Demchok is a disputed area where India and China have varying claims in the Charding La area. At Depsang, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian patrols from going beyond the Y-junction
The breakthrough achieved by India and China towards disengagement in eastern Ladakh comes after two years of stalemate over two remaining friction points, Depsang and Demchok.
Defence sources say patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in this sector will resume now. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar confirmed this, saying the understanding is that “we will be able to do patrolling which we were doing till 2020”.
Resumption of patrolling as it was in 2020 means that the buffer zones set up after disengagement from the friction points will be done away with. However, there is still no clarity on the modalities of the disengagement process. The understanding reached is to restore patrolling as was being done earlier, a source in the know said adding that a frequency would be worked out and done in a coordinated manner to avoid potential face-offs and clashes.
“There are areas which, for various reasons after 2020, they have blocked us, so we had blocked them… We have reached an understanding which will allow the patrolling… Depsang, that is not the only place, there are other places also. The understanding is that we will be able to do patrolling which we were doing till 2020,” Dr. Jaishankar said at an event.
Terming it a positive development, he said the agreement has just been reached and advised “caution”, saying there “will be meetings now to see what are the next steps”.
Earlier in the day, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the two countries had reached an agreement for patrolling arrangements, leading to disengagement and resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020. However, there is no movement yet on de-escalation of the thousands of troops deployed in eastern Ladakh since the stand-off began.
Demchok is one of the two mutually agreed disputed areas in eastern Ladakh with each side having varying claims in the Charding La area. China set up tents on the Indian side of Charding Nala in 2017 and its presence expanded as the stand-off unfolded in April 2020. China insists that these two issues predate the 2020 stand-off, while India stresses that the ingress in 2020 has to be revoked, which had caused a stalemate in the talks.
Patrols blocked
At Depsang plains, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian patrols for some time from going beyond the Y-junction by deliberately facing off due to which the Indian Army has not been able to access the Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13 located on the Limit of Patrolling, which lies before the LAC. India last accessed the PPs in Depsang in January/February 2020, as reported by The Hindu in 2020.
Under agreed protocols, both sides undertake a banner drill when patrols come face to face as a way to prevent their escalation which involves both sides waving banners at each other and asserting their claim and then returning. China has been using this to block Indian patrols. As agreed by both sides during the initial phases of disengagement following the violent clash at Galwan in June 2020, the first step is disengagement from all friction areas, working out new patrolling norms and then de-escalation which is pulling back the thousands of additional troops inducted along the LAC.
Since the Corps commander-level talks in 2020, the two sides have undertaken disengagement from five friction points – from Galwan after the violent clash in June 2020, from the North and South Banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021, from Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the GograHot Springs area in August 2021 and PP15 in September 2022.
The last disengagement, from PP15, followed the 16th round of Corps Commander-level talks on July 17, 2022.