The Ministry of External affairs said on Friday that the disengagement process of Indian and Chinese troops from Gogra-Hot Springs area in Ladakh will be completed by September 12.

On Thursday, the two sides began the disengagement process after they arrived at a consensus in the 16th round of military talks in July.

India and China have been locked in a border standoff since their troops clashed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the clash. China had put the number of casualties on its side at four.

During the 16th round of Corps Commander-level meetings in July, both the countries had agreed to maintain stability on the ground and resolve the problems along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of India-China border areas.

The announcement of disengagement of troops at Gogra-Hot Springs came ahead of next week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to attend.

In a statement on Friday, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the two sides have agreed to cease forward deployments in the area.

“It has been agreed that all temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides will be dismantled and mutually verified,” Bagchi added. “The agreement endures that the LAC in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides, and that there will be no unilateral change in status quo.”

Disputes across the Indo-China border have been a contentious matter over the years.

In 2017, the Doklam plateau near the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction was the site of a 74-day-long standoff between Indian and Chinese troops.

In July, satellite images from United States-based firm Maxar Technologies revealed that a Chinese village built nine kilometres to the east of the Doklam plateau is completely inhabited, reported NDTV.

Beijing also approved the construction of a second highway across the disputed Aksai Chin plateau in July where China controls 38,000 square kilometres of land claimed by India.