NEW DELHI, Oct 28: The disengagement process between the Indian and Chinese troops at Depsang and Demchok in Eastern Ladakh has entered the final stage and an official announcement on the acknowledgement of completing the process is expected anytime soon, the defence sources said on Monday.
Marking a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff, the completion of the disengagement process will be announced after troops from both sides cross-verify the removal of the army structure along the India-China border in Eastern Ladakh, the sources said.
Earlier this week, India announced it had reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, following which China also announced about the agreement in a major border breakthrough. Subsequently, the two countries began the troop disengagement process at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh.
The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
Both sides are expected to resume patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh before the end of the current month restoring the arrangement as it was in April 2020, before the border standoff began. The patrolling will be done by armed personnel and structures will be dismantled, including temporary sheds and tents, after the disengagement, the sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping endorsed the agreement on patrolling and disengagement along the LAC in eastern Ladakh during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia last week. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had on Sunday said the disengagement of troops at Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh was the first step, and it was expected that India would return to the 2020 patrolling status.
The next step is de-escalation, which will not happen until India is sure that the same is happening on the other side as well, the EAM said, referring to China. “It is obvious it will take time to implement the same. This is the issue of disengagement and patrolling which meant our armies had come very close to each other and now they have gone back to their bases. We hope the 2020 status is restored,” he said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
