India, China revive ceremonial meetings along LAC

Five months after the Doklam crisis, India and China on Friday revived the ceremonial border personnel meetings (BPM) between local army commanders on the disputed boundary.

Two such gatherings took place at Daulat Beig Oldie and Chusul in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

In both meetings, both sides maintained their commitments to maintain peace along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) and uphold the treaties and agreements signed between the two countries to maintain peace and tranquility along the boundary.

From the Indian side, the delegation was headed by a Brigadier-rank officer, while the People's Liberation Army team was led by a senior colonel.

The previous  three BPMs, supposed to have been  on August 1, August 15 and October 1,  did not take place because of the Doklam stand-off, during which border-guarding troops from the two armies stood face-to-face for 72 days on a disputed territory inside Bhutan.

The crisis ended on August 28, on the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China.

While there was no ceremonial BPM on August 15, sweets were exchanged between the two sides.

There was no ceremonial meetings on October 1  -  the Chinese national day  - as China didn't send an invite.

Another BPM, that was to take place on August 1, also didn't happen due to  the lack of  any initiative from China.

With the tension now palpably lower on the LAC, Beijing responded positively to India's proposal of holding  a BPM on the Republic Day.

"The ceremonial border personnel meeting was marked by saluting the Indian flag by members of the delegations from both sides. It was followed by a ceremonial address by the delegation leaders. Delegations at both places interacted in a free, congenial and cordial environment," said an official from the Northern Command.

At Chusul, a game of archery was also played between the two sides.