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India and China disengaging at Ladakh border after reaching a patrolling deal

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(TibetanReview.net, Oct25’24) –In a promising start to the implementation of a patrolling arrangement reached between them recently, India and China have begun the disengagement of their troops at two critical friction points in the Eastern Ladakh sector — Demchok and Depsang Plains.

The development comes after India and China successfully negotiated an agreement to resolve their ongoing military standoff in eastern Ladakh, which began in 2020.

Disengagement process at the LAC started within hours after the two sides reached an agreement to end the nearly four-year military stand-off in eastern Ladakh. Some temporary tents from Depsang and Demchok have already been removed by both the countries, reported the firstpost.com Oct 25.

Apart from this, some temporary structures have also been dismantled in the area, with Indian soldiers moving back to the west side of the Charding Nala, and Chinese personnel retreating to the east side of the Nala, the report said.

The temporary posts and structures which were erected at both the face-off sites after May 2020 were now being dismantled in a “controlled manner as part of the modalities worked out by the tactical commanders on the ground,” the timesofindia.com Oct 25 cited its sources as saying.

It further cited the sources as saying the dismantling and pullback by the troops will take around a week’s time, following which, the local commanders will verify it physically on the ground before the coordinated patrolling begins.

There are about 10 to 12 temporary structures and around 12 tents on both sides, all of which are set to be removed. Once all tents and temporary structures have been fully removed, a joint verification process will begin, both on the ground and through aerial surveys, said Indiatoday.com Oct 25.

The Chinese army reduced the number of their vehicles in the area, and the Indian army also withdrew some troops in the area. After this process is completed, patrolling is expected to resume in Depsang and Demchok within the next 4-5 days, the report cited sources as saying.

The ongoing process is also in keeping with India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remark Oct 24 that a “broad consensus” had been achieved to restore the “ground situation” in certain areas based on the principles of equal and mutual security.

The announcement of the deal, made by India on Oct 21, marked a major breakthrough, although experts have struck a note of caution, given China’s well established record of not abiding by deals.

The current disengagement process, carried out by local commanders, is being done as per broad terms decided at a senior level, the CNN-News18 Oct 25 cited sources as saying.

As per the “patrolling arrangements” deal, Chinese troops will no longer block Indian soldiers at the “Bottleneck” area in the strategically-located Depsang Plains, which is around 18-km inside what India considers its own territory, said the timesofindia.com report.

“The aim is to ensure no clashes and violence takes place.”

Discussions on the four buffer zones, including Galwan, have not yet taken place, said the Indiatoday.com report.

The announcement of the border patrolling deal was followed, on Oct 23, by a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 16th Brics Summit in Kazan city of Russia.

The two leaders issued directions to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms, signalling attempts to normalise ties that were affected by the mind-2020 military clash at Galwan in eastern Ladakh.

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