India and China have agreed on a patrolling arrangement to reduce tensions along their disputed border in eastern Ladakh.
In the meantime, as per the bilateral agreement, the armies of both countries have returned to their pre-May 2020 positions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said. This information was reported on Tuesday by NDTV.
Jaishankar said that the process of ‘disengagement’ (withdrawal of troops from face-to-face positions) in eastern Ladakh has been completed. The area up to which the armies of both sides could patrol the LSC before May 2020 is being restored after 5 and a half years.
Before the Indian External Affairs Minister’s statement on Monday, Foreign Secretary Vikram Mishra said that India and China have reached a consensus on setting a ‘patrol boundary’ to end the conflict. He said, ‘We have reached an agreement with China on this issue through discussions.’
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go to Russia on November 22 and 23 to attend the BRICS summit (India, Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa). Before that, New Delhi and Beijing reached an agreement on the Ladakh situation. India had accused the Chinese army of intruding into various areas of eastern Ladakh across the LAC since April 2020.
In an atmosphere of tension, 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a Chinese attack in Galwan on June 15 of that year. Since the Galwan incident, meetings have been held periodically to defuse tensions on the border at diplomatic and military levels. In January 2021, at the Corps Commander-level meeting of the two armies at Chushul-Maldo Point, there was a consensus on ‘disengagement’ and ‘de-escalation’ in some areas of the LAC.
But the problems with various areas including the Finger Area near Pangong Lake and the Depsang Valley did not end. Moreover, before April 2020, there were allegations that Indian soldiers were unable to cross Finger-5 under the new system even though they had patrolled up to Finger-8. Stating that the system is being reintroduced, Jaishankar said, ‘A big step has been taken towards resolving the differences between the two big neighbors.’
