China confirms agreement on LAC patrols, says ‘will work with India to implement solution’
The remarks came ahead of an expected meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the margins of the Brics Summit in the Russian city of Kazan.
A day after India announced an agreement with China on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Beijing said on Tuesday it has reached an understanding with New Delhi on border-related issues and the two sides will work for the “sound implementation of these resolutions”.
The remarks by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian came almost 24 hours after foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that the two sides had reached an understanding on troop patrols along the disputed border, a development seen as a key step towards resolving the military standoff on the LAC that is into its fifth year.
“Over a recent period of time, China and India have reached resolutions on issues concerning the border area following close communication through diplomatic and military channels, Lin was quoted as saying in an official transcript of a regular media briefing by the foreign ministry.
“China commends the progress made and will continue working with India for the sound implementation of these resolutions,” he said.
Lin was responding to a question about the Indian side’s announcement of a deal with China on border patrols that could lead to disengagement of troops and the resolution of the standoff that began in 2020.
He didn’t respond to a question on whether this understanding will lead to a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the margins of the Brics Summit in Russia, or give details of the matters on which the two sides have reached a resolution. Lin only said that he had “nothing more to add”.
Lin’s remarks came ahead of an expected meeting between Modi and Xi on the margins of the Brics Summit in the Russian city of Kazan. The two leaders, who arrived in Kazan on Tuesday, are expected to meet on October 23, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
Misri announced the agreement on patrolling arrangements at a media briefing on Modi’s visit to Russia, saying it would lead to “disengagement and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020”. Subsequently, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said the two sides had gone back to the situation that existed on the LAC in 2020, when the standoff had begun. Misri also said the two sides would take the “next steps” on the agreement.
The agreement was the outcome of several rounds of diplomatic and military talks between the two sides. It followed a string of meetings of senior leaders of the two sides in recent months – Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan on July 4 and on the sidelines of Asean-related meetings in Laos on July 25, while National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met Wang during a Brics-related meeting in St Petersburg on September 12.
The standoff on the LAC began with a skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops on the banks of Pangong Lake in May 2020. A brutal clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops – the first fatalities on the LAC in 45 years – took bilateral ties to the lowest point since the 1962 border war. The Indian side had maintained the overall relationship couldn’t be normalised without peace and tranquillity on the border.
Earlier talks through the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs, which involved diplomats, and senior military commanders led to withdrawal of frontline forces from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Spring. The two remaining “friction points” are Depsang and Demchok, considered more strategic in military terms as the Chinese side has blocked Indian access to key patrolling points.
The announcements by the Indian and Chinese sides gave no details of the agreement on patrolling arrangements or modalities for de-escalation and de-induction of troops to their peacetime positions. Both countries have deployed some 60,000 troops each along the LAC.
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