INDIA, CHINA DISENGAGE IN GOGRA, TROOPS RETURN TO PERMANENT BASES

In a big step towards resolving a 15-month-long military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, India and China have disengaged troops from the Gogra heights area and moved them back to their permanent bases. The disengagement process was carried out over Wednesday and Thursday, an Army statement said.

“All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides have been dismantled and mutually verified. The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to the pre-standoff period,” it said.

The statement said that the disengagement agreement ensures that the LAC in Gogra will be strictly observed and respected by both sides and that there is no unilateral change in the status quo.

With the resolution in Gogra, India and China have now backed down in four of the six flashpoints—the others being Galwan and North and South banks of the Pangong Lake. The standoffs in Depsang and Hot Springs continue.

“With this, one more sensitive area of face-off has been resolved. Both sides have expressed commitment to take the talks forward and resolve the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector,” the Army said.

The breakthrough comes a day after the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said the recent India-China military talks on the eastern Ladakh row were “constructive” and both sides agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an “expeditious manner”.

In the 12th round of military talks, India and China had agreed to disengage troops from patrolling point 17A, one of the friction points between the two countries in the eastern Ladakh region.

Sources had earlier told ANI that during the 12th round of talks, there was an agreement between both sides to disengage from PP-17A also known as Gogra.The last disengagement agreed and acted upon by both sides was in February this year when they disengaged from the banks of Pangong Lake.

Last year, tensions between India and China soared and ties hit a new low in the wake of the border standoff. A 15 June clash in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley left 20 Indian soldiers dead. It was the first deadly conflict between India and China along the LAC in 45 years.