Back to 2020 situation: India, China reach pact on patrolling along LAC in eastern Ladakh

India on Monday announced that the issue of patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh had been resolved with China. A “patrolling arrangement” has been worked out and the “situation has gone back to the one in 2020” in terms of disengagement of the troops along the LAC.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced the development at separate events on Monday.

Speaking in New Delhi, Jaishankar said, “We have reached an agreement with China on patrolling. With this disengagement, we have gone back to the 2020 situation. We can say that the disengagement process with China has been completed.”

On patrolling, Jaishankar said, “There are areas, which for various reasons after 2020, (China) had blocked... We had also blocked (some areas). We have reached an understanding that would allow patrolling.”

Jaishankar said, “Obviously, we had to opt for counter-deployments, but along with it, we had been negotiating since September 2020.”

He said, “Hopefully, we will be able to come back to peace and tranquillity with this development. We have always said that if you (China) disturb peace and tranquillity, how do you expect the rest of the relationship to go forward.”

Earlier in the day, addressing the media ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, Misri said, “An agreement has been reached on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border leading to disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had risen in the areas in 2020.”

Misri said Indian and Chinese diplomatic and military negotiators had remained in close contact.

Answering a question, Misri said, “We have reached an agreement... and this will eventually lead to resolution of issues.”

The armies of the two sides are locked in a stand-off since April 2020. There have been a few clashes, including the one at Galwan in June 2020 when the Indian Army lost 20 soldiers and China lost a unspecified number of soldiers.

Though Misri did not specify which patrolling points at the LAC were part of the “arrangement”, sources said the pending issues included the unhindered right of the Indian troops to patrol points 10, 11, 12 and 13. These are the routes going eastwards of the “bottleneck” — a geographical feature — on the 972-sq km Depsang plateau in eastern Ladakh.

The second is the buildup at Charding La nullah (also termed Demchok nullah). The Chinese approach the Charding La — a 19,120-foot-high pass from its southern approach. The peak is on the LAC and is patrolled by the Indian Army along the nullah. The Chinese army has to use the route, which the Indian Army had been blocking.

Misri said discussions had in the past resulted in the resolution of standoffs at various locations. “At a few areas and a few locations, the standoff had not been resolved,” he said.

Asked about a possible bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Misri said though the BRICS was a multilateral event, there was always a provision for bilateral meetings on the sidelines. “We are currently looking into the overall programme of the PM,” he said.