Four-and-half years after the standoff between India and China, New Delhi and Beijing have agreed on the disengagement on the border where 50,000 to 60,000 troops are stationed on both sides, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Monday. Stating that Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums, and as a result of these discussions, Misri said, “Agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020 and we will be taking the next steps on this”. Last month, the Chinese Defence Ministry said China and India were able to "reduce differences" and build "some consensus" on disengaging troops from friction points to end the standoff in REastern Ladakh and agreed to maintain dialogue to resolve acceptable to both sides at an "early date”. Li Jinsong, Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, had met with Indian Ambassador to China Pradeep Kumar Rawat. The Chinese Defence Ministry’s statement and the meeting with the Indian envoy came on a day The Indian Express reported on September 26 that India and China are learnt to have made “significant progress” in narrowing their gap on pending issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The Indian Express learnt this included exploring the contours of a possible solution that factors in their respective pre-April 2020 positions while agreeing to address existing issues in Arunachal Pradesh. Sources had said this might imply that Indian troops, whose access to certain patrolling points along the LAC was blocked either by Chinese troops or due to the implementation of the buffer zones created in the backdrop of disengagement at specific friction points, might be close to accessing them again. At present, troops deployed along the LAC continue to be in a state of alert, officials had said, adding that they, however, are avoiding any confrontation which may create a trust deficit and delay redeployment plans. As a confidence-building measure, local commanders of both sides on the ground have also been meeting to avoid clashes. Friction points such as Galwan Valley, the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some resolution with buffer zones. Legacy issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok remain, troops at Depsang Plains were blocked from accessing patrol points. On September 12, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said about 75 per cent of the “disengagement problems” with China have been “sorted out” but the “bigger issue” has been the increasing militarisation of the border. Subsequently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the troops have disengaged at four places in Eastern Ladakh, including Galwan Valley and the situation along the borders is stable.
