China and India to Pull Back Forces From Disputed Border

India and China said they would pull back their security forces along part of their disputed border in the Himalayas, a move that could help ease monthslong tensions between the world’s two most populous countries.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday that the two countries had agreed on a phased disengagement around Pangong Lake, where they have overlapping claims.

Both sides have agreed that their security forces around the lake would gradually retreat to the positions they held before the border tensions flared up last year. The sides agreed that temporary structures and infrastructure built since April would be removed and that patrolling in disputed territories would be suspended, Mr. Singh said.

The movement of troops began on Wednesday and won’t result in ceding any land formerly controlled by India, he said.

China announced Wednesday a synchronized disengagement of front-line troops from the north and south banks of the picturesque lake.

“We hope the Indian side will work with China to meet each other halfway, strictly implement the consensus reached between the two sides and ensure the smooth implementation of the disengagement process,” said Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry.

The two sides are still discussing other friction points along the border. Senior military commanders from the two countries will convene a meeting within two days after completing disengagement to resolve the leftover issues, Mr. Singh said.

The two nuclear-armed neighbors have been amassing troops and military hardware along their 2,000-mile border since each side’s attempts to stake a claim on the disputed territory triggered a clash in June, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers. China hasn’t confirmed any deaths among its forces.

Since then, the countries have deployed tens of thousands of troops, as well as artillery and howitzers along their disputed border, which stretches from India’s Ladakh to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Disputes along the border have grown in the past decade, India says, with much of it contested and undefined. Some in India are worried that China is trying to take control of more of the region a small slice at a time.

The two countries fought a war in 1962, a little more than a decade after their births—India’s in 1947 and the People’s Republic of China’s in 1949—over the delineation of their border.

Pangong Lake is one of the locations where their claims overlap most, with both sides claiming much of the northern and southern shores. Military leaders and analysts have warned that it is a place where tensions could quickly spin out of control.

In September, the Indian and Chinese militaries accused each other of firing warning shots in the lake area—the first use of guns along the disputed border in decades.

The shots were fired into the air to stop what each termed provocative troop movements by the other side. Both sides denied the accusations, though they have been jostling to occupy strategic mountain heights along the lake and in other border areas.

In recent years, India has built new roads and arms installations on its side of the disputed areas, attempting to catch up with China’s bigger buildup.

Analysts say the agreement to disengage security forces will help ease bilateral tensions but that neither side is ready to retreat much farther without proof that it is working.

“India is not complacent and is going to be prepared for further incursions by the Chinese when the snow melts in the high Himalayas in a few months,” said Sreeram Chaulia, dean at O.P. Jindal Global University’s School of International Affairs, in Sonipat, Haryana state. “China often settles one dispute at a specific point on the border and then ignites new ones as part of a long-term pressure campaign.”

Photo: China and India have overlapping claims around Pangong Lake. - MANISH SWARUP/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Link: China and India to Pull Back Forces From Disputed Border - WSJ