India-China disengagement: Indian Army successfully conducts patrolling of key point in eastern Ladakh's Depsang

The Indian Army successfully patrolled one of the patrolling points in the Depsang area of eastern Ladakh on Monday, days after Indian and Chinese troops completed the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok, the two friction points in the region.

The patrolling at Demchok began on Friday, a day after the completion of the troop disengagement process. "Following the consensus reached between the Indian and Chinese sides for disengagement and resumption of patrolling in Depsang and Demchok, the Indian Army patrol to one of the patrolling points in Depsang was successfully conducted today. This is yet another positive step towards maintaining peace and tranquility on the LAC," the Leh-based Fire and Fury Corps posted on X.

It was not immediately known which patrolling point the troops patrolled. The Indian Army has commenced a verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh, the government said on Saturday.

Replying to a query at a weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that following the disengagement agreement with China, the verification patrolling began on mutually agreed terms in both Demchok and Depsang.

Last week, Indian and Chinese troops also exchanged sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Diwali.
Sources had earlier said that the areas and patrolling status were expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on October 21 said in Delhi that an agreement was 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 standoff.

The move marked a significant development in the pursuit of reduced tension along the LAC in eastern Ladakh since the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. The ties between the two Asian giants had nosedived following the clash.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)