Army chief on China: 'Disengagement after situation returns to 2020 status quo'

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said on Tuesday that Indian forces will disengage with China in Ladakh only after the situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) returns to the "status quo of April 2020".

His remark came a day after New Delhi announced that India and China have reached an agreement on disengagement in eastern Ladakh after an over four-year-long standoff.

General Dwivedi said the forces are trying to restore trust with the Chinese side, which had attempted to destabilize the LAC with its aggressive activities.

"We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of LAC... This has been our stand since April 2020. As of now, we are trying to restore the trust. That will happen once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince and reassure each other that we are not creeping into buffer zones that have been created," he told ANI.

Also read: 'Back to 2020 situation': S Jaishankar explains 'complete' India-China disengagement

India and China's bilateral relations deteriorated due to Beijing's aggressive posture at LAC in April-May 2020.

Also read: China's first reaction to Ladakh truce with India: ‘Reached a solution’

India maintains that New Delhi's relations with China will only normalise after the situation at the de-facto border returns to what it was before May 2020.

Also read: Lingering questions about India-China agreement on LAC

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday said India and China have reached an agreement on the patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control.

Also read: Jaishankar's big attack on Canada amid diplomatic row: ‘Even double standards are mild words’

"We have been in discussion with Chinese interlocutors through WMCC as was mentioned earlier and at the military level as well through meetings of the military commanders at various levels. These discussions have in the past resulted in the resolution of standoffs at various locations. You are also aware that there were a few locations where the standoff had not been resolved," he said.

"Now as a result of the discussions that have taken place over the last several weeks, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the line of actual control in the India-China border areas and this is leading to dis-engagement and eventually a resolution of the issues that had arisen in these areas in 2020," he said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has returned to what it was before May 2020.