PLA Deployment Along LAC Reduced, But Threat Remains: Defence Ministry Report

India stays alert along the LAC even as China scales back deployment, with missile systems and air defence units still in place

PGurus Newsdesk

September 14, 2026

The reduction works out to an estimated 40,000-50,000 fewer PLA troops, though the ministry stops short of calling it a confirmed withdrawal

China’s remaining presence still includes missile systems, air defence units and tanks, keeping India’s military on alert across the LAC

China’s military deployment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) dropped significantly through 2025, according to the Defence Ministry’s Annual Report 2025-26, though the ministry cautions that the underlying military threat from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is far from over. The report, filed under its assessment of the “Situation along Northern Front,” notes a marked reduction in PLA deployment opposite India’s northern borders over the course of the year.

Ten Brigades, Fewer Troops — But Not A Clean Withdrawal

According to the report, 10 combined-arms brigade-level formations were reduced both in areas directly facing the LAC and in traditional military training zones further back. A PLA combined-arms brigade typically runs to around 5,000 personnel, which puts the reduction at roughly 40,000-50,000 troops along the frontier, with a similar drawdown in the rear training areas. Even so, the ministry is careful not to frame this as a confirmed, clean withdrawal — the reduced formations span both LAC-facing and training-area deployments, making a single neat troop-count difficult to pin down. Before the October 2024 disengagement agreement that ended the four-year standoff, China had maintained more than 60,000 PLA troops in the Ladakh sector alone.

Why India Still Isn’t Relaxing

The report flags that China‘s remaining presence still includes troops alongside missile systems, air defence assets and tanks — enough to keep Indian planners cautious across every sector of the LAC. Geography plays into that caution too: much of the terrain on the Chinese side is relatively flat plateau, letting the PLA move troops and equipment quickly if needed. India, the report notes, continues to maintain a strong, balanced deployment along the northern frontier and remains ready to respond to any contingency.

Diplomacy Gets Some Of The Credit

The Defence Ministry attributes part of the improvement to sustained political, diplomatic and military engagement between the two countries since the October 2024 disengagement deal — talks that have continued at multiple levels even as both sides maintain forces along the border. The report lands just as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in India for the BRICS Summit, his first visit to the country in seven years, against the backdrop of this gradual, if incomplete, easing of border tensions.

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