Why the India-China agreement does not mean a return to status quo
The disengagement of the Indian and Chinese militaries along the Line of Actual Control should not be seen as the return to status quo ante, observers said.
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This week, there has been a thaw in India-China relations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting China’s President Xi Jinping in Russia – the first bilateral meeting between the two in five years since the armies of the two countries clashed in Ladakh in 2020.
The Ministry of External Affairs set the ball rolling on Monday when it announced that India and China had reached a patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control, “leading to the disengagement” of the two countries’ militaries in eastern Ladakh.
A day later, however, Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi struck a different note, saying Indian forces “will be looking at disengagement” with the Chinese military along the Line of Actual Control after the status quo of 2020 is restored.
Defence observers point out that there is a contradiction in what the government and the Army is saying. The Army chief’s comments suggest that the agreement reached between India and China does not amount to a return to the status quo that existed in the region before 2020, they say.
‘Disengagement completed’
Since mid-2020, the Indian and the Chinese militaries have been locked in a standoff at several locations in eastern Ladakh after India accused the Chinese military of incursions at several points along the disputed border. The tensions escalated...
