Amid talks with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said the disengagement of troops at Depsang and Demchok in Ladakh is the first step, and it is expected that India will return to the 2020 patrolling status.
"The next step is de-escalation, which will not happen until India is sure that the same is happening on the other side as well: Jaishankar said referring to China.
The statement from the EAM comes after India announced last week that it reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, a major breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff.
During a press conference in Mumbai, Jaishankar said consensus has been achieved on patrolling and disengagement in Depsang and Demchok.
"It is obvious it will take time to implement the same. This is the issue of disengagement and patrolling which meant our armies had come very close to each other and now they have gone back to their bases. We hope the 2020 status is restored," he said.
The completion of disengagement is the first step. The next step is de-escalation which will not happen until India is sure that the same is happening on the other side as well, the External Affairs Minister said.
"After de-escalation, how to manage the borders will be discussed," he added.
On Saturday also, Jaishankar said that the agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC does not mean that issues between the two countries have been resolved, however, the disengagement allows us to look at the next step.
He credited the military, which worked in "very very unimaginable" conditions, and deft diplomacy for the breakthrough agreement with China.
"The latest step (of disengagement) was the October 21 understanding that patrolling will take place in Depsang and Demchok. This will allow us now to look at the next step. It is not like everything has been resolved but the disengagement which is the first phase we have managed to reach that level," Jaishankar said at an event in Pune.
Responding to a question during a separate interaction with students, Jaishankar said it is still a bit early for normalisation of relations which will naturally take time to rebuild a degree of trust and willingness to work together.
(With inputs from PTI)
