Chaina and India: An Indian defense official said on Wednesday that India and China have finished pulling back their troops from two standoff points on their disputed Himalayan frontier as planned.
Last week, the nuclear-armed neighbors agreed to patrol the border in the Indian state of Ladakh to end a four-year military standoff, paving the way for improved political and business ties between the two countries.
The Indian official told Reuters that the process of disengagement, which began last week, has been completed, and verification is currently underway.
He added that soldiers will exchange sweets as a gesture of goodwill on Thursday and begin frontier patrols shortly after commanders on the ground finalize the modalities.
Beijing did not immediately provide a response regarding the troop withdrawal.
The roughly 4,000-kilometer border that runs along the Himalayas has been a source of tension between the two nations with the most people in the world for decades and was the catalyst for a brief but bloody war in 1962.
Quite a while back, 20 Indian and four Chinese troopers were killed during line conflicts.
The two sides then moved tens of thousands of new troops and military equipment closer to the icy mountainous region and stopped patrolling several border points in Ladakh to avoid new conflicts.
They eventually withdrew troops from five face-off points, but that was more than two years ago.
On the sidelines of a Brics summit in Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held their first formal talks in five years. They agreed to improve relations by increasing communication and resolving disagreements.
Although Indian officials stated that New Delhi would move cautiously given the trust deficit that has built up, it is anticipated that the thaw will boost economic ties that were harmed by the border tensions.
