A day after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced an agreement between India and China to resume patrolling along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh ~ signaling potential disengagement and de-escalation of forces ~ Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi highlighted ongoing “trust issues” between the two countries.

On Monday, Mr Misri revealed that as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patroling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020.

The contentious areas, including the Depsang Plains and Demchok, have remained flashpoints since the deadly Galwan Valley clash in June 2020. That incident, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, was reportedly sparked by China’s objections to Indian infrastructure projects in the Galwan River Valley, particularly a road linking to the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) airfield, a strategic airbase.

Both nations have longstanding territorial claims in these regions.

Speaking at the “Decade of Transformation: Indian Army in Stride with the Future” event organised by the United Service Institution of India (USI), General Dwivedi emphasised that trust remains a key issue.

“We want to return to the status quo of April 2020, after which we’ll focus on disengagement, de-escalation, and the normal management of the LAC. This has been our stance since 2020, and it remains unchanged,” Gen. Dwivedi stated.

“Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of LAC,” he said.

Adding that normal management of LAC will be carried out in a phased manner, Gen. Dwivedi said: “We have been asserting our stance from April 2020 when Lt Gen Y.K. Joshi was the Army Commander, and even today, it remains the same.”

Claiming that both the nations need to ‘reassure each other’ before carrying out the disengagement process, the Army Chief said: “As of now, we are trying to restore the trust. That will happen once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince and reassure each other that we are not creeping into buffer zones that have been created. Patrolling gives us that kind of advantage. So that’s something which is commencing. And as we are restoring trust, the other stages will also follow through soon.”