The agreement between India and China to resume patrolling at the “agreed perceived Line of Actual Control”, including at the Depsang Plains and Demchok the way they used to before May 2020, is not expected to immediately reduce the number of troops stationed in the region.
The deployment of troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh will remain consistent with previous winter post-Galwan face-offs, according to government sources.
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi had mentioned on October 1 at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue event that the situation at the LAC is “stable” but not “normal”. He also highlighted that trust between the two countries has been significantly impacted.
While the Indian Army has not officially commented on the recent developments, a senior officer mentioned that only the Ministry of External Affairs is authorized to address the issue.
The new protocol agreed upon allows troops to patrol in Demchok and Depsang from Patrolling Point (PP) 10 to PP 13, which aligns with the pre-face-off arrangements. The finer details of patrolling and other border-related issues in eastern Ladakh will be decided in India-China Corps Commander Level Meetings.
There have been 21 rounds of such Commander level talks to address LAC issues. During the latest meeting on February 19, the two sides discussed complete disengagement at the remaining friction points along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
