India warns China the deaths of 20 soldiers in brutal hand-to-hand border fighting ‘will not be in vain’
INDIA has warned China the deaths of 20 of its soldiers during brutal hand-to-hand fighting on the border will not be vain. Fears are raging of a looming conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations after the deadly clash became the latest incident in a long-running border dispute. India‘s prime minister Narendra Modi has said those […]
Об этом сообщает Преступная Россия
INDIA has warned China the deaths of 20 of its soldiers during brutal hand-to-hand fighting on the border will not be vain.
Fears are raging of a looming conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations after the deadly clash became the latest incident in a long-running border dispute.
India‘s prime minister Narendra Modi has said those who were killed in the confrontation won’t have died in vain.
Soldiers reportedly fought on a mountain ridge in the Himalayas after coming across each other while on patrol.
The two sides battled with sticks, stones and their bare hands, with some troops being killed after being thrown into a nearby ravine.
Indian sources have claimed their troops were vastly outnumbered 55 to 300 by the Chinese force, reports the BBC, and many of them died of their injuries due to the sub-zero temperatures.
China and India have a longstanding agreement that no guns should be taken near the border, so no shots were fired.
At least 20 Indian troops were killed in the fighting, while reportedly China suffered 43 casualties – but its unclear how many dead.
Both sides have blamed the other for the confrontation, which is the latest escalation in the mounting border row.
In a televised address, Modi said: “I would like to assure the nation that the sacrifice of our jawans will not be in vain.
“For us, the unity and sovereignty of the country is the most important.
“India wants peace but it is capable to give a befitting reply if instigated.”
India has reportedly placed warships and fighter planes on alert, and photos have shown an armed convoy headed for the border with China.
China and India’s foreign ministers have been holding talks to try and put an end to the crisis.
Thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers, backed by armored trucks and artillery, have been facing off a few hundred yards apart for more than a month in the region near Tibet.
The two sides have spent four decades feuding over the Aksai Chin area which is claimed by both countries.
Each has accused the other of overstepping the so-called Line of Actual Control – a de-facto border between the two nations.
Aksai Chin is barren and inhospitable, with freezing temperatures and an average altitude of 14,000ft.
Despite this, it is valued greatly by both sides strategically and they have both funneled cash to build-up infrastructure in the area.
Talks over the past few decades have failed to resolve the dispute, which continues to flare up whenever either side makes significant moves – such as building roads and airfields.
The dispute covers nearly 2,175 miles of frontier, and New Delhi accuses China of occupying almost 15,000 square miles of its territory.
China and India fought a bitter war in 1962 that spilled into Ladakh, and tensions have simmered ever since.
The deaths of the Indian troops – including high ranking officer Colonel Bikumalla Santosh Babu – are the first fatalities in the dispute since 1975.
Indian officials have said Chinese soldiers crossed the boundary in Ladakh in early May at three different points, erecting tents and guard posts and ignoring verbal warnings to leave.
That triggered shouting matches, stone-throwing and fistfights, much of it replayed on television news channels and social media.
Since then India has accused China of invading 20 square miles of its territory.
China also accused Indian troops of crossing its border and attacking its soldiers in the tit-for-tat border row.
Protests have erupted in India following the incident, with demonstrators seen burning Chinese-made products and portraits of Chinese president Xi Jinping.
The Global Times – the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, which has a circulation of 1.5million – published a fiery editorial in which it blasted India.
It warned that Beijing will not back down from a confrontation – and said the “gap between China’s and India’s strength is clear”.
The newspaper – which is often seen as the unfiltered mouthpiece of China’s rulers – blamed India’s “arrogance and recklessness” for the renewed tensions.
It added China will also not “bow to threats from New Delhi” over the border dispute.
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“But China is confident in the situation at the border. It does not and will not create conflicts, but it fears no conflicts either.”
India’s foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said the battle stemmed from “an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo”.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that India had crossed the border, “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides”.
Источник: “https://123ru.net/english/248720530/”
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