India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement at Pangong Tso in Ladakh, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Thursday in parliament, giving details of a breakthrough after a protracted stand-off and several rounds of talks between military commanders and diplomats.
‘Our sustained talks with China have led to agreement on disengagement on the north and south banks of Pangong Lake. After this agreement, India-China will remove forward deployments in a phased, coordinated manner,’ the Defence Minister said in his statement in the Rajya Sabha.
‘I want to assure this House that in these talks we have not conceded anything,’ he asserted. ‘The agreement that we have been able to reach with the Chinese side for disengagement in the Pangong lake area envisages that both sides will cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner.’
Singh said the Chinese would keep their troop presence in the North Bank area to east of Finger 8 and the Indian troops would be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3, according to (NDTV).
Similar action would be taken in the South Bank by both sides.
‘These are mutual and reciprocal steps and any structures that had been built by both sides since April 2020 in both North and South Bank area will be removed and the landforms will be restored,’ he said.
The minister said both sides had also agreed to a moratorium on military activities in the North Bank, including patrolling, in traditional areas. Patrolling would be resumed when both sides reached an agreement in diplomatic and military talks.
The disengagement started yesterday in the North and South Bank of the Pangong Lake and would ‘substantially restore’ the situation to that before the standoff began last year, the minister said.
Singh said there were still some outstanding issues on deployment and patrolling at some other points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and these would be the focus of further discussions. (QNA)
