Chola incident
| 1967 China-India border conflicts | |||||||
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.svg) India: The fighting occurred in the Kingdom of Sikkim, between China and India. China: The border conflict at Sikkim - China border between China and India. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 India
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 China
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Indira Gandhi Sagat Singh Jagjit Aurora
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Mao Zedong |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
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Indian sources: 88 killed 163 wounded in Cho La and the Nathu La incidents combined Chinese sources: 603 killed or wounded in Nathu La incident 195 killed or wounded in Cho La incident |
Indian sources: 340 killed 450 wounded in Cho La and Nathu La incidents combined Chinese sources: 32 killed 91 wounded in Nathu La incident Unkown in Cho La incident |
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Different parties have different cognition on the Nathu La and Cho La incidents, (11–14 September 1967 for Nathu La; 1–10 October 1967 for Cho La).
India version claims the Nathu La and Cho La incidents were a series of military clashes between India and China in the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate.
Chinese version says, this incident was a border conflict which were limited to the central sector along China - Sikkim border, and Chinese army didn't enter the Sikkim region.
While some third party source backs Indian claim that the end of the clashes saw a Chinese military was defeated by Indian forces in these incidents; some other third party source shows it was only a border conflict without clear war-goal and India side suffered a higher casualty at the end.
India claimed the clashes were initiated from Chinese side, which was backed up by some western sources.
On 11 September, Chinese troops attacked Indian troops on the Sikkim border across the Nathu la and opened heavy mortar and artillery fire. After repeated Indian protests and proposal for ceasefire, by 15 September there was a virtual termination of all hostile activity. On 1 October 1967, Chinese troops fired again on the Indian side and it was repulsed by the Indian Army by 10 October. The Defence Minister of India informed the Indian Parliament that, during the Cho La and Nathu La incidents, Indian losses were 88 killed in action and 163 wounded, while Chinese casualties were estimated to be 340 killed in action and 450 wounded.
In early September 1967, Indian army crossed the border near the Nathu La and began to set up barbed wire on China's side. Issue escalated after India Army ignored the serious warning sent by Chinese garrison and killed one Chinese soldier. Fight started on 11 September 1967 in a manner of shelling on both sides. On 13 September, India Army ceased fire after 8 Artillery positions paralyzed, two command posts, two observation posts and 23 fortifications destroyed, and over 540 Indian soldiers wounded or killed. On 14 September, when China side also ceased fire and returned the Indian soldiers' bodies, the first conflict ended.
The second conflict began on 1 October 1967, when an Indian Gurkha squad crossed the border and killed one Chinese soldier. Chinese garrison retaliated immediately and killed all 8 Gurkha soldiers. The issue soon escalated into exchanging shells, but soon both sides ceased fire at 19:55 on the same day and ends the second conflicts. The total losses for the two conflicts combined were nearly 800 Indians wounded or killed, and at least 123 Chinese wounded or killed.
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