China, India start pulling troops from border friction areas

China and India are pulling back troops from the two remaining friction points along the disputed Himalayan border, days after the leaders of the two countries met.

Troops deployed toe-to-toe are moving back and temporary structures built during a four-year stalemate at the border are to be dismantled, senior Indian officials said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.

Earlier this week, the two nuclear-armed neighbors announced they’d reached an agreement to resume normal border patrols, easing a standoff that began in 2020 when clashes left 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers dead. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi followed up with their first formal meeting in two years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan on Wednesday.

The retreat of the soldiers and the dismantling of structures at the border will be completed by the end of this month, according to senior Indian defense ministry officials, who asked not to be identified in order to discuss the matter.

In a first, the militaries of both countries agreed to give each other advanced notice of patrolling of the two friction points, the people said. The coordinated arrangement is limited to the two areas, but can be extended to other friction points of the disputed border, they said.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a regular Friday briefing that front-line members of the countries’ armies carried out work according to the border agreement and it was progressing smoothly, without elaborating.

Pulling back troops from the friction points will take a few days, after which patrolling will start, the Indian officials said. Military commanders from both sides will continue to discuss confidence-building measures to further prevent clashes, they said.

The border agreement has raised expectations that India will ease investment restrictions on Chinese businesses, although government officials have indicated there won’t be any immediate moves. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, said earlier this month that a lack of trust has damaged economic ties with neighbors, without referring directly to China.

—With assistance from Dan Murtaugh and Junyi Wu.