‘Difficult to trust’: Ladakh MP not convinced China will respect LAC agreement

"The Indian Army and our government are sincere in upholding the pact, but China must also adhere to it,” Ladakh MP Haji Hanifa Jan said.

Ladakh MP Haji Hanifa Jan has said trusting the Chinese is ‘difficult,’ days after India and China reached an agreement to disengage from various conflict points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Indian, Chinese troops exchanging sweets on Diwali at the LAC.

“Yesterday, I was in Demchok, where I met the locals. Trusting China completely is difficult. The Indian Army and our government are sincere in upholding the pact, but China must also adhere to it,” Hanifa told ANI.

His statement comes a day after the Indian Army and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) completed the disengagement process in Depsang and Demchok. On Thursday, the two sides exchanged sweets at various border points in the Ladakh sector on Diwali.

Meanwhile, Hanifa Jan, Ladakh’s only representative in the Lok Sabha, also mentioned how only those near the border know what a war is like.

“Those of us who live near the border, know what war feels like. We desire peace. We welcome the agreement but we want to see it implemented on the ground. Tensions along the border should be reduced through diplomatic means,” he stated.

The border standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh began in April-May 2020, triggered by actions of the Chinese army, along the LAC between the neighbours.

Last week, over four years after the hostilities began, India and China finally agreed on the patrolling pact in the region. This paved the way for a bilateral meeting between prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of BRICS Summit in Russia’s Kazan; it was the first bilateral interaction between the leaders in five years.