Newly uncovered footage shows a massive hand-to-hand brawl between Chinese and Indian troops in a disputed border region of the Chinese and Indian border.
A video that was recently shared across social media showed masses of Chinese and Indian troops in a hand-to-hand brawl, with some troops swinging sticks and throwing bricks and rocks. The exact details surrounding the origin of the footage could not immediately be confirmed, but an Indian military officer told CNN the footage was of a clash between Chinese and Indian troops near the town of Tawang on Sept. 28, 2021.
The alleged 2021 brawl footage surfaced after Chinese and Indian troops reportedly clashed yet again in Tawang on Dec. 9. The town of Tawang is also located in the Arunachal Pradesh region.
The Indian Army told Reuters that both sides sustained minor injuries and “both sides immediately disengaged from the area” after the Dec. 9 clash near Tawang.
On Tuesday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) released a statement about the Dec. 9 border clash. PLA Senior Colonel Long Shaohua said troops from the PLA’s Western Theater Command were on a routine patrol on the Chinese side of the disputed border zone when they encountered Indian troops “who illegally crossed” over.
“The Chinese troops made professional, normative and resolute response, bringing on-site situation under control. Up to now, the Chinese and Indian troops have disengaged,” the Chinese PLA spokesperson said. The PLA spokesperson also said the Chinese side demands that the Indian side strictly disciplines and controls its front-line troops and works with the Chinese side “to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas.”
These recent border clashes come after a series of massive brawls between Chinese and Indian troops in 2020.
Twenty Indian troops were killed in one hand-to-hand brawl in the disputed Galwan Valley in June of 2020. CNN reported four Chinese troops were also killed in that brawl.
China and India have disputed the precise positions of their respective borders since the 1960s.
Earlier this year, U.S. Army troops and Indian Army troops held a joint military drill in the Indian region of Uttarakhand. The Uttarakhand region neighbors another disputed border section between India and China.
