LAC disengagement: Chinese PLA vacating Finger 4

New Delhi, Feb 15: The Chinese soldiers have begun vacating Finger 4 on the northern bank of Pangong Lake.

The Chinese troops are dismantling shelters and removing other structures and this is taking place as per the disengagement exercise along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

There is a good chance that the process will be completed at the north and south banks of the Pangong Lake by Friday, sources tell OneIndia.

There is rapid movement of Chinese heavy vehicles beyond Finger 8, satellite images have shown.
While armoured elements like battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers are being withdrawn from friction points in the south bank of Pangong Tso, troops are being pulled back from the north bank areas, sources said.

The sources said withdrawal of armoured elements from the south bank of Pangong Tso is almost complete and temporary structures erected by both sides will be demolished in the next few days.

"The disengagement process will take time as both sides are together carrying out verification of the withdrawal of troops and military hardware," said a source.

The disengagement of troops and armoured elements is limited to the friction points where the two sides were on an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, sources said.

After a nine-month standoff, the two militaries reached the agreement on disengagement in the north and south banks of Pangong lake that mandates both sides to cease forward deployment of troops in a "phased, coordinated and verifiable" manner.

On Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a detailed statement in Parliament on the disengagement pact.

According to the agreement, China has to pull back its troops to east of Finger 8 areas in the northern bank while the Indian personnel will be based at their permanent base at Dhan Singh Thapa Post near Finger 3 in the region.

Similar action will take place on the south bank of the lake as well, Singh said in Parliament.