India and China have reached a deal to end a military standoff at their disputed frontier, four years after a deadly clash along their border in the western Himalayas plunged ties to their lowest point in decades.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told an Indian TV channel on Monday that the agreement on border patrols signalled that “the disengagement process with China has been completed. ”While the larger border dispute remains unresolved, the deal allows for the resumption of patrols along the border in the Ladakh region by soldiers of both countries – allowing them to underscore their respective territorial claims while ensuring that the other side is following the agreement arrived at on Monday.
The announcement was made on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Russian city Kazan for the BRICS summit, in which China is also participating.
The pact paves the way for improved political and business ties between the Asian giants, analysts say. It could also clear the path for a potential meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which would be the first since 2020. Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the pact is aimed at the “disengagement” of troops at the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, which separates Chinese and Indian-held territories. The LAC stretches from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, parts of which are also claimed by China. It spans 3,488km (2,167 miles). As its name suggests, the LAC divides the areas of physical control rather than territorial claims.
Misri did not specify whether the deal would mean the withdrawal of the tens of thousands of additional soldiers stationed by the two countries in the Ladakh region.
China on Tuesday confirmed the deal on military patrols along the frontier but did not explain whether the pact covered the length of the border or just hotspots that have seen clashes.
A senior military officer told the Reuters news agency that both sides would pull back their troops a little from current positions to avoid face-offs but would be allowed to patrol according to a schedule that is being worked out. Monthly review meetings and regular monitoring of the contested areas by both countries would ensure there are no violations, he added. Manoj Joshi, an analyst at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation, told Al Jazeera the lack of information provided by authorities suggests negotiations may be ongoing.
“If there is a formal agreement and that agreement is publicised, then we may [have a clearer idea of] what is going to happen,” he said.
Many questions remain unanswered, including whether “buffer” zones that had been demarcated along the LAC and which neither side is supposed to patrol will now be abolished, he said.
