Srinagar: The military disengagement process between India and China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was believed to be completed on Monday even though latest reports suggest that the process is still going on in Depsang plains and Demchok — two ‘friction points’ — in Eastern Ladakh, sources said.
The military disengagement agreement is valid only for Demchok and Depsang plains and not other places. “This agreement will not be applicable to other friction zones. Troops of both sides will fall back to positions they held pre-April 2020, and they will patrol areas where they patrolled till April 2020,” Defence sources said. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has said that the disengagement at two friction points at the Ladakh border is the first step and de-escalation of tensions is the next step.
EAM Jaishankar said it would take time to build trust and willingness between the two countries. He added that the situation at the border had been very disturbing and that had a very negative impact on the relationship between the two countries. The External Affairs Minister highlighted that the agreement involved addressing three major issues, the first and most pressing one being disengagement as the troops of both countries are very, very close to each other and the possibility of something happening is there. The second, he said, is de-escalation, and then the third larger issue of “how do you manage the border and, how do you negotiate the boundary settlement”.
A Defence Ministry statement earlier said that in a major step to improve the diplomatic relations between the two countries, India and China will complete the process of military disengagement on the LAC by October 28-29. “Patrolling along certain areas of the LAC will commence once the troops of both sides have completed disengagement and dismantled temporary structures. This is the first successful resolution to the dispute since the 2020–IANS sq/pgh