Nuclear-armed neighbors have accused each other of shooting into the air during a new outbreak in the Ladakh region on Monday, violating long-standing protocols to prevent the use of firearms along its unmarked borders.
Full coverage – LAC deadlock
“The situation is tense,” said an official in New Delhi, adding that Indian and Chinese troops were clashing very closely in at least four locations south of the Pangong Tso Lake that both claim.
“They’re both on their own side of the LACQUER“Said the official, referring to the Line of Real Control, the de facto border.
At an outpost near the Rezang La mountain pass, Indian and Chinese troops were only 200 meters away, another official in New Delhi said. Both officials declined to be identified.
On Monday, the Indian army said Chinese troops fired into the air after trying to approach a forward Indian position. But the Chinese military said it was Indian troops who fired the shots and threatened Chinese border guards during a patrol.
In photos provided by sources in New Delhi from an area south of Pangong Tso taken on Monday, some two dozen Chinese soldiers with assault rifles can be seen hanging from their backs holding long sticks with a curved blade. Reuters was unable to independently verify the photos.
A 70-kilometer-long patch of desolate, snowy desert south of Pangong Tso has emerged as the latest flash point among the Asian giants, with some 3,000 Indian soldiers chained along strategic ridges and hills, the first Indian official said. .
The confrontation erupted after New Delhi mobilized soldiers late last month to occupy key locations to deter Chinese troops, whose movements suggested they were aiming to occupy a hill that falls within territory that India considers its own, according to Indian officials. .
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