'Disengagement chapter done, de-escalation awaited': Jaishankar stresses after India-China LAC deal (WATCH)

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced the completion of the disengagement chapter with China along the LAC, while also emphasizing the need for de-escalation and normalization of relations between the two nations.

Sunita Iyer

First Published Nov 5, 2024, 3:41 PM IST | Last Updated Nov 5, 2024, 3:41 PM IST

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar announced on Tuesday that the 'disengagement chapter' with China has been completed, signifying the conclusion of a recent phase in troop withdrawal from contested border areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Depsang and Demchok in eastern Ladakh.

Speaking at an event in Canberra, Jaishankar emphasized that the primary goal of these negotiations was to ensure the separation of forward-deployed troops following a build-up of forces that began in the summer of 2020. With this disengagement chapter nearing completion, attention now turns to a critical next step: de-escalation.

What Jaishankar said on prospects of India-China ties after recent breakthrough

"On October 21st, was the last set of what we call disengagement agreements, which essentially means that after the summer of 2020, Chinese and Indian troops, have been forward deployed. You can see, along the line of Actual Control, in distances, which were extremely concerning. And the priority has been to find ways of, separating the troops, which is why the word disengagement. And the expectation is the patrolling there would resume. In fact, it is happening as we speak. So you can say in a way, the disengagement, chapter is done, its implementation will happen in the coming days to everybody's satisfaction. And the part which now awaits us, the immediate part which awaits us is what we call the de-escalation, which is the buildup of forces along the Line of Actual Control," Jaishankar said at the Inaugural Session of Raisina Down Under 2024.

"There will obviously be discussions of various kinds, but at the meeting, with the the formal bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President XI, which was actually happening after five years, what was agreed was that the foreign minister and the National Security advisor we would meet our counterpart and so would you know the relevant officials and find ways by which we will have to discuss, you know how do we normalize the relationship, and you know, what would be the extent and the pace and the manner in which we would do that," the EAM added.

"The third part is okay, but how do we actually see that relationship? You know, it's it's really in a way, quite a challenge because you have to, you know, know the two most populous countries in the world, both of whom, have been rising, they are rising," Jaishankar further stated.

Implementation of agreement with India to disengage troops going smoothly: China

On Monday, China stated that the implementation of the agreement with India to disengage troops in eastern Ladakh is proceeding "smoothly at the moment." However, they refrained from commenting on the resumption of patrolling at the two friction points in Depsang and Demchok.

"The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing in Beijing.

She, however, did not provide a specific answer regarding the commencement of patrolling in the two areas by Indian troops.

On Saturday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal announced that the Indian Army has begun verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh. Patrolling at Demchok started on Friday, just a day after Indian and Chinese troops completed their disengagement at these two friction points.

On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri stated in New Delhi that an agreement had been finalized between India and China following several weeks of negotiations, aimed at resolving the issues that arose in 2020. This agreement established protocols for patrolling and disengagement of troops along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, representing a significant breakthrough to end the over four-year-long standoff.

Relations between the two Asian giants deteriorated sharply after a violent clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which marked the most serious military conflict between the two nations in decades.

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