News Report: India-China Flag Meeting Inconclusive; Beijing Won't Acknowledge Latest Scuffle

As the protracted standoff at Doklam shows no respite, fresh clash among soldiers at other areas strongly signal an escalation of conflict between the two south Asian powers.

New Delhi (Sputnik) – Senior army officials of India & China held a crucial flag meeting on Wednesday to discuss the way out of the ongoing stand-off at Doklam. The alleged attempt by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to breach the de-factor border at Ladakh was also discussed during the meeting.

Indian defense ministry officials refused to divulge details of the meeting, but sources told Sputnik that the meeting at Chusul in Leh district of Jammu and Kashmir in India was inconclusive. There was a loose agreement for “strengthening of existing mechanisms to maintain peace and tranquility.”

News Report: Indian, Chinese Troops Square Off in Disputed Himalayan Region

Indian security officials say their troops engaged in a stone-throwing clash with Chinese forces in a disputed area of the Himalayas Tuesday.

The incident occurred after Indian soldiers prevented their Chinese counterparts from entering the mountainous region of Ladakh in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The confrontation ended after both sides retreated to their respective positions.

China did not immediately comment on the incident.

Indian and Chinese forces are locked in a 2-month-old standoff in a disputed area between India’s close ally, Bhutan, and China. The tensions began when Indian troops were deployed to obstruct a Chinese road-building project at Doklam Plateau. The area also known as Chicken’s Neck is hugely strategic for India because it connects the country’s mainland to its northeastern region.

New Delhi cites its treaties with Bhutan, with which it has close military and economic ties, for keeping its soldiers in the area despite strident calls by Beijing to vacate the mountain region.

The standoff is believed to be the most serious confrontation between the two Asian giants, who fought a brief war in 1962.

This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.

News Story: Chinese troops patrol control line on China-India border - FM spokesperson

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese border troops have always patrolled the Chinese side of the line of control on the China-India border, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wednesday in response to a recent altercation between the two troops.

According to media reports, Chinese and Indian soldiers yelled and threw stones at each other in Ladakh, a disputed area between China, Pakistan and India in southeastern Kashmir on Tuesday.

Speaking at a daily press briefing, spokesperson Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the latest reports, but added that "Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace on the China-India border and always patrol along the Chinese line of control."

Read the full story at Xinhua

News Story: India, China troops in high-altitude clash - officials

Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies.

Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said.

He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back.

"There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily

News Report: India Denies Chinese Intrusion in Ladakh, no Thaw in Doklam Standoff

Indian government on Sunday rejected reports of China building a bridge in Ladakh - a region in Jammu and Kashmir even as the Doklam standoff entered its eighth week with no signs of thaw.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — India has denied any fresh aggression from China notwithstanding the continuing standoff at Doklam tri-junction. Some news reports on Sunday said China was building a bridge in the no man's land in Ladakh.

The Press Trust of India (PTI), quoting official sources, said there has been no increase in troops or any movement on the Chinese side that may indicate a possible conflict. But, Indian soldiers have been asked to be on high alert, and artillery guns have been moved to different points.

Meanwhile, status quo remains in Doklam with both India and China refusing to retract their forces. India has reportedly reinforced troops along the eastern border, close to the India-China-Bhutan tri-junction. At Doklam, the point of the stand-off, there are around 350 troops on the Indian side and around the same number of soldiers on the other side of the border.

News Report: Indian MPs Worried About Rohingya Refugees in Kashmir

A member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament has raised security concerns over the settlement of Rohingya Muslims in and around Jammu and Ladakh regions of the Indian side of Kashmir.

New Delhi (Sputnik) — Swapan Dasgupta, a veteran journalist and nominated member of Rajya Sabha, raised the issue during the Zero Hour.

"It is curious and somewhat inexplicable as to why there should be so many Rohingyas who have migrated to Jammu and Ladakh," Dasgupta asked. He also cited anomalies over data pertaining to the number of Rohingyas living in India.

The Jammu and Kashmir government data says there are approximately 5,700 Rohingyas in Jammu and 7,664 Rohingyas in Ladakh. The UN High Commission for Refugees, however, states there are 14,000 Rohingyas in the whole of India, while the Home Ministry estimates it at 40,000.

News Story: China 'aggressive' in border row, says India diplomat

A top Indian diplomat said China is being unusually aggressive in a month-old border dispute with India that shows no sign of easing, media reports said Wednesday.

Beijing has made virtually daily warnings to its neighbour over the deadlock on a remote Himalayan plateau, where Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense face off.

Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar told lawmakers in a closed briefing on the dispute that India wanted a diplomatic settlement, the reports said.

"Jaishankar told us that China's aggression and rhetoric on the recent standoff is unusual," a member of the parliamentary panel at Tuesday's briefing told Indian media.

"We will continue to engage with them through diplomatic channels," the foreign ministry number two was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India news agency.

The dispute concerns land near where the boundaries of China, India and Bhutan meet. China has alleged that Indian troops are on its territory. Bhutan and India say the area -- known as the Doklam plateau in India and Donglang to China -- is Bhutanese.

Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China and is closely allied to India, which says its troops approached a Chinese army unit that entered the zone on June 16 to build a road.

China has said it will hold talks with India only after Indian troops are withdrawn from the disputed territory.

Read the full story at SpaceDaily