India, China begin troop withdrawal from contested border
Associated PressSRINAGAR, India — China and India are pulling back front-line troops from disputed portions of their mountain border where they have been in a standoff for months, both countries said. The tense standoff high in the Karakoram mountains began in early May, when Indian and Chinese soldiers ignored each other’s repeated verbal warnings, triggering a yelling match, stone-throwing and fistfights at the northern bank of Pangong Lake, where contested ridges push into the glacial lake from eight directions and are referred to as “fingers.” By June it escalated and spread north in Depsang and Galwan Valley, where India has built an all-weather military road along the disputed frontier. Singh said the “Chinese side will keep its troop presence in the northern bank area to east of Finger 8.” India claims all eight fingers at Pangong Lake but its military presence extends up to Finger 3. “A similar action would be taken in the south bank area by both sides.” Singh said the two sides also agreed on a “temporary moratorium on military activities” on the lake’s northern bank. Hooda, who was head of the Indian military’s Northern Command from 2014 to 2016 under which the Ladakh region falls, said the agreement “is a significant step toward comprehensive disengagement and finding some solution to the existing issues between the two countries.” He said it would take a while for the two nations to rebuild trust and put in place new agreements.