India, China Agree to Dismantle All Military Infrastructure at Contested Gogra-Hot Springs in Ladakh

On Thursday, India and China agreed to pull back their troops from Gogra-Hot Springs. The two countries moved thousands of troops and built temporary military infrastructure following a hand-to-hand fight in the Galwan region in June 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers and four PLA troops were killed.

The armies of India and China have agreed to dismantle “all temporary structures, and other allied infrastructure” deployed in the Gogra-Hot Springs area after the June 2020 clash in Galwan, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

“The landforms in the area will be restored to [the] pre-stand-off period by both sides,” the ministry's spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Delhi and Beijing have also agreed to cease "forward deployments in this area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, resulting in the return of the troops of both sides to their respective areas."

The disengagement process in the Gogra-Hot Springs region will be completed by Monday, September 12.

Two armies dismantled dozens of structures and moved vehicles to empty entire camps from the bank of Pangong Tso in February 2021 as part of the first disengagement agreement reached following several rounds of military commander-level talks.

Now the two sides are aiming to resolve the remaining issues at Depsang Plains and Demchok.

China's Defense Ministry confirmed the disengagement agreement and hoped the move would be "conducive to maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas."