- Tensions between Indiaand China are increasing,

after violent clashes brokeout between Indian army

soldiers and Chinese troopshigh in the Himalayan Mountains.

20 Indian soldiers died andmore than 76 were injured

on Monday, when the twosides fought each other,

along the disputedborder region of Ladakh.

Since the early 60s, two ofthe world's largest militaries

have fought over remoteareas of the Himalayas.

The two countries haveaccused each other of crossing

a poorly marked border,leading to several incidents.

This was the deadliestskirmish in 45 years,

and some fear could lead to anew flashpoint in South Asia.

India dispatched additionaltroops to the region,

and its air force isreportedly on high alert,

following the clashes.

Senior InternationalCorrespondent, George Thomas,

joins us now with more.

George, tensions between China and India,

they've been simmering for months now

along that disputed border region.

What's going on?

Break it down for us.

- Yeah, well we just sawfootage of the majestic

Himalayan Mountains, andthis is a no-man's land.

I mean, Mark, this is oneof the most inhospitable

places on earth.

Why?

Cause you're talking about 18,19,000 feet above sea level.

It is bitterly cold, veryvery cold, very harsh terrain.

And so since the early60s, China and India,

that was when they had the last war.

And it was really aboutthe strategic region

between India and China,and they've been fighting

over this border, thisline of what they call

Line of Actual Control.

The Indians would like to say that this

Line of Actual Control isbetween 3000 to 4000 miles long.

The Chinese have said, since the 1960s,

whoa, whoa, hold up, no it'snot, it's only 2000 miles long.

And so they've been going back and forth.

So things kinda heated up in May,

when the Chinese accusedthe Indians of making

these side roads, kindof like off ramps, Mark,

very close to the LAC, theLine of Actual Control.

The Indians accused the Chinese of saying,

hey, listen, you guys are movingyour men closer and closer

to this sort of porous border.

And then, obviously,on Monday what happened

was that you saw the skirmishbetween these two countries.

The first time, as youmentioned, in 45 years.

- Let's go back to 1996.

There's an agreement thatactually prevents each side

from carrying guns and other weapons.

So how did so many Indian soldiers die?

And do we know how many Chinese were lost?

- It is called hand to hand combat.

I mean, these guysbasically beat the bejeeb...

can I say bejeebies?

Beat the bejeebies out of each other,

I mean literally theyused rods, sticks, stones.

Because, as you mentioned, back in 1996,

both countries agreed,because of just how dangerous

this part of the worldis, they were not going to

carry any weapons, any guns,any other kinds of artillery

and so forth, so it was handto hand combat, literally.

And, in fact, because of the terrain,

there are these steep drops.

A number of the Indiansoldiers perished by just

falling off the cliff, so to speak.

Now the Indians say that20 of their men died,

about 76 got injured.

Just imagine, hand to hand, face to face,

you're beating each other up,cause they don't have weapons.

The Chinese haven'tofficially come out and said

how many of their men died in the process.

- All of this comes as theChinese continue to hold

large scale military drillsnot too far from the region.

Correct?

- Yeah, I think we've gotsome really cool video

that we can show of theChinese launching these

military exercises veryclose, as you mentioned Mark,

to this LAC, Line of Control.

Again, it's just theChinese saying, listen,

hey, we would like to be seenas an emerging superpower

in the region and wejust wanna let you know

that we're in yourneighborhood and don't try

any funny business.

We've got the artillery,the various technology

to carry out attacks and so forth

and to protect our border.

But also keep in mind, thisis also very strategic.

Because if you look atit, in some ways India,

this skirmish in some wayspaints a bigger picture.

The bigger picture is thatthe Indians would like

to have closer relationswith the United States.

The Chinese don't like that prospect.

The idea of having a majorally of the United States

in their neighborhoodkind of perturbs them

and so the Chinese aretrying to drive a wedge

between the U.S. and theIndians in the process.

But the reality is thathistorically India has had

very very close relationswith the United States,

from trade, to economy, to military,

and the Indians wouldlike to continue that.

So this is sort of also larger strategic

interests that are playing out right there

on the beautiful, majesticsteppes of the Himalayas.

- And quickly, how are theIndians reacting to this skirmish

and talk about the concernabout this becoming

a new flashpoint.

- I mean, potentially yeah,but I don't see, Mark,

a war in this part, causeit's just very difficult.

It's so cold!

It's very difficult to fighta war on the Himalayas.

But Indians have been protesting.

Some have been saying,

should we maybe boycottChinese goods and so forth?

And obviously they'revery upset that they lost

their men, but obviouslyI think in the next

couple of days thingswill try to cool down

and both the Chinese andIndians are trying to say,

hey, whoa, whoa, back up.

Let's relax a little bit.

- Okay.

Our Senior InternationalCorrespondent, George Thomas.

Thank you, George.- You're welcome, thank you.