Indian, Chinese Troops Clash Near Naku La In Sikkim Sector

May 10, 2020

The troops disengaged after dialogue at the local level, they said. “Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols. Such an incident occurred after a long time,” said a source.

NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and Sikkim.

The confrontation between troops from both sides took place at Sikkim’s Naku La sector, a pass located at an altitude of 19,000 feet, after Indian and Chinese patrols had reached there on Saturday afternoon. Naku La is known as a “sensitive area”, meaning a territory that can trigger a confrontation due to the “sensitivity” attached to it. Indian and Chinese troops clashed with each other, including jostling and stone pelting. About 10 to 12 soldiers from both sides got “minor” injuries. The matter was resolved at the local formation commander level on the same day.

“Temporary and short duration faceoffs between border guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved. Incident of face off did take place. Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops. The two sides disengaged after dialogue and interaction at local level. Troops resolve such issues mutually as per established protocols,” a defence spokesperson said on the Naku La incident.

A similar incident took place near the Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh on the intervening night of May 5 and 6. There was a scuffle between both sides. Some troops suffered “minor” injuries during the incident, which ended in a few minutes. The matter was resolved on May 6 through calls to each side over the hotline at the local Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) hut and meetings between the local commanders.

“The same protocol was followed in Sikkim to resolve the issue there,” an official said, adding that fisticuffs had taken place.

“This protocol with China has been established to resolve issues amicably at the local formation commander level. Both sides had said that these incidents will be discussed at the next high level meeting,” another official said.

Officials explained that such scuffles happen due to the differing perception of the Line of Actual Control. This is also a time when area domination and reconnaissance by both sides takes place, because summers have arrived, resulting in higher temperatures and therefore more patrols will be sent by each side. As clashes take place when patrols come face to face with each other, more such incidents could happen.

“We should not read too much into the Naku La incident, because this is a minor incident and may happen,” sources said.

This is not the first time that Indian and Chinese troops have had a confrontation. In August 2017, Indian and Chinese troops threw stones and exchanged blows with each other near Pangong Tso. The incident had worsened ties between the two countries, which had already been hit due to the Doklam standoff around that time.

CourtesyL ET