India’s NDTV reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that the nation’s Air Force had scrambled jets multiple times in the past month in response to “enhanced Chinese air activity” on their mutual border, news whose urgency is exacerbated by a brawl prompted by an invading Chinese military force.
The defense ministries of both countries confirmed on Monday that an altercation between Indian and Chinese troops had occurred on Friday in Arunachal Pradesh, a far-east region of India in the Himalayas that borders occupied Tibet. The Indian government accused hundreds of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers of crossing the border illegally into India, forcing the Indian soldiers to respond with violence until the Chinese troops were removed.
Radio Free Asia (RFA) published a video on Tuesday purporting to be of the melee on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Chinese-Indian border, showing hundreds of people armed with what appear to be sticks attempting to beat each other.
The Chinese Communist Party confirmed that the incident occurred, but claimed the Indian soldiers had illegally crossed into China and thus prompted the brawl. The Indian government claimed soldiers sustained only minor injuries and no deaths were recorded, a claim China did not contest.
The brawl is the latest in a series of similar incidents that appeared to peak in mid-2020, when India suffered about 20 troop deaths and China reportedly lost double that number in a battle in Ladakh, a Himalayan region to the northwest of Arunachal Pradesh. China has only verified four deaths on that occasion, but Indian government officials claim they lost around 40 troops despite being “badly outnumbered.”
Similarly, in 2020, both sides accused the other of invading their neighboring country and neither side appeared to use firearms. At the time of the Galwan Valley clash in Ladakh, both countries’ rules of engagement forbid the use of firearms on the Indian-Chinese border, but the militaries changed those rules in response to that incident.
In the aftermath of this weekend’s fighting, NDTV reported that the Indian military had documented a heightened Chinese air presence over Arunachal Pradesh, forcing the Indian Air Force to scramble jets “two-three times.” The Chinese air force had reportedly increased its presence in the region over the past month.
The administration of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has heightened its aggressive rhetoric against China in light of the events of this weekend and potentially as a result of documenting a growing intimidating Chinese military presence near that portion of the LAC. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking to the Indian Parliament on Tuesday, confirming the fighting and asserted that the Indian troops had responded in a “firm and resolute manner.”
“The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts,” Singh said, according to the Times of India. “The scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides. There are no fatalities or serious casualties on our side.”
Indian officials said that hundreds of Chinese troops, between 200 and 600 of them, had illegally invaded India in an attempt to “gain access to a peak that provides a commanding view in the high-altitude region at around 17,000 feet,” the Times of India added. India’s News18 accused China of attempting to usurp control of the peak in question since at least the “late 1990s.”
“The face-offs usually take place twice a year — before and after the icy winters hit this region. However, in recent years, the Chinese patrols have become larger,” News18 narrated, citing Indian “senior defense officials.”
As in the Galwan Valley battle, the senior officials said that Chinese troops regularly use “crude weapons” such as sticks “fitted with nails” and tasers to attack the Indians.
Indian officials nonetheless expressed concern as China had reportedly “significantly upgraded its infrastructure in this region.”
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah backed Singh’s assurances that the Indian military had secured the border, thanking Indian troops for “protecting the motherland” and affirming that India would not give China “a single inch of its land.”
Modi himself has not directly addressed the incident, but appeared to warn off China or any other nation seeking to challenge the territorial integrity of his country in a speech on Tuesday honoring Indian icon Sri Aurobindo.
“India is that immortal seed which may be suppressed a little under adverse circumstances, may wither a little, but it cannot die,” Modi said, calling India “the most refined idea of civilization and the most natural voice of humanity.”
Chinese officials, in contrast, have barely mentioned the incident. Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin refused to confirm or deny the brawl on Tuesday.
“As far as we know, the China-India border areas are generally stable. The two sides have maintained smooth communication on boundary-related issues through diplomatic and military channels,” Wang said. “We hope that the Indian side will work with us in the same direction, earnestly deliver on the important common understandings reached by leaders of both sides, and act strictly in the spirit of relevant bilateral agreements.”
Wang did not address the border during his regular press briefing on Wednesday, according to a transcript of the briefing the Foreign Ministry published.
A PLA spokesman confirmed that the incident occurred on Tuesday, but played it down.
“Our troops’ response is professional, firm and standard, which has helped to stabilise the situation,” spokesman Long Shaohua said, accusing the Indian forces of “illegal” trespass.
According to Long, “disengagement” followed shortly thereafter and no further hostilities occurred.