Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Indian state of Sikkim in early June , smashed two bunkers before they were stopped by Indian soldiers, military officials said on Monday.
Published : 26 Jun 2017, 10:00 PM
"They tried to push further and they were filming the action. We stopped them and managed to push them back. But neither we nor they fired," said an Indian Army brigadier on condition of anonymity.
He insisted there was no firing and the situation was now said to be under control.
Both foreign offices were in communication over the incident.
Military officials said the Indian army had finally managed to have flag meetings with the Chinese People's Liberation Army to bring tensions under control, but added that an anxious face-off continues.
The Indian Army says it has issued a high alert in the Sikkim sector in view of the 'unusual aggressiveness' of the Chinese.
The Chinese version of events was not available but it was known from military sources that they had objected to Indian bunkers in the Lalten area of Doka La sector for a while.
They claim the bunkers are on what they see as their side of the LAC.
The Chinese had earlier stopped 47 Indian pilgrims trying to visit the holy Manas Sarovar lake in Tibet when they tried to enter through the Nathu La pass earlier this month.
But the Indian foreign ministry has taken up the matter with Beijing because they suspect the Chinese may be acting tough on the border.
China has so far welcomed pilgrims to the lake.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now in the United States and China has warned against possible combined Indo-US muscle-flexing in the South China Sea.
Modi recently boasted of 'not a single shot being fired' on the border with China.
But he called for Chinese consideration of Indian interests, referring to Beijing's persistent blocking of Indian efforts to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The last time Indian and Chinese troops were involved in firing at each other was in 1967, five years after the border war in which India was routed and four years before Bangladesh's liberation war when the Indian Army attacked the Pakistanis despite the Chinese threats.