India, China resolve border stand-off

Big accomplishment, says Sushma Swaraj

• Both countries will draw back troops by Sept 30
• Troops in a stare-down in Ladakh since Sept 11

New York: India and China had resolved the two-week stand-off at the border in Ladakh and soldiers from both sides would withdraw by Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said here on Thursday, describing it as a "big accomplishment."

"I am happy to tell you that both nations have sat down and resolved the issue. Timelines have been decided," Swaraj told reporters in New York after a meeting with foreign ministers of Brazil and South Africa on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. "The bad phase will end and by September 30, the withdrawal of troops will be completed. I talked about this with the Chinese Foreign Minister. I believe this is a big accomplishment," she added. The two armies were locked in a stare-down at Chumur in Ladakh since September 11, which clouded Chinese President Xi Jinping's three-day India visit last week.

For days, over 1,000 soldiers of the Chinese PLA and 1,500 Indian Army personnel were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the area. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised it twice with the Chinese President but nothing changed at the time.

Tension erupted when some Chinese workers crossed over with equipment to build a road up five km deep inside Indian territory.
A marathon flag meeting between the two armies on Thursday facilitated an end to the crisis.