LAC AGREEMENT

of our military personnel are actually disrespecting them,” the statement said.

The ministry also made certain clarifications in the statement, and said, “The assertion that Indian territory is up to Finger 4 is categorically false. The territory of India is as depicted by the map of India and includes more than 43,000 sq km currently under illegal occupation of China since 1962.”

“Even the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as per the Indian perception, is at Finger 8, not at Finger 4. That is why India has persistently maintained the right to patrol upto Finger 8, including in the current understanding with China,” the MoD said.

In a detailed statement on the situation in eastern Ladakh, Singh told Rajya Sabha and later Lok Sabha on Thursday that as per provision of the agreement, China will pull back its troops to east of Finger 8 areas in the northern bank of Pangong lake while the Indian personnel will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3 in the region.

“India has not conceded any territory as a result of the agreement. On the contrary, it has enforced observance and respect for LAC and prevented any unilateral change in the status quo,” the defence ministry statement said on Friday.

It also asserted that permanent posts of both sides at the north bank of Pangong Tso are longstanding and well-established.

“On the Indian side, it is Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3 and on the Chinese side, east of Finger 8,” the ministry said, adding the current agreement provides for cessation of forward deployment by both sides and continued deployment at these permanent posts.