China confirms end to standoff

EAM S Jaishankar on Monday said Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling. Pic/PTI

China on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh. "Over a recent period of time, China and India have kept close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing.

"Now, the two sides have reached a resolution on the relevant matters," he said. He added China will work with India to implement it but declined to provide details. The confirmation from the Chinese side came only after President Xi Jinping left for the BRICS summit in Russia's Kazan on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Lin, for the second day on Tuesday, parried the question on the bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi saying, "On the bilateral meeting you mentioned ... China will release timely information if anything comes up." The ties between the two Asian giants nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border face-off began and the disengagement process with China has been completed.

‘We are trying to restore trust'

A day after India announced reaching an agreement with China on patrolling along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said as of now "we are trying to restore the trust" and both sides will have to "reassure each other" to achieve this. "As far as we are concerned, we were looking at... we want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of Line of Actual Control," the Army chief said.

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