On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made these remarks when asked about the deployment of Chinese troops on the LAC and the construction of new structures. This means that the Chinese army has still not retreated in the areas of conflict on the LAC.
"The disengagement process is yet to be completed," spokesman Bagchi said. The disengagement means that the armies of the two countries, which had been standing in front of each other for the past nearly a year, would withdraw.
The armies of both the countries have been standing in Ladakh on the LAC since last year, after which several rounds of talks were held to reduce tension between the two countries.
After this, in February this year, both the countries had announced that the armies of both the countries would disengage in a phased manner from February 10. It is clear from India's statement on Thursday that this process has not been completed even after almost four months.
However, Arindam Bagchi said that both the countries have agreed that till the completion of this process, stability on the ground will be maintained and any new incident will be avoided.
"Therefore, it is our expectation that both sides will not do anything that is not in accordance with this agreement," he said. The spokesman said that after the completion of the disengagement process from the remaining areas, the path of de-escalation in eastern Ladakh would be cleared.
"By doing this, the border areas will be restored to a peaceful form and there will be overall progress in the relations between the two countries," he said.
Both disengagement and de-escalation simply mean the withdrawal of forces and the move towards normalcy. But the level of these two steps is different. Disengagement is a local process, that is, soldiers who were standing face to face on a front, they will retreat. But de-escalation is a comprehensive process which is more rigorous and larger.
From the remarks made by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday, it seems that there is still a lot to be done for de-escalation when the process of disengagement is not yet complete.
A five-point agreement was reached between the two countries in September last year to resolve the situation of tension between India and China in eastern Ladakh. On September 10, 2020, in Moscow, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had agreed on this after discussion among themselves. The foreign ministers of the two countries then met separately during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting.
Under what was agreed in this, the things that were agreed between the armies of the two countries included early completion of disengagement, avoidance of tension escalating action, following all the agreements and protocols on border management and on the Line of Actual Control. Subjects such as restoring peace were included.
The armies of India and China have been standing face to face in many places in eastern Ladakh since early May last year and so far they have not completely retreated.
However, after several rounds of talks between military officials and diplomats of both countries, the troops of both countries have completely withdrawn from the northern and southern banks of Pangong Lake in February.
Talks are now taking place between the two sides to complete the process of disengagement from the remaining areas of eastern Ladakh where the armies of both are still standing.
On April 9 this year, the 11th round of talks was held between the top military commanders of the two countries regarding the border dispute, but this too remained inconclusive. It was believed that after this meeting, a way could be made to carry forward the process of disengagement which started in mid-February this year.
According to news agency PTI, the Chinese side did not show any leniency in its stand in this meeting. According to the agency, after this, there have been reports of China strengthening its position in many places.
In May last year, a serious situation arose on the border between India and China. On 1 May 2020, there was a clash between the soldiers of the two countries in the North Bank of Pangong Tso Lake in Eastern Ladakh. Dozens of soldiers from both sides were injured in this.
After this, on June 15, once again there was a clash between the soldiers of the two countries in the disputed Galwan Valley. Many soldiers on both sides died in this. After the skirmish in the Galwan Valley, several rounds of talks were held between the representatives of both countries.
After all, the process of disengagement was started in February this year after the agreement reached in the meeting of the foreign ministers of both countries in February this year.
Read More: No change in Interest Rates, slashed growth Forecast to 9.5% in the current Financial Year
Like and Follow us on :