Agreement on disengagement along Pangong Lake after talks with China: Defence minister Rajnath Singh

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that sustained talks with China have led to an agreement on disengagement along the North and South banks of Pangong Lake. The Union minister also gave a detailed breakup of both sides removing troops from friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Briefing Rajya Sabha on the present situation in Eastern Ladakh, Singh said that India and China will be removing forward deployments in a phased and coordinated manner.

“Indian soldiers will pull back to their Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger-2 and Finger-3, with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops withdrawing to their positions East of Finger-8, with the area being temporarily designated a no-patrol zone,” said the Union minister.

While China will keep its troops to the East of the Finger 8 at the North bank of Pangong Lake, India will keep its troops at its permanent base near Finger 3, said Singh.

India and China have also agreed to convene the next meeting of the senior commanders within 48 hours after the complete disengagement in Pangong Lake area “to address and resolve all other remaining issues,” said Singh.

A day before, Chinese media had reported that border troops have begun the process of disengagement along the banks of Pangong Lake after consensus was reached during the ninth round of commander-level talks.

‘India lost nothing’

The defence minister asserted that India lost nothing to China during the talks on disengagement, however, there will continue to be some outstanding issues between the two nuclear neighbours.

“There are still some outstanding issues left in the deployment and patrolling on the LAC. We will focus on them in talks in the future,” said Singh.

“Many friction areas are built near the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. China has collected heavy force, arms and ammunition near the LAC and in the nearby area on its side,” said Singh adding that India has also adequately deployed its military resources.

The defence minister said that India is committed to maintaining peace at the LAC and the security forces have proved that they are ready to face any challenge to protect the sovereignty of the country.

‘India maintained three key principles’

The defence minister said that India maintained the three key principles which determined its approach to talks with China.

Singh listed the three principles: Both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC; neither side should attempt to alter status quo unilaterally, and all bilateral agreements and understandings must be fully abided by in their entirety.

India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 20,40,23,840 samples have so far been tested in the country for Covid-19, including 6,99,185 on Wednesday.