New Delhi, Oct 31 (PTI) Indian and Chinese soldiers exchanged candies on Thursday on the Line of Actual Control, including eastern Ladakh, in observance of the Diwali celebrations.
It is learnt that both the sides had completed disengagement of soldiers from both the friction points at Demchok and Depsang Plains in eastern Ladakh by a day back and with that, came the latest thaw in Sino-Indian ties.
The sweet exchange of Diwali sweets among the Indian and Chinese soldiers along the LAC happened at various border spots on this festive occasion. PTI earlier in the day has quoted an army source.
The exchange took place at all the five BPM points along the LAC — Bum La and Wacha/Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh, Chushul-Moldo and Daulat Beg Oldi in Ladakh and Nathu La in Sikkim — among several other locations, sources added.
Sweets were also exchanged at Kongk La, KK Pass and Hot Springs (in eastern Ladakh), they said.
Traditionally, a host of border posts along LAC, including eastern Ladakh, Indian and Chinese troops have exchanged sweets on the occasion of festivals, and other important dates.
Patrols would soon be initiated, an Army source said Wednesday, as soldiers on both sides completed disengagement at two friction points.
Then the source said the verification process after the disengagement was going on and that the modalities of patrolling were to be worked out between ground commanders.
Also read: Indian Army’s New Authority Under Section 79(3)(B) To Directly Remove Content From The Internet
“Talks will continue at the local commander level,” the Army source added.
On Thursday, an Army source said patrolling was yet to resume.
Earlier sources had said that areas and patrolling status would be moved back to the pre-April 2020 level.
Foreign secretary Vikram Misri here on Thursday said an agreement was arrived at between India and China in the wake of several weeks of negotiations, and this would lead to the resolution of all the issues that emerged in 2020.
The breakthrough to end the more than four-year-long standoff was finally concluded over the patrolling and disengagement of soldiers along the LAC in eastern Ladakh as part of the pact.
This is a significant step in efforts to reduce tensions along the LAC in eastern Ladakh, since the brutal clash on June 15, 2020, in the Galwan Valley was marked as the most serious military skirmish between both sides for decades.
