India –China  Agreement on patrolling along LAC: Petrol right in Depsang Plains & Demchok

Demchok is a disputed area where India and China have varying claims in the Charding La area. At Depsang, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian patrols from going beyond the Y-junction.

The breakthrough achieved by India and China towards disengagement in eastern Ladakh comes after two years of stalemate over two remaining friction points, Depsang and Demchok.

• Defence sources say patrolling along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in this sector will resume now.
• Demchok is one of the two mutually agreed disputed areas in eastern Ladakh with each side having varying claims in the Charding La area. China set up tents on the Indian side of Charding Nala in 2017 and its presence expanded as the stand-off unfolded in April 2020. China insists that these two issues predate the 2020 stand-off, while India stresses that the ingress in 2020 has to be revoked, which had caused a stalemate in the talks.

Earlier positions:

• At Depsang plains, Chinese troops have been blocking Indian patrols for some time from going beyond the Y-junction by deliberately facing off due to which the Indian Army has not been able to access the Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11A, 12 and 13 located on the Limit of Patrolling, which lies before the LAC. India last accessed the PPs in Depsang in January/February 2020, as reported by The Hindu in 2020.
• Since the Corps commander-level talks in 2020, the two sides have undertaken disengagement from five friction points – from Galwan after the violent clash in June 2020, from the North and South Banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021, from Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in August 2021 and PP15 in September 2022.
• The last disengagement, from PP15, followed the 16th round of Corps Commander-level talks on July 17, 2022.