China will return to Pangong lake Finger 8, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

No patrolling in disputed area: Rajnath

NEW DELHI: India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement in the north and south banks of Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the Upper House of Parliament on Thursday making it clear that India has not conceded anything during these talks.

Chinese troops will move back to Finger 8 and Indian troops will pull back to the Dhan Singh Thapa post between Finger 2 and 3 of the north bank of Pangong Tso, said Singh adding that there would be temporary moratorium on military activities, including patrolling to the traditional areas.

The mountain spur jutting into the lake is referred to as Finger in military parlance. The north bank of the lake is divided into 8 Fingers. India claims its territory till Finger 8 but China breached and came up till Finger 4.

The minister said: "The Chinese side will keep its troop presence in the North Bank area to the east of Finger 8. Reciprocally, the Indian troops will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3."

Patrolling will be resumed only when both sides reach an agreement in diplomatic and military talks that would be held subsequently.

The minister said a similar action would be taken in the South Bank area by both sides.

On August 30, India had occupied critical mountain heights on the southern bank of the Pangong Lake like Rechin La, Rezang La, Mukpari, and Tabletop that were unmanned till then. India also made some deployments near the Blacktop. The dominance at these peaks allowed India to dominate Spanggur Gap under Chinese control and also the Moldo garrison on the Chinese side.

As per the minister, Indian troops have now to withdraw from these heights also.

"These are mutual and reciprocal steps and any structures that had been built by both sides since April 2020 in both North and South Bank area will be removed and the land forms will be restored," the Defence Minister said.

The minister also informed the House that it has also agreed to convene the next meeting of the senior commanders within 48 hours after the complete disengagement in the Pangong Lake area so as to address and resolve all other remaining issues.

The implementation of this agreement started on Wednesday. It will substantially restore the situation to existing prior to commencement of the standoff last year.

The minister also pointed that there were still "some outstanding issues" with regard to deployment and patrolling at some other points along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh. "These will be the focus of further discussions with the Chinese side," said the minister.

During military and diplomatic talks, both the countries have agreed that both sides should achieve complete disengagement at the earliest and abide fully by the bilateral agreements and protocols.

He also paid gratitude to the armed forces who have shown grit and resolve under these extremely harsh climatic conditions of Ladakh which has resulted in the present agreement.

He also appraised the House about China's illegal occupation of Indian territory. China illegally occupied approximately 38,000 sq. km 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. km of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China, the minister said.

China, thus is in illegal occupation of more than 43,000 sq. km of Indian territory. It also claims approximately 90,000 sq. km of Indian territory in the Eastern Sector of the India-China boundary in Arunachal Pradesh. India has never accepted this illegal occupation of Indian territory or the unjustified claims, he said.

In these discussions, India has maintained the three key principles that determine the approach: both sides should strictly respect and observe the LAC; neither side should attempt to alter the status quo unilaterally; and all agreements and understandings between the two sides must be fully abided by in their entirety. (IANS)

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