The 15-day old stand-off at the line of Actual Control (lAC) in Chumar in ladakh ended on Friday when the Chinese troops started withdrawing from Indian territory. This came about following a flag meeting between Major General level officers of the two countries on Thursday evening after the five previous meetings had failed to ease the tension.
The two sides decided to disengage from Tibley, known as 30R in army parlance, in a phased manner in four days and the Chinese started pulling back, officials said here on Friday. They also said the process may be completed before the deadline ends and another flag meeting may take place on September 30 to review the situation.
After a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New York, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj announced that the two countries have resolved the stand-off at the ladakh border and withdrawal of troops will begin on Friday and be completed by September 30. Nearly 1,000 Chinese and 1,500 troops were in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation after the Indian troops stopped construction of a road by the Chinese in their territory. However, the Chinese claimed that the road was in their zone and the Indians had transgressed the lAC.
They also protested against the construction of an observation post in Chumar for providing shelter to Indian Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) patrols during harsh winter months.
While deciding to end the impasse, the Chinese agreed to stop construction of the road and the Indians agreed not to construct any more shelters or observation posts there, sources said.