India-China Border Standoff: 20 Indian troops killed in clashes

At least 20 Indian soldiers have been killed in a violent face-off with Chinese forces on the disputed border, the Indian army has said, in a major escalation of a weeks-long standoff in the western Himalayas.

China's foreign ministry confirmed there had been a "violent physical confrontation" on Monday in the snow deserts of Ladakh. It made no mention of casualties but India's foreign ministry said there had been casualties on both sides.

Indian news agency ANI reported quoting unnamed Indian government sources that 43 Chinese soldiers were either killed or injured in the faceoff.

In a statement, the Indian army said that 17 "critically injured" Indian troops succumbed to their wounds, in addition to an officer and two soldiers who had died earlier.

The troops died "in the line of duty at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain ... taking the total that were killed in action to 20," the statement said.

An Indian government source said the troops had fought with iron rods and stones, and that no shots had been fired.

Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged in the areas where the clashes took place, the Indian military statement said, adding that New Delhi is firmly committed to "protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation".

The deaths were the first since the last major border clash in 1967 between the nuclear-armed neighbours - also the world's two most populous countries - which have been unable to settle the dispute along their lengthy frontier.

Thousands of troops from the two nuclear-armed neighbours, backed by armoured trucks and artillery, have been involved in the latest face-off since May in the Ladakh region, bordering Tibet.

China and India have traded accusations over who was to blame for Monday's clashes in Ladakh, which came after military commanders held meetings to resolve the situation.

Indian officials say Chinese soldiers crossed the boundary at three different points, erecting tents and guard posts and ignoring verbal warnings to leave. That triggered shouting matches, stone-throwing and fistfights.

Meanwhile, China accused India of crossing a "disputed border" between the two countries, according to a report by the AFP news agency.

Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Indian troops crossed the border line twice on Monday, "provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides".

"We again solemnly request that India follows the relevant attitude and restrains its front line troops," he said. "Do not cross the border, do not provoke trouble, do not take any unilateral action that would complicate the border situation."

Beijing has lodged "strong protests and solemn representations" to New Delhi, Lijian said.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the current operational situation in eastern Ladakh along with Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was also present in the meeting, reported our New Delhi correspondent.

In early May, several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in two-day clashes involving fists and stone-throwing at Naku La in India's Sikkim state and Lakakh.

Army officers and diplomats from both countries have held a series of meetings to try to end the impasse, with no breakthrough.

After a series of talks, the Chinese foreign ministry said only last week that a "positive consensus" had been reached following "effective communication" through diplomatic and military channels.

India's foreign ministry also said the two sides would "continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and to ensure peace and tranquillity in the border areas."

However, Indian sources and news reports suggested that Chinese troops remained in parts of the Galwan Valley and of the northern shore of the Pangong Tso lake that it occupied in recent weeks.

Military experts say one reason for the face-off is that India has been building roads and airfields to improve connectivity and narrow the gap with China's far superior infrastructure. At Galwan, India completed a road leading to an airfield last October. China has asked India to stop all construction. India says it is operating on its side of the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border.

Relations between China and India have long been prickly.

The nuclear powers fought a brief war in 1962 in which China took territory from India. Further deadly clashes followed in 1967, but the last shot fired between the countries was in 1975.

In 2017 there was a 72-day showdown after Chinese forces moved into the disputed Doklam plateau on the China-India-Bhutan border.