Chinese and Indian troops have clashed in a disputed Himalayan border region for the first time in more than two years, with reports of dozens injured.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were injured in the incident on 9 December in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Indian army said on Tuesday. The clash was the most serious since June 2020, when at least 24 soldiers died in violent hand-to-hand combat, and comes after months of major acts of disengagement by both militaries in the long-running dispute.
Addressing India’s parliament, the defence minister, Rajnath Singh, accused soldiers from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of attempting to transgress the de facto border known as the line of actual control (LAC) “and unilaterally change the status quo”.
“The Chinese attempt was contested by our troops in a firm and resolute manner. The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts.”
Singh said commanders from both militaries had met on 11 December “to discuss the issue in accordance with established mechanisms” and that diplomatic representations had been made to Beijing.
Singh told parliament there had been injuries on both sides but there were no fatalities or serious injuries among Indian troops.
Indian media reported varying estimates of the PLA group, from 300 to 600 soldiers. Two Indian army officers, who did not wish to be named, told the Guardian it was between 100 and 200 soldiers, “similar to what was used during the Galwan clash [in June 2020]”.
“They confronted around 50 Indian soldiers who tried to challenge them. Around 30 soldiers received injuries, six Indian army personnel were gravely injured and were shifted to Guwahati for treatment,” one said.
“Most of these soldiers are out of danger, they have injuries in [the] head and face as well.”
One officer said there had been at least two confrontations since the Galwan Valley clash but this one was more serious. They said the Chinese troops were “unusually aggressive and seemed to be prepared for the clash”, and began striking Indian soldiers quickly.
The officers said the region was on high alert and Indian reinforcements had been deployed but they were ordered to avoid escalating the situation.
There are no public reports of injuries or casualties among PLA troops, and Chinese officials have not spoken publicly of the incident. The ministry of defence has been contacted for comment.
At a regular press conference on Tuesday, a spokesperson for China’s ministry of foreign affairs said the “current border situation … is generally stable”.
The incident is a significant escalation in tensions in the high-altitude area, where China and India have disputing territorial claims. The line of actual control was set as a de facto boundary in a tenuous truce agreement made after hostilities in the 1960s. However, there remain disagreements over the specific length and position of the LAC, and tensions have sporadically boiled over with frequent accusations against each side of crossing into the other’s claimed territory.
In the 2020 clash, neither side was armed with guns, under a long tradition designed to maintain stability in the region, but instead fought with clubs, bars and other makeshift weapons. Soldiers fell to their deaths from the narrow ridge over steep ravines in the deadliest clash in 60 years.
The two militaries have been engaged in peace talks, with significant acts of mutual disengagement in recent months, but some analysts have warned a return to peace remains a distant prospect.
Additional reporting by Chi Hui Lin
