(Desha-Kalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images)India has begun withdrawing troops from a disputed Himalayan region on the border with China, foreign ministries from the two countries announced Monday, defusing a tense stand-off that had threatened to provoke armed conflict between the nuclear-armed Asian rivals. For the past two months, Indian and Chinese troops had faced off on a plateau in the Doklam area in Himalayas, after Indian troops moved in to prevent the Chinese military building a road into territory claimed by India’s close ally, Bhutan. The announcement clears the air ahead of a meeting of the “BRICS” countries in China this weekend, a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. “As the Chinese have stated publicly that Indian troops have withdrawn, India should also state clearly that China won't make that road,” Sushant Singh, associate editor of the Indian Express tweeted. Read more:China and India are dangerously cose to military conflict in the HimalayasCould a war break out between India and China — again?

Source: Washington Post August 28, 2017 08:37 UTC