LAC standoff: 'Disengagement at Pangong Tso finalized, China to move to east of Finger 8'
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New Delhi, Feb 11: "India and China have reached an agreement for disengagement at southern and northern banks of Pangong Tso Lake", Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a statement in Parliament on Thursday. He said that during the ninth round of Corps Commander-level military talks, it was decided that both sides will remove forward deployments in a "phased and coordinated manner".
The minister said that India has always emphasized maintaining bilateral ties and is committed to maintaining peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Singh said both sides agree that complete disengagement under bilateral pacts and protocol should be done at the earliest.
He told the Rajya Sabha that China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) will pull back to east of Finger 8 and Indian Army will move to its permanent base near Finger 3. He said, "A similar action would be taken in the South Bank area by both sides. The implementation of this agreement has started yesterday in the North and South Bank of the Pangong Lake." The commanders of both sides will hold a meeting following the completion of disengagement in the Pangong area, Singh said.
This comes after the Chinese and Indian border troops on the southern and northern shores of Pangong Lake began disengagement on Wednesday as per the consensus reached during the ninth round of military commander-level talks, according to China's Ministry of National Defence.
Singh also assured that India has not lost anything. "Our approach and strategy for negotiations with the Chinese side has been guided at the highest level by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve that we will not give even an inch of Indian territory. Our tenacity and approach during talks have yielded results."
He also informed the main aspects of the situation on the ground. He said, "China illegally occupied approximately 38,000 sq. kms in the Union Territory of Ladakh, mainly during the 1962 conflict. In addition, under the so-called Sino-Pakistan ‘Boundary Agreement’ of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China."
Further, he added, "China, thus is in illegal occupation of more than 43,000 sq. kms of Indian territory. It also claims approximately 90,000 sq. kms. of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh. India has never accepted this illegal occupation of our territory or the unjustified claims."