Common sense prevails

Mutually agreeing that no new posts are constructed in close proximity to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh and identifying specific limits of patrolling, were some of the issues discussed in the Major General-level talks held between India and China at Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) and Chushul, as per media sources. The discussions also included not increasing troops by both countries along the LAC.Both the countries have agreed to refrain from violating any airspace by drones, defining ‘boundaries’ of patrolling, exchanging prior information about each other’s patrols, strictly following border protocols and where troops from both sides have been reduced since maintaining the integrity of such buffer zones.The meeting between India and China took place at the Chushul-Moldo border point on the Indian side of the LAC. Since the border standoff started in May 2020, the armies of both countries have disengaged from the northern and southern flanks of the Pangong Tso, Gogra and Hot Springs area, though tensions remain in the Depsang plains and Demchok region.