NEW DELHI: China and India have begun implementing an agreement to end a military standoff on their disputed Himalayan border, the two sides said on Friday.

Troops who were eyeball-to-eyeball at two points on the frontier in the western Himalayas had begun pulling back, an Indian official, heralding an end to the standoff.

The process began on Wednesday and is expe­cted to conclude by the end of this month, a senior Indian army official said.

The nuclear-armed neighbours struck a deal earlier this week on patrolling the frontier, which then paved the way for the first formal talks in five years between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia.

“According to the recently agreed solution between India and China ... their frontline armies are implementing relevant work, with smooth progress so far,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said.

In New Delhi, a government official aware of the details said troops on both sides had started withdrawing from the areas of Depsang and Demchok, the last remaining points where they had stood face to face.

The Indian army official said the returning troops would also remove structures such as huts and tents and take back vehicles they had brought to positions that existed before the conflict began in April 2020.

The two forces can then resume patrolling along the frontier as they did before the standoff, the official added.

Cautious business easing

Neither side has made public details of the new pact, which is expected to help improve political and business ties damaged by a deadly military clash in 2020, when 20 Indian and four Chinese troops died in clashes in the Galwan Valley.

The two sides had earlier pulled back troops from five other faceoff points, but the last such withd­rawal took place over two years ago.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024