NEW DELHI: Indian troops prevented Chinese soldiers from entering Indian territory on Dec 9 during a border scuffle that led to injuries on both sides, India’s defence minister said on Tuesday (Dec 13), in the first such clash since 2020 between the Asian giants.
The incident occurred 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 from 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 front-line troops, and work with China to maintain peace and security on the border,” the spokesperson said.
An Indian defence source told Reuters that patrolling teams from both sides came face-to-face at one of the peaks there and that in an ensuing hand-to-hand fight, some soldiers fell on the rocky surface and injured themselves.
Two other sources said around half a dozen Indian soldiers suffered minor injuries.
The defence source said the un-demarcated border, called the Line of Actual Control (LAC), means soldiers from both sides cross over 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 an attempt by the PLA to enter Indian territory.
“These are skirmishes that keep happening, and they are not major. This was not major.”
Source: CNA
