New Delhi: India has started “verification patrolling” in Ladakh’s Depsang and Demchok, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Saturday (November 2).
“You are all aware that on October 21, 2024, the last phase of disengagement was agreed upon between India and China. As a result, verification patrolling has commenced on mutually agreed terms in Demchok and Depsang,” Jaiswal said at a press briefing.
The MEA’s statement came after patrolling reportedly began at Demchok on Friday (November 1), a day after Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh.
On October 31, Indian and Chinese troops also exchanged sweets to mark Diwali at several border points along the Line of Actual Control.
Earlier, on October 21, Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that India and China had reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements at areas along the border in eastern Ladakh that would lead to disengagement there.
After Chinese troops were found intruding into Indian territory in May 2020, clashes between the two sides followed, including a deadly hand-to-hand battle in June in the Galwan Valley.
Multiple rounds of diplomatic and military talks ensued and resulted in disengagement at about four friction points – the last of which occurred over two years ago – but Depsang and Demchok continued to have troops in close proximity to each other until October 30.
Last week, China said it “commend[ed] the progress” made by the two countries recently on “resolutions on issues concerning the border area”.
The deal, which marked a thaw in relations that were frozen since 2020, also paved the way for the first bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took place at the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.
The border deal followed back-to-back meetings between external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in July as well as two meetings within two months between the foreign office-led Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs.
