Indian and Chinese troops have clashed again at a disputed stretch of their shared border.
The Indian army said the incident took place in the Indian state of Sikkim in the eastern Himalayas last Wednesday.
"It is clarified that there was a minor face-off at Nakula area of North Sikkim on 20 January 2021 and the same was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols," the statement said.
There were few details and no official reports of injuries in the latest flare up between the two nuclear-equipped nations.
But two Indian security officials told the Associated Press that at least 18 Chinese soldiers had tried to cross into Indian-claimed territory and were blocked by Indian soldiers, leading to clashes with sticks and stones.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said soldiers on both sides were carrying firearms but did not use them.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said he did not have information to provide on the incident.
But he urged India "not to take any unilateral action that may further complicate or exacerbate the border tension".
"We hope both sides will take proper actions to manage their differences and take concrete actions to safeguard peace and stability along the border."
India and China have been in a tense standoff since last April and have bolstered forces along the 3,800-kilometre border.
But Sikkim is thousands of kilometres from Ladakh in the western Himalayas where the military crisis began last year.
In June hand-to-hand combat that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties.
The fiercely contested border, known as the Line of Actual Control, separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India's eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.
India and China said that a ninth round of talks between military commanders on Sunday had been "positive, practical and constructive".
But the leader of India's main opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, accused China of "expanding its occupation into Indian territory" and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence.
Mr Modi "hasn't said the word 'China' for months," Gandhi said on Twitter.
"Maybe he can start by saying the word 'China.'"
ABC/wires
