India and China exchange the first gunshots in 45 years

INDIA’S CONDUCT was as reckless as “doing a handstand on the edge of a cliff”, fulminated the Global Times, a state-run tabloid in China, on September 8th. “We must warn India seriously: you have crossed the line!” In India’s telling, it was Chinese troops who crossed the line, approaching an Indian position near Mukhpari peak on September 7th and firing “a few rounds” into the air. In China’s version, it was Indian troops who fired the warning shots, forcing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “to take an emergency response”. Either way, the bullets were the first to fly along the vast Himalayan frontier between the countries in 45 years.