Several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a high-altitude cross-border clash involving fistfights and stone-throwing at a remote but strategically important mountain pass near Tibet, the Indian Army said Sunday.

There have been long-running border tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with a bitter war fought over India's northeastern-most state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962.

"Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops. It was stone-throwing and arguments that ended in a fistfight," Indian Army Eastern Command spokesman Mandeep Hooda told AFP.

The "stand-off" on Saturday at Naku La sector near the 15,000-feet (4,572-metre) Nathu La crossing in the northeastern state of Sikkim -- which borders Bhutan, Nepal and China -- was later resolved after "dialogue and interaction" at a local level, Hooda said.

"Temporary and short duration face-offs between border-guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved," he added.

Some 150 soldiers were involved in the face-off, the Press Trust of India reported.

There have been numerous face-offs and brawls between Chinese and Indian soldiers, including one near the northwest Indian region of Ladakh captured on video in 2017, where troops were seen throwing punches and stones.

In 2017, there was a high-altitude standoff in Bhutan's Doklam region for two months after the Indian army sent troops to stop China from constructing a road there.

Relations since the standoff over Doklam between the two Asian giants appeared to improve following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan, China in 2018.

The two men also met last October in Chennai in southern India.

China still claims about 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) of territory under New Delhi's control.

Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Air Force, Marines train near China amid heightened tensions
Washington DC (UPI) May 06, 2020
The Air Force and Marines have both reported engaging in training maneuvers in the East and South China Sea in recent weeks amid escalating tensions in the region. Earlier this week the Pacific Air Forces and U.S. Air Force announced on Twitter that the Air Force had conducted a training mission in the in the East China Sea "in support of the National Defense Strategy objectives of being strategically predictable and operationally unpredictable." Last week the Chinese military expelled t ... read more