India, China end standoff; withdraw troops from Ladakh

In a sudden development, India and China pulled back their troops from the standoff point in the Depsang Valley in Ladakh's Daulat Beg Oldi sector, where Chinese forces had intruded nearly three weeks earlier, official sources said tonight.

A battalion of Chinese troops estimated at about 50 and accompanied by vehicles and dogs, had intruded 19 km inside Indian territory across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Daulat Beg Oldi on April 15 and set up five tents.

Indian troops had also established tented posts facing the Chinese forces at a distance of 300 metres.

The two sides held four flag meetings, the latest one being yesterday. However, there was no positive outcome from these meetings, which went hand-in-hand with high-level diplomatic efforts to break the impasse.

An agreement was reached late today for both sides to pull back their troops simultaneously from the face off point, which was completed at 7:30 pm, the sources said.

Indian and Chinese commanders at the local level shook hands before withdrawing, the sources said.

However, it was not clear whether the Chinese would withdraw all the way back across the LAC to the position on April 15, as was demanded by India, which pressed for restoration of status quo ante.

The faceoff in Ladakh had cast a shadow over the visit of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid to China on May 9 to prepare the ground for the new Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to India from May 20.

Khurshid had told reporters on his way to Iran on May 3 that the progress in dialogue to end the standoff in Ladakh was not satisfactory.

India would have liked a "much better response" from China, he had said and emphasised that it wanted reversal of the "adverse incident" in Ladakh and return to the status quo in the Depsang Valley.

The Chinese side had earlier refused to budge from the territory occupied by them and insisted Indian forces must first pull back in the DBO sector.

The Chinese side also reiterated their earlier stand that India should dismantle bunkers constructed along the LAC in Phuktsay and Chumar areas, to which the Indian side contended that similar activities were being carried out on the Chinese side.

Chinese officials maintained the activities on their side was more of a developmental work and that India should stop pushing its grazers in Chumar division, southeast of Ladakh.

Under today's agreement, the Indian troops decided to move back to Burste, the point they were stationed at prior to April 15.