India has announced that it has reached an agreement with China regarding patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, in eastern Ladakh.

This is seen as a major breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff between the two countries.

It also paves way for a likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this week.

Following the agreement, Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling as they did before the border standoff began in 2020.

This agreement will also facilitate Indian troops’ patrolling in Depsang and Demchok, up to the old patrolling points.

The tensions between the two Asian giants escalated following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, marking the most critical military conflict between India and China in decades.

Since then, both sides have disengaged from several friction points through a series of military and diplomatic talks over the past few years.

However, these discussions ultimately reached a deadlock in resolving the situation along the Line of Actual Control.

According to reports, the People’s Liberation Army of China had intruded into territories patrolled by India.

According to experts, the patrolling agreement not only lays the groundwork for strengthening relations between India and China but also encourages constructive discussions between the two nations ahead of the BRICS Summit in Kazan.