Top officials have confirmed that the development took place during the latest diplomatic and political level talks between both sides. The delegation for the 31st Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) talks held on August 29 in Beijing, also had representatives from the Indian military.

The 22nd round of military talks between India and China at the Corps Commanders’ level is now expected to be held shortly to chalk out the modalities — including the time frame — of the deployment of troops from either side based on the mutual agreement reached.

At present, troops deployed along the LAC continue to be in a state of alert, an official said, adding that they, however, are avoiding any confrontation which may create a trust deficit and delay redeployment plans.

As a confidence-building measure, local commanders of both sides on the ground have also been meeting to avoid clashes.

The winter stocking for the 50,000-60,000 additional troops deployed in eastern Ladakh, which is under way this year, will continue and while there may be redeployment of troops on the LAC, de-induction and de-escalation is likely to be a protracted affair. .

Officials aware of the latest developments said that plans to raise an additional division for Ladakh is already on with at least a brigade partially moving to the location.

There are plans to raise this division—most likely the 72 division—by mid next year with the aim of freeing the Uniform Force of Rashtriya Rifles to go back to its original location in 16 Corps.

The Indian Express had first reported this year that the Army is considering raising the 72 Division — which was to originally function under the 17 Mountain Strike Corps (MSC) based in Panagarh (West Bengal) — for possible deployment in eastern Ladakh under the Northern Command.

Irrespective of any deployment change that may be in the offing, officials said the border infrastructure development along the entire LAC will continue as per plans to be better prepared for any contingency.

Until the exact redeployment plans — still taking shape — are implemented, the existing deployment of troops and patrolling will continue.

The Army did not respond to queries on the matter.

Statements issued after meetings at the diplomatic and political levels last month and earlier this month had indicated some progress towards resolution.

At the WMCC held last month, a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said the two sides had a frank, constructive and forward-looking exchange of views on the situation along the LAC to narrow down the differences and find early resolution of the outstanding issues, indicating a progress in the negotiations.

Explained

At the center of dispute

On September 12, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that about 75 percent of the “disengagement problems” with China have been “sorted out” but the “bigger issue” has been the increasing militarization of the border. Subsequently, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the troops have disengaged at four places in Eastern Ladakh, including Galwan Valley and the situation along the borders is stable.

Also on September 12, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had held talks on the sidelines of a meeting of BRICS NSAs in St Petersburg in Russia where they discussed the progress made in the recent consultations on border issues.

A statement issued by the MEA stated that the Doval-Wang meeting gave the two sides an opportunity to review the recent efforts towards finding an “early resolution” of the remaining issues along the LAC, which will create conditions to stabilize and rebuild bilateral relations.

It said that both sides agreed to “work with urgency and redouble their efforts to realize complete disengagement in the remaining areas.”

The last formal disengagement along the LAC took place in September 2022, when both sides pulled back troops to disengage from Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of ​​Eastern Ladakh.

Friction points such as Galwan Valley, north and south banks of Pangong Tso and the Gogra-Hot Springs area have seen some amount of resolution in the last four years with the creation of buffer zones along the LAC.

While legacy issues of Depsang Plains and Demchok—pre-dating the current ongoing military standoff remained—troops deployed at the Depsang Plains were blocked from accessing their patrol points in an area called the Y junction.