New Delhi:
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during talks on Thursday that he had ordered his country's troops to back down from an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the border, sources have told NDTV.
Sources say when PM Modi raised Chinese incursions at Ladakh for the second time in two days, President Xi told him he had directed the troops to pull back.
The disengagement of troops began yesterday, Indian army sources say, and the distance between both sides has widened from about 100 m to 1.5 km. "The Chinese troops haven't withdrawn from Indian territory yet. The army expects this withdrawal to take place gradually," officers said.
Over 1,000 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army entered Chumur earlier this week in the worst such incursion in years. India also sent 1,500 soldiers, leading to an unprecedented face-off as the Chinese President visited India.
PM Modi first raised the incursions in Ahmedabad in Gujarat, where President Xi stopped for a six-hour visit before traveling to Delhi.
Chinese soldiers entered a week ago at Chumur, which stands at the intersection of the international border and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or the de facto border between the two countries. They allegedly brought in in heavy construction equipment and a large labour force to set up a road up to the border. 40 Chinese soldiers are also camping at Demchok.
"There has been a pattern of incursions when Chinese leaders visit," Indian government sources said.
On Thursday, both PM Modi and President Xi called for an early solution to the decades-old boundary dispute.
"We need to resolve the boundary issue quickly. Our border Confidence Building Measures have helped but I have also suggested that for peace and stability, we need to clarify the LAC," Mr Modi said.