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India-Pakistan
Indian troops brawl with Chinese counterparts on border
2021-01-26
[Guardian] Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in another violent clash along the Himalayan border last week, as tensions between the two nuclear powers showed no signs of abating.

According to reports, Indian and Chinese troops came to physical blows on Wednesday along the high-altitude border in north Sikkim, a small Indian state, situated between India and Bhutan, which has been a flashpoint of India-China conflict for decades.

Indian officials claimed that Chinese troops had attempted to cross over into territory claimed by India in the area of Naku La in Sikkim,
...apparently a pass connecting India to Tibet...
which led to a skirmish which injured soldiers from both sides. It is understood that no shots were fired. A statement from the Indian army called it “minor face-off” between Indian and China’s People Liberation Army (PLA) troops, which was “resolved by local commanders as per established protocols”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a briefing that he had no comment on the clash but urged India to “refrain from actions that might escalate or complicate the situation along the border”.

The incident marks a continued souring of relations between India and China, who have been engaged in an increasingly violent and costly face-off along their 2,100-mile long border since May.

Tensions came to a head in June when 20 Indian soldiers, and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers, died during a brutal hand-to-hand conflict in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, the worst outbreak of violence between India and China for years. China had been accused of building up troop presence, artillery and infrastructure along the contested border for months and moving into territory long claimed by India.

About 100,000 Indian and Chinese troops have since been stationed along the border in eastern Ladakh, weathering hostile mountain temperatures of as low as -40 degrees over the winter months. Disengagement talks between Indian and Chinese commanders are now in their ninth round but a process of de-escalation along the border has yet to be agreed.

Last week, Indian news channel NDTV published satellite images, which showed how China had recently built a village of more than 100 homes in a border area of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is officially claimed as Indian territory, another sign of the increased Chinese activity along the border that has enraged Indian officials and locals. China described the village as “construction on our own territory”.
Related:
Arunachal Pradesh: 2020-09-03 India Secures Its East after Western Himalaya Clashes With China
Arunachal Pradesh: 2020-06-23 IAF airlifts dozens of tanks to Ladakh to beef up firepower, MiG-29s and Apache helicopters deployed at Leh airbase
Arunachal Pradesh: 2020-04-03 Quarantined Tablighi Jamaat Members booked for Misbehaving With Nurses In UP Hospital
Related:
Sikkim: 2020-06-23 IAF airlifts dozens of tanks to Ladakh to beef up firepower, MiG-29s and Apache helicopters deployed at Leh airbase
Sikkim: 2020-05-15 'Indian Army Lt. punches Chinese PLA major in nose after Chinese troops patrol Indian territory
Sikkim: 2020-05-11 Skirmish at the China-India border (North Sikkim)
Related:
Naku La: 2020-05-10 Indian, Chinese troops clash in Ladakh, Sikkim; several injured
Posted by:Steve White

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