Demchok, Depsang troop disengagement in final stages

Troop disengagement at two friction points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh following a key agreement firmed up between India and China is in the "final stages", official sources said on Tuesday.

On October 25, Army sources said the process is likely to get completed by October 28-29.

The agreement framework was "signed" first at the diplomatic level and then military-level talks took place, the Army sources had said, adding the nitty-gritty of the agreement was worked in the Corps Commander-level talks, which was 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 disengagement at the two friction points is in its "final stages", an official source said on Tuesday.

Sources last week said the agreement was arrived at only for these two friction points, and "talks were still underway" for other areas.

The sources have said that patrolling will begin at these points once the disengagement that began last week is completed and both sides will move their respective troops and dismantle temporary structures.

Eventually, they added, the areas and patrolling status are expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.

The patrolling will be done by armed personnel and structures to be dismantled including temporary sheds and tents, a source said.

The process follows the agreement firmed up between the two countries on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh, a major 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.

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 had said in Delhi that the agreement was finalised following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.

On October 23, 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 Kazan in Russia.