India and China agree to disengage troops on disputed border

Foreign ministers meet in Moscow to defuse months-long escalation in remote Himalayan region

India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pose for a photo at their meeting in Moscow, Russia on September 10, 2020. Xinhua via AP

The Indian and Chinese foreign ministers have agreed that their troops should disengage from a tense border standoff, maintain proper distance and ease tensions in the remote mountainous region of Ladakh where the two sides in June had their deadliest clash in decades.

India’s S Jaishankar and China’s Wang Yi met in the Russian capital on Thursday night and concurred that "the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side”, according to a joint statement issued Friday.

Since last week, the Asian giants have accused each other of border incursions and firing warning shots for the first time in 45 years, threatening a full-scale military conflict.

An Indian Air Force military transport plane prepares to land at an airbase in Leh, in the union territory of Ladakh bordering China, on September 8, 2020. AFP

The foreign ministers did not set any any timeline for the disengagement of tens of thousands of troops who have been locked in a standoff since May, but agreed that "both sides shall abide by all the existing agreements and protocol on China-India boundary affairs, maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas and avoid any action that could escalate matters”.

The disputed 3,500-kilometre border separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.

The latest standoff is over portions of a pristine landscape that boasts the world’s highest landing strip and a glacier that feeds one of the largest irrigation systems in the world.

Both sides accuse the other of provocative behaviour including crossing into each other’s territory and both have vowed to protect their territorial integrity.

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  A satellite image taken over Galwan Valley in Ladakh, India, parts of which are contested with China, June 16, 2020, in this handout obtained from Planet Labs Inc. REUTERS

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  An Indian army convoy makes way towards Leh, bordering China, in Gagangir. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed during "hand-to-hand' fighting with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region, India's military said, the first deadly clash between the nuclear powers in decades. AFP

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  In this May 5, 2013 photo, Chinese troops hold a banner which reads: "You've crossed the border, please go back" in Ladakh, India. China on Tuesday, June 16, 2020 accused Indian forces along their Himalayan border of carrying out "provocative attacks" on its troops, leading to "serious physical conflicts" between the sides. AP Photo

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  Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers guard a highway leading towards Leh, bordering China, in Gagangir. The long-running border dispute between Asian nuclear powers India and China turned deadly for the first time in nearly half a century after at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a "violent face-off", the army said. AFP

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  The father and mother of Colonel Santosh Babu, who was killed in border clashes with Chinese troops, sit next to his portrait, in Suryapet,Telangana state, India. REUTERS

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  Police set up barricades outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi. The long-running border dispute between Asian nuclear powers India and China turned deadly for the first time in nearly half a century after at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a "violent face-off", the army said on June 16. AFP

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  Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers guard a highway leading towards Leh, bordering China, in Gagangir. The long-running border dispute between Asian nuclear powers India and China turned deadly for the first time in nearly half a century after at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a "violent face-off", the army said on June 16. AFP

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  Supporters of India's ruling Bharatiya Jayanta Party (BJP) attempt to burn a sheet resembling the Chinese national flag during a protest against China, in Kochi, India. REUTERS

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  Anti-China protesters display placards urging citizens to boycott Chinese goods at a market in New Delhi. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed during "hand-to-hand' fighting with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region, India's military said, the first deadly clash between the nuclear powers in decades. AFP

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  Chinese police and security personnel stand outside the Indian embassy in Beijing. Beijing's state media on June 17 played down a deadly border confrontation between Chinese and Indian troops and did not reveal casualties on its side even as social media users urged retaliation. The Indian army said Tuesday that 20 of its soldiers were killed in a "violent face-off" along the Himalayan frontier on June 16, which resulted in "casualties on both sides". AFP

Earlier this week, Mr Jaishankar described the situation along their shared boundary, known as the Line of Actual Control, as “very serious” and said the state of the border cannot be separated from the state of the relationship.

On Thursday, the two countries agreed that as the situation eases, they should expedite work to conclude "new confidence building measures to maintain and enhance peace and tranquility in the border areas".

In a separate statement, Mr Wang said “China-India relations have once again come to a crossroads".

The statement said Mr Wang “outlined China's stern position on the situation in the border areas, emphasising that the imperative is to immediately stop provocations such as firing and other dangerous actions that violate the commitments made by the two sides".

“It is also important to move back all personnel and equipment that have trespassed. The frontier troops must quickly disengage so that the situation may de-escalate," it quoted him as saying.

The two ministers met in Moscow on the sidelines of a gathering of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation. The body comprises China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Vinod Bhatia, a retired Indian army general, said it would be a long process to resolve the impasse.

“Disengagement is the first and the most important step that will guide the de-escalation process. The two armies will work out a mutually acceptable methodology for de-escalation,” Mr Bhatia said.

He said "there is a political will and direction now to resolve the crisis".

The two nations fought a border war in 1962 that spilled into Ladakh and ended in an uneasy truce. Since then, troops have guarded the undefined border area, occasionally brawling. They have agreed not to attack each other with firearms.

Rival soldiers brawled in May and June with clubs, stones and their fists. A clash on a high ridge on June 15 left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China reported no casualties.

After that clash, both sides disengaged from the site in Galwan valley and at least two other places, but the crisis continued.