Fresh Clash Erupts Between Indian-Chinese Troops in Pangong Tso
India and China have been in a border stand-off along the 4,057 km Line of Actual Control since the last week of April. The violent face-off between the troops of the neighbouring countries in Pangong Tso on 15 June left 20 Indian army soldiers dead, resulting in a series of disengagement talks at the diplomatic and military level.
The Indian Army has revealed that fresh clashes erupted between the troops of China and India during the night, on 29-30 August, when the People’s Liberation Army carried out “provocative military movements” in the eastern Ladakh region.
“On the night of 29/30 August, People’s Liberation Army troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during an ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo,” said Colonel Aman Anand, PRO, Army.
According to the Indian officials, a Brigade Commander level Flag Meeting is underway to address the situation.
An army official said that it was hand-to-hand fighting. No weapons were fired and no casualties were reported.
In turn, China’s foreign ministry said that Chinese troops had never crossed the line of actual control at the Indian border.
The tensions have been recently fueled by the skirmishes between the countries’ border forces starting in May. In mid-June a deadly brawl broke out between soldiers of both sides high up in the disputed Ladakh region. India said that 20 of its soldiers died in the altercation, and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers are believed to have died.
The absence of a marked border between China and India has been a source of tension for decades. The Line of Actual Control, a loose demarcation line that separates the territories, was created after the 1962 war as a compromise.
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