Troops from both countries have Bean engaged in a nine month long standoff at the Penghu on lake in India's Ladakh region.

It is just one part of a shared but undefined border between both countries that runs for thousands of kilometers.

Trouble began last May after India accused Chinese troops of unilaterally entering Indian territory.

Soon, both armies were facing off against each other at various points along the border.

Tensions came to a head when 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash with Chinese troops at one of thes points.

Since then, both armies have steadily reinforced their positions and moved men and material to the border areas.

Joining me now form or is defense analyst Joshua Klar.

Now you've been following these tensions at the border since they began last year.

What have the two sides agreed to now?

Well, there.

There was synchronized announcements from Beijing on Wednesday and from Delhi on Thursday, saying basically the same thing, which is that there would be a disengagement of troops from either side in the vicinity of the Pangang Lake, which is a high altitude lake in Ladakh.

Uh, this is just one off the four places where the Chinese troops intruded into Indian claimed territory.

That happened last April and on.

Since then, there has been varied levels of confrontation going on.

The announcement takes place only in respect of the bank on Lake.

Uh, it is not quite clear yet whether there are implicit and understood announcements that there will allow our agreements that there will be announcements in the future for disengagement in the other places.

But for now, the pain gone lake, which is one of the key areas where the troops were in contact.

Both sides are now disengaging and pulling back to agree positions.

Now these tensions have been running for about nine months now.

And as you correctly point out, there's other points of tension as well.

Should we assume then this is the beginning off the end off these tensions between both sides?

Well, it would be tempting toe assume that because, you know, this has been going on for a very long time with high levels of tension between two nuclear armed super path.

But the truth is that there is no announcement yet about Pullbacks in other positions.

Uh, if it, if it is something that the two sides have agreed would be done in a phased manner on, there is an agreement about it.

That's welcome.

But right now there is no announcement where the key area where confrontation is taking place still is the depth song plane, which is the northernmost part of Ladakh near what is the Karakoram Pass, where Chinese troops have intruded about 15 to 18 kilometers inside Indian territory.

That's a tense area because the Chinese believe that the Indians there are well poised to go and capture a strategic highway inside China that links their troubled provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet.

And that makes the Chinese very sensitive to that area.

So we're waiting to see whether there's an announcement or a pullback in depth sang.

That is, if that happens, then you would certainly be seeing the beginning of the end of this confrontation.

But right now, as I said, there isn't a clear announcement it's taken nine months to achieve this breakthrough on There are significant interests from on both sides, particularly the Chinese side to occupy a particular position, as you just mentioned.

Uh, does it look like India has many cards?

Um, it can use to push through a disengagement.

Well, at the purely tactical level, uh, Indians, the Indian army held superior positions, which in the mountains means higher positions in only one sector.

And that is the southern bank of the bank on leg.

Now, between yesterday and today, they will be vacating those positions.

So to that extent, the Indian side is showing an element of trust in this disengagement process by vacating its superior positions right off the back.

Uh, however, I mean, if one looks at it in a larger strategic context, the Chinese have agreed to disengagement, whether in 12 or three positions, that's a matter of detail.

But they have agreed to disengagement.

And that seems toe indicate to Indian strategic thinkers that perhaps the Chinese have believed that they strategically miscalculated what would happen when they came into the Indian side of the line of actual control.

Perhaps they did not believe that the Indians would react so strongly that they would hold their deployments right through winter, where the temperatures go down to minus 30 C on the Indian.

The strength of the Indian reaction might have caused the Chinese to rethink their whole enterprise.

That's what the hope certainly is.

Because the Indians have taken action against the Chinese at the economic level, at the diplomatic level, at the international military level, the strengthening of the quad and so on on that perhaps has caused the Chinese to rethink.

So there's there's hope that the Chinese are reevaluating their position.

Right?

Thanks very much for that show.

Clear.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.