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Indian, Chinese troops clash at Sikkim’s Naku La: All you need to know
Chinese soldiers attempted to intrude into the Indian territory but were pushed back, but the Army has clarified it was a minor face-off that was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols
Indian and Chinese soldiers suffered injuries in a brawl in north Sikkim last week, with soldiers from both armies suffering injuries, officials familiar with the development had said on Monday. . Here is what we know about the incident that has turned the spotlight on the eastern sector even as rival soldiers are deployed eyeball to eyeball in Ladakh:
• The latest incident took place at Naku La area at a height of over 5,000 metres on January 20 when Chinese soldiers attempted to intrude into the Indian territory but were pushed back.
• The Army has clarified it was a minor face-off that was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols.
• The Naku La area has traditionally not been prone to face-offs.
• Experts pointed to attempts by Beijing to open a new front amid the stalemate in the Ladakh sector, where tensions first erupted in May 2020. The two sides are holding diplomatic and military dialogues to defuse tensions there.
Also Read: Indian, Chinese troops clashed in north Sikkim last week: Officials
• The Chinese side neither confirmed nor denied the incident.
• Zhao Lijian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, said Chinese border troops are committed to upholding peace and tranquility along the border with India and urged the “Indian side to work in the same direction” and “refrain from actions that might escalate or complicate the situation along the border”.
• The news of the Naku La clash came hours before a joint statement by the two nuclear-armed neighbours, which agreed to a push for “early disengagement” of their frontline troops during the ninth round of military talks on Sunday. The talks went on for 16 hours.
• The ongoing border tensions escalated in the aftermath of a clash in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on June 15. It was the first deadly conflict between soldiers of the two sides along the contested Line of Actual Control in 45 years and resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers, including a commanding officer, and an undisclosed number of Chinese soldiers.
• The Naku La episode is the second such incident in the eastern sector in less than a year. Four Indian soldiers and seven Chinese troops suffered injuries during a May 9, 2020, confrontation that involved around 150 soldiers.
• Rival soldiers have so far clashed at least five times since the India-China border row erupted last year in the Ladakh sector. The situation there remains tense and the ongoing military and diplomatic dialogues have yet to make any positive impact.
• On January 12, army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane said the Indian Army was prepared to hold its ground in eastern Ladakh “as long as it takes” to achieve national objectives in case the military and diplomatic talks with China were prolonged.
• While the LAC in eastern Ladakh has been at the centre of the current border tensions, Indian forces are in a heightened state of alert all along the border with China, stretching from Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand to Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh.
