India, China Border Fight: Complete Disengagement at Three Points, Including Galwan Valley

On Friday, India and China on Friday agreed on "early and complete" disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh. India is believed to have exerted pressure on the Chinese side that the disengagement has to happen as agreed in the previous high-level meetings.

New Delhi: A a result of the ongoing dialogue between India and China at both military and diplomatic level, a complete disengagement at patrolling point 14, 15, and 17 has been reported.

Galwan, the site of the clash, is patrolling point 15. The points, however, don’t include the Pangong Tso lake area. Meetings will be held between the two sides next week to work out the modalities for the disengagement from the Pangong lake.

On Friday, India and China on Friday agreed on “early and complete” disengagement of troops in eastern Ladakh. The two sides agreed that another meeting of senior army commanders may be held soon so as to work out further steps to ensure “expeditiously” complete disengagement and de-escalation” and restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border areas, the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) had said.

In that meeting, India is believed to have conveyed a firm message to the Chinese side that it has to implement the disengagement process as agreed to during the four rounds of Corps Commander-level talks. The ministry said it was agreed at the talks to properly handle the remaining issues on the ground and further cool down the border situation.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a nearly two-hour-long telephonic conversation on July 5 to bring down the tension between the armies of the two countries in eastern Ladakh.

Both sides commenced the disengagement process from July 6 following talks between Doval and Wang who are Special Representatives for the boundary question. However, the disengagement process was not going on as it was discussed, sources said, for which the Friday’s meeting was convened.

The tension in eastern Ladakh escalated manifold after the violent clashes in the Galwan Valley on June 15 in which 20 Indian Army personnel were killed. The Chinese side also suffered casualties but it is yet to give out the details. According to an American intelligence report, the number of casualties on the Chinese side was 35.

(With Agency Inputs)