Both Indian and Chinese soldiers injured in physical brawl near Naku La in Sikkim

Indian and Chinese troops physically clashed once again in the high-altitude area of Naku La in north Sikkim last week, with several injuries being sustained on both sides, even as the nine-month-long eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation continues in eastern Ladakh despite several rounds of diplomatic and military talks.

The Army on Monday, however, said it was “a minor face-off” that took place at Naku La on January 20, which was “resolved by local commanders as per established protocols”.

The Naku La sector, located at an altitude of 5,270-meter, was also one of the original face-off sites when PLA troops intruded into Indian territory at multiple points in eastern Ladakh in early-May last year.

Soon after the first violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops on the north bank of Pangong Tso (Tso means lake) on May 5-6, another brawl took place at Naku La on May 9. Dozens of soldiers from both sides were injured in the two clashes, even as the two sides mobilized troops, tanks and howitzers all along the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

The extended skirmish in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15, of course, surpassed them all in terms of violence, with fatal casualties taking place for the first time in 45 years. India lost Colonel B Santosh Babu and 19 other soldiers, while China is yet to disclose the number of its casualties, though it did admit that a battalion commanding officer was among the dead.

Though the troop confrontation at Naku La had eased after some days, the face-off still continues at the “friction points” in Pangong Tso, Chushul and Gogra-Hotsprings areas in eastern Ladakh.

India and China on Sunday held the ninth round of corps commander-level talks in yet another bid to defuse the tensions in eastern Ladakh, with New Delhi once again asking Beijing for `complete disengagement and de-escalation’ at all the face-off sites.
There was, however, no immediate official word on the outcome of the ninth round of military talks between the delegations led by 14 Corps commander Lt-General P G K Menon and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin. The meeting, which began on the Chinese side of the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point at 11 am on Sunday, continued till 2.30 am on Monday