Indian officials accused China of sending as many as 1,000 soldiers across the 4,000-square kilometer Line of Actual Control (LAC) dividing the two nations at eastern Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.

The accusation arose despite of the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi last week.

Like Us on Facebook

Chinese troops were said to have brought construction equipment as they initially were confronted by 100 Indian soldiers. India also mobilized several thousand troops on its side of the LAC, but did not send them to the disputed Chumur scetion.

Two weeks ago, Indian troops prevented the Chinese People's Liberation Army troops from completing a road they were building right up to the LAC from Tibet, sources said. The area is mountainous and hard to access with altitudes of 11,000 to 15,000 feet.

The new Modi government has emphasized long-standing Indian desires to create a clearly defined border across the long, ambiguous border. Chinese leaders also have said they wanted to hold concrete talks on the issue, but talks have yet to take place.

The standoff followed several smaller incidents in August and was classified as the worst incursion in several years along the disputed border, despite a similar incident took place in the Depsang valley in May 2013 when Chinese premier Li Keqiang visited India.

Several so-called "flag session" meetings between top brigadier-level Indian commanders and their Chinese counterparts at Chumar, where the incursions took place, did not yield any results. Modi raised the issue with Xi during their meeting, according to Indian sources.

Indian analysts, however, acknowledged India may have been at fault for precipitating the crisis as India sought to take a more active role in asserting its force in the region.

Leaders of Modi's party have long complained that the previous Mammohan Singh government was too timid about confronting China in that contested area.

Concerned about recent Chinese construction of new air bases designed to house jet fighters and special forces troops near the LAC, India two months ago began a US$10 billion upgrade to its mountain strike corps. The aim is to reduce the Chinese force advantage from 3-to-1 to 2-to-1, while increasing Indian deterrence capability. Indian officials expected the upgrade to take five years.

Gen. Dalbr Singh Suhag, Indian Army chief of staff, visited the northeast command to assess response capability of the newly created 17 Corps rapid deployment force. The force will receive modern equipment and 150 T-72 tanks as well as Smerch missiles with 80-kilometer firing capacity.

Reports also said the general had been placed in charge of a special, secret unit composed of Tibetan soldiers.

China and India have clashed frequently over the 4,000-square kilometer LAC and Ladakh Region of Jammu and Kashmir, also a source of contention with Pakistan with top Pakistani leaders declaring last week they would eventually take control of the region.

Several Chinese incursions into the Indian side of the loosely demarcated border allegedly have occurred this year. The nations engaged in several hot clashes in the 1990s settled by 1993 and 1996 agreement as well as a full-out war in 1963.

TagsLine of Actual Control, Sino-Indian relations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, LAC, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, Ladakh, Gen. Dalbr Singh Suhag