The Indian Army began patrolling in the Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh on Friday, with plans to begin patrols in Depsang soon, nearly four and a half years after access was blocked by Chinese troops, news agency ANI reported, citing army sources.
This development comes a day after Indian and Chinese troops exchanged sweets at several border posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh during Diwali.
Earlier this week, the two armies completed the phased disengagement and verification process, both physically on the ground and through aerial surveillance by drones and satellites, at the two remaining face-off sites in the Depsang Plains and the Charding Ninglung Nallah track junction near Demchok.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated on October 21 in Delhi that an agreement was finalized between India and China following negotiations over the past several weeks. This agreement is expected to lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.
The agreement focuses on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh, marking a breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff that had strained relations between the two Asian giants.
However, the rival armies continue to be positioned against each other along the 3,488 km LAC, with over 50,000 troops from each side forward deployed, equipped with tanks, howitzers, surface-to-air missiles, and other weaponry in Eastern Ladakh. Additionally, another 90,000 PLA troops are similarly forward deployed across Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, with “matching mirror deployments” by India.