Terms of disengagement

Pangong pullback leaves unanswered questions

A combination of robust economic, diplomatic, and military responses from the Indian government has yielded some progress in a nine-month-long confrontation with China in Ladakh with both armies pulling back from positions along Pangong Tso. This marks a welcome step back from a costly conflict of attrition in one of the world’s highest battle zones. But the government would do better to consider this latest agreement the starting rather than the end-point of continuing dialogue with Beijing over disputes all along the border from the north to the north-east. The current disengagement certainly lowers the diplomatic temperature — and it