External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Sunday that both India and China will need time to complete the disengagement exercise along Line of Actual Control (LAC). Withdrawing troops at Depsang and Demchok is the first step toward reducing hostilities, he said, adding that the next step would be to de-escalate the situation along the border, but said that it "will not take place until India is sure that the Chinese are doing the same".Earlier this month, India and China reached an agreement on patrolling and disengagement in Depsang and Demchok, marking a significant breakthrough in the four-year standoff in eastern Ladakh.Jaishankar said that he hoped the LAC would be restored to its 2020 status. "It is obvious it will take time to implement the same. This is the issue of disengagement and patrolling which meant our armies had come very close to each other, and now they have gone back to their bases. We hope the 2020 status is restored," he told news agency PTI."After de-escalation, how to manage the borders will be discussed," he added.Relations between India and China worsened in June 2020, when 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives while countering a Chinese attack in Ladakh's Galwan Valley. An unspecified number of Chinese troops also died in the violent clashes.The disengagement process began on October 23, following the recent breakthrough to resolve the stand-off in Depsang and Demchok, the last major flashpoints in Ladakh.Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. During the bilateral meeting, the first since 2019, PM Modi stated that maintaining peace at the border should be a priority for both the countries.
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