India, China complete disengagement in Ladakh, to exchange sweets on Diwali

India and China have completed disengagement at Depsang and Demchok along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

Both sides will exchange sweets on Diwali on Thursday. The local commanders will meet at the designated border meeting points along the LAC to exchange sweets, sources said.

Sweets will be exchanged at all border meeting points. There are five designated border meeting points along the 3,488 km LAC. These points are Depsang and Spanngur Gap in eastern Ladakh; Nathu La in Sikkim and Bum La and Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh. Before the April 2020 military stand-off, the two sides often met on various occasions.  

Patrolling would commence soon, sources said, adding that patrolling routes and modalities would be decided by brigade commanders. Talks will continue on setting a schedule for patrolling by troops.

The process to verify removal of all temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons was completed, sources said.

The two sides have physically verified that structures and man-made blockages on patrolling routes have been removed at Demchok.

The process to remove temporary structures had started at Demchok last Wednesday and at Depsang last Thursday.

Sources said patrolling that was suspended since April 2020 is expected to be resumed after the verification is done. Patrolling will be coordinated in a manner that troops of both sides inform each other before a patrol party is launched. This means patrolling would be coordinated and schedules decided in advance, sources said.

These coordinated patrols are part of the measures put in place so that a face-off could be prevented on the LAC, army sources said.