The news has recently come out that the Doklam border standoff between India and China is coming to a close.

The two countries had managed to keep up their diplomatic relations throughout the whole affair, and therefore, they were able to end the conflict peacefully.

Ajit Doval and Yang Jiechi, the NSAs of India and China respectively, met in July to discuss the matter. S. Jaishankar, the foreign secretary, and Vijay Gokhale, the Indian ambassador to China, have been leading the diplomatic talks.

Through these diplomatic discussions, the Indian delegates were able to convey their views, interests, and concerns to the Chinese government.

India made some demands to China in these talks. They said that China should not change ground realities unilaterally and that it should respect the 2012 understanding about trijunction borders with India.

Point 13 of this understanding says that any decisions made about trijunction borders between China, India, and third countries must be made in consultation with the respective countries.

Since that understanding in 2012, there has been no discussion about the trijunction border with Bhutan.

The Indian representatives did not aim to match China’s accusations, in which they claimed India as the aggressor in the area and demanded that India pull back its troops from the area immediately.

Several sources state that India held its views firmly, saying that bilateral ties would suffer if China did not ensure peace. Therefore, India would pull back its troops from the area, but so would China. The Chinese government realized that India would not leave the area until China also left, so they agreed to pull out as well.

A face-saving exit was given to China by India since India did not contest China’s version of the disengagement terms. A statement was recently issued that both troops on both sides have withdrawn under verification.

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