NDTV has been able to access clear footage of a tense encounter between Indian and Chinese soldiers on the Line of Actual Control between the two countries.
The footage is undated and the location is not known. However, our jawans are armed with indigenous INSAS rifles which the Indian Army starts using mostly after 1998-1999.
What the footage does show are Chinese soldiers removing stones from a heavily fortified Indian position and Indian soldiers pushing them away. A man, most likely the commander of the Indian post, tells a Chinese soldier or officer that he will not budge, the footage shows.
He adds that the post is Indian and has been so for three to four decades, and that is all there was to it. The Chinese soldier, who replies in English, seems to argue that the Indian post is ahead of the Line of Actual Control and gestures where he believes the Indian stone fortifications should be.
With the Chinese soldiers refusing to budge, our jawans get angry and can be heard abusing them in Hindi. In one instance, they physically push the Chinese soldiers back. More than 20 Indian jawans are seen taking up positions throughout the length of the stone fortification which is interspersed with bunkers. An Indian flag is also shown and it is clear that this is a significant Indian position on what appears to be a dominant hill feature.
Last year, grainy footage emerged of a similar situation in Arunachal Pradesh, when Chinese soldiers crossed over into an Indian position and had to be physically restrained by Indian jawans.
In this instance, the footage is clearer, though it is unclear if it was shot in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh or Sikkim.
The footage itself is a little more than 19 minutes in duration and establishes that somehow the peace is maintained. Indian jawans, tasked with holding the line, do not get provoked despite an extremely tense situation. Neither to do they give up an inch of Indian territory.
This is another example of how young officers and jawans, tasked with defending our frontiers, often confront a determined Chinese presence and show restraint despite adversity.
But the sight of fully armed Indian and Chinese soldiers in a full-fledged face-off is a frightening reminder of the tinderbox-like situation that exists in high-altitude areas which both Asian neighbours claim as their own.
Story First Published: August 23, 2014 20:39 IST
A non-issue, bot sets of soldiers have their weapons slung behind their backs and not a shot is fired or weapon pointed at the other- these are disciplined and professional soldiers. Par for the course in areas where there is no clear demarcation of borders but just compare this to what the Pakistani's are doing on the Western border for some perspective.
But someday someone from either side might lose his restraints!!
It seems that whenever these so called aggressive patrolling takes place from both the sides the real intention is always to take pics of strategic installations of the opponent.
Yes, they always take pictures, we need to give more focus on that border.
