The patrol agreement was announced last month. (file)
New Delhi:
Dismissing reports that military talks between India and China have stalled over the modality of patrolling in Depsang in eastern Ladakh, the Indian Army has not faced any obstacles or objections and termed the articles as “speculations and unsubstantiated”.
In a post on Thursday X, the Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information said some reports on Wednesday and Thursday speculated about disruptions in the decommissioning process at Depsang and Demchok following the agreement between India and China last month.
“It has been clearly stated that disengagement at Depsang and Demchok has been completed and implementation of the agreement, resumption of patrolling in traditional patrolling areas is planned. There are no obstacles/objections from either side which have been encountered in this process,” the Army said.
Some media articles dated 06-07 November 2024 speculated about obstacles / objections to the disengagement process as a result of the agreement between the Indian and Chinese sides on 21 October 24. It is clearly stated that the discontinuity in Depsang and Demchok… pic.twitter.com/SHxT8Mvmf2
— ADG PI – Indian Army (@adgpi) November 7, 2024
It has alerted the relevant media to verify the facts on sensitive matters so as not to publish any misleading information.
“Articles published in this regard are fictitious and factual. Media houses concerned are requested to verify and verify facts before publishing such sensitive articles and exercise editorial discretion so that no unverified or misleading information is propagated,” the post said.
On October 21, India announced a patrol agreement for two disputed areas, Depsang and Demchok, and announced that troops would be withdrawn from the positions they held before the start of the conflict between the two countries in 2020. Demolition of structures and restoration of standing land to their original condition.
“We reached an agreement on patrols, and we are back to the status of 2020. From this, we can say that the break with China is complete. After 2020, there are areas where they have blocked us for various reasons. Blocked them. We have now reached an understanding that 2020 will allow patrolling till,” said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
The army and the government had said last week that they had started patrolling both Depsang and Demchok after the dismemberment process was completed last month.