Chinese and Indian soldiers were injured in new clashes between the two armies last Friday on a disputed border in the Himalayas, a source close to the Indian army said.
An Indian source said that “several people on both sides were slightly injured” in the clashes, while a military source confirmed that at least 6 Indian soldiers were injured. Two sources confirmed that Chinese soldiers approached an area near the “line of actual control”, which is the de facto border, where it was decided that neither side would patrol.
The first source said the Indian soldiers reacted “strongly”, adding that after the clash, “(both sides) left the area immediately.” Tensions between the two countries escalated following clashes between Indian and Chinese forces in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley in the Ladakh region bordering the Chinese-controlled Tibetan Plateau.
At the time, 20 Indian soldiers were killed and China suffered an undisclosed number of casualties, and both sides stepped up their military presence and moved men, weapons and supplies to the high desert region. India and China share a 3,800 km unmarked border, and their military forces have previously adhered to long-standing agreements not to use any firearms along the de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control. In 1962, war broke out between China and India over a disputed border between them.