According to Indian media, Chinese and Indian troops again clashed in a disputed border area, with either side.
The incident took place last Wednesday in northern Sikkim. The Indian Army said there was a ‘minor’ incident which was ‘resolved’.
Tensions are high along the world’s longest disputed border. Both sides claim large areas.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a skirmish in the Ladakh area last June.
What happened in the latest incident?
According to media reports, this happened in Naku La in the north of Sikkim. Sikkim is an Indian state sandwiched between Bhutan and Nepal, about 2,500 km east of the Ladakh region.
A Chinese patrol tried to enter Indian territory and was forced back, officials said. Some reports state that sticks and stones were used, but there were no gunshots.
A statement from the Indian Army said the incident was “disturbing” and said that there was a minor sighting in the Naku La area in North Sikkim on January 20, 2021 and the same was resolved by local commanders according to the established protocols.
One source told the Times of India that both parties had brought reinforcements to a ‘fight’, but there was no gunfire and the situation was under control.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian did not elaborate on the incident, but said China’s troops were “committed to maintaining peace” and insisted that India “refrain from actions that the situation along the border may worsen or complicate ”.
The editor-in-chief of China, the state-owned Global Times, tweeted that there was “no record of this collision in the Chinese-side patrol log”.
Flash points and dialogue
Analysis by Vikas Pandey, BBC News, Delhi
The latest reports on skirmishes show that tensions are still high. The statement from the Indian Army shows that both countries are still aiming to keep the dialogue route open and do not want skirmishes to derail the process.
They have held several talks at military level to ease tensions, but nothing concrete has come of it yet.
And troops are still facing each other at various flash points along their controversial border.
Some former Indian officers believe that such exchanges cannot be avoided if the situation is so fluid. But they agree that talks should continue, as both countries do not want war – not even a limited war.
Why are there border disputes?
Much of the 3,440 km (2,100 miles) boundary is poorly defined. Rivers, lakes and snow caps mean that the line can shift, bringing soldiers face-to-face at many points, sometimes leading to confrontations.
There was a minor collision in May last year in Naku La, at an altitude of more than 5,000 m. One month later, a fatal collision broke out in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. In addition to the Indian deaths, China also reportedly died, although it made no official comment.
Since the brutal hand-to-hand fighting there, in which no shots were fired, the two parties have been in talks to succeed. Its ninth round took place on Sunday in eastern Ladakh between military commanders, but there were no details on any agreements.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have a lot to lose, with China one of India’s biggest trading partners.
Relationships have deteriorated amid the border. Both have intensified the construction of infrastructure along some of the border areas.
The Indian government has also banned more than 200 Chinese apps, citing cyber security.
The two countries waged only one war, in 1962, when India suffered a heavy defeat.
An agreement was signed in 1996 banning the use of guns and explosives from the Line of Actual Control, as the disputed border is known. This took place, although China did accuse Indian troops of firing warning shots at Ladakh in September last year.
What is Sikkim’s strategic importance?
The small eastern Himalayan region has been a major hotspot between India and China for decades. It saw clashes in their 1962 war. Five years later, battles along the border killed several hundred soldiers on either side.
The former kingdom was then an Indian protectorate, and only became the country’s 22nd state after a 1975 referendum.
Sikkim is near a high plateau known as Doklam in India and Donglang in China.
India fears that greater access to the Chinese road to the plateau would threaten India’s strategically vulnerable ‘chicken neck’, the 20km-wide Siliguri Pass, which connects seven northeastern states, including Assam, with the rest of the country.
The border in Sikkim is also important for another reason. Indian military experts say it is the only area in which India can provide an offensive response to a Chinese invasion, and the only stretch of the Himalayan border where Indian troops have a terrain and tactical advantage. They have higher ground, and the Chinese positions there are being squeezed between India and Bhutan.