China stand-off will end 'soon'

India's home minister said yesterday he believed a border stand-off with China would end soon, after new footage emerged showing border guards from both countries fighting on a disputed patch of land in the Himalayas.

Indian and Chinese soldiers have for more than two months been facing off on a disputed tract of land known as Doklam that India says is Bhutanese territory and China claims for itself.

Some analysts have said the dispute amounts to the worst crisis in relations between the two nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.

Yesterday, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said India wanted peaceful relations with its neighbours as he addressed a unit of border guards in the capital Delhi.

"A deadlock is going on between India and China in Doklam. But I think a solution will come out soon. China will also take a positive step from its side," Singh said as he addressed the paramilitary Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

"We want to maintain good relations with our neighbours. We don't want conflict, we want peace."

The ITBP guards India's 3,488-kilometre (2,167-mile) border with China along the northern Himalayan mountain range.

His comments came days after video emerged of soldiers from both sides appearing to kick and punch each other as rocks rained down on them in a disputed part of the Himalayan region of Ladakh last week.

Army sources confirmed to AFP yesterday that the video of the fighting on August 15 -- India's Independence Day -- was authentic.