NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese troops have brawled again on their contested border, leaving injuries on both sides, military sources and media reports said on Monday, barely six months after a deadly clash in the Himalayas.
The incident happened last week at the Naku La pass in Sikkim state, the sources told AFP. Media reports quoted Indian military officials as saying there were casualties on both sides.
Indian and Chinese troops remain locked in a stand-off at the bitterly contested border in the western Himalayas, the most serious military crisis between the nuclear-armed neighbours for decades. Last summer, 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed in a deadly combat.
Both sides have since said that they are looking to find ways to de-escalate the situation on the border, but talks have made little headway and both sides have maintained a heavy military deployment through the freezing winter months.
Last month, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said there had been “no meaningful result” from several rounds of diplomatic and military talks aimed at de-escalating the confrontation.
“If the status quo continues, it is obvious that the deployment won’t come down,” Singh had said during an interview with Reuters partner ANI.
But, he said, both sides were still exchanging messages over the border situation and another round of military talks was in the offing.
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