World
India says it reached deal with China on army patrols along disputed border
The pact is part of a resolution to the four-year standoff at the contested border areas, India’s foreign ministry says.
India and China have agreed to a pact on military patrols along their disputed border in the Himalayas that could lead to the resolution of a conflict that began in 2020, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
“Over the last several weeks, Indian and Chinese diplomats and military negotiators have been in close contact with each other, and as a result of these discussions, an agreement has been arrived at on patrolling arrangements along the LAC in the India-China border leading to the disengagements and a resolution of the issues that had arisen in 2020,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told reporters in New Delhi on Monday, referring to the Line of Actual Control notional demarcation line between the two countries.
The LAC is a 3,488km-long (2,167-mile) border in the Himalayas shared by the two Asian giants, with China claiming a considerably shorter portion. It separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety considering it part of its Tibet region, and the two fought a border war in 1962.
Misri did not specify whether the pact means the withdrawal of the tens of thousands of additional troops stationed by the two countries along their disputed border in the northern Ladakh region since their armies clashed in 2020 in a significant escalation.
There was no immediate comment from Beijing.
The announcement was made on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for the BRICS summit, which involves China and other major developing economies. Local media reported that Modi could hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the event.
Ties between India and China deteriorated in July 2020 after a military clash killed at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese. It turned into a long-running standoff in the rugged mountainous area, where each side has stationed tens of thousands of military personnel backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.
India and China have withdrawn troops from some areas on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso Lake, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but continue to maintain extra troops as part of a multitier deployment.
Top Indian and Chinese army commanders have held several rounds of talks since the military clash to discuss the disengagement of troops from areas of tension.
Earlier this month, India’s army chief said New Delhi wants the status on the frontier in the western Himalayas to be restored to its pre-April 2020 position when the standoff began and the situation will remain sensitive until then.
The two sides have resolved the “low-hanging fruits” and now need to address difficult situations, General Upendra Dwivedi said, adding that there was “positive signalling” from the diplomatic side and execution on the ground was dependent on military commanders of the two countries.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday said the pact is “a product of very patient and very persevering diplomacy” and that it will resume military patrolling the way it was before the 2020 clash.
“Hopefully, we will be able to come back to peace and tranquillity. And that was our major concern because we always said that if you disturb peace and tranquillity, how do you expect the rest of the relationship to go forward,” Jaishankar told India’s NDTV news channel.
United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.
Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”
Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.
But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.
On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.
The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.
Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.
Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.
But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.
The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.
Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.
But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.
No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.
He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.
Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.
Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.
In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”
There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.
Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.
But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.
Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.
Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.
Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.
Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.
On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.
Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.
new video loaded: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows
By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna
June 19, 2026
World
Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo
Man FORCES child into crocodile enclosure
A British man has been arrested after allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo. The child suffered critical injuries, and authorities say the suspect did not know the boy as the investigation continues.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.
Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.
The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.
The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.
GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON
A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“The man, who is not known to the victim, was assessed as not being fit for interview,” police said in a statement.
The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.
He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.
MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK
“I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.
The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.
The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.
Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.
Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)
Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.
-
Sports6 minutes agoSummer football notebook: Running back AJ McBean transfers to Gardena Serra
-
World21 minutes agoTrump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might
-
News44 minutes agoDOJ memo stokes fear among disability advocates of a return to institutionalization
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoArmed home invasion in L.A.’s Fairfax District leaves resident assaulted
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoTigers top Chicago White Sox 4-1; Detroit pitcher Troy Melton allows 1 hit in 6 innings
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoMLB Rumors: Latest Intel on Potential Matt Chapman Trade for San Francisco Giants
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoDallas’ Fair Park to Get $2.5M Boost From McKesson – Dallas Weekly
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoAir quality alert in effect in Miami-Dade and Broward counties: National Weather Service
