Indo-Chinese soldiers 'fought for three hours' at the border 4
About 500 Chinese soldiers on the evening of August 29 tried to enter the narrow Spanggur valley, near Chushul village in eastern Ladakh, a disputed area between China and India at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), police sources said.
The police official said Indian soldiers pushed back Chinese forces across the LAC after the clash.
This source did not give details about the clash and did not reveal whether either side suffered casualties or not.
The Indian government on August 31 accused China of launching `provocative military activities` three months after `the Chinese army annexed 60 square kilometers of Indian territory in Ladakh`.
Indian soldiers (dark blue uniform) and Chinese soldiers (tan uniform) conduct rescue exercises in the Chushui-Moldo region, Ládakh region, February 2016.
However, at a press conference on the same day, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied accusations that its military crossed the LAC, the actual border between the two most populous countries in the world.
`India’s move seriously violates China’s territorial sovereignty and seriously sabotages the peace and stability of the China-India border area. China strongly opposes this,` Colonel Truong Thuy said.
`We officially request that the Indian side immediately withdraw the number of soldiers illegally crossing the border, strictly control and restrain front-line soldiers, seriously comply with its commitments and avoid the situation from escalating,`
An Indian police source warned that the border situation with China is likely to escalate after Indian soldiers `opened a new front` and pushed back Chinese soldiers to enter the area near Chushul village.
The Indian Ministry of Defense said commanders from both sides met along the border on August 31 to resolve the dispute.
`We have never had any problems here, we control the area very tightly,` said former Indian Army Lieutenant General Deependra Singh Hooda.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar warned that tensions with China are at their highest level since the two countries agreed to a ceasefire after the 1962 Indo-China War, which left thousands of soldiers injured.
Location of disputed areas between India and China.
The Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, today published an editorial saying that it was India who provoked the attack first.
Global Times warns that India will face `a powerful China` and its military force is `enough to protect every inch of land`, and believes that New Delhi `should not be delusional` about its support.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a scuffle on June 15 in the Galwan Valley, located between Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin and Indian-controlled Ladakh.
Indo-Chinese soldiers have clashed many times in border areas in recent years but have not used weapons or opened fire.
However, India and China are said to still deploy many weapons to the border area such as fighters, military helicopters, surveillance radars, shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft missiles and other air defense systems.
