The Indian and Chinese troops have started disengagement at two friction points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh. This process is likely to get completed by October 28-29.
The patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will begin at the two friction points once the disengagement ends, news agency PTI said citing Army sources. Both India and China will be moving their troops and dismantling the temporary structures.
In a major breakthrough to end the long-standing row, the two countries had firmed up on an agreement regarding the patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Gradually, the patrolling status is anticipated to move back to like it used to be pre-April 2020.
The agreement framework was initally agreed upon at the diplomatic level, followed by military-level talks, as per the army sources said. The detailed aspects of the agreement were then finalised during the Corps Commander-level talks.
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Adhering to the mutual agreements, Indian troops have started pulling back equipment to rear positions in these areas. The relations between the two Asian nations had deteriorated sharply following a violent clash in the Galwan Valley in 2020, marking the most serious military conflict between them in decades.
On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Delhi that the agreement was finalised after negotiations were held over the past several weeks and that it would resolve the issues that arose in 2020.
As the agreement was finalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping also endorsed it as they held a bilateral meeting on October 23 on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan in Russia.
The clash along the disputed border between Indian Ladakh and Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin four years ago resulted in the first known fatalities in over four decades – with at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers losing their lives.
Ever since the clash, India had not been able to patrol certain regions, which it had been patrolling before May 2020. However, with the disengagement now it would be able to do so soon.