On Tuesday, China confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to resolve the military standoff between their armies in eastern Ladakh, PTI reported.
The report, quoting the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, stated at a media briefing that the two nations had been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels on border-related issues. When asked to respond to India’s announcement on Monday about ending the standoff, Lin acknowledged that both sides had reached a resolution on the “relevant matters” but did not disclose further details.
Lin emphasised that China would cooperate with India to implement the agreement but refused to provide additional information despite repeated questions.
China did not immediately react to India’s Monday announcement regarding the agreement on patrolling the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which marked a significant breakthrough after over four years of military tensions.
The official Chinese media also did not report the Indian announcement, and both sides remained tight-lipped about the specifics.
China’s confirmation came only after President Xi Jinping departed for the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Tuesday. Lin avoided further questions about a possible bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi, stating that China would release relevant information if necessary.
Relations between the two countries took a serious hit following the violent clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, which was the most severe military conflict between them in decades.
On Monday, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that Indian and Chinese soldiers would soon resume patrolling as they did before the border standoff and confirmed that the disengagement process with China had been completed.
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, in a media briefing in New Delhi, explained that the agreement was finalized after several weeks of negotiations between the two sides and would resolve the issues that had arisen since 2020. Misri highlighted that both diplomatic and military negotiators from India and China had been in continuous contact, resulting in an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the LAC.
The standoff initially began when China moved thousands of its troops near the LAC, leading to a strong response from India. After prolonged negotiations, the two sides agreed to disengage from four key areas—Galwan Valley, Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Gogra—but talks dragged on as India demanded similar disengagement in Depsang and Demchok. The new agreement is expected to address patrolling in these unresolved areas.
