External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said India and China have made “some progress” towards disengagement of troops and termed the progress as a “welcome” step.
His comments come days after Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at two friction points in Demchok and Depsang plains in eastern Ladakh. The Indian Army began verification patrolling in Depsang, while patrolling in Demchok began on Friday.
Mr Jaishankar responded, saying, “In terms of India and China, we have made some progress. You know, our relations were very, very troubled for reasons that you all know. We have had what we call withdrawal of troops. Yes, some progress has been made in that.” A question during conversation with Indian expatriates here.
“There are a very large number of Chinese troops deployed along the Line of Actual Control who were not there before 2020 and we, in turn, have made counter-deployments. There are other aspects of the relationship too that have been affected during this period. So clearly “We’ll have to see where we go after the retreat, but we think the retreat is a welcome step, it opens up the possibility that, you know, other steps can be taken.”
He said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia last month, the expectation was that “both the National Security Advisor and I, we will meet our counterpart. So that’s really where things are.”
On October 21, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in Delhi that after several weeks of talks, an agreement between India and China has been finalized and will resolve the issues that emerged in 2020.
Agreement was reached on de-escalation of patrolling and withdrawal of troops from the LAC in eastern Ladakh, which is a major achievement in ending the standoff that has lasted for more than four years.
Relations between the two Asian giants plunged after the deadly Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
Mr Jaishankar arrived here during the day on the first leg of his two-nation tour, which will also take him to Singapore.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
