New Delhi: After months of tense negotiations and standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India and China have reached a breakthrough agreement on patrolling arrangements, paving the way for potential disengagement and easing simmering tensions.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the agreement, stating “We have reached an agreement with China on the issues being discussed,” adding that this development is expected to lead to eventual disengagement along the border.
The agreement, reached following weeks of intense discussions between Indian and Chinese officials, reportedly concerns patrolling arrangements in the strategically crucial Depsang and Demchok areas.
“As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patroling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” Misri said.
This breakthrough comes just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to travel to Kazan, Russia, for the BRICS Summit, fueling speculation that he may hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event. The exact details of the agreement have not been made public.
The two countries have been locked in a border standoff since a deadly clash in 2020 along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers.
