NEW DELHI: The defence ministry has said the “overall situation” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China is “stable but sensitive”, with the latest assessment coming in a year-end review published on Thursday, weeks after the Indian Army resumed its patrolling activity in Demchok and Demchok in eastern Ladakh after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.
This restored the ground situation in the two forward areas to what it was pre-April 2020 before the India-China military standoff began.
“Post prolonged negotiations at diplomatic and military levels, on October 21, 2024, broad consensus has been achieved to restore ground situation based on principles of equal and mutual security. Consensus achieved includes disengagement and relocation of troops from the friction areas of Depsang and Demchok followed by joint verification,” the ministry said in the review, which highlighted the major developments in the defence sector during the year.
‘Blocking positions’ (hindrances to patrols) have been removed by both sides and joint verification has been completed, it added. “Patrolling activity has commenced to traditional patrolling areas in Depsang and Demchok.”
The disengagement began on October 23, two days after India and China announced a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their stand-off in Depsang and Demchok, the last two flashpoints in Ladakh where the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were eyeball-to-eyeball since May 2020.
With this, the Indian Army and PLA moved past a two-year impasse in negotiations — the fourth and last round of disengagement from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area took place in September 2022 after which the talks were deadlocked.
Last week, India said it will work with China on steps to take forward the understanding reached by the Special Representatives of the two sides on cross-border cooperation and exchanges, including the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and border trade.
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This came after Special Representatives on the border issue — India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval and China’s foreign minister Wang Yi — met in Beijing on December 18 for their first formal talks in nearly five years, following the October 21 understanding reached by the two sides.
In November, defence minister Rajnath Singh held talks with his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun at Vientiane in Laos and emphasised the need for the two countries to work towards de-escalation of the conflict in the sensitive Ladakh theatre on the back of the latest disengagement of Indian and Chinese armies from Depsang and Demchok, adding that it would help build greater trust and confidence between the two sides.