India, China Hold Dialogue To Mount-down High Voltage Border Tensions
India and China agreed Wednesday to ease tensions at their disputed Himalayan border, even as they traded blame for a brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The two nations' foreign ministers spoke by telephone to calm nerves after a high-altitude melee involving fists, rocks and clubs.
The call between China's Wang Yi and India's Subrahmanyam Jaishankar came as sources told AFP that Indian paramilitaries were being deployed to the area of the skirmish high in the Himalayas opposite Tibet.
China's state broadcaster CCTV, meanwhile, showed footage of People's Liberation Army tanks and soldiers holding live fire drills in Tibet.
China has refused to confirm if it suffered any casualties in the first deadly clashes at the border in decades, although Indian media said at least 40 Chinese troops were killed or seriously hurt.
The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that Wang demanded "India conduct a thorough investigation" and punish those responsible.
India's foreign ministry said Jai Shankar "conveyed the protest" of his government.
He warned that "this unprecedented development will have a serious impact on the bilateral relationship" and urged Beijing to "take corrective steps".But the two ministers also sought to mount-down tensions.
China said both sides agreed to "cool down the situation on the ground as soon as possible".
India's foreign ministry said the two sides would implement a previously agreed disengagement, and "neither side would take any action to escalate matters".
In India small groups of protesters called for the boycott of Chinese goods, with some burning posters of Chinese president Xi Jinping.
In his first remarks on the deadly clashes -- which follow weeks of rising tensions over the disputed border - Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation the deaths of the soldiers "will not be in waste".
Sources told AFP that military transport aircraft had made a number of rare night-time landings in Leh, capital of India's Ladakh region opposite China's Tibet throughout Tuesday night.
The clashes reportedly involved intense hand-to-hand fighting but no gunfire, in line with longstanding practices aimed at avoiding a full military confrontation over the disputed 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) border.
An Indian army source told AFP there were "violent hand-to-hand scuffles", while media said that Chinese troops attacked with rods and nail-studded clubs.
Many of these killed appear to have been punched or shoved off a ridge onto rocks and into an icy river below. Galwan river flows on the eastern side of the Karakoram range and flows in west to join the Shyok River at 34°45′33″N 78°10′13″E.
Postmortem examinations on some of those killed showed that the "primary reason for death is drowning and it looks like they fell from a height into the water because of head injuries," an official told AFP.
Tensions Mounting Up Between India And China After Flaming Clash At Border
In recent four decades these kind of situation haven't occurred so, Definitely both sides are on fire.
India's foreign ministry said the two sides would implement a previously agreed disengagement, and "neither side would take any action to escalate matters".
The incident, which took place Monday at around 4,500 metres (15,000 feet) up in the Galwan valley area dominated Indian news channels and inflamed social media in both countries.
In India small groups of protesters called for the boycott of Chinese goods, with some burning posters of Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Modi Tells Of ‘Counterstroke' From India If China Tensions Worsen
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India broke his silence on Wednesday over the 20 Indian soldiers killed this week by Chinese forces along the nations’ disputed border, warning that his country was capable of “giving a suitable reply.”
“The sovereignty and integrity of India is supreme, and nobody can stop us in defending that,” he said. “India wants peace, but if provoked India is capable of giving a suitable reply.”
Mr. Modi spoke two days after Chinese and Indian forces battled with clubs and fists in a desolate border region high in the Himalayas, the first deadly border skirmish there in more than four decades. The clash immediately raised tensions between the two countries, which are both led by nationalist leaders who want to project an image of strength at home and to the world.
Each side has said it does not want a fight, even as they have blamed the other for starting the clash and said they were ready to defend against further incursions.
China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, scolded his Indian counterpart on Wednesday, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Mr. Wang accused Indian troops of provoking the confrontation on Monday by violating an agreement reached days earlier to de-escalate the tensions on the border.
“The Indian side must not misjudge the current situation and must not underestimate China’s firm will to safeguard territorial sovereignty,” Mr. Wang told the Indian minister of external affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, according to a statement released in Beijing.
Mr. Modi was criticized for not addressing the public earlier about the heavy loss India suffered. Much of his popularity comes from his muscular foreign policy and his efforts to project India as a world power. But India’s military is no match for China’s, limiting his options to strike back and risk a deeper confrontation that his country is unlikely to win.
In China, officials in Beijing faced questions about the casualties it might have suffered Monday night in the Galwan Valley, a steep and rocky region. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, twice sidestepped questions about news reports in India that China had suffered 43 casualties, including deaths, saying he had no information to offer. A spokesman for China’s Western Theater Command, which oversees the region, referred to casualties but offered no details.
Hari Kumar and Sameer Yasir contributed reporting. Claire Fu and Amber Wang contributed research.Everyone just want this burning issue to be settled as early as possible.
