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Guwahati: After the December 9 border clash between the Indian and Chinese soldiers, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) claimed that the Indian soldiers had crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) illegally.

The Chinese military alleged that Indian soldiers triggered the clash by illegally crossing the LAC.

In a statement, PLA Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Western Theatre Command said the Indian Army “blocked the Chinese troops on regular patrol in the Dongzhang area”. The spokesperson said that the Chinese troops were on “the Chinese side of the LAC” claiming that the Indian Army illegally crossed” the line.

He added, “We ask the Indian side to strictly control and restrain frontline forces and work with the Chinese side to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border.” 

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The top Chinese military official added that the Chinese troops’ response was “professional, firm and standard” which has helped to “stabilise” the situation. “Both sides have been under disengagement since then”, he added.

Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a face-off on December 9 near Yangtse in the Tawang sector resulting in injuries to soldiers from both sides.

According to sources, Chinese troops crossed the LAC, which was contested by Indian soldiers in a “firm and resolute manner”.

There were “minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides” and the two sides “immediately disengaged from the area”, the sources said.

At least six injured Indian Army personnel were rushed to Army Hospital in Guwahati for treatment.

The face-off was later resolved following talks between commanders of the two sides according to established protocols.

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As a follow-up to the incident, the Indian commander held a flag meeting with his Chinese counterpart to comply with “structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquility”, the government said.

According to sources, in certain areas along the LAC in the Tawang sector in the frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh that became the battleground of the Indo-China war in 1962, there are areas of different perception, and both sides patrol up to the area of their claim

“Of late, China has sent a huge patrol, a change in the pattern,” the source added.

India and China share a 3,488 km-long border from Arunachal Pradesh in the eastern sector to Ladakh in the northern sector.