New Delhi:

India and China have implemented a pact sealed last month on patrolling in Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh as per agreed modalities and timelines, the government said on Friday.

The two sides reached the agreement on disengagement and patrolling in the last two friction points on October 21.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said in Lok Sabha that the terms of the disengagement agreements reached prior to the latest pact continued to hold in relevant areas in eastern Ladakh.

“India and China reached agreement on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in India-China border areas in Depsang and Demchok on October 21 leading to disengagement,” he said.

“It has been agreed therein that patrolling activities and, wherever applicable, grazing will resume as per longstanding practice before friction started in these areas,” he said.

“The agreement has since been effected and implemented as per modalities and timelines agreed,” Mr Singh added. The minister was replying to a question.

“The terms of the disengagement agreements reached prior to October 21 continue to hold in relevant areas in eastern Ladakh. The terms of the agreements apply mutually to both sides and are without prejudice to India’s positions on LAC or boundary lines,” he said.

Mr Singh said the government continues to keep a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security and takes all the necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Indian and Chinese militaries are carrying out one round of patrolling each in Depsang and Demchok, people familiar with the matter said.

At the same time, they said the two sides have maintained their deployment of troops along the LAC and the focus now will be on de-escalation of the overall situation.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the region.

After India and China reached the agreement last month, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi said the Indian military is trying to restore “trust” and both sides will have to “reassure each other” to achieve this objective.

Two days after the pact was sealed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in the Russian city of Kazan.

The two leaders endorsed the agreement on patrolling and disengagement and issued directions to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms, signalling attempts to normalise ties.

In the nearly 50-minute meeting held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, PM Modi underscored the importance of properly handling differences and disputes and not allowing them to disturb peace and tranquility in border areas.

The Prime Minister said mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should remain the basis of the relations. India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake area. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi reviewed progress in the disengagement of troops in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh in a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

It was the first high-level engagement between the two sides after completion of the disengagement process in the two friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the mountainous region.

After his talks with Mr. Wang, Mr. Jaishankar said that both sides also exchanged views on the next steps in the India-China bilateral ties.

“On the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio, met CPC Politburo member and FM Wang Yi of China,” the external affairs minister posted on X late on Monday.

“We noted the progress in the recent disengagement in the India-China border areas. And exchanged views on the next steps in our bilateral ties. Also discussed the global situation,” he said.

Brazil is hosting the G20 Summit on Monday and Tuesday.

Indian and Chinese militaries completed the disengagement exercise in Demchok and Depsang last month after the two sides reached an agreement to resolve the festering border row.

The two sides also resumed patrolling activities in the two areas after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.
 

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Dismissing reports that military talks between India and China on the modalities of patrols have reached a deadlock in eastern Ladakh’s Depsang, the Indian Army has said no roadblocks or objections have been faced and termed the articles “speculative and bereft of facts”. 

In a post on X on Thursday, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information of the Army said some reports on Wednesday and Thursday had speculated about roadblocks in the disengagement process in Depsang and Demchok after an agreement between India and China last month.

“It is unambiguously stated that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok has been completed and implementation of consensus, as agreed to, is being undertaken in a planned manner that includes resumption of patrolling to traditional patrolling areas. There are no roadblocks/objections from either side that have been faced in this process,” the Army said.

Certain Media Articles on 06-07 November 2024 have speculated about roadblocks/objections in the disengagement process consequent to the consensus between the Indian and Chinese sides on 21 October 24. It is unambiguously stated that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok has… pic.twitter.com/SHxT8Mvmf2

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) November 7, 2024

It also cautioned the concerned media houses to authenticate facts on sensitive issues to ensure no misleading information is published,

“The articles published in this regard are speculative and bereft of facts. The concerned media houses are requested to verify and authenticate facts before publishing such sensitive articles and exercise due editorial discretion so that no unsubstantiated or misleading information is propagated,” the post said. 

On October 21, India had announced that a patrolling agreement had been reached for the two contentious areas of Depsang and Demchok and the troops would return to the positions that existed before the stand-off between the two countries began in 2020. The disengagement process included the dismantling of structures and the restoration of the land on which they stood to their original condition. 

“We reached an agreement on patrolling, and we have gone back to the 2020 position. With that, we can say the disengagement with China has been completed… There are areas which, for various reasons after 2020, they blocked us, we blocked them. We have now reached an understanding which will allow patrolling as we had been doing till 2020,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said. 

The disengagement process was completed last month and the Army and the government had said last week that patrolling has begun in both Depsang and Demchok. 

The BRICS summit in Russia set the stage for an ice breaker between PM Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping.

The MEA announced: “An agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border areas, leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.”

Why was this meeting important?

This was their first since 2019, when they had held a 2 day retreat in Mamallapuram and then in Brasilia at the BRICS Summit there.

Prior to the 2020 standoff that followed China’s transgressions at the LAC and India’s counter mobilisation, Modi and and Xi had met 18 times in 5 years- so the fact that they hadn’t met formally in the past 5 years is significant.

During the standoff they spoke twice, informally on the side-lines of summits in Indonesia and South Africa.

India has consistently held that “normal” ties including summit meetings can only begin once the LAC standoff is resolved.

At the end of their meeting here’s what India and China have announced:

Patrolling will restart in the last two friction points of Depsang and Demchok (Maps), back to 2020 levels

Disengagement at the other 5 friction points had taken place already:
1. Galwan Valley June 2020.

2. Pangong Tso February 2021- Disengagement- with buffer zone created

3, Kailash Ridge heights February 2021- Indian troops climbed down

4. Gogra Post August 2021: PP 17A-Disengagement- with buffer zone

5. Hot Springs September 2022: PP 15- Disengagement- with buffer zone

They agreed that this ends the disengagement process and they would now work on the next steps of de-escalation (thinning of troops) and de-induction (pulling back) to peace-time levels

Xi and Modi directed the Special Representatives NSA Doval and Wang Yi, who is also a senior politburo member of the CCP to meet and discuss the broader boundary dispute at an “early date”

They directed Foreign Ministers Jaishankar and Wang Yi to meet soon to discuss restarting other mechanisms of dialogue, and to “rebuild ties”

The next steps towards normalisation of ties- will also be taken up by the two sides.

What are those steps, that have been slowed or suspended in the past 4 years?

Travel links- direct flights were suspended due to Covid but never resumed due to the border

Visas- slowdown in issuance of visas for businesspersons, students, etc

Tourism has been virtually suspended between the two countries

Journalists have been sent back from Delhi and Beijing, with only one Indian agency remaining in China

Investment restrictions and special scrutiny of any Chinese investment above 25%

Is peace breaking out between the world’s two most populous nations? There are still some unanswered questions-

1. What steps or CBMs will the two armies take to ensure the disengagement is permanent? For India the terrain and infrastructure means it would take longer to re-induct troops if needed in the future

2. Will buffer zones, that were created in order to stabilize the border situation be dismantled or maintained? And if the buffer zones remain, how can the government claim they have restored pre-2020 levels?

3. How would India ensure there isn’t a repeat of the Doklam disengagement, where after an agreement to disengage from the friction point, the PLA doubled down on infrastructure on the Doklam plateau, turning grasslands into settled villages, bunkers and helicopter bases

4. Does India have clarity on what could have prompted the Chinese PLA’s aggressive actions in April 2020 ? If not, how can India be sure these will not create a new situation in the future?

The détente rushed to deadline for the BRICS summit certainly proved that groupings like the BRICS are an important forum as they provide the venue for bilateral resolutions- what were some of the other important takeaways from the Summit in Kazan:

With 10 BRICS leaders, 13 countries joining as BRICS Partners and about 40 others attending the outreach with the global south, the Summit proved that Russia and Mr. Putin are not isolated

134 Para joint statement that included a strong criticism of Israel’s military offensive on Gaza and civilian casualties, while separate national positions on Russia’s war in Ukraine

BRICS focussed on economic integration, including use of BRICS nation currencies, BRICS Bank NDB, BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism (ICM), BRICS Grain Exchange, BRICS Cross-Border Payment System and BRICS Insurance Company

A push for Reform of Financial architecture like IMF and World Bank and global governance of UN and Security Council
Bilateral opportunities including the introduction of Iran’s new President Pezeshkian amidst the west Asian crisis, and India-China talks.

Worldview Take: 

The announcement that a resolution to the India-China military standoff since 2020 is in sight, is no doubt a positive development and a win for diplomats negotiating the outcome. What’s important from this point on is to see some transparency in the implementation of that resolution, and complete vigilance and verification of actions on the ground. India has been burnt in the past before- trust between two countries is the only guarantor of successful bilateral relations between them.

Reading Recommendations:

 
1.Understanding The India-China Border: The Enduring Threat of War in the High Himalayas by Manoj Joshi

 
2. India and China at Odds in the Asian Century: A Diplomatic and Strategic History by Vappala Balachandran

 
3. Contested Lands: India, China and the Boundary Dispute by Maroof Raza

 
4. INDIA-CHINA BOUNDARY PROBLEM, 1846-1947 by A.G. Noorani

 
5.The Fractured Himalaya: India Tibet China 1949-62 by Nirupama Rao

 
6.The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate: How the Chinese Negotiate with India by Vijay Gokhale

Presentation and production: Suhasini Haidar

Editing: Shibu Narayan and Sabika Syed

New Delhi:

Noting that China and India are the two biggest developing countries in the world and both have the responsibility of improving the livelihood of people, China’s Ambassador to India Xu Feihong said on Thursday that President Xi Jinping and PM Modi have reached many important consensus which means that the two countries are not competitors but co-operators and are development partners, not threats.

“China and India are the two biggest and developing countries in the world. Both of us have the important responsibilities of developing the economy and improving the livelihood of people. China is determined to build itself into a great modern socialist country by the middle of this century and India has a vision of Vikasit Bharat by 2047… For a long time, China and India had a very close cooperation – in 1950s, China and India put forth the five principles of peaceful coexistence, which have become basic norms of international relations and also fundamental principles of international law, which have made historical contributions for greater cause of human progress,” Xu Feihong told reporters.

“In the new era, President Xi Jinping and PM Modi have reached many important consensus – that means China and India are not competitors but cooperators. We are developmental partners, not threats. This consensus provides guidelines for our bilateral relations… We have enough wisdom and capabilities for the right path and to get along with each other,” he added.

Earlier, speaking at an event here, the Chinese Ambassador said that India is implementing initiatives such as “Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India)” and “Make in India” and is committed to becoming a global manufacturing hub.

“China is advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts and promoting high-standard opening up, which will provide new cooperation opportunities to all countries including India. We are willing to strengthen exchanges of modernization experience with India, jointly make the cake of cooperation bigger, and better benefit the two countries and two peoples. The economic and trade structures of China and India are highly complementary. We welcome more Indian commodities to enter the Chinese market, and more Indian enterprises to invest in China. It is hoped that the Indian side could provide a sound business environment for the Chinese enterprises in India. The foundation of China-India people-to-people friendship is profound,” he said.

The Chinese envoy said that since 1990s, India has actively promoted economic and social reforms.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government put forward the policy of ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’, and India’s economy maintains rapid development and people’s living standards improve continuously. I would congratulate on the achievements India has made through reforms. Only China and India can understand how many efforts should be made to promote reform in a country with a population of 1.4 billion. We are willing to enhance experience-sharing on reforms with the Indian side, synergize our development strategies, learn from each other’s strengths and make progress together,” he said.

Xu Feihong said that at the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, President Xi Jinping reiterated that China’s resolve to stay on the path of peaceful development will not change.

“The leaders of China and India reached important consensuses such as ‘China and India are partners rather than rivals, and are not threats to each other but opportunities for each other’s development’. They not only point out the direction for the development of bilateral relations but also provide important guidelines for the two countries to promote modernization,” he said.

The Chinese envoy said that at present, China-India relations are at a crucial stage of improvement and development.

“Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar twice in the past two months and met with Indian National Security Advisor Mr Ajit Doval a few days ago. They had in-depth communication and reached an important consensus on the improvement of bilateral relations,” he said.

India and China held the 31st meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) on August 29 in Beijing.

The two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues and they agreed for intensified contact through diplomatic and military channels.

The two sides decided to jointly uphold peace and tranquillity on the ground in border areas in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols and understandings reached between the two Governments.

It was reiterated that restoration of peace and tranquility, and respect for LAC are the essential basis for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations.

During an interaction in Geneva recently, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that 75 per cent of disengagement problems with Beijing had been sorted out and the two nations “still have some things to do.”

Jaishankar also underlined how India and China never had an easy relationship in the past.

“We did not have an easy relationship in the past. What happened in 2020 was in violation of multiple agreements, the Chinese moved a large number of troops to the Line of Actual Control. We, in response, moved our troops up.. Some progress on border talks with China. 75 per cent of disengagement problems are sorted out. We still have some things to do,” Jaishankar said during his conversation with Ambassador Jean-David Levitte at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi at the SCO Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.
| Photo Credit: X/@DrSJaishankar

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held talks on July 4 in Astana amid the dragging border row in eastern Ladakh.

The two foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

It is understood that the focus of the deliberations was on the border row.

New Delhi has been maintaining that peace and tranquillity in the border areas is a prerequisite for normal ties between the two countries.