With gradual disengagement from various points, Gogra hot springs disengagement is to be over on September 12.
India and China share a rough patch that has thrown both nations on the edge further, with the deadliest clash in 45 years ultimately leading to a months-long military standoff with China and at least 11 rounds of high-level military talks.
India and China will look into the remaining issues along the line of control (LAC), after the disengagement at the patrolling point (PP) 15 in Gogra hot springs is wrapped up by Monday, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday.
The stance of Beijing has been surprisingly “welcoming” of the disengagement at PP15. Recapitulating its positive stand, it stated that it would not accept India’s demand to adhere to the status quo prior to China’s transgressions.
Beijing said that “the status quo of April 2020… was created by India’s illegal crossing of the Line of Actual Control [LAC]”.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told the reporters when asked if the latest disengagement will ensure the full restoration of the status quo said, “We don’t accept the so-called status quo created by India’s illegal crossing of the LAC, but that doesn’t mean we don’t attach importance to peace and tranquility along the border…. China and India hold different positions on border issues. But what is most important now is for both sides to keep up communication and dialogue, make disengagement the first step, and ensure peace and tranquility along the border. The beginning of disengagement is a positive development.”
On the part of India, it only made clear that relations can return to normalcy after the full disengagement of more than 50,000 troops on each side has been done.
Difficulties may still lie ahead as both nations look forward to resolving differences in the remaining disputed areas in Demchok and Depsang.
With the cooperation of both sides, the side’s disengagement process has been successful in five other areas, the latest one being PP15. This led to the creation of buffer zones in Galway valley, north and south of Pangong lake, and in PP17A in hot springs.
Will the leaders of India and China meet?
The timing of this disengagement suggests that both sides are trying to create conditions that would enable the first meeting between their leaders after three years and the first time after the clash.
Shanghai cooperation organization (SCO) summit is all set to take place next week and both the leaders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping would likely attend in Samarkand. The MEA said disengagement at PP15 would be completed by September 12 just three days before the SCO summit.
Neither of the sides has made it clear as to whether the two leaders who haven’t exchanged a handshake since November 2019 meeting in Brasilia or during the more than two-yearlong LAC crisis, will be able to exchange words on the sideline of the summit or not, or at the G20 in Indonesia in November.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said “The two sides have agreed to cease forward deployments in this area in a phased, coordinated, and verified manner, resulting in the return of the troops of both sides to their respective areas,” Mr. Bagchi said. “It has been agreed that all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides will be dismantled and mutually verified. The landforms in the area will be restored to the pre-stand-off period by both sides. The agreement ensures that the LAC in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides and that there will be no unilateral change in status quo.”
