Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The eyeball-to-eyeball military deployment by the Chinese and Indian Armies in East Ladakh, since mid-2020, was reported relaxed on Wednesday with the competition of disengagement, which may lead to a de-escalation, the media reported on Wednesday.
The bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia, firmed up the disengagement process.
The disengagement process, as per the Indian Army’s announcement on October 25, was completed on Tuesday. Delighted, the Indian soldiers exchanged sweets between themselves ahead of the Deepawali to celebrate the occasion.
Troop disengagement at two friction points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in Eastern Ladakh following a key agreement firmed up between India and China was completed and patrolling will commence soon at these points, reports quoting the Indian Army said on Wednesday.
The exchange of sweets between the two sides will take place on Thursday, to celebrate the Deepawali festival.
The official verification post-disengagement is in progress and patrolling modalities are to be decided between ground commanders. Talks will continue at the local commander level.
The agreement framework was signed first at the diplomatic level and then military-level talks took place, and the nitty-gritty of the agreement was worked out during the Corps Commander-level talks which were signed last week.
Adhering to agreements between the two sides, Indian troops then began to pull back equipment to rear locations in these areas.
The process follows the agreement firmed up between the two countries on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, a breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.
The ties between the two Asian giants had nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
The areas and patrolling status are expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.