Chinese troops approached the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh last week, but Indian troops firmly contested their way, leading to a clash between the two, sources said on Monday.
Although no loss of life or major injuries were reported but both some Indian and Chinese troops received some minor injuries during this clash, a source said.
It is the first physical clash between the two armies since August 2020 in eastern Ladakh. There was another incident in October 2021 at Yangtse, 35 km northeast of Tawang, where the Chinese attempt to get access to the top of 17,000 feet peak was thwarted and the area is now under snow and will remain so till March.
Top sources confirmed that a clash occurred between the two sides along the disputed section of the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 at Yangtse.
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Soon after the clash, troops of both India and China immediately were disengaged from the area.
Accordig to the sources, the face-off in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh was the first incident of clashes between Indian and Chinese troops since the confrontation at eastern Ladakh.
There has been face-offs in this area in the past too.
Earlier this month China had also objected to the Indo-US joint military exercise at Auli in Uttarakhand. India had, however, dismissed China’s objection, saying it did not give a veto to third countries on these issues.
Hitting back at China, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said the joint exercises with the US in Auli has nothing to do with the 1993 and 1996 agreements with China.
India-China border clash issue echoes in Parliament
Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha were adjourned till 12 p.m. on Tuesday amid protests over December 9 clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Upper House was adjourned at 11.26 a.m. after repeated attempts to carry out the business failed amid sloganeering. Deputy Chairman Harivansh then adjourned the House till 12 p.m.
After the House assembled in the morning, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge wanted that his notice of suspension of business under rule 267 to be allowed and read out, which the deputy chairman refused, saying it is under the chairman’s consideration.
Kharge said, “The government had been saying that nobody came to our land but the recent clashes say otherwise.”
At this, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will make a statement at 12.30 p.m. “It is a very serious and grave issue so the honourable defence minister will make a statement,” he said.
Paying no heed to the leaders, the Congress members started raising slogans resulting into a chaos and forcing the adjournment.
In Lok Sabha too, the Opposition parties created a ruckus on the same issue. Amid the uproar, Speaker Om Birla tried to run the Question Hour, but when the disruptions continued, he adjourned the proceedings till 12 p.m.
As soon as the Question Hour began, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, DMK leader T.R. Balu and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi raised the issue and demanded a discussion and the government’s statement on it.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the Defence Minister will give a detailed statement on this issue in the House at 12 noon.
Dissatisfied with the government’s statement, the Opposition parties continued to demand immediate response and discussion.
The Opposition members could also be heard asking for a discussion in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During this, an argument also broke out between the Lok Sabha Speaker and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary. The Speaker said that for demanding a discussion, the opposition parties will have to give notice as per rules and the time for discussion can be fixed in the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) meeting.
But the opposition parties continued to create ruckus forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till 12 p.m.
Notably, Chinese troops approached the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh last week, but Indian troops firmly contested their way, leading to a clash between the two, as per sources.
Although no loss of life or major injuries were reported but both some Indian and Chinese troops received some minor injuries during this clash, a source said.
