As tensions between India and China mount owing to a border dispute in the eastern Ladakh region, armies of both countries have moved heavy weaponry and equipment to their base camps near the disputed territory.
According to an Indian media report published on Sunday, Indian military sources say China has been pushing in artillery, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military equipment in its rear bases near the Line of Actual Control or LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The report states that the Indian Army is doing the same and deploying additional troops along with heavy machinery at the border. Sources said the Indian Army plans to keep on matching China’s aggressive posturing till its troops receded from Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley and other areas.
The same report said that the Indian Air Force is keeping a keen eye on the evolving situation through aerial surveillance.
India blames China for escalating tensions by crossing over into its territory
India claims Chinese troops aggravated tensions by moving into the Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley areas earlier this month. India says the Chinese Army has bolstered its presence in Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie areas as well where disputes are known to take place between the two sides.
On May 6, the troops from both sides clashed and hurled stones at each other, which also injured several other people.
There have been long-running border tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours, with a bitter war fought over India´s northeastern-most state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962.
“Aggressive behaviour by the two sides resulted in minor injuries to troops. It was stone-throwing and arguments that ended in a fistfight,” Indian Army Eastern Command spokesman Mandeep Hooda had told AFP on May 10.
The “stand-off” at Naku La sector near the 15,000-feet (4,572-metre) Nathu La crossing in the northeastern state of Sikkim — which borders Bhutan, Nepal and China — was later resolved after “dialogue and interaction” at a local level, Hooda had revealed.
“Temporary and short duration face-offs between border-guarding troops do occur as boundaries are not resolved,” he had said.
Some 150 soldiers were involved in the face-off, the Press Trust of India had reported.
