Building on the breakthrough in border talks to end the four-year stalemate in bilateral relations, India and China have begun mutual disengagement at two friction points at Depsang Plains and Demchok to return to the pre-Galwan face-off positions of April 2020 along the “agreed perceived” Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

The agreement on disengagements pertains only to the two friction points of Depsang Plains and Demchok and does not resolve the issue of “buffer zones or no-patrolling zones” created after the mutually-agreed disengagements at previous five patrolling points (PPs), including in Hot Springs, Gogra Post, Galwan Valley and Pangon Tso.

The latest agreement took place at two levels: first, among the diplomats of India and China and then on Monday, when the “nitty gritty of disengagement and patrolling” were recorded at the Corps Commander Level Meeting, said Indian Army sources.

Doors open to resolve other issues

Discussions are on at various levels between the two countries to take up other unresolved contentious LAC issues – from Arunachal Pradesh, where armies of the two countries had clashed in Tawang Sector on December 9, 2022, to Eastern Ladakh.

The process of disengagement on both sides, which involves removing temporary structures like tents and tin sheds, recalling troops, and removing weapons and vehicles to pre-April 2020 positions, began from Wednesday and is scheduled to be completed by October 28 or 29, said Army sources.

The disengagement will lead to the resumption of patrolling by troops of both side in Depsang Plains and Demchok to cover commonly-identified patrolling points and areas the two were visiting till April 2020, noted Army sources.

As a confidence-building measure, both sides have mutually agreed to have regular communication for coordination of patrolling routines to avoid misunderstanding.

While there are five mutually-established PPs, from PP10 to PP13, which are spread across Depsang Plains, Demochok is manned by the two countries through 52 to 53 PPs.

Trust building

Patrolling will resume as it was happening before with full military norms, which includes armed personnel. The de-induction, however, will take time to overcome the trust deficit which has creeped into the relationship post Galwan stand-off.

After the breakthrough in border talks, announced by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had flagged the importance of graded response essential to first restoring trust with the Chinese counterpart in border management.

Each side will continue to have surveillance of the Depsang and Demchok areas to ensure that the status-quo achieved is not being disturbed by patrolling or otherwise “to avoid any miscommunication,” pointed out Army sources.

On the sidelines of the just concluded BRIC Summit in Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping had confirmed the patrolling agreement and called for “complete (military) disengagement” along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

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