India, China to restart patrol at Depsang, Demchok from Oct 30

India and China have agreed to restart patrolling by their troops  at Depsang and Demchok along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh at the end of this month.

The patrolling is expected to start on October 30. Before that, the two sides will remove all temporary structures set up to block each other's patrolling routes.

Only Depsang and Demchok were under discussion for the reopening of patrolling that was announced last Monday. "We will go back to patrolling to spots, where we were patrolling before April 2020," Army sources said on Friday.

The troops on either side will inform one another before a patrol party is launched. This means patrolling will be coordinated and decided in advance.

"These are a part of measures put in place so that no faceoff occurs at the LAC," the sources said.

Indian troops will carry hand-held weapons — rifles — as they did on patrol duties earlier.

The present 'patrolling arrangement' between India and China, announced on Monday, is only for Depsang and Demchok, the sources added.

The arrangement does not touch any other contentious spot in eastern Ladakh, where disengagement had already taken place, like Gogra, Hot Springs, Pangong Tso and Galwan.