India and China on Tuesday verified the withdrawal of troops from Patrolling Point (PP) 15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of Eastern Ladakh, defence sources said. The exercise marked the completion of disengagement between the forces in the area. The verification exercise was carried out to ensure compliance including aerial surveillance, a source added.
Both countries had announced last Thursday that armies had started the disengagement process in the standoff that started in May 2020. The Ministry of External Affairs said that the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will be taken up once the ongoing disengagement at PP15 is complete.
Although Beijing welcomed the disengagement, it also said India’s demand for restoration of status quo ante prior to the standoff will not be accepted, saying that “the status quo of April 2020…was created by India’s illegal crossing of the LAC”.
Details of the disengagement, however, were not available. Since the standoff began, there has been heavy deployment of Chinese forces in the Depsang plains, at a crucial area called the Bulge. China’s PLA troops have also been blocking Indian Army patrols from reaching the PPs 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13, located on the Limit of Patrolling which lies much before the LAC. Depsang is close to the Karakoram Pass which holds immense strategic importance for India in matters of territorial disputes in the north.
Since May 2020, India and China have been involved in various clashes in Ladakh. In June 2020, soldiers of the two countries were involved in the worst clash seen in decades. Twenty Indian personnel, including a Colonel, were killed along the LAC in Ladakh. The two countries also participated in multiple rounds of talks to end the standoff but no breakthrough was reached even in the 16th round of Corps Commander talks held on July 17, 2022.
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