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| Credits: Swarajya |
A face off between Indian and Chinese Soldiers at Sikkim's Naku La Pass has left soldiers injured on both sides.
The Indian Army on Sunday confirmed that its soldiers were engaged in a tense face-off with Chinese troops along India’s frontiers with China in northern Sikkim attributing it to the undemarcated boundary issue between the two countries.
The face-off which included “aggressive behavior and minor injuries on both sides" according to the Indian army took place after a long time. The Indian army statement comes after a report in the Hindustan Times on Sunday which said that scores of Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in a tense face-off in Sikkim on Saturday. The confrontation between the troops took place near the Naku La sector at a pass at a height of more than 5,000 metres, the Hindustan Times report said.
The last major standoff between the soldiers of India and China took place on the Doklam plateau in 2017 when the armies of the two countries faced-off against each other for 73 days.
"Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols. Such an incident occurred after a long time," said a source. It is learnt that a total of 150 soldiers were involved in the face-off on Saturday.
The sources said temporary and short duration face-offs occur due to differing perception of the border by both sides.
The troops of India and China were engaged in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam tri-junction in 2017, which even triggered fears of a war between the two neighbours. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control, the de-facto border between the two countries.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet while India contests it. Both sides have been asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first informal summit in April 2018 in the Chinese city of Wuhan, months after the Doklam standoff. In the summit, the two leaders decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications so that they can build trust and understanding.
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