Indian and Chinese armies will be completing the disengagement process in parts of eastern Ladakh by October 28 or 29, Indian Army sources told news agency ANI. The latest agreement is applicable only to Depsang and Demchok and not to other places.
“No quid pro quo in the talks with China. The decisions in the present talks have been taken only for Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh,” Indian Army sources were quoted as saying in the report.
“This agreement will not be applicable to other friction zones,” they said.
The sources also revealed that troops from both sides will return to positions they held before April 2020 and will patrol areas where they patrolled until April 2020. Regular ground commanders' meetings will continue to be held.
“A particulate strength of troops in the patrols has been identified and inform each other when we are going to patrol to avoid any miscommunication. All temporary infrastructure like sheds or tents and troops will be removed. The two sides will have surveillance over the area. Patrolling points at Depsang and Demchok will be the points where we had been patrolling traditionally pre-April 2020,” Indian army sources said.
Indian and Chinese troops are expected to start patrolling up to their respective patrolling points by the end of this month.
On October 21, India announced that it reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh ending the over four-year-long military standoff.
Speaking at an event in New Delhi on October 24, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the two countries had reached a consensus to restore the "ground situation" based on the principles of equal and mutual security.
He added that this includes restoration of "patrolling and grazing to traditional areas".
Singh attributed the progress in ties to the "power of engaging in continuous dialogue because, sooner or later, solutions will emerge."
"India and China have been involved in talks both at diplomatic and military levels to resolve their differences in certain areas along the LAC. A broad consensus has been achieved to restore ground situation based on the principles of equal and mutual security," he said while delivering the keynote address at the second Chanakya Defence Dialogue.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia and welcomed the agreement reached between the two countries on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Prime Minister Modi said that maintaining peace and stability on the border should remain a priority of the two countries and mutual trust should remain the basis of bilateral ties.
