New Delhi: India and China have resolved the final friction points of their military stand-off, ongoing since 2020, with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar informing the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (December 3) that the “resumption of patrolling” in traditional areas at Demchok and Depsang is underway, setting ties “in the direction of some improvement.”
The foreign minister stated that the disengagement measures at four friction points were implemented to prevent further friction, describing them as “temporary” and open to being “revisited,” though he did not specify the conditions for such a review.
Jaishankar’s statement was made in the Lok Sabha following an understanding between the opposition and the government that enabled the parliament to proceed after more than a week of disruption.
“As a result of this recent understanding arrived at after intensive negotiations, resumption of patrolling to the traditional areas is underway. It was initially tested by sending out patrols for verification of disengagement on the ground and is being followed up by regular activities as per the agreed understanding,” he said, adding that grazing by local shepherds have also resumed.
On October 21, India announced that a “patrolling agreement” had been finalised between the two neighbours. Two days later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first formal talks in five years in Kazan, Russia, on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Since then, the foreign and defence ministries have held separate engagements to further the process of normalising ties. “Recent developments that reflect our continuous diplomatic engagement since then have set our ties in the direction of some improvement,” Jaishankar stated.
The minister reiterated that the stand-off began due to “amassing of a large number of troops by China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh in April/May 2020.” Being careful not to claim that China crossed the LAC, echoing Modi’s remarks, he noted that “the situation also led to disruption of patrolling activities.”
In June 2020, a series of face-offs culminated in a hand-to-hand fight that claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers at Galwan valley – the first fatalities at the LAC in 45 years.
Also read: Patrolling Agreement with China Implemented: MEA tells Lok Sabha
In his address, Jaishankar noted that the border stand-off had “negatively affected” ties. He emphasised that “the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in border areas is a pre-requisite for the development of our ties” and highlighted that upcoming discussions would focus on both de-escalation and the effective management of border activities.
Jaishankar added that the “conclusion of the disengagement phase” now paves the way to explore other areas of bilateral engagement in a “calibrated manner.”
“In my recent meeting with FM Wang Yi, we reached an understanding that the Special Representatives and the Foreign Secretary level mechanisms will be convening soon,” Jaishankar added. The Special Representatives, he explained, would “oversee the management of peace and tranquility besides exploring a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the boundary question.”
Jaishankar recounted that the India-China border had a long history of “frictions, transgressions and face offs” starting from Barahoti in 1954 to Depsang in 2013, before the current stand-off.
“In the past, earlier Governments have agreed to a range of steps to defuse situations that have arisen at different times, including offers on our side to create de-militarized zones, limited non-patrolling zones, relocation or withdrawal of posts, disengagement of troops and dismantlement of structures. Different locations have seen different solutions being examined,” he said.
The minister may have been responding to criticism over the creation of buffer zones to resolve the four friction points, when he stated, “In a few other places where friction occurred in 2020, steps of a temporary and limited nature were worked out, based on local conditions, to obviate the possibility of further friction.”
Between February 2021 and September 2022, India and China saw disengagement at the North and South Banks of the Pangong Lake in Gogra and the Hot Springs area. These steps were described as “forward deployments ceased in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, resulting in the return of troops to their respective areas.”
Jaishankar reiterated that these disengagement measures applied “to both sides and can be revisited as the situation demands,” emphasising that, “In that sense, our stance has been resolute and firm and serves our national interest fully.” However, he did not specify the conditions under which these positions would be reviewed.
Since the disengagement in 2022, Jaishankar said that “twin considerations of an unstable local situation and an impacted bilateral relationship were clearly the drivers” for the various levels of talks.
The roadblocks in the two remaining areas were over obstruction to “long-standing patrolling activity” and access for local nomadic population to traditional grazing grounds.
“With the task of disengagement completed, it is now our expectation that discussions would commence in regard to the remaining issues that we had placed on the agenda,” he said.
