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New Delhi: Days after a breakthrough in India-China relations, Indian Army patrolling resumed in the both Demchok and Depsang regions of Eastern Ladakh, the External Affairs Ministry confirmed on Thursday. Replying to a query at a weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that following the disengagement agreement with China, patrolling began in both Demchok and Depsang. He rejected media reports which claimed some of the checkposts were not allowed to patrol. “The Indian Army has started patrolling in all checkposts in Depsang and Demchok,” Jaiswal said.
Last month, Indian and Chinese troops also exchanged sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Diwali.
Sources had earlier said that the areas and patrolling status were expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 said in Delhi that an agreement was finalised between India and China following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.
The agreement was firmed up on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, a breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.
The move marked a significant development in the pursuit of reduced tension along the LAC in eastern Ladakh since the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. The ties between the two Asian giants had nosedived following the clash.
India-China border agreement
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 said in Delhi that the agreement was finalised following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.
Subsequently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed the agreement on October 22, saying that “the two sides have reached resolutions on relevant matters, which China speaks highly of. This enabled a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia’s Kazan city where both leaders attended the BRICS Summit.
PM Modi-Xi Jinping bilateral talks
The Chinese side qualified the PM Modi-Xi talks, the first formal one between the two leaders in the past five years, had reached important understandings and set guidelines for the further development of relations between the two nations. Chinese envoy to India said both the leaders reached important common understandings on improving and developing Sino-India relations and set the course to steer bilateral ties back on the path of steady development.
However, China released fewer details except acknowledging that the process of disengagement is going on smoothly.