Chinese troops have begun pulling back from the disputed border with India, sources said Friday, as President Xi Jinping wrapped up a rare visit to New Delhi overshadowed by the stand-off at the remote frontier. The row over an alleged incursion by hundreds of Chinese troops into territory claimed by India has dominated Xi's visit, intended to reset ties between Asia's two superpowers after the election of a new Indian government this year.
The two countries have long been embroiled in a bitter dispute over their border, with both sides regularly accusing soldiers of crossing over into the other's territory. As Xi arrived in India on Wednesday, reports said 1,000 Chinese soldiers had entered a disputed area in the mountainous northern Ladakh region, sparking a stand-off with Indian troops.
Analysts said the reported incursions were likely timed to fire a shot across the bows of India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has signalled he will take a harder line on what he termed Chinese "expansionism". On Friday, a local lawmaker said the troops had begun pulling back, confirming a report by the Press Trust of India news agency. "The Chinese troops have started going back," the lawmaker told AFP, on condition of anonymity. "The Indian soldiers are also retreating, but they will continue their vigil." A source in the Indian paramilitary forces said the situation has "de-escalated" in Chumar sector although some Chinese soldiers were still present in Demchok area of southern Ladakh. "The army will hold a flag-meeting likely this evening to defuse the overall situation," he told AFP.
China and India fought a brief but bloody war in 1962 over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern Himalayas. Small incursions are common across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border that runs 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) across Ladakh. In a joint statement Friday, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to seek a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution" to the festering boundary issue.
"Pending a final resolution of the boundary question, the two sides would continue to make joint efforts to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," they said. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the two leaders had "reached an important consensus on properly handling border issues". "President Xi said that on border issues, the two sides should continue with friendly co-operation and the pursuit of an equitable solution in a fair way acceptable by both countries," Hong said in Beijing.