Chinese and Indian military personnel have staged fresh clashes in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, near the disputed border with China, in what is the first spike in tension between the sides since the fighting in June 2020.
«This clash resulted in minor injuries to some personnel on both sides,» the Indian Army has said, adding that the parties «immediately» withdrew from the area, according to a statement carried by ‘The Hindustan Times’ newspaper.
The incident, which took place on December 9, involved 600 Indian Army personnel, while on the Chinese side there were around 300 military personnel, with minor injuries totaling six, according to the ANI news agency.
The clash would be the first since June 2020, when a group of Chinese and Indian military fought with sticks and stones in the Galwan Valley region, resulting in the death of at least 20 Indian and four Chinese military personnel.
At the epicenter of the crisis, which has attempted to be addressed on numerous occasions through rounds of dialogue, is the Ladaj region, the scene in early 2020 of skirmishes that, without involving firearms, involved fist fights and stone throwing between troops deployed in Pangong Lake and the Galwan Valley.
The tensions involve mountainous territory in the northern Kashmir region, as well as some 60,000 square kilometers in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Line of Actual Control, which replaces the border between the two countries in that region, passes through Ladaj.
India and China engaged in a brief war over their border in 1962. India disputes China’s control over 38,000 square kilometers of land in Aksai Chin, which it claims is part of Ladaj. Beijing in turn claims 90,000 square kilometers of territory in Arunachal Pradesh, which it considers part of southern Tibet.
