Last set of disengagement between India, China concluded on October 21, says EAM Jaishankar

India and China concluded the last lot of disengagement on October 21 and the implementation process is going on, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, while calling this a “positive development.”

The Foreign Minister was holding a joint presser with his Australian Counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

Being asked about the recent disengagement between India and China, Jaishankar said, “On October 21st we concluded the last lot of disengagement agreements, we had done some earlier. These are currently in the process of being implemented. The last agreement was primarily around patrolling rights of the two sides. So we think all in all it’s a positive development.”

The EAM said that Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have agreed for meetings between the national security advisors and foreign ministers of the two countries.

“The fact that with that, once it’s done the disengagement process is completed, we have other challenges to address including de-escalation of forces but at Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting Prime Minister Modi and President Xi had a meeting. It was agreed that the foreign ministers and the national security advisors would meet, so we will have to look at further building on this,” he added.

PM Modi and Chinese President Xi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. Prime Minister Modi stated that ties between the two nations are important for the people of India and China and for regional and global peace and stability.

The sentiment was also reiterated by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who last week said, “At some areas along the LAC, discussions have been ongoing between India and China at both diplomatic and military levels to resolve conflicts. Following recent talks, there has been a broad consensus to restore the ground situation. This consensus has developed on the basis of equal and mutual security. The agreement includes rights related to patrolling and grazing in traditional areas”.

He added, “Based on this consensus, the disengagement process is nearly complete. We will strive to move beyond just disengagement, but for that, we will need to wait a little longer.”

This came after both India and China confirmed that an agreement had been reached between the two nations regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China border areas.

The border standoff between India and China began in eastern Ladakh along the LAC in 2020, sparked by Chinese military actions. This incident led to prolonged tensions between the two nations, significantly straining their relations.

Earlier in the day, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India announced on the social media platform, X, “The Chinese and Indian troops are implementing the resolutions that the two sides reached on issues concerning the border area, which is going smoothly at the moment”.

Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong had also earlier said that he hoped the bilateral ties would move forward smoothly and ties between both countries would not be restricted or interrupted by specific disagreements.