Chandigarh: Border tensions between China and India have flared up once again with at least two incidents of violent clashes and stone-pelting taking place between rival troops in Ladakh and Sikkim over the last week. Media reports say that the clashes left several soldiers on both sides injured.
A report in Times of India (ToI) notes that the Indian Army played down the incidents as “temporary and short-duration face-offs” that were resolved by “local commanders as per mutually-accepted protocols” through dialogue and flag meetings.
Representational Image. File Photo
NDTV quotes a statement by the army: “[t]emporary and short duration faceoffs between border guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved. Incident of face off as referred to in the article did take place. Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols”.
ToI referred to undisclosed sources while reporting the first incident took place on May 5-6 on the Indian side in the Pangong Tso sector of eastern Ladakh — a flash-point between the two countries for long — after “aggressive patrolling” by People’s Liberation Army troops was blocked by Indian Army soldiers.
Image used for representational purpose only
“There was a scuffle, in which a few soldiers on either side were injured. Matters were resolved after a meeting between the Brigadier-level sector commanders. The troops, after disengaging, are now on their respective sides,” ToI quotes an undisclosed source.
The second clash reportedly took place at an altitude of over 5,000-metre in the Naku La sector in north Sikkim, in which over a dozen Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in the physical brawl and stone-pelting, on Saturday afternoon.
China and India have border disputes and the line between the territories controlled by the duo is termed as Line of Actual Control (LAC). There are 23 “disputed and sensitive areas” identified along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where rival troops often resort to aggressive patrolling to lay claim to disputed territories.