New Delhi: The Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh, the government said on Saturday.
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.
Replying to a query at a weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said following the disengagement agreement with China, the verification patrolling has begun on mutually agreed terms in both Demchok and Depsang.
On Thursday, Indian and Chinese troops also exchanged sweets at several border points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the occasion of Diwali.
The traditional practice was observed a day after both countries completed troop disengagement at the two friction points, bringing a fresh thaw in Sino-Indian ties. 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.
From Border Stand-off to Disengagement: Past Incidents
2020
May 5-6: Indian and Chinese patrols clashed on the northern bank of Ladakh’s Pangong Tso Lake.
May 9: Soldiers engaged in a heated confrontation in north Sikkim’s Naku La area. Seven Chinese and four Indian soldiers were injured.
May 19-21: China’s foreign ministry accused Indian troops of trespassing on the LAC on May 19. India refuted the contention on May 21.
May 25: China brought in nearly 5,000 soldiers on its side of the disputed border in the Ladakh sector. India also sent military reinforcements.
June 2020: A rare meeting was held between top military officers, Major General Liu Lin, commander of the People’s Liberation Army in South Xinjiang region, and Lieutenant General Harinder Singh, commander of Leh-based 14 Corps, on June 6. The two discussed the de-escalation plan.
June 15: The Galwan Valley Clash: India and China engaged in the deadliest clash in 45 years in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. 20 Indian soldiers including a Commanding Officer of 16th Bihar regiment Colonel Santosh Babu, were martyred in a violent clash with the Chinese PLA soldiers that took place in Galwan Valley.
20.06.2020: India changes rules of engagement along the contested LAC and gives complete freedom of action to commanders deployed along the LAC to handle situations at the tactical level.
July 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Ladakh and lauded the bravery of Indian troops.
July 25, 2020: Troops disengaged from Galwan Valley, Patrolling Point 15, and Hot Springs/Gogra area amid ongoing talks.
August 29-30: The Chinese Army attempted a 'provocative military movement' to change the status quo south of the Pangong Tso Lake region.
30.08.2020: The Indian Army stops provocative military movements by the PLA on the southern bank of Pangong Tso.
02.09.2020: India banned 118 China-linked mobile apps, including widely popular games PUBG
07.09.2020: Chinese troops fired into air to intimidate the Indian soldiers holding dominating heights near a strategic mountain pass in eastern Ladakh in a failed attempt to close in on a forward position controlled by India.
09.09.2020: The Army rushes tanks and infantry combat vehicles to strategic heights amid China’s intimidatory moves while The PLA increases troops in the Finger Four region.
11.09.2020: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow during the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral meeting. They agreed on a five-point plan to ease border tensions, which included new confidence-building measures.
2021
January 2021: Sikkim Skirmish: Another clash between the two troops left soldiers from both sides injured. The clash occurred along the border between China and India's Sikkim state. Indian soldiers foiled an attempt by the Chinese to intrude across the border in Sikkim. At least 20 PLA soldiers were reportedly injured in the clash.
10.02.2021: The Chinese and Indian border troops began the process of disengagement on the southern and northern banks of Pangong Lake, Chinese media reported quoting China’s defence ministry. It took 9 months to disengage from pangong tso. The agreement was reached in the ninth round of military talks between Corps Commanders in January 2021
February 2021:For the first time since the clash, China acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the Galwan region.
28.06.2021: India redirects at least 50,000 additional troops to its border with China.
August 2021: A hotline is established between ground commanders in Kongra La in north Sikkim and Khamba Dzong in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. In August 2021 when the two armies pulled back their forward deployed troops from the Gogra sector (PP-17A).
October 2021: Talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders to resolve a protracted standoff broke down. Both countries blamed each other for the failure to make progress.
December 2021: Despite official disengagement at the friction points of Galwan, Gogra and Pangong Tso, satellite images showed China was building infrastructure to beef up forces in Ladakh.
September 2021 - Shots Fired: Allegations of shots fired near Pangong Lake, violating the 1996 no-firearms agreement.
2022
08.09.2022: According to the consensus reached in the 16th round of India China corps commander-level meeting, Indian and Chinese troops in the area of Gogra-Hot Springs (PP-15) started to disengage in a coordinated and planned way.
December 2022: In December 2022, PLA troops tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh to unilaterally change the status quo, which was contested by the Indian Army in a resolute manner.
2023
May 2023: China appointed Xu Feihong as its envoy to India after an 18-month gap. Xu expressed a willingness to improve and develop China-India relations.
In September 2023, when India hosted the G-20 Summit for the first time, Chinese President Xi did not attend the meeting and dispatched his Premier Li Qiang instead.
In 2023, China released what it calls its standard map in which it yet again showed Indian territory as its own, which was protested by India.
2024
China also has been on a naming spree and in 2024 released the fourth list of its own names for places in Arunachal Pradesh.
19.02.2024: The 21st round of the India-China corps commander-level meeting was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on February 19. They agreed to maintain "peace and tranquillity" on the ground in border areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh during a fresh round of high-level military talks.
04.07.2024: EAM S Jaishankar and Wang Yi meet on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kazakhstan, and agree to step up talks to resolve border issues.
29.08.2024: At the 31st meeting of the working Mechanism for consultation and coordination since the start of the standoff, both sides agree to find a resolution.
12.09.2024: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval have agreed to work together to create conditions for the improvement of bilateral relations during their meeting in Russia.
13.09.2024: Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, at a regular press conference on September 13, said, "In recent years, frontline armies of the two countries have realised disengagement from four areas in the western sector of the China-India border, including the Galwan Valley. The China-India border situation is generally stable and under control.”
24.09.2024: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that 75 per cent progress on the India-China border dispute talks was done, it was only on the disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh.
01.10.2024: Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi says trust between two armies " biggest casualty" of the standoff.
21.10.2024: India says it has arrived at an agreement with China on Patrolling arrangements along LAC. S Jaishankar said the two sides have gone back to the situation that existed on the LAC in 2020, and the disengagement process with China "has been completed".
22.10.2024: China also confirmed the deal saying, that a resolution has been reached on "relevant matters" and that it will work with New Delhi to implement these resolutions.
23.10.2024: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS SUMMIT and underlined that “maintaining peace on the border should be our priority” and “mutual trust, mutual respect and mutual sensitivity should be the basis of our ties”.
