As India celebrates Diwali, Indian and Chinese troops exchanged sweets at several border posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh to mark the festival of lights. The latest development comes after the two neighbouring countries undertook the disengagement process at the LAC in the union territory.
Briefing about the disengagement process, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said during an event in Arunachal Pradesh that it was near completion. Indian and Chinese armies exchanged sweets at several border points along the LAC on Diwali, news agency IANS reported, citing Defence Ministry sources.
The disengagement process between India and China on LAC in Eastern Ladakh was almost to be completed, after which the armies of the two nations have initiated verification of positions and dismantling of infrastructure by each other, the defence sources told IANS.
The sources further stated that the dismantling of temporary structures in Depsang Plains and Demchok is complete and the verification process is taking place almost at all such locations on the two sides.
The verification process was being done physically as well as using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Troops on both sides have been withdrawn to be stationed at depth in the rear locations as part of the disengagement process. The patrolling, which will be undertaken to points hitherto inaccessible since April 2020, will be done by small parties of troops numbering around 10 to 15 soldiers.
India and China have been locked in a military standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh following Chinese incursions over four and a half years ago.
Last week, four days after New Delhi made an announcement that an agreement on patrolling in the Depsang Plains and Demchok had been reached with China, Beijing affirmed the same, saying that “the Chinese and Indian frontier troops are engaged in relevant work, which is going smoothly at the moment.”
Following the completion of the verification process, the coordinated patrolling will begin within the next two days. Prior information will be given by both sides so that there is no danger of a face-off, IANS reported, citing army sources.
In the Depsang plains, Indian troops will now be able to patrol beyond the ‘bottleneck’ area, as the Chinese had been preventing Indian troops from accessing the patrolling points that lay beyond.
In Demchok, Indian troops should now be able to get to the patrolling points at Track Junction and Charding Nullah. However, the large number of Indian troops rushed to Ladakh after the standoff in 2020 will continue to remain in place till a wider consensus on the border patrolling mechanism is reached with the Chinese.
“There are no plans to move back any troops from Ladakh in the near future till an atmosphere of mutual trust and verification is established,” defence sources said. A similar arrangement is also being worked out in Arunachal Pradesh, where a standoff developed in Yangtse, Asaphila, and Subansiri Valleys had taken place, sources said.
