China troops withdraw from Indian border
Chinese troops have begun pulling back from the disputed border with India, sources said yesterday, 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 signaled he will take a harder line on what he termed Chinese "expansionism".
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.
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, the de-facto border that runs 4,000 kilometres across Ladakh.
In a joint statement yesterday, the two leaders reiterated their commitment to seek a "fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution" to the festering boundary issue.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the two leaders had "reached an important consensus on properly handling border issues".
During his visit Xi pledged greater investment from China, already India's biggest trading partner, with annual two-way commerce of more than $65 billion.
Xi, the first Chinese president to visit India in eight years, wrapped up his India visit by meeting the parliamentary speaker and Sonia Gandhi, head of the former ruling Congress Party.
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