Explainer: What we know about the first deaths on the disputed India-China border in 40 years

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The Indian Army said that three of its soldiers were killed in a clash with Chinese troops along the disputed border on Monday, making them the first fatalities on what is known as the Line of Actual Control between the nuclear-armed neighbours in more than 40 years. In a later update, the Indian Army added that there had been casualties on both sides, with observors in China appearing to corroborate this information.

Here is what we know:

What is the background to the incident?

Over the last month and a half, there have been a number of Chinese incursions into India along the Line of Actual Control – the disputed border between the two countries, which is neither defined nor demarcated.

These incidents have taken place on both the Eastern and Western sections of the LAC. But the focus has mostly been on incidents in Eastern Ladakh, where troops from both countries clashed. hina is said to be holding 60 square kilometres of territory where until recently Indian soldiers patrolled.

India has not acknowledged this capture of territory, though Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has admitted that Chinese troops presented themselves in “large numbers”.

Read our explainer on these incidents, from a month ago, here.

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