Indian, Chinese troops exchange sweets at several border points on Diwali
Frontline troops of India and China exchanged sweets at multiple spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh on Diwali on Thursday.
Sources said sweets were exchanged at five locations. However, there was no ceremonial military ceremony. At each location, a very small team including 8-10 troops from the Indian side and a matching contingent from the Chinese side met. The two saluted each other and exchanged the sweets.
Notably, the exchange of sweets took place at locations that included the Karokaram Pass, the northern-most point along the India-China boundary. Among other locations, sweets were exchanged at Hot Springs and Kongka La. All three spots are extremely sensitive. Hot Springs was one of the friction spots where the two sides were engaged in eyeball-to-eyeball military stand-off from April 2020 onwards.
Sweets were also exchanged at the designated border meeting points at Daulat Baig Oldie (DBO) and Spanggur Gap (Chushul).
DBO and Spanggur Gap are the two designated border personnel meeting points in Eastern Ladakh along the LAC. Before the April 2020 military stand-off, the two sides used to meet at these designated spots on ceremonial occasions.
The exchange of sweets comes after the two sides completed their scheduled disengagement process at Depsang and Demchok along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
The reopening of the patrolling routes at Depsang and Demchok was announced on October 21. Patrolling will commence soon and the routes and the modalities will be worked out at the Brigade Commander level.
The process of verifying the removal of all temporary structures, tents, vehicles, cameras, sensors and weapons by the two sides has been completed. These structures and equipment were set up to stop each other’s patrolling routes along the LAC.
The process to remove the temporary structures had started last Wednesday at Demchok and last Thursday at Depsang.
The patrolling would be coordinated in a manner that troops of both sides inform each other before a patrol is launched.
These coordinated patrols were part of the measures put in place to prevent a face-off at the LAC, the Army sources said
The new arrangements are to re-open routes for Indian troops to patrol at patrolling point 10, 11, 12 and 13. These routes go eastwards of “Bottleneck” — the name of a geographical feature — on the 972-sq km Depsang plateau in eastern Ladakh.
The present arrangements do not mention resumption of patrolling at any other contentious spot in eastern Ladakh, where disengagement has been done. These are Gogra, Hot Springs, Pangong Tso and Galwan.
