India and China are standing against each other at theconflict site of eastern Ladakh since April 2020. According to a reportpublished by The Hindu, the two sides have now agreed to return back to theareas or positions held by them prior to April 2020. This can be a majordevelopment as the tensions escalated between both the nations regarding the non-demarcatedborder marked by Line of Actual Control.
An official told The Hindu that now China will vacate itspositions from finger area while India will also go back from the advantageouspositions it held in the southern side of the Pangong Tso (Lake). However,Depsang and Charding Ninglung Nallah (CNN) are not part of the currentdecisions but as per sources, it will be discussed later which means anyposition held by any country will remain intact there.
The consensus was reached after the 9th round of CorpsCommander level talks on January 24. The official was quoted by The Hindu, “Theground commanders are meeting twice a day and we are hopeful of achieving apre-April 2020 status in all sectors.”
The official added during talks with The Hindu, “Afterthe Corps Commanders meeting, the disengagement plan was approved by thegovernment. There will be simultaneous withdrawal on both the banks of PangongTso. In north bank, India will move back to DS Post where the troops hadearlier started their patrols. But a little caution is required and whetherChina matches words with actions is to be seen.”
Besides removal of ammunition and soldiers, makeshifttents and other such things will be removed from the site. The official added, “Ifthe troops have to move from point A to B, then preparations have to be made atpoint B where the troops will recede. We are synchronising the plan with theChinese troops. The Southern bank, where Indian troops are in a dominantposition since August 2020, is a big pressure point for the Chinese.”
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