China has begun withdrawing troops from its disputed border with India, Indian government sources said, following the worst showdown between the two nuclear-armed neighbors in nearly 50 years, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The Chinese military was seen dismantling tents and structures on Monday at a location in the Galwan Valley near the site of the latest clash, Indian government sources said, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media, to the Reuters news agency. .
The vehicles were removed from the area, as well as Hot Springs and Gogra, two other disputed border areas, the sources said.
In response to a question about whether China had returned the equipment to the Galwan Valley, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said both sides were “taking effective measures to disconnect and alleviate the situation on the border.”
“We hope that India meets China halfway and takes concrete steps to carry out what both sides agreed to, continue to communicate closely through diplomatic and military channels, and work together to cool the situation on the border,” Zhao said at a press conference.
This comes after weeks of tensions between Asian nations following their worst border skirmish in more than five decades.
India and China have blamed it for provoking the high-altitude fight in the Galwan Valley on June 15, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and at least 76 wounded.
In the clash, the soldiers engaged in brutal hand-to-hand combat with sticks and sticks about 4,270 meters (14,000 feet) above sea level amid sub-zero temperatures.
China has not yet confirmed whether it suffered casualties, but the number of Indian deaths is highest along the border in more than five decades, a dramatic escalation that led to weeks of talks between senior military officials on how to ease tensions. .
On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise visit to the northern Himalayan region of Ladakh and, in a veiled excavation in China, said the “era of expansionism” had ended.
India claims 38,000sq km (15,000sq miles) of land currently under Chinese control, while Beijing bets on an area of 90,000sq km (34,700sq miles) within Indian territory.
Analysts say the current clash on the Current Line of Control (LAC) is the result of China’s rejection of the construction of India’s military infrastructure on the de facto border in recent years.
Another reason, according to some experts, is related to India’s unilateral measure last year to repeal Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which had guaranteed an autonomy measure to Kashmir administered by India, which also included the disputed areas of the Ladakh region.
China, which, like Pakistan, viewed India’s move as unilaterally affecting its territory, strongly denounced the move at the United Nations Security Council last year.
In an op-ed for Al Jazeera, Tariq Mir, a journalist based in Srinagar in India-administered Kashmir, wrote: “The confrontation between Chinese and Indian troops in Ladakh could prove to be only a side show of what might becoming a much bigger military confrontation this year between India and Pakistan along their long border in Kashmir. “
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
