India-China Disengagement Along LAC Set Before Diwali, But De-Escalation Will Take 'Considerable Time'—Here's Why

India and China are set to complete disengagement across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) before Diwali. After this, patrolling across certain areas of the LAC will begin as per the agreement reached.

This comes a week after India and China agreed to resolve the border dispute, in a first since the 2020 Galwan clash. However, the agreement is only for Demchok and Depsang, an Indian Army source said.

In the Depsang area, Chinese posts that had blocked Indian access to five patrolling points on the LAC, including at the critical Y Junction, have been removed. Similarly, Chinese structures on disputed land at Demchock have been dismantled.

"This agreement will not be applicable to other friction zones. Troops from both sides will fall back to positions they held pre-April 2020 and they will patrol areas where they patrolled till April 2020," the source explained.

Since 2020, neither China has patrolled beyond the Depsang Bulge bottleneck area, nor has India patrolled up to points 10 through 13 A, but now, the two sides will not block each other.

Likewise, the Indian Army will now patrol from the Charding Pass to where Charding and Ningling nullahs intersect, while the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will patrol from the Indus River up to the Charding-Ningling Nullah junction.

However, de-escalation process along the LAC is expected to take considerable time. India will need to airlift equipment due to the challenging terrain, bordered by two passes exceeding 5,000 meters in East Ladakh.

Similarly, China will need to withdraw four additional combined armed brigades that were positioned across Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh ahead of President Xi Jinping’s elevation as paramount leader in November 2022.

Additionally, both sides will need to consider de-escalating their air forces, as both India and China had placed fighters on standby, along with long-range missiles, tanks, artillery, and rocket regiments.

The path to restoring peace and stability along the LAC is a complex process requiring not only political approval but also consent from both Indian Army and PLA commanders on the ground.

The Indian side’s challenging high-altitude and glaciated terrain in the Eastern sector adds to this complexity. Ultimately, military commanders from both nations will be responsible for outlining the roadmap for de-escalation.