Indian and Chinese troops have begun to disengage from a disputed Himalayan border area after 16 rounds of military talks to resolve friction stemming from deadly clashes in 2020.
The Indian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that both sides have agreed to withdraw troops from the Gogra-Hotsprings area of eastern Ladakh in “a coordinated and planned way.”
The announcement was made ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) annual summit in Uzbekistan next week, which will be attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the commanders from both sides have been in regular contact after reaching a consensus in July to disengage troops and cease forward deployments in the area.
The withdrawal process will be complete by Sept. 12. Bagchi said the line of actual control (LAC) in the area will be “strictly observed” and respected by both sides to prevent any unilateral changes to the status quo.
“It has been agreed that all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides will be dismantled and mutually verified. The landforms in the area will be restored to the pre-stand-off period by both sides,” he said.
Bagchi said the two countries also agreed to resolve the remaining issues along the LAC following clashes in the Galwan region of the Himalayas in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.
The 2020 conflict led to a heavy military build-up from both sides on the disputed border and strained relations.
Indian and Chinese troops have begun disengaging from the Gogra-Hotsprings border area in the western Himalayas, both sides said, two years after clashes at the frontier strained diplomatic ties.
The disengagement comes ahead of a meeting in Uzbekistan next week that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to attend.
Both sides said disengagement was taking place in a coordinated and “planned” way that would help to keep peace on the border.
“The forces have disengaged. They have not been de-inducted.”
“This is the first step towards a calmer LAC,” the source said, declining to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
“This is conducive to maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas,” the ministry said.
India and China share an undemarcated 3,800 km-long (2,360 mile-long) border, where their troops previously adhered to long-standing protocols to avoid the use of any firearms.
At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting, leading to a sharp escalation in tension between the nuclear-armed Asian giants.
India moved some 50,000 troops along contested areas in Ladakh to match Chinese deployments, some of them at altitudes of more than 15,000 feet (4,572 m), where scarce oxygen and freezing temperatures can be life-threatening.
Chinese troops dismantled dozens of structures and moved vehicles to empty out entire camps from the banks of the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh in February 2021, as part of an agreement to pull back their soldiers, some of whom were deployed in close proximity to each other.
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