Tensions have flared between India and China after a border clash led to the death of several soldiers. The fighting is understood to have happened over Monday night.
Initial reports said that at least three soldiers from the Indian military had died, with reports saying that the Chinese military had also suffered an unknown number of casualties. Unconfirmed reports now say that the death toll on the Indian side was significantly higher and that a number of Indian soldiers were captured by the Chinese military.
UPDATE: Reports from India Today now say the death toll on the Indian side is confirmed to be “above 20.”
The move happened in the Galwan Valley area of the disputed Ladakh region of Kashmir, which is bordered by Tibet to the east. China and India share a 4,000 km long border, called the Line of Actual Control [LAC], which is the longest unmarked border in the world.
There is a long history of border disputes in the area, with a clash between Chinese and Indian soldiers last month seeing over 100 soldiers injured by stones, iron bars, and fists.
While there has long been conflict between China and India about the border this is the first time soldiers have died in conflict on the border since 1975.
Hu Xijin, the editor of the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party backed newspaper generally seen as a mouthpiece for the more aggressive instincts of the Party, responded to the clash with a tweet telling India not to “misread China’s restraint as being weak”, saying “Chia doesn’t want to have a clash with India, but we don’t fear it.”
Based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash. I want to tell the Indian side, don’t be arrogant and misread China’s restraint as being weak. China doesn’t want to have a clash with India, but we don’t fear it.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 16, 2020