Tabnak – After a two-month-long standoff which had created concern over a possible confrontation between two world great powers, China and India finally came to an agreement over a disputed border area. However, it’s still unclear how whether the agreement would be a lasting one or not.
Citing India’s foreign ministry, Reuters writes in a report that India and China have agreed to an "expeditious disengagement” of troops in a disputed border area where their soldiers have been locked in a stand-off for more than two months.
The decision comes ahead of a summit of the BRICS nations - a grouping that also includes Brazil, Russia and South Africa - in China beginning on Sunday, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend.
Indian and Chinese troops have been confronting each other at the Doklam plateau near the borders of India, its ally Bhutan, and China, in the most serious and prolonged standoff in decades along their disputed Himalayan border.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the agreement on Monday, though it vowed to continue to patrol the disputed area.
India had objected to Chinese efforts to extend an unpaved road on the plateau. Chinese officials did not say on Monday whether that construction would continue, simply saying that India had decided to withdraw troops from the region.
The New York Times notes that it was not immediately clear whether Chinese and Indian officials had made progress toward a permanent solution. But for the time being, the two sides appeared to have found a way to avoid a serious escalation.
It should be also noted that China and India fought a brief border war in 1962 and the two sides have been unable to settle their 3,500-km (2,175-mile) frontier and large parts of territory are claimed by both sides.
The latest standoff started in June, when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and Bhutan. India said it sent its troops because Chinese military activity there was a threat to the security of its own northeast region.
But China has said India had no role to play in the area and insisted it withdraw unilaterally or face the prospect of an escalation. Chinese state media had warned India of a fate worse than its crushing defeat in the war in 1962.
The area where Chinese troops started building the road overlooks a strategically important region of India known as the "Chicken’s neck" - a narrow stretch of territory leading to its remote north eastern states.
