Tensions have risen again between China and India. Friday, December 9, Chinese and Indian troops clashed on the border of the two countries in the Himalayas.
The incident occurred in the Tawang sector, in the northwestern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which the two countries dispute. The small town of Tawang is located in the Himalayas, at an altitude of about 3,000 meters.
According to India, he did “several people were injured on both sides”, But “No soldiers were seriously injured”. China itself refuses to provide an assessment.
Contested territory between the two countries
According to the Indian army, its soldiers reacted “firmly and emphatically” after Chinese soldiers reportedly approached “effective line of control”an area located near the contested border between the two countries, which it has been agreed that neither side will patrol.
Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday accused China of wanting this “unilaterally changing the status quo by breaking boundaries” in this area.
A Chinese army spokesperson confirmed, on the same Tuesday, that Chinese troops “obstructed by Indian troops” who, according to him, “crossed illegally” effective line of control.
He assured that the Chinese military reacted in a certain way “professional, classic and bold” And “stabilize the situation on the ground”.
There was already a serious incident in June 2020
This never-accurately drawn border has been the cause of renewed tensions between the two countries in recent years. This was the cause of the war between India and China in 1962.
A serious confrontation had taken place between the armies of the two countries in the same region, in June 2020, leaving twenty people dead on the Indian side and at least four on the Chinese side.
Two other less serious incidents also occurred in September 2020 and late November 2022.
Joint military maneuvers between Indian and American troops, held in November in another state in northern India, which borders China, once again strained relations between the two countries.
Learn more
> The confrontation in Tawang occurred even though tensions triggered by the Galwan clash on the night of 14-15 June 2020 were still high.
> Both sides reportedly have more than 50,000 troops each deployed along the icy Himalayan border in Ladakh.
> Army intrusions from one party into territory claimed by the other party often occur along the Lake (Line of Actual Control).
> The lake is an imprecise dividing line separating areas under Indian control and areas under Chinese control in border disputes and the 1962 Sino-Indian war. The 4,000 km long border is unclear and patrol teams often cross the line. > Sino-Indian agreements signed in 1993 and 1996 did not fully resolve the border dispute.
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