Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 12 Dec: At least 20 Indian Army jawans belonging to the Sikh and the Jat Regiments were reportedly injured in a violent face-off between the Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the line of actual control (LAC) in Yangtse area in Tawang district on 9 December.
No casualties have been reported so far.
Highly placed sources in the armed force informed that nearly about 200 PLA soldiers confronted a sizeable number of Indian Army soldiers on patrol, which led to a physical clash. The sources further reported that, among the injured persons, six are stated to be serious and have been evacuated to Guwahati, Assam.
This is the second largest clash between the Indian Army and the PLA along the LAC after the Galwan valley clash, which had resulted in the death of 20 Indian Army personnel on 5 May, 2020.
In response to the latest incident, the Indian side has reportedly sent immediate reinforcement to the place of occurrence. To deescalate the situation, both parties held a flag meeting on 10 December at Bumla, involving the top ranked officers of the area.
The Tezpur (Assam)-based defence PRO informed in a release that “in certain areas along the LAC in the Tawang sector, there are areas of differing perception, wherein both sides patrol the area up to their claim lines. This has been the trend since 2006.”
“On 9 December, PLA troops contacted the LAC in Tawang sector, which was contested by own troops in a firm and resolute manner. This face-off led to minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides,” he added.
“Both sides immediately disengaged from the area. As a follow-up of the incident, own commander in the area held a flag meeting with his counterpart to discuss the issue in accordance with structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquillity,” the PRO said.
