India-China conflict | Tension resolution after the deadly clash

Defence Redefined

Published on 18/06/2020 at 17:15

Τhe tension created in a disputed border region of the Himalayas where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese forces on Monday, June 15th is heading towards its resolution.

The incident occurred after rising tensions and it is the first deadly clash in the border region in at least 45 years.

The Indian military had initially announced that three of its soldiers had been killed, adding that both sides had suffered casualties. But later on Tuesday, officials said that a number of seriously injured soldiers had died.

India’s Foreign Ministry has accused China of violating an agreement with respect to the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in the Galwan Valley last week.

According to BBC correspondent James Robbins, on an article on June 16, violence between two armies high up in the Himalayas is very serious, and pressure will grow on the two nuclear powers not to allow a slide into full-scale conflict.

China has not confirmed any casualties, but it has accused India of trying to cross the border into China.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said India had crossed the border twice on Monday, “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides”, AFP news agency reported.

Both sides insist there has been no exchange of fire for 40 years, while the Indian military said on Tuesday that “no shots were fired” in the latest incident. Local media reported that the Indian soldiers were “beaten to death”.

To date, the two countries have once faced each other in a war in 1962, with India suffering a humiliating defeat. In May, dozens of Indian and Chinese soldiers exchanged fire at the border in the northeastern state of Sikkim. Also, in 2017, the two countries clashed in the region after China tried to expand a border road through a disputed plateau.

Now, a few days after the incident, the tension is escalating as New Delhi and Beijing have an open line of communication. Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the foreign ministers of both countries had shared a phone conversation on Wednesday on the developments and “agreed that the overall situation should be handled in a responsible manner”.

With information from: BBC, DW