Srinagar, May 11: Signfiying a growing tension over boundary claims, Indian and Chinese troops have clashed at two points along the Line of Actual Control this week, leaving personnel injured on both sides, the Indian express Newspaper reported.
The newspaper reported the incidents took place in the Naku La sector — it’s a mountain pass in Sikkim at an altitude of over 5000 metres — on Saturday, and in a contested area near Pangong Tso, a lake in Ladakh, on the night of May 5-6.
A Colonel and a Major, sources said, were among the Indian personnel injured in the Ladakh clash, the report said, adding, Two Chinese helicopters also arrived on their side of the LAC after an Indian helicopter, carrying a senior officer, flew in the vicinity of the contested zone on May 5 morning.
Following the Naku La incident, the Army said, “temporary and short duration faceoffs between border guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved”.
“Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops. The two sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at local level,” the Indian express quoted as the army official saying.
On the Ladakh incident, Army sources told The Indian Express that there was physical altercation between the Indian and Chinese troops on the intervening night of May 5-6 near the Pangong Tso.
It is learnt that Chinese troops attacked Indian soldiers on patrol in the area.
They were carrying batons studded with nails and this caused serious injuries to several Indian soldiers, some of whom had to be hospitalised, the report added
The Indian express reported that the Indian troops, sources said, also hit back at the Chinese soldiers, and the confrontation continued until senior officers from both sides intervened. The area is said to be on a high state of alert.
Sources said there had been another faceoff in the end of April but that had been amicably resolved.
The last such clash on the LAC in Ladakh took place in September 2019 on the north bank of the Pangong lake, the newspaper added.