India China reach agreement over border patrolling issues

An agreement was reached after negotiation talks between officials of both countries.

In a recent international political development, India and China have agreed on patrolling arrangements over the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said that an agreement was reached after negotiation talks between officials of both countries. The talks are expected to result in disengagement along the border.

“As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patroling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” Misri said.

The foreign secretary said the Indian and Chinese negotiators were in touch over the last few weeks to resolve the remaining issues.

It is understood that the agreement pertains to patrolling in Depsang and Demchok areas.

The announcement on the breakthrough comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s travel to the Russian city of Kazan to attend the BRICS Summit.

Though there is no official announcement, it is expected that Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said roughly 75 per cent of the “disengagement problems” with China are sorted out but the bigger issue has been the increasing militarisation of the frontier.

“Now those negotiations are going on. We made some progress. I would say roughly you can say about 75 per cent of the disengagement problems are sorted out,” he said at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. “We still have some things to do,” he said.

(with inputs from PTI)