New Delhi: China and India on Wednesday began their simultaneous withdrawal of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, according to an official statement issued by the Chinese government. If the Chinese official statement is to be believed, the nine month-long stand-off between the two Asian giants has come to an end.
The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has not issued any statement yet.
The spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, Wu Qian said: “According to the consensus reached by the 9th round of the military commander-level talks between China and India, the frontline units of the Chinese and Indian armed forces in Pangong Hunan and North Coast began to simultaneously and systematically organize disengagement on February 10.”
Since May last year, Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in skirmishes along the LAC near Pangong lake in Ladakh and the Tibet Autonomous region. In one of the violent clashes, 20 Indian soldiers and over 40 Chinese troops were killed in the Galwan valley on June 15-16. Amid the face-off, India sent massive deployments to Ladakh.
Though both sides disengaged in the Galwan valley of Ladakh in July but the stand-off continued at critical points at Pangong and PP17A. In August, Indian troops regained multiple strategic heights in Chushul sector along the LAC.
