China on Monday said that the implementation of the agreement with India to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh is going on "smoothly at the moment" but declined to comment on the resumption of patrolling at the two friction points in Depsang and Demchok.
"The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolution that the two sides have reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going on smoothly at the moment," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing in Beijing while replying to a question.
She, however, declined to answer a specific question on the commencement of patrolling in the two areas by the Indian troops.
On Saturday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media in New Delhi that the Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh.
Patrolling at Demchok had begun on Friday, a day after the Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh.
On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Delhi that an agreement had been finalised between India and China following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.
The agreement was firmed up on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, a breakthrough to end the over four-year-long standoff.
The ties between the two Asian giants 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.
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