China keeps mum on patrolling at friction points after border truce with India

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China on Monday kept mum on the commencement of patrolling at the two friction points in Depsang and Demchok even as it said that the implementation of the agreement with India to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh is "going on smoothly at the moment".

"The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolution that the two sides have reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going on smoothly at the moment," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.

She, however, declined to answer a question about the resumption of patrolling in Depsang and Demchok by the Indian troops.

On November 2, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in Delhi that the Indian Army had begun verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh.

Patrolling resumed at Demchok on November 1, a day after Indian and Chinese troops completed their disengagement process at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh.

On October 21, India announced that it reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC, marking a breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff, which began following the deadly clashes between the troops of both countries in June 2020 in Galwan Valley. The agreement was firmed up on patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

Ties between the two Asian giants nosedived following a fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

On October 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held bilateral talks after five years on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan, where they welcomed the border agreement.

(with inputs from PTI)

Published By:

Prateek Chakraborty

Published On:

Nov 4, 2024

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