NEW DELHI, Nov 1: The Indian and Chinese armies have started coordinated patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Demchok, while patrolling in Depsang is expected to commence in a day or so, sources confirmed on Friday.
The patrolling by the armies of the two sides come after process of disengagement was completed on Wednesday at the two final friction points in Eastern Ladakh from the 2020 standoff between the two countries. The resumption of patrolling is a significant step in returning to the status quo of pre-April 2020.
Officials from both sides verified the completion of disengagement on the ground in both the areas, Army sources said. Ground commanders, at the rank of Brigadier and below, held meetings on Wednesday to work out the modalities for patrolling. In order to avoid face-offs between patrols and prevent clashes, the timing and frequency of patrols will be coordinated.
However, given that there has been a standoff going on at Demchok since 2017 and that the latest agreement is only to restore the ground situation to the pre-April 2020 situation, it is not clear up to what point the Indian Army will get to patrol in the Demchok area.
At Depsang, which the situation is much more complex, patrolling is expected to resume over the weekend. At least technically, this means that Indian Army should be able to resume patrols up to the Patrolling Points 10, 11, 11A, 12, and 13 in the area, which it last managed to access in January 2020.
With disengagement now completed at all the friction points of the standoff that began in May 2020, the next step is to work out new patrolling norms along the LAC and resume patrolling at other friction points as well – such as Galwan, Patrolling Point 15 and 17A in the Gogra Hotsprings area, and the north and south banks of the Pangong Tso – where buffer zones are currently in place.
(Manas Dasgupta)