Video shows brawl at border, clip not authentic, says army

THE VIDEO SHOWS A BRAWL BETWEEN TROOPS ON THE BANKS OF PANGONG TSO IN WHICH THE INDIAN SIDE SHOWS DOMINANCE

nNEWDELHI: An undated video and a photograph that purportedly capture the violent behavior of Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh surfaced on social media on Sunday, bringing the border feud along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) into sharp focus.

The army said the visuals were “not authenticated” and linking them with the border situation was “mala fide”.

While the two-minute-45 second video, seen by Hindustan Times, ostensibly shows a brawl between troops of the two countries on the banks of Pangong Tso in which the Indian side shows dominance, the photograph shows injured and bleeding

Indian soldiers at the receiving end of Chinese aggression.

The photograph, which also appears to be taken on the banks of Pangong Tso lake, shows Indian soldiers tied up with ropes by the Chinese. It found its way into the social media after the video came out.

Pangong Tso has been at the centre of a weeks-long border standoff between India and China that threatens to plunge the bilateral relationship to a new low.

The Indian Army on Sunday said the contents of the video (and the photograph itself), were “not authenticated”, and any attempt to link it with the situation on the northern borders was “mala fide.”

The video and photograph have come out at a time when India and China are talking to each other at military and diplomatic levels to resolve the standoff. Experts said the visuals had surfaced at a critical juncture and could potentially complicate the discussions.

In a statement issued on Sunday morning, army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand said, “It has been brought to our notice that a video is doing the rounds in social media on an incident on the borders…currently, no violence