India-China border agreement: Army chief highlights need to rebuild trust

A day after India announced border patrolling agreement with China, Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi said India is “trying to restore the trust” with China. “That will happen once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince that we are not creeping into buffer zones that have been created…,” the Army chief said on Tuesday. “Both have to re-assure each other,” he said.
He also mentioned that ongoing patrolling activities provide a chance for both sides to reassure one another. “Patrolling gives you that kind of advantage…and as we restore the trust, the other stages will also follow through soon.”
Army chief Upendra Dwivedi made the statement while speaking at an event titled “Decade of Transformation: Indian Army in Stride with the Future” at the United Service Institution.
This was Gen. Dwivedi’s first statement after India announced the India-China border patrolling agreement. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Monday that an agreement has been reached regarding patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
China also confirmed on Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with India to end the standoff between the two armies in eastern Ladakh. “Over a recent period, China and India have been in close communication through diplomatic and military channels on issues related to the China-India border,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.
The ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
After the announcement on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Indian and Chinese soldiers will be able to resume patrolling in the way they had been doing before the border face-off began, and the disengagement process with China has been completed.
On Tuesday, Gen Dwivedi stressed that restoring trust along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) would be a gradual process, to return to the April 2020 status quo.
“We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of LAC,” he added.
He further explained that the process will take place in phases, with each step aimed at reducing tensions. “This normal management of the LAC will not just stop there. There are phases in that as well,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)