The Indian Army resumes patrols in Demchok after 4.5 years, with Depsang patrols starting soon, following troop disengagement with China to ease tensions.
The Indian Army has resumed its patrolling activity in Demchok in eastern Ladakh after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years, and it will soon start patrols in Depsang, restoring the ground situation in the two forward areas along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) to what it was pre-April 2020 before the India-China military standoff began, people aware of the matter said on Friday.
Patrols in Depsang could begin in a day or two, the people added, asking not to be named.
The development comes after the disengagement of Indian and Chinese armies from the two areas on Wednesday, and verification of the troop and equipment pullback to a mutually agreed distance from the face-off sites.
The verification was completed in line with the agreement reached by India and China to reduce border tensions. It involved the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, other aerial means of surveillance and satellite imagery of the areas.
The disengagement began on October 23, two days after India and China announced a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their stand-off in Depsang and Demchok, the last two flashpoints in Ladakh where the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were eyeball-to-eyeball since May 2020.
As part of the disengagement process, the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) pulled back their forward-deployed troops and equipment from the two areas, and dismantled temporary structures that had come up there after the military standoff began.
Patrolling modalities were decided between ground commanders on both sides, the people said.
With this, the Indian Army and PLA have moved past a two-year impasse in negotiations — the fourth and last round of disengagement from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area took place in September 2022 after which the talks were deadlocked.
The disengagement has facilitated patrolling by both sides in a coordinated manner, and in the agreed upon frequency and strength (of the patrolling parties), former director general of military operations Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd) earlier said, adding that the two sides can now chart a path to restore peace and tranquillity along LAC.