Army chief: Need to first restore trust, assure each other on buffer zones

“As of now, we are trying to restore the trust. How will the trust get restored? It will get restored once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince each other. Look, the buffer zones which have been created, we are not creeping (in there)… both have to reassure each other. Patrolling gives you that kind of advantage… As we restore the trust, the other phases will also follow through.”

The announcement on the patrolling agreement was made Monday by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in New Delhi. China confirmed the pact Tuesday without going into details.

Also Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during an interaction at the NDTV World Summit, called it a “positive and good” development.

“I think it creates a basis… peace and tranquillity, which should be there in the border areas, which was there before 2020, we will be able to come back to that,” he said.

This development has taken place four and a half years after Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh triggered a military standoff along the LAC and sent bilateral ties south.

The agreement on patrolling arrangements is expected to lead to disengagement, de-escalation and de-militarisation in areas where 50,000 to 60,000 troops are stationed on either side. Officials said this process is expected to begin in the next week to 10 days.

It is learnt that patrolling rights are also being restored in the Depsang Plains and Demchok region — these are areas where the problems are called legacy issues, predating the 2020 Chinese incursions.

This means that Indian troops can patrol up to patrolling point (PP) 10 to 13 in the Depsang Plains, and in Charding Nullah of Demchok.

Sources said certain mutual agreements have also been made for the eastern theatre, especially in the sensitive sectors of Arunachal Pradesh. Other sectors in the east will come up in discussions later between the two sides.