External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Saturday (October 26) said that while India and China have reached a significant agreement on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), underlying issues remain unresolved.
The disengagement along the LAC represents an important step forward, he added, crediting both the Indian military and diplomatic efforts for the breakthrough.
“The latest step (of disengagement) was the October 21 understanding that patrolling will take place in Depsang and Demchok. This will allow us now to look at the next step,” Jaishankar said at an event in Pune. “It is not like everything has been resolved, but we have managed to reach that level.”
The agreement, announced earlier this week, has enabled both sides to begin troop withdrawals from key friction points in eastern Ladakh, including the Depsang Plains and Demchok. The process, which follows over four years of military standoff, is expected to be completed by the end of October.
Responding to questions from students at a separate event, Jaishankar said the normalisation of relations with China is still premature and will require time to rebuild mutual trust. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia for the Brics summit, Jaishankar noted, they agreed that foreign ministers and National Security Advisors from both nations would hold discussions on further steps.
“If today we have reached where we have…One is because of the very determined effort on our part to stand our ground and make our point,” Jaishankar said, commending the Indian military for operating in “very, very unimaginable” conditions at the LAC. He added that India’s border infrastructure has been vastly improved over the last decade, with five times more resources allocated annually compared to a decade ago.
The breakthrough on patrolling, Jaishankar explained, was critical due to the proximity of troops on both sides, which posed a risk of escalation. The solution encompasses several steps, with disengagement being the immediate priority to reduce tension between the two sides. Jaishankar noted that while both nations had come to understandings at certain points since 2020 on troop withdrawal, patrolling blockages had persisted.
“What happened on October 21 was that, in Depsang and Demchok, we reached an understanding that patrolling would resume as it was before,” Jaishankar said. Following this agreement, both sides began the process of troop disengagement, expected to conclude by October 28-29.
Jaishankar’s remarks come as the Indian government continues negotiations with China to ease tensions along the LAC, an area that has seen significant disturbances since 2020, adversely affecting diplomatic relations.
With inputs from PTI
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India-China agreement on LAC not the end of all issues, Jaishankar says
