Indian Army to return to 2020 LAC patrolling: Jaishankar on Indo-China pact

Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri revealed India and China had reached agreement on patrolling arrangements along LAC in eastern Ladakh, which could lead to disengagement

Indian and Chinese soldiers will return to patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the same manner as before the border tensions erupted in May 2020, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced on Monday at the NDTV World Summit. 

Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had revealed that New Delhi and Beijing had reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements at the remaining friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, which could lead to disengagement and marks a significant step forward in resolving the ongoing border dispute. The breakthrough follows weeks of negotiations between both sides. 

 

The breakthrough comes just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Russia, where he is set to attend the BRICS Summit on Tuesday. 

Stating that both sides have reached an agreement on patrolling and India is back to the position it held in 2020, Jaishankar said, "What Foreign Secretary has said is what I can also say, that we reached an agreement on patrolling and with that we have gone back to where the situation was in 2020. We can say that the disengagement process with China has been completed." 

Explaining that there were areas where, after 2020, both sides had blocked each other, Jaishankar said, "I think the understanding to my knowledge is that we will be able to do the patrolling which we were doing in 2020." 

The External Affairs Minister described this LAC agreement as a positive outcome of "patient and persistent diplomacy." 

Speaking to NDTV, Jaishankar said that at various points of time, New Delhi almost gave up on a diplomatic solution. However, he added that while India always maintained that it "obviously had to do counter deployment", New Delhi was also "negotiating since September 2020".  

"It has been a very patient process, though more complicated than how it should have been," added Jaishankar. 

Explaining that the key point of the agreement is that it creates a foundation for restoring peace and tranquillity along the border, as existed before 2020, Jaishankar added that the standoff has been a major concern because, without peace at the border, other areas of bilateral relations would not improve. 

Addressing the possibility that some might speculate on how this development affects other aspects of the India-China relationship, Jaishankar cautioned against drawing quick conclusions about its impact on trade ties. 

Referring to trade, Jaishankar said that the LAC breakthrough has "just happened", and so, he "would not go so fast at the moment".  

So far, certain friction points along the LAC have remained unresolved, despite the withdrawal of Indian and Chinese forces from Gogra-Hot Springs in Ladakh in September 2022. While Chinese troops have reportedly returned to their pre-2020 positions in that area, they are still believed to control significant sections of Indian territory in the Depsang plains to the north.  

On Monday, announcing that an agreement had been reached with China on patrolling arrangements at the remaining friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, Foreign Secretary Misri also indicated that the agreement could lead to disengagement and the eventual resolution of the issues that have persisted since 2020.  

According to news agency PTI, the agreement covers patrolling in the Depsang and Demchok areas.  

Misri, who was addressing a special media briefing ahead of PM Modi's visit to Russia for the BRICS Summit, said, "... As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, and this is leading to disengagement, and eventually, a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020." 

Indian and Chinese forces have been engaged in a standoff since May 2020, and while some friction points have seen disengagement, a full resolution to the border dispute has yet to be reached. 

Tensions between the two nations escalated significantly after the violent clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, marking the most severe military conflict between the two sides in decades.