CHINA ADMITS 4 OF ITS SOLDIERS DIED IN CLASH WITH INDIAN TROOPS

Four Chinese soldiers died in a border incident with India in the eastern Himalayas last year, China confirmed, nearly eight months after the clash, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed a report published on Friday by PLA Daily, the newspaper of China's People Liberation Army, according to which four Chinese soldiers were killed in the mountainous Ladakh region in June. India had consistently exaggerated the number of Chinese casualties, spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

India and China had been locked in a serious stand-off since May along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - an informal and disputed border in the eastern Ladakh region, until the two countries agreed on a phased and coordinated removal of forward troop deployments from the Ladakh border last week.

India and China have differing perceptions of what constitutes the LAC, which runs through disputed territory on their ill-defined 3,500-kilometre border, through largely uninhabited high mountain terrain. This has led to several small conflicts, and a full-fledged war in 1962.

India had accused China of mobilizing troops and armaments along the LAC and of transgressing the line and violating pacts to maintain peace on the disputed border. China claimed its soldiers were on its territory.

According to India, 20 Indian soldiers were killed during the confrontation, the worst between the neighbors in 45 years. China hadn’t disclosed its toll until Friday.

WEEKLY FEATURE : COLORSTEEL'S PRESIDENT BREAKS BARRIERS