Indo-China tensions brewing along border

Jubilee News Desk

As India and China both rejected American offer for mediation for the tension brewing along border between two most populous countries of the world armies of both the nations are locked in a tense face-off high in the Himalayas.

Officials quoted by the Indian media say thousands of Chinese troops have forced their way into the Galwan valley in Ladakh, in the disputed Kashmir region.

Reports say that in early May, Chinese forces put up tents, dug trenches and moved heavy equipment several kilometres inside what had been regarded by India as its territory. The move came after India built a road several hundred kilometres long connecting to a high-altitude forward air base which it reactivated in 2008.

A section of media has also reported the present deployment by China is to divert attention of its people from the on going coronavirus crisis and has nothing to do with war with India. This but has no clue where it can be established. China takes a different view, saying it’s India which has changed facts on ground.

Reports in the Indian media said soldiers from the two sides clashed on at least two occasions in Ladakh. Stand-offs are reported in at least three locations: the Galwan valley; Hot Springs; and Pangong lake to the south.

To give statistics, India and China share a border of more than 3,440 kilometres and have overlapping territorial claims. Their border patrols often bump into each other, resulting in occasional scuffles but both sides insist no bullet has been fired in four decades. This is contrary to the reports of scuffle and even fist fights between soldiers of the two nations.

Armies come face to face at many points. The poorly demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) separates the two sides. Rivers, lakes and snowcaps mean the line separating soldiers can shift and they often come close to confrontation.

The current military tension is not limited to Ladakh. Soldiers from the two sides are also eyeball-to-eyeball in Naku La, on the border between China and the north-eastern Indian state of Sikkim. Earlier this month they reportedly came to blows. IN a recent photograph Chinese soldiers can be seen wearing a mask. However no official statement has come for this picture.

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