Did patrols begin at Depsang and Demchok? Chinese Foreign Ministry responds
Earlier last week, the External Affairs Ministry told the media in New Delhi that the Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh.
Beijing: China Monday said that the implementation of the agreement with India to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh is going "smoothly at the moment" but declined to comment on the resumption of patrolling at the two friction points in Depsang and Demchok. "The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here while replying to a question.
She, however, declined to answer a specific question on the commencement of patrolling in the two areas by the Indian troops.
Demchok and Depsang- The centrepoint
On Saturday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media in New Delhi that the Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh. Patrolling at Demchok had begun on Friday, a day after the Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh.
On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Delhi that an agreement had been finalised between India and China following negotiations over the past several weeks and that it would lead to a resolution of the issues that arose in 2020.
The agreement was firmed up on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, a breakthrough to end the over four-year-long standoff. The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
PM Modi-Xi Jinping bilateral talks
The Chinese side qualified the PM Modi-Xi talks, the first formal one between the two leaders in the past five years, had reached important understandings and set guidelines for the further development of relations between the two nations. Chinese envoy to India said both the leaders reached important common understandings on improving and developing Sino-India relations and set the course to steer bilateral ties back on the path of steady development.
However, China released fewer details except acknowledging that the process of disengagement is going on smoothly.
(With inputs from agency)
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