welcome mat for Chinese President Xi Jinping next month?

The question at the heart of India's China gamble

Owaisi's post cuts straight to the tension that has defined India's China policy since the June 2020 Galwan clash — the collision between strategic engagement and stated red lines. 'While all this is happening on the border, we are inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Delhi next month,' he wrote, demanding to know whether the invitation signals acceptance of Beijing's terms for 'normalcy' in bilateral ties.

It is a question with real weight. After 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley confrontation, New Delhi publicly insisted that relations with Beijing could not return to normal until the LAC situation was fully resolved and Chinese forces returned to their pre-2020 positions. More than 20 rounds of corps commander-level talks followed, yielding partial disengagements at some friction points — but not a comprehensive settlement.

Dual track, contested terms

India has since pursued what analysts describe as a dual-track approach: reinforcing military infrastructure along the LAC while keeping selective high-level diplomatic channels open. That calculus has drawn sustained fire from opposition voices who argue the government's public red lines and its diplomatic actions do not always align.

Owaisi's post sharpens that critique into a binary: either the border situation has genuinely improved enough to justify a summit-level visit, or New Delhi has quietly accepted conditions it once publicly rejected. 'Is this our policy on how to deal with Chinese troops pitching tents on our territory and blocking our patrols?' he asked. 'Or have we accepted all the terms that Beijing has placed before us?'

What an answer would require

Any official response would need to address the on-ground situation at the LAC — specifically whether patrolling rights at contested points have been restored and whether Chinese forward deployments have been rolled back to pre-April 2020 lines. The Ministry of External Affairs has not publicly confirmed the reported invitation. Parliamentary sessions and upcoming MEA briefings will be the first places to watch for either a clarification or a confirmation that the diplomatic calendar has moved ahead of the border calendar.

The Hyderabad MP's challenge lands at a moment when the terms of any India-China reset remain intensely contested — and when the gap between what is said at podiums and what is happening on high-altitude ridgelines is the central question of the relationship.