The story so far: As the 2020 standoff in Eastern Ladakh marks three years, India and China are far from achieving the objective of disengagement and de-escalation and restoration of status quo ante to resolve the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). As part of the disengagement process from the friction points in Eastern Ladakh, India and China have been engaged in talks at the diplomatic, military and political level, with the senior military commander-level talks being the major avenue to undertake disengagement and de-escalation and resolve the standoff that began in May 2020.
Where is the disengagement process?
Since the Corps commander level talks in 2020, the two sides have so far undertaken disengagement from five friction points — at Galwan after the violent clash in June 2020, the north and south banks of Pangong Tso in February 2021, at Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in August 2021, and PP15 in September 2022. On the Depsang Plains and Demchok, there are fundamental disagreements, as India maintains that they are the two additional friction points that still remain while China has refused to accept it, terming them as legacy issues predating the 2020 standoff. On several occasions, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande has termed the situation along the LAC as “stable but unpredictable” while stating that five out of the seven friction points in Eastern Ladakh have been resolved and the focus is now on the remaining two points.
