Twenty Indian soldiers killed but not a shot fired!

The savagery of the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the mountainous Himalayan border region is almost too gruesome to describe. The most extraordinary statement arising from the battle that erupted on Monday, reportedly between 55 Indian border guards and 300 Chinese troops, was this: not a single shot was fired. This was hand-to-hand combat so brutal and ferocious that it was like the most violent Kung Fu-type film. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed by literally being beaten to death with clubs fitted with barbed wire and bamboo sticks studded with nails. No one knows how many Chinese soldiers were killed or injured because Beijing is saying nothing. Nor do we know for sure who started it. But in border rivalry situations, it's never clear-cut. What has made this border clash so horrific is that the Chinese had overwhelming force on their side and they came armed with weapons of the savage. In this high-tech world, where the great powers are developing hypersonic missiles that can travel at multiple times the speed of sound, this form of physical brutality is truly shocking. No shots were fired because of a bilateral agreement between India and China in 1996, banning the firing of weapons within two kilometres of the so-called line of actual control between the Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Chinese-administered Aksai Chin region which India claims is Indian territory. The ferocity of the battle reminded me of the notorious incident in 1976 when North Korean border soldiers ran across the Bridge of No Return in the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea and axed to death two American soldiers. Without knowing all the facts about the murderous battle between the Indian and Chinese border guards, it is safe to say that this is another example of Beijing saying to the rest of the world that it will protect its interests in every way possible, even if it means sending 300 soldiers with barbed-wire clubs to kill its opponents.