In what could be called a huge breakthrough, India and China have reached an agreement on resuming patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The patrolling had stopped since the 2020 Galwan clash.
"As a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks an agreement has been arrived at on patroling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border area and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020," said Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in a press briefing.
This comes just a day before the BRICS Summit, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Prime Minister will be in Russia from 22-23 October, and the MEA is working on a bilateral meet between Modi and Jinping.
Sharing the details, Misri said the BRICS Summit will be attended by the founding members as well as new members. The summit begins on 22nd October and there is a leaders-only dinner on the evening of the first day. "The main day of the summit is 23rd October and there are two main sessions a closed plenary in the morning followed by an open plenary in the afternoon devoted to the main theme of the summit. Leaders are also expected to adopt the Kazan declaration which will lay the path forward for BRICS."
"The summit ends on 24th October but the Prime Minister on account of pressing commitments back home will return to New Delhi on 23rd October. On the sidelines of the summit, the Prime Minister is expected to have a few bilateral meetings."
The Indian and Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff since May 2020 and a full resolution has not yet been achieved even though the two sides have disengaged from several friction points. The ties plunged following a clash in the Galwan Valley that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.