China on Tuesday confirmed that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh.
The 60-metre bridge is around four kilometres east of the confluence of Shyok and Galwan rivers, and links the narrow mountainous region to the Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldi road.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Monday emphasised the need to counter terrorism in all its forms for overall regional peace and stability during a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
China said that after this incident both sides are in communication and coordination on the matter through diplomatic and military channels.
At least two previously unknown incidents of skirmishes between the Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) have come to light with citations for gallantry awards conferred on Indian Army personnel mentioning them.
The visit comes a week after 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in a brutal assault by the Chinese military in Galwan Valley which escalated the border tension.
Col Babu was awarded the gallantry medal for resisting the Chinese Army attack while establishing an observation post in the face of the enemy in the Galwan valley in the Ladakh sector during Operation Snow Leopard.
The Chinese government had "planned" the Galwan incident in June even as Beijing ramped up its multiyear coercion campaign against its neighbours, provoking military or paramilitary standoffs with countries from Japan to India, the United States top panel said in its report released on Wednesday.
At least 38 PLA troops drowned while crossing a fast-flowing, sub-zero river in darkness, according to an article in the Australian newspaper The Klaxon which cited a report prepared by a group of social media researchers after a year-long investigation.
China in a provocative move fielded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander of the (PLA), who was injured during the June 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, as a torchbearer for the Olympics Games Torch Relay, which led India to diplomatically boycott the opening ceremony of the games on Friday.
"He told me his (retirement) papers were through and he would return home in a weeks time and asked me to go ahead with the house warming ceremony on June 3 which I did," she said.
The talks took place over video call on Sunday. According to sources, talks were held for over two hours in a cordial and forward-looking manner.
India on Monday announced it has reached an agreement with China on patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough in ending the over four-year-long military standoff ahead of a likely meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia this week.
India has significantly enhanced military infrastructure, surveillance and combat capabilities along the nearly 3,500 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China since the deadly clashes in Galwan valley in 2020, sources in the defence establishment said Wednesday on the eve of the third anniversary of the hostilities.
The Indian Army is looking at deploying over 350 light tanks, mostly in the mountainous border areas.
"China is an absolutely impossible factor to ignore in what has been our confrontation with Pakistan," Tharoor said.
The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach involving the Army, the Indian Air Force and the Navy as well as diplomacy and economic measures to send out a firm and clear message to China that its misadventure in eastern Ladakh was not acceptable at all.
China on Wednesday said the Chinese and Indian militaries are implementing the resolutions concerning the disengagement in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in an 'orderly' manner.
The two sides had started coordinated patrols in the first week of the month after completing disengagement in both Demchok and Depsang in the last week of October.
Six Army personnel including Col Santosh Babu, Nb Sub Nuduram Soren, Hav K Palani, Hav Tejinder Singh, Nk Deepak Singh and Sep Gurtej Singh, who lost their lives in the Galwan valley clash, have been awarded Chakra series wartime gallantry medals posthumously.
Jaishankar said India-China ties have been abnormal since 2020 when peace and tranquillity in border areas were disturbed due to Chinese actions.
India has firmly rejected any involvement of a third party in its border dispute with China, declining an offer of mediation from US President Donald Trump. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri emphasized India's commitment to resolving bilateral issues through direct dialogue, stating that New Delhi has always maintained a bilateral approach in dealing with such matters. This stance underscores India's position that the border dispute with China should be addressed through direct negotiations between the two countries.
But there is a bigger issue that both of us have brought forces close up and in that sense there is a militarisation of the border, he said.
On Saturday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media in New Delhi that the Indian Army has commenced verification patrolling at Depsang, the second friction point in eastern Ladakh.
Sources had earlier said that the areas and patrolling status were expected to be moved back to pre-April 2020 level.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is likely to travel to Beijing within the next few weeks to lead the Indian delegation at a new edition of the Special Representatives dialogue on the larger boundary question that will be held after a gap of nearly five years, authoritative sources said.
The United States has asserted that it stands with India against Chinese aggression as several lawmakers slammed China for choosing a People's Liberation Army soldier.
India is preparing to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, after a three-year hiatus. The decision comes as part of efforts to improve relations between India and China, which have been strained since a military standoff in 2020. The two countries have also agreed in principle to resume flight services between them.
Monday's clash was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese Army personnel were killed in the confrontation.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the 2008 Mumbai terror attack marked a turning point in relations with Pakistan when Indians collectively felt that such behaviour from a neighbouring country could no longer be tolerated. Speaking at Charotar University of Science and Technology, Jaishankar acknowledged India's transformation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the last decade, while Pakistan has remained unchanged, continuing with what he termed as its "bad habits."
Senior Congress leader and former defence minister A K Antony on Sunday alleged that disengagement in both the Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso Lake areas and the creation of a buffer zone was a 'surrender' of India's rights.
India and China have agreed to rebuild ties and resume people-to-people exchanges, including resuming direct flights and the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra this year. The two countries also discussed the resumption of dialogue mechanisms to address each other's concerns and move relations to a more stable path. The meeting comes after a period of strained relations following the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.
The sources said there was clear sign of withdrawal of structures and troops from the patrolling point 14 in Galwan Valley and that they are likely to move back more than a kilometre in the area.
The move comes amid reports in a section of media that claimed that Chinese soldiers had displayed their flag in the region a few days ago.
The Indian Army began patrolling at Demchok on Friday, days after Indian and Chinese troops completed disengagement at the two friction points in eastern Ladakh, Army sources said.
The former army chief-turned-minister did not provide any evidence to support his statement. He said China historically never accepted any war casualties including in the 1962 conflict with India.
A popular Chinese blogger, detained earlier this year for his comments regarding military casualties of Galwan valley clash with India, has been sentenced to eight months in prison.
China's foreign ministry on Monday parried questions on a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this week.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday pledged to strengthen the strategic relationships with neighbouring countries by 'appropriately' managing differences and enhancing supply chain ties as China's tariff war with the United States escalated.
According to the 'Military and Security Developments involving the People's Republic of China' report 2023: "Since early May 2020, sustained tensions along the India-China border have dominated the Western Theater Command's attention."
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