In a significant development that could lead to an improvement in their ties after over four years of heightened tensions, India and China have reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), leading to disengagement and a resolution of the eastern Ladakh military stand-off which began in April-May 2020.

This announcement was made by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri this afternoon at a media briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia from October 22-23 to attend the BRICS Summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping will also attend the summit and the breakthrough in talks on the military stand-off may now lead to a bilateral meeting between Mr Modi and the Chinese leader.

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”As you are aware of the events of 2020 in several years along the LAC, we have been in discussions with Chinese interlocutors, both at the diplomatic and the military levels. These discussions in the past had resulted in the resolution of the stand-off at various locations. However, there were a few areas or locations where the stand-off had not been resolved,” the foreign secretary said.

”Now as a result of the discussions over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-china border areas and this is leading to disengagement and eventually a resolution of issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020,” he added.

The patrolling arrangements agreement extends beyond the areas along the LAC where there has already been a disengagement of military personnel over the past few years, and include the so far unresolved areas of Demchok and Depsang, it is learnt.

The Ladakh stand-off brought the relationship between the two neighbours to a new low. There have also been a few clashes between the troops on both sides, including the one at Galwan in June 2020, in which the Indian Army lost 20 soldiers, and China lost an unspecified number of troops.

The last meeting at the diplomatic level between the two sides under the institutional Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held in Beijing in August at which the two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the LAC to narrow down the differences. It was agreed between the two sides to resolve the outstanding issues at the earliest. Apparently, the upcoming summit at Kazan in Russia where both Mr Modi and Mr Xi will be present, compelled the two sides to expedite a settlement.

“In line with the guidance provided by two Foreign Ministers’ meetings in Astana and Vientiane in July 2024 to accelerate their discussion, and building on the WMCC meeting held last month, the two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues. For this, they further agreed for intensified contact through diplomatic and military channels,” the MEA said in a release in August.

It said the two sides have decided to jointly uphold peace and tranquillity on the ground in border areas in accordance with relevant bilateral agreements, protocols and understandings reached between the two governments. The release reiterated that restoration of peace and tranquility, and respect for LAC are the essential basis for restoration of normalcy in bilateral relations.