The Indian and Chinese armies Friday started coordinated patrolling of Demchok on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, defence sources said, adding patrolling in Depsang plains will also begin soon.
This followed the complete disengagement in both Demchok and Depsang. It is hence the disengagement of all the friction points of the standoff between the two armies that began in May 2020.
In various locations along the LAC, Indian and Chinese troops crossed paths on Thursday. After both sides completed a second phase of disengagement around Ladakh, border security personnel from both India and China on Wednesday exchanged Sweets to mark Diwali.
Defence Ministry sources said Indian and Chinese armies are exchanging sweets at several border points along LAC on Diwali. The process of disengagement between India and China along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh was completed yesterday with which the two armies are beginning verification of positions as well as dismantling each other's infrastructure, sources said.
The sources added that the dismantling of temporary structures in Depsang plains and Demchok is complete, and the verification process has taken place almost at all such places on the two sides. The verification was done physically as well as using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Troops on both sides have been withdrawn to be stationed at depth in the rear locations as part of the disengagement process.
It is to be done by small parties of troops numbering about 10 to 15 soldiers who will patrol places hitherto inaccessible since April 2020.
India and China had been locked in a military standoff along the LAC in eastern Ladakh following Chinese incursions over four and half years ago. Last week, four days after India announced that an agreement on patrolling in the Depsang Plains and Demchok had been reached with China, Beijing had affirmed the same, saying that "the Chinese and Indian frontier troops are engaged in relevant work, which is going smoothly at the moment."
Sources in the Army had said after the verification process was over, coordinated patrolling will start within two days. Both sides would give prior information so there is no danger of a face-off.
Indian troops would be able to patrol beyond the 'bottleneck' area in the Depsang plains now because Chinese had been blocking Indian troops from accessing patrolling points that lay beyond. Indian troops should be able to get to Track Junction and Charding Nullah at Demchok now.
Still, the large number of troops rushed to Ladakh during the stand-off in 2020 will continue to be stationed there till a broad consensus on the border-patrolling mechanism is found with the Chinese. "There are no plans to move back any troops from Ladakh in the near future till an atmosphere of mutual trust and verification is established," a defence source said.
A similar arrangement is being worked out in Arunachal Pradesh, where sources said a stand-off had developed in Yangtse, Asaphila, and Subansiri Valleys.
Read also| Indian and Chinese Troops Exchange Sweets at LAC Border Points on Diwali
