Disengagement completed at two friction points in Ladakh, stage set for patrolling resumption

It is expected that there will be an exchange of sweets between the two sides Thursday, also the Diwali day.

Xu Feihong, China’s Ambassador to India, in a post on X about his speech at a special session of the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) in Kolkata, said, “China-India relations are standing at a new starting point, facing new development opportunities. China stands ready to work with India to lift bilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new height.”

According to news agency PTI, Ambassador Xu, responding to a question on the disengagement process, said, “I hope that under the guidance of this consensus, relations will be moving forward smoothly in the future and not be restricted and interrupted by specific disagreements between the two sides. The most important thing is how to handle the differences.”

Army sources said the verification of disengagement is in progress and the patrolling modalities are to be decided between ground commanders.

The verification is being done physically as well as with unmanned aerial vehicles. The disengagement involves removal of temporary structures.

This marks the first step of a three-step process – disengagement, de-escalation and de-induction of troops on the India-China border areas.

The buildup of troops and the standoff along the LAC followed detection of Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh in May 2020 and sent bilateral ties south.

This October 21, India and China reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements. The announcement on the agreement was made by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in New Delhi, setting the stage for a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan in Russia’s southwest.

Four days later, Beijing confirmed the agreement, saying “Chinese and Indian frontier troops are engaged in relevant work, which is going smoothly at the moment”.

“The current agreement is only for Depsang and Demchok… Troops from both sides will retreat to positions held before April 2020,” an Army source said.

The Chinese PLA had cut off Indian access to patrolling points (PPs) 10 to 13 in the Depsang Plains. In the Demchok area, Chinese troops had been squatting at the Charding Nullah.

This agreement is important because the Chinese side, until a year ago, showed reluctance to even discuss Depsang Plains and Demchok while it agreed on disengagement at other friction points – PP 14 (Galwan valley), PP 15 (Hot Springs), PP 17A (Gogra), north and south banks of Pangong Tso.

The agreement framework was first agreed upon at the diplomatic level and then military-level talks took place, the Army source said.

A day after Misri’s announcement regarding the agreement, Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said the first priority for the two armies would be to “restore trust” in each other by “not creeping” into the buffer zones, “go back to the status quo of April 2020” and then look at “disengagement, de-escalation, normal management” of the LAC.

“Patrolling gives you that kind of advantage… As we restore the trust, the other phases will also follow through,” General Dwivedi said.

According to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, this creates a basis for peace and tranquillity which was there in the border areas before 2020, and they will be able to come back to that.