New Delhi: Disengagement between Indian and Chinese soldiers at the Depsang Plains and at Demchok in eastern Ladakh concluded on Wednesday (October 30) and is being verified on the ground, Indian officials were cited as saying in media reports.
According to Reuters, an Indian defence official said the disengagement process had ended and that soldiers on either side would exchange sweets on Thursday in a goodwill gesture. Diwali this year falls on Thursday.
It also cited the official as saying that troops would begin patrolling the border soon after commanders on the ground finalise the modalities for doing so.
Patrolling would likely involve teams of less than 20 soldiers and at agreed-to frequencies in order to avoid face-offs, PTI reported citing army sources.
The completion of the disengagement process is being verified physically as well as with unmanned aerial vehicles, the Indian Express reported.
Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri had announced on October 21 that India and China had reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements at areas along the border in eastern Ladakh that would lead to disengagement there.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar also said it was expected that troops on either side would return to they patrolling positions they held before the clashes of 2020.
Beijing’s ambassador to India Xu Feihong said on Wednesday that “China-India relations are standing at a new starting point, facing new development opportunities”.
“I hope that under the guidance of this consensus, relations will be moving forward smoothly in the future and not be restricted and interrupted by specific disagreements between the two sides,” PTI quoted him as saying upon being asked about the disengagement process.
Speaking at a Diwali event with army personnel in Assam’s Tezpur on Wednesday, defence minister Rajnath Singh said the border deal was “a very big development”.
“After our long-running efforts, we [India and China] have successfully reached a consensus on resolving the ground situation at the Line of Actual Control … We have reached this because of your discipline and courage,” Singh said.
He added that while India intended to have good ties with its neighbours, “sometimes certain circumstances are created wherein we need to fight to protect our borders.
“Keeping fully in view the interests of our forces, the government has tried to do whatever necessary for the process of peace.”
After Chinese troops were found intruding into Indian territory in May 2020, clashes between the two sides followed, including a deadly hand-to-hand battle in June in the Galwan Valley.
Multiple rounds of diplomatic and military talks ensued and resulted in disengagement at about four friction points – the last of which occurred over two years ago – but Depsang and Demchok continued to have troops in close proximity to each other until now.
Following Misri’s announcement last week, China said it “commend[ed] the progress” made by the two countries recently on “resolutions on issues concerning the border area”.
The deal, which marked a thaw in relations that were frozen since 2020, also paved the way for the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place at the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.
As per Reuters, there was no immediate comment by the Chinese government on disengagement finishing in Depsang and Demchok.
But earlier on Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a press conference that Indian and Chinese troops were “implementing the resolutions” reached recently “in an orderly way”.
The border deal followed back-to-back meetings between external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in July as well as two meetings within two months between the foreign office-led Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.