The killing of 20 Indian soldiers on the intervening night of June 15-16 during a skirmish between Indian and Chinese forces in Galwan Valley in Ladakh is the first instance when lives were lost between a face-off involving the two Asian giants since October 1975.

Though there have been a number of meetings at the officer level at the borders and telephonic discussion between the foreign ministers of India S Jaishankar and China Wang Yi, the stand-off at Galwan Valley at 17,000 feet continues with none of the sides withdrawing from the forward positions where they have marshaled troops and aircraft.

The confrontation between the two sides comes just about three years after 2017 when for 73 days India and China were in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Doklam, an area at the junction of India, Bhutan, and China. At the request of Bhutan, India had entered to stop the construction of a road that would have given China an advantage.

The current confrontation began on the banks of the serene Pangong Lake, a glacial lake at an altitude of 14,000 feet, and Galwan Valley, both of which are in eastern Ladakh that marks the western sector of the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the countries.

On May 5, troops of both countries exchanged blows that left few injured but not a single bullet was fired.

In April and May, China dispatched a large number of troops to the LAC that also prompted reinforcements from the Indian side in the “operational alert areas”.

India and China share a LAC that according to India is 3,488 km long and much shorter – around 2,000 km – according to the Chinese.

While Ladakh forms the western sector of the LAC, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim constitute the eastern sector, while Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkhand make up the middle sector, which is the quietest.

Though the two nuclear powers have shown strategic restraint, occasional skirmishes have taken place down the decades along the eastern and western sectors of the LAC.

Reports indicate that this round of confrontation, the eighth since 1962, was triggered off by China’s opposition to India building a road around the Pangong lake area and another road in Galwan Valley that would allow Indian troops quicker movement to the Galwan Valley, Karakoram Pass and the Depsang plains.

China has opposed India increasing its road network in the region that would help in patrolling of the area near the border.

While India maintains that the area of infrastructure upgrade is well within its territory, it insists that China withdraw its troops to restore status quo ante.

A month after Indian and Chinese troops had scuffles on the banks of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, the first meeting between senior military officers to defuse the tension ended on June 6 on a “positive” note.