Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Tawang sector of the north-eastern Arunachal Pradesh state last week. According to reports, dozens of Chinese soldiers made an incursion before being confronted by Indian soldiers who pushed them back across the Line of Actual Control, or LAC.
The clashes marked the most serious incident along their contested mountainous border since soldiers from the two giant nations were killed and captured in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley of June 2020, which plunged bilateral relations to their lowest level in decades.
Unlike Galwan, where 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese troops died, the Yangtse clash led only to broken limbs and not blood, said military officials. At least 9 Indian soldiers have been hospitalised at a military hospital in Guwahati, Assam, after the face-off.
“On 9 December, PLA troops attempted to unilaterally change the status quo by encroaching the LAC, in the Yangtse area of Tawang sector,” India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh told parliament, referring to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the de facto border.
“The Indian army bravely prevented the PLA from encroaching on our territory and forced them to withdraw to their posts. Some soldiers from both sides were injured in the skirmish.”
Some soldiers from both sides had been injured in the skirmish but no Indian soldiers had been "hurt or seriously injured" in the clash.
Unmarked border
India and China share a 3,488-kilometre unmarked border – the LAC – that span across the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir. The border is not entirely demarcated, hence making it difficult for both countries to clarify and confirm the LAC.
It is divided into three sectors: the western sector is along Ladakh, the middle sector along Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the eastern sector along Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
With Indian and Chinese troops clashing once again, this time in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector, here are the top 6 clashes at the Line of Actual Control. #NewsMo #India #China #LAC #borderclash #army #indianarmy | @shivaroor pic.twitter.com/DZN7Ny1cGq
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) December 15, 2022
An uneasy truce
In 1962, when the countries fought a bloody, high-altitude war over the contested territories, China seized Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as part of south Tibet, before returning it to Indian control but Beijing has maintained its claim over the territory ever since.
"This (clashes) is obviously not being done only at the level of military commander on the spot. I am sure they had some of the political leadership at the back,” said former army chief General V P Malik.
“So, looking at the situation, the fact is that the Chinese are claiming not only this area, but also the whole of Arunachal Pradesh, that is why I don't see any de-escalation taking place on the LAC or disengagement taking place," he said.
Military officials say Chinese control of Arunachal Pradesh would allow Beijing to encircle Bhutan and also isolate India’s north-eastern states.
Since 2020, corps commanders from the two militaries have met 16 times to negotiate a pullback from the LAC in Ladakh.
Tensions continue to remain and any border violence could quickly escalate.
“For now, matters are stable but since there is no significant reduction in Chinese troop levels at the border and therefore the situation is unpredictable,” an army officer told RFI
While this week’s crisis ended promptly, army officials believe future events could also happen which has the potential of spiralling out of control. Fortunately, a military-to-military dialogue mechanism can help reduce the chances of escalation.
