Indian and Chinese troops clash on disputed Himalayan border

Indian and Chinese troops clash on disputed Himalayan border

This file photo taken on July 10, 2008 shows a Chinese soldier next to an Indian soldier at the Nathu La border crossing between India and China in India's northeastern Sikkim state. (AFP)
This file photo taken on July 10, 2008 shows a Chinese soldier next to an Indian soldier at the Nathu La border crossing between India and China in India's northeastern Sikkim state. (AFP)

India said its troops clashed with Chinese solders along their contested Himalayan border, the latest skirmish in a conflict that has simmered since May.

The Chinese troops carried out “provocative military movements” late on Saturday night, India’s Defence Ministry said in a statement Monday. It accused the People’s Liberation Army of violating diplomatic and military agreements on the undemarcated area.

Beijing is in close communication with New Delhi regarding issues on the ground, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday, noting that Chinese border troops always abide strictly by the Line of Actual Control.

India’s stock market pared gains with the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropping 0.7% at 12.03pm in Mumbai, while the rupee weakened 0.4% after the news.

The latest skirmish between the two sides took place along the Southern bank of the Pangong Tso -- a glacial lake at 14,000 feet -- along the 3,488 kilometre Line of Actual Control. Both India and China have moved thousands of troops, tanks, artillery guns and fighter jets close to the border.

The number of casualties or captured troops is not yet clear, and while there’s a high-level military meeting in progress to resolve the tensions, India’s military is fully deployed along the disputed border.

Indian troops “undertook measures to strengthen our positions and thwart Chinese intentions to unilaterally change facts on ground,” the ministry said, noting it would not release any further details to “maintain operational security.”

India and China’s worst dispute in four decades culminated in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers in an ugly battle on June 15.

Since then tensions have continued to simmer, with India revealing in late July it was positioning an additional 35,000 troops along the border as the possibility of an early resolution to the deadly tensions between the two neighbours faded.

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