Indian and Chinees troops hurt in border clash

Indian troops stopped Chinese soldiers entering Indian territory on December 9 in a border skirmish that led to injuries on both sides, India’s defence minister said on Tuesday,

The clash, the first since 2020 between the Asian giants, happened in the Tawang sector of India’s northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China’s south and is also claimed by Beijing.

The Indian troops “illegally crossed the line to block” a routine patrol of Chinese border troops, a spokesperson of the Western Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said on Tuesday.

“We urge the Indian side to strictly control and restrain the frontline troops, and work with China to maintain peace and security on the border,” said the spokesperson.

An Indian defence source said that patrols of both sides came face to face at one of the peaks there. In the ensuing hand-to-hand fight, some soldiers were injured falling on the rocky surface. Two other sources said about half a dozen Indian soldiers suffered minor injuries.

The defence source said the undemarcated border, called the line of actual control (LAC), means soldiers of both sides cross into each other's territory every now and then. Such events are then raised in flag meetings so that they do not escalate.

“Sometimes we perceive some areas as ours, sometimes they do,” said the source, declining to be named as defence minister Rajnath Singh had already issued a statement in parliament about a PLA attempt to enter Indian territory.

“These are skirmishes that keep happening, and they are not major. This was not major.”

Singh told MPs that the clash led to “injuries to a few personnel on both sides” but that there were no “serious casualties on our side”.

“PLA troops tried to transgress the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang Sector and unilaterally change the status quo,” Singh said.

“The Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner. The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that the situation at the border was generally stable”.

India’s foreign minister has said that relations with China cannot go back to normal without peace on the border. India stepped up scrutiny of many Chinese companies operating in India in the past two years, but its imports from China surged.

The clash was the first between the two countries since fatal clashes in June 2020 when Indian and Chinese troops fought hand to hand in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh, abutting the Chinese-held Tibetan plateau. This led to the death of 20 Indian and four Chinese troops.

“The Chinese side was asked to refrain from such actions and maintain peace and tranquillity along the border,” said minister Singh tension. “The issue has also been taken up with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels.”

The undemarcated 3,800km frontier between the nuclear-armed Asian giants had stayed largely peaceful since a war in 1962, before the clashes two years ago sent relations nosediving.

Reuters