Indian and Chinese troops man remote border outposts just hundreds of metres apart

Indian and Chinese troops man remote border outposts just hundreds of metres apart

NEW DELHI: Indian and Chinese troops were facing off on Wednesday, barely a few hundred metres apart, in eastern Ladakh where shots were fired for the first time in decades, Indian officials said. The nuclear-armed neighbours have accused each other of firing in the air during a fresh flare-up in the Ladakh region on Monday, violating long-standing protocols to avoid using firearms along their undemarcated borders. Complete coverage: LAC stand-off "The situation is tense," an official in New Delhi said, adding that Indian and Chinese troops were squaring off in close proximity in at least four locations south of the Pangong Tso lake that both lay claim to. "Both are on their own sides of the LAC," the official said, referring to the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border. At a forward position near the Rezang La mountain pass, Indian and Chinese troops were only around 200 metres apart, another official in New Delhi said. Both officials declined to be named. …