India, China reach agreement on patrolling in eastern Ladakh

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday said India and China have resolved the pending issues of patrolling and disengagement of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

The armies of the two sides are locked in stand off since April 2020.

There  have been  a few clashes, including the one at Galwan in June 2020, when Indian Army lost 20 soldiers and China lost a unspecified number of soldiers.

Misri, addressing the media ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, said over the last several weeks Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other in a variety of forums.

Misri said: “As a result of these discussions agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border areas leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” adding, “We will be taking the next steps on this.”

Answering another question Misri said: “We have reached an agreement…..and this will eventually (lead to a) resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.”

Though Misri did not specify the contentious points resolved, sources the agreement pertains to patrolling in Depsang and Demchok areas.

Misri said: “Discussions had in the past resulted in the resolution of standoffs at various locations.”

“At a few areas and few locations where the standoff had not been resolved. Now as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks and agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the LAC,” the Foreign Secretary added.

On a possible bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi  and President of China Xi Jingping, Misri said the BRICS was a multilateral,  of course there is always a provision for bilateral meetings on the sidelines “we are currently looking into the overall programme of the PM”.