India, China troops in high-altitude clash: Officials

The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months AFP/Diptendu DUTTA

 

SRINAGAR: Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said on Wednesday (Aug 16), exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies.

Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said.

He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back.

India, China hold joint army drills in Ladakh to boost ties

Indian Army soldiers participate in a war exercise during a two-day “Know Your Army” exhibition in Ahmedabad, India, August 19, 2016. Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave

 

The exercise increases the level of trust and cooperation between the two border guarding forces along the Line of Actual Control

India and China on Wednesday carried out a joint army exercise in eastern Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir, a move that comes amid hectic diplomatic maneuvering between the two countries over a host of issues like Nuclear Suppliers Group and designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist by the United Nations, PTI reports.

India plans US$1bn mountain strike corps to counter China

India is building a new 62-billion-rupee (US$1.02 billion) mountain strike corps to counter China along the China-India border in the northeastern part of the country, according to a report from the New Delhi-based Hindustan Times.

The report said General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, is set to visit the Kolkata-based Eastern Command before the end of the month to track the progress of the new 17 Corps, which is being set up to counter China’s reconnaissance and intelligence along the 4,057-kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries. The corps is likely to be operational by 2022, the report said, adding that it is expected to reduce China’s combat power advantage over India from the current ratio of 3:1 to 2.1:1.

Chinese Troops Enter 25km Inside Ladakh, Claim Territory

Much like the Gonkard area, the Despang plain is an area which was trespassed on is also possibly being scouted and surveyed as a possible PLAA airfield. It would give them first-strike capability over India and put them further into submission. It’s a very high altitude location which would be hard to strike for most planes. With both India and China in dispute over a ‘grey area’ of territory both claim to own, China has been posturing and leveraging its aggressiveness towards its neighbor because it smells weakness in India which is showing it doesn’t know how to handle the situation.

 

New Delhi/Leh, Aug 19: Set aside the positive bilateral relations between China and India, the Chinese troops have started infiltrating in the Indian territory yet again. This time they have entered 25 to 30 km deep into Indian territory in Burtse area of North Ladakh, officials sources said.

This is the very place where they had established their tents last year, which led to a tense 3-week stand-off.

The Chinese troops were first noticed by a patrol of Indian troops on when the latter were moving from their base towards the higher ‘New Patrol base’ post in Burtse, which is at an altitude of 17,000 feet.

Chinese troops adopt new tactic, stop Indian Army from patrolling in its own territory

Amid a spate of incursions by China in Ladakh, its troops are also resorting to tactics like preventing the Indian Army from patrolling posts in this sector along the border which was well within India’s territory.

In what is being described as an aggressive approach by China, the tactics have come to the fore in the wake of yet another incident last week when Indian troops launched its patrol “Tiranga” from Trade Junction area in North of Ladakh for two posts located 14 km up in the higher reaches along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Indian army personnel were stopped by Chinese troops who came mounted on heavy and light vehicles, official sources said on Sunday.

The patrol party was shown a banner that it was Chinese territory and that they cannot proceed to the posts, they said.

The sources said the Chinese troops were aggressive in their approach while stopping the Indian patrol who were at their posts.

India to deploy 50,000 additional troops along China border

NEW DELHI: Boosting Army’s war fighting capabilities along the line of actual control (LAC), the government on Wednesday has given the go ahead to the creation of a corps including deployment of 50,000 additional troops along the China border at a cost of around Rs 65,000 crore.

The Cabinet committee on security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the proposal in its meeting, sources told PTI.