Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday expressed India’s desire to return to the April 2020 status quo with China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This is the Army Chief’s first statement regarding the India-China border patrolling agreement. After extensive talks, India and China have reached a consensus to return to the pre-Galwan clash patrolling arrangement along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, which was in effect before 2020. His comments come a day after Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Mistry announced on Monday (October 21) that both sides have agreed to arrangements for patrolling in areas along the LAC. These areas include Depsang Plains and Demchok, which are flashpoints that have not been resolved.
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The agreement covers Depsang and Demchok areas. “We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. After this we want to achieve disengagement of the LAC, de-escalation and “We will consider general management… this has been our stance since April 2020.” He said, “At the moment we are trying to restore trust. This will happen only when we will be able to see each other and we will be able to explain and assure each other that we will not intrude into the buffer zone that has been created.” Are.”
In a significant step towards normalizing bilateral ties, the government on Monday announced that the contentious disengagement process in eastern Ladakh has been completed, ending the 54-month-long military standoff in the region. The announcement was made a few days ahead of the proposed bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping in Russia. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the two sides have reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the border areas, resolving disengagement and issues that arose in 2020.
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Although Misri did not give further details, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed that with this “positive” agreement, both sides have returned to the position that existed in 2020 and the disengagement process has ended. The minister also said Indian troops would once again be able to conduct patrols as they did before the standoff began in 2020. The development follows a series of meetings between India and China since July this year, paving the way for a formal bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan.
