SRINAGAR: Indian and Chinese soldiers yelled and hurled stones at one another high in the Himalayas in India-held Kashmir, Indian officials said on Wednesday, potentially escalating tensions between the two nations already engaged in a lengthy border standoff elsewhere.

The Chinese soldiers hurled stones while attempting to enter Ladakh region near Pangong Lake on Tuesday but were confronted by Indian soldiers, alleged a top police officer. He said Indian soldiers retaliated but neither side used guns.

China did not comment directly on the reported incident, but called on India to comply with earlier agreements and help maintain peace and stability along the border.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Chinese troops sought to avoid confrontations and said India should “make tangible efforts to maintain peace and stability of the border areas between the two countries”.

“I have no knowledge of the details you mentioned, but what I can tell you is that the Chinese border troops have always been committed to maintaining the peace and tranquillity of the China-India border areas,” Ms Chunying told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

An Indian intelligence officer claimed the confrontation occurred after Indian soldiers intercepted a Chinese patrol that veered into India-held territory after it apparently lost its way due to bad weather.

The officer said that the soldiers began shouting at each other and later threw stones. He said some soldiers from both sides received minor injuries. After nearly 30 minutes of facing off, the two sides retreated to their positions, he added.

An Indian military officer said the skirmish was brief but violent and for the first time stones were used.

Soldiers from the two countries are already locked in a bitter but non-violent standoff in Doklam, an area disputed between China and India’s ally Bhutan, where New Delhi sent its soldiers in June to stop China from constructing a strategic road.

China demands that Indian troops withdraw unilaterally from the Doklam standoff before any talks can be held, while New Delhi says each side should stand down. China and India fought a border war in 1962 and much of their frontier remains unsettled despite several rounds of official-level talks.

The website of New Delhi-based English weekly India Today quoted a report by the Indian military intelligence, which said the use of stones was unprecedented and appeared intended to heighten tension without using lethal weapons. The report said the worst that has happened earlier was an isolated slap or pushing between soldiers from the two sides.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017