WHAT CAUSED CHINA TO PULL BACK IN LADAKH

2-hour phone call between Doval & Chinese Foreign Minister plays a crucial role in PLA finally removing tents and shifting from Galwan clash site, vehicles move back in other areas too

- Abhishek Bhalla and Geeta Mohan

MEA ON DOVAL-WANG PHONE CALL

NSA Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a frank and in-depth exchange and agreed that it’s necessary to ensure complete disengagement along LAC for restoration of peace and tranquillity. They reaffirmed that no unilateral action should be taken to alter the status quo, and both sides should not allow differences to become disputes.

BEIJING: TAKING EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO EASE TENSION

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said front-line troops are taking ‘effective measures’ and making ‘progress’ to disengage and ease the tensions with India in the Galwan Valley along the LAC.

INDIA and China have started showing first signs of disengagement at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh where the situation has been volatile for over two months.

The removal of Chinese tents in Galwan Valley followed a two-hour telephonic conversation on Sunday between the Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question.

India’s National Security Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval, and China’s State Councillor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, spoke to each other, two days after Prime Minster Narendra Modi’s visit to operational areas in Ladakh.

Officials observing the situation on the ground call it a “piecemeal de-escalation” and a first step taken to defuse the situation.