Ten days after India and China reached a patrolling agreement for the Demchok and Depsang Plains, sources indicate that the Indian Army resumed patrols in the Demchok sector of eastern Ladakh on 1st November. This development comes in the wake of the recent agreement, reached on 21st October, aimed at easing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Meanwhile, patrols in Depsang—considered the more challenging of the two sectors—are expected to resume in couple of days. As per the agreement, Demchok and Depsang area patrols will be restored to levels seen before April 2020, signalling a return to normalcy in this strategically critical region.
Indian officers have already visited Patrol Points 10 to 13 immediately after the agreement for physical verification- following the completion of disengagement and dismantling of temporary structures on both sides. With patrolling resumed, the access to grazing areas for the local shepherds will also restart soon.
Coordinated patrols, according to the understanding reached between the two sides, will involve providing advance information to the other side about the date, time and size of the patrols. India’s primary demand of restoring the right to patrol up to Patrolling Points 10 to 13 near Depsang and at a point called CNN close to Demchok beyond a place called Y junction has been met under the agreement reached. The Y-Junction area in the Depsang Plains, known as the “Bottleneck Area,” provides India access to five key patrolling points—PP10, PP11, PP11A, PP12, and PP13, which were blocked by Chinese forces.
On Diwali, the Indian and Chinese troops resumed the tradition of exchanging sweets at various border points, including in eastern Ladakh. This gesture, a customary practice marking festivals and significant occasions, saw troops from both sides come together at multiple posts along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that India and China have successfully repositioned most of their frontline troops from the contested border areas. “The process of disengagement is almost complete,” Singh stated on Diwali, expressing cautious optimism about the future of relations between the two countries.
Ravi Shankar
