India-China LAC clash: 5 times the red dragon breathed fire at border & got befitting reply

The Indian Army on Monday made an announcement that there had been a clash in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh, the Eastern-most part of the country. The Army said that both sides were involved with a few soldiers suffering minor injuries on either side.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing the parliament Tuesday, said the confrontation began when Chinese troops "encroached into Indian territory" and "unilaterally tried to change the status quo" along the disputed border near the Yangtse area.

"The Indian solders responded with firmness and prevented the Chinese army from transgressing into our territory, and forced them to return to their posts," Mr Singh said.

The confrontation, however, sent the world into frenzy as fears of further escalation gripped the region. Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the worsening border situation here in Asia between the two strong nations has once again sparked speculations of another war after 1962. The concerns, though, are not unfounded. The Chinese, in the past few years, have transgressed and tried to alter status quo in several locations near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a notional demarcation line that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.

Here are five instances in the last few years when the red dragon breathed fire at the LAC:

Pangong Tso, a lake shared between India and Tibet, China, with the Line of Actual Control (LAC) passing through it, became the first flash point in the ongoing efforts by China to occupy land at multiple locations along the Sino-Indian border.

On May 5, 2020, a scuffle broke out between Indian and Chinese troops at the Pangong Tso lake in Eastern Ladakh over "differing perception" of the border. Soldiers engaged in fistfights and attacked each other with sticks and stones, leaving several troops on both sides injured. The clash broke out after over 1,000 Chinese troops had transgressed onto Indian territory, a move seen to be a reply to India's efforts to ramp up infrastructure along the border.

Just a few days after the clash at Pangong Tso, scores of Indian and Chinese troops clashed in a tense face-off along the India-China boundary in Naku La, Sikkim. Four Indian soldiers and seven Chinese troops suffered injuries during the May 9, 2020 confrontation that involved around 150 soldiers.

This confrontation, like other ones, took place as Chinese troops attempted to transgress onto Indian territory.

Just a month after the clash at Naku La, Indian and Chinese troops clashed once again in Galwan Valley of eastern Ladakh. The "violent face-off" was the most serious escalation between the two countries along the border in five decades. The clash, once again, was sparked after  "an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo" on the border, the Indian Army said.

20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, were killed in this clash, whereas 43 Chinese soldiers died in the high altitude terrain face-off.

As the talks between two sides continued for disengagement at various points after the Galwan clash, another face-off took place at Naku La in Sikkim in January 2021. The clash took place days ahead of the talks between senior military commanders in Eastern Ladakh.

Patrolling units from the two sides came face-to-face in the Naku La sector, which led to a physical brawl, without the use of weapons. Several soldiers from both sides were injured in the clash.

The Indian Army termed the clash as "minor face-off".

The recent clash between the two sides began after PLA troops carried out an incursion across the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, and attempted to unilaterally change the status quo, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. Indian troops resisted this attempt by China “with firmness”, and there was a scuffle.

Both Indian and Chinese soldiers suffered some injuries in the clash.

 “Our Army with great bravery stopped the PLA incursion and forced them to return to their post,” the Defence Minister said.