International affairs
Withdrawal of Chinese troops in Hot Springs complete
Indian and Chinese armies continued with the troop withdrawal process on Wednesday clearing patrol point-15 – another friction zone in eastern Ladakh that was on the knife-edge during the nine-week long stand-off in India’s northernmost union territory.
The disengagement has been completed at PP-15 (Gogra Post/Hot Spring areas) where the troops have moved back by nearly two km from the line of actual control, government sources said. At PP-17 and PP-17A in the same area, it would take another day or two to finish the task.
The Chinese military removed all temporary structures and completed withdrawal of its troops from the face-off site in Hot Springs in eastern Ladakh on Wednesday even as the Indian Army kept a close watch on the pull back and maintained a high-level of combat readiness in the region, PTI reported quoting sources. The news report said the two armies are expected to carry out a joint verification in the next few days to assess the implementation of the disengagement process once the dismantling of the temporary infrastructure and withdrawal of troops by China are completed at the friction points along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh. There has been thinning out of troops from Finger areas in Pangong Tso as well, they report said. Pangong Tso has been a major face-off site between the two sides.
Amidst reports of withdrawal of Indian and Chiese soldiers from the contested Galwan Valley, a statement was issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. China has said that both countries are working to reduce border tension but did not clarify whether its army had retreated or not.
News agency Reuters asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian “According to Indian media reports, China has retreated with tents and equipment from the Galwan Valley, where there was a clash between the two countries.” Can you confirm it has happened?
In response, Zhao Lijian said – “there is progress made on front-line troops taking effective measures to disengage and ease the tensions.” He said the Chinese and Indian troops held commander-level talks on June 30 as the two sides continued to work to implement the consensus reached at the two previous rounds of talks.
Anti-China sentiment has been growing in India since the high-altitude clash, with the government banning Chinese mobile apps including the wildly popular TikTok.
The symbolic disengagement of Indian and Chinese armies from few areas in eastern Ladakh has shown their intent to resolve the border standoff peacefully ahead of another round of military talks on Wednesday. The gesture explains that the dialogue between the two countries was successful and China too understood that bullying tactics will not work against India.