Gogra Hotsprings: Indian-Chinese troops to complete disengagement in Eastern Ladakh today
12 September, 2022 | Riya Girdhar
The disengagement process in this area began on September 8 at 8:30 am and will be finished by September 12 according to MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi's statement from last week.
A week before the SCO meeting in Uzbekistan, which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Gogra-Hotspurs area disengagement took place.
On Monday, the Indian and Chinese military will have finished disengaging from the Gogra-Hotsprings Patrolling Point 15 region in eastern Ladakh. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday that the disengagement, which started last week after a number of military and diplomatic engagements, will be finished today.
Given that the two sides have been engaged in a bitter standoff in this area for more than two years, the disengagement from the Gogra Hotsprings area patrolling point is a significant step forward. The development occurs one week before the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Uzbekistan, which PM Modi and the Chinese president plan to attend.
The disengagement process in this area began on September 8 at 8:30 am and will be finished by September 12 according to MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi’s statement from last week. “It has been agreed that all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides will be dismantled and mutually verified.”
When questioned about a potential meeting between PM Modi and Jinping outside of the SCO, the spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry stated that she had no information on the matter. In a statement, the Chinese defence ministry stated that troops will leave the Jianan Daban region in a planned and coordinated manner. Indian officials made it clear that the area China was referring to as Jianan Daban is actually Patrolling Point-15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings region.