India, China both say border disengagement process under way

Published July 6, 2020
In this file photo, an Indian Army convoy moves along a highway leading to Ladakh on June 18. — Reuters
In this file photo, an Indian Army convoy moves along a highway leading to Ladakh on June 18. — Reuters

India and China said on Monday that they had made progress disengaging frontline troops from a months-long standoff along a disputed part of their border where a brawl in June left 20 Indian soldiers dead.

Special representatives on the border issue, India's national security advisor Ajit Doval and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, spoke by phone on Sunday about the issues along the frontier known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), according to India's foreign ministry.

"The representatives agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquility in the India-China border areas was essential for the further development of our bilateral relations and to complete the ongoing disengagement process along the LAC expeditiously," the ministry said on Monday in a statement.

An Indian defence ministry official told The Associated Press that Chinese troops were observed removing tents and structures near the Galwan Valley along the disputed border.

He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to reporters.

Asked about a Chinese withdrawal, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said only that the two sides made positive progress in disengaging frontline troops and easing the border situation with effective measures in a third round of military talks on June 30.

Both sides blamed each other for the June 15 clash in the remote river valley in the Karakoram mountains of Ladakh where India is building a strategic road connecting the region to an airstrip close to China.

Soldiers fought in hand-to-hand combat with fists and clubs, but not with firearms, deferring to an agreement not to use them. India said 20 of its soldiers were killed, as were Chinese soldiers. Chinese officials have not confirmed any casualties.

Chris Biggers, senior analyst at the geospatial intelligence company HawkEye 360, has said a review of satellite images showed China was moving construction equipment, soldiers and military hardware toward the LAC before and after the clash.

China and India fought a 1962 war over their disputed border, an area that covers nearly 3,500 kilometres. That fighting ended in an uneasy truce and the creation of the LAC, which stretches from Ladakh in the north to the Indian state of Sikkim in the northeast.

The two countries have been trying to settle their border dispute since the early 1990s, without success.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unannounced visit on Friday to a military base in Ladakh, telling troops that the days of expansionism are over.

“Expansionism creates danger for world peace. This is an era of development. Expansionist forces have either lost or forced to turn back," he said in an apparent reference to China.

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...