PLA to retreat to Finger 8, India to Finger 3: Rajnath

Defence minister spells out Pangong Tso disengagement plan in Parliament Pangong Tso

NEW DELHI: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will retreat to its base east of Finger 8 on the north bank of Pangong Tso, the Indian Army will move back to its permanent position near Finger 3 and neither side will patrol the contested areas in between until an agreement is reached through future talks, defence minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Thursday, explaining the nuances of a disengagement plan hammered out by the two armies to reduce military tensions in eastern Ladakh.

Until now, rival soldiers have been deployed eyeball-to-eyeball on the Finger 4 ridgeline at heights of almost 18,000 feet.

The Chinese defence ministry announced the disengagement on Wednesday; New Delhi did not react immediately because Parliament was in session, and a day later, Singh briefed the house on the details of the breakthrough in a months-long impasse.

In a detailed statement on the situation in eastern Ladakh, Singh told Rajya Sabha that the next meeting between senior military commanders of the two armies to discuss other issues will take place 48 hours after “complete disengagement” in the Pangong Lake area -- both north and south banks. Singh made the same statement in Lok Sabha too.

The minister’s statement came on the back of a limited withdrawal of front-line troops by the Indian and Chinese armies from the Pangong Tso area on the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC). India and China on Wednesday pulled back tanks and infantry combat vehicles from heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso a fortnight after military commanders agreed on January 24 to push for an early disengagement of their front-line troops.