Ladakh standoff | India and China announce withdrawal from PP-15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area
On Thursday, India and China announced that their armies have begun to disengage from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area of Eastern Ladakh, a step toward ending the standoff that has lasted since May 2020.
The move comes ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan next week.
Which will be attend by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Neither side has confirmed whether the two leaders will hold bilateral talks on the summit’s sidelines. Even though they haven’t spoken since a November 2019 meeting at the BRICS Summit in Brasilia and the start of the standoff in April 2020.
“On September 8, 2022, the Indian and Chinese troops in the area of Gogra-Hotsprings (PP-15) began to disengage in a coordinated also planned manner. Which is conducive to the peace and tranquillity in the border areas. The two sides said in a joint statement issued on Thursday.
According to a defense official, a consensus was reach at the Corps Commander level. And ground commanders on both sides work out the modalities, which are now being implement. The official said the disengagement start this morning and is ongoing, adding that more details on the modalities are await.
According to the earlier agreement on disengagement. A buffer zone will be establish at the friction points once both sides’ troops have been withdrawn. New patrolling norms will be shown after complete disengagement and de-escalation.
The two sides have held 16 talks since the standoff began in May 2020. With disengagement from both sides of Pangong Tso in February 2021. And from PP-17 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area in August, in addition to Galwan in 2020 after the violent clash. Demchok and Depsang are the only remaining points of contention, which China has consistently refused to acknowledge. Claiming they are not involve in the current standoff.
