NEW DELHI: India and China said they would withdraw their security forces along part of their disputed border in the Himalayas, a move that could help ease months-long tensions between the world’s two most populous countries.
India’s defense minister Rajnath Singh told lawmakers in parliament on Thursday that the two countries had agreed to a phased disengagement around Lake Pangong, where they were filing overlapping applications.
Both sides have agreed that their security forces around the lake would gradually withdraw to the positions they held before border tensions rose last year. The parties agreed that temporary structures and infrastructure built from April would be removed and patrolling in disputed territories would be suspended, Singh said.
The troop movement began on Wednesday and will not result in the cession of any land that was previously controlled by India, he said.
China on Wednesday announced a synchronized detachment of front-line troops from the north and south shores of the picturesque lake.