China on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.
The confirmation from Beijing comes a day after the Indian government announced that an agreement with China had been reached on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
The breakthrough is likely to end a four-year-old military standoff. It comes when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are in Russia for the 16th Brics Summit, fuelling speculation that they may hold bilateral talks.
In a media briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the two sides have reached a resolution on the “relevant matters” and China will work with India to implement these resolutions.
“Over a recent period, China and India have been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border,” Lin Jian said.
“Now the two sides have reached a resolution on the relevant matters which China speaks highly of,” he said, adding, “Going forward China will work with India to implement these resolutions.”
Lin Jian, however, declined to provide details.
On Monday, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “We have reached an agreement with China on the issues being discussed.”
He went on to say that this development is expected to lead to eventual disengagement at the border.
“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 area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” Misri said.
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India, China reach agreement on eastern Ladakh military stand-off: Foreign Secretary Misri
The foreign secretary also mentioned that the Indian and Chinese negotiators have been in contact over the past few weeks to resolve the remaining issues along the border. The agreement reportedly concerns patrolling arrangements in the Depsang and Demchok areas.
Later on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar confirmed Misri’s announcement and said India and China have gone back to the situation that existed on the LAC in 2020, and the disengagement process with China “has been completed”.
“What the Foreign Secretary has said, I can also say… We have reached an agreement We can say that disengagements with China has been completed,” Jaishankar said during an event organised by NDTV.
The EAM further said that Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border stand-off began in May 2020.
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Jaishankar confirms what Misri said: ‘Disengagements with China have been completed’
India-China stand-off in eastern Ladakh began in early 2020 when Chinese soldiers crossed over and attacked Indian personnel along the LAC.
The incursions, and the Galwan clashes in June 2020 in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, plunged the bilateral relationship to its lowest since 1962 when the two nations fought a war.
While India termed peace and tranquility at the border as the basis of the broader bilateral relationship, China has insisted that the bilateral relationship should not be affected by the border tensions.
With inputs from agencies.
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On Ladakh stand-off, China confirms India’s statement: ‘Reached a resolution’
