China on Tuesday said its troops were forced to take "countermeasures" after Indian soldiers crossed their tense Himalayan border and opened fire.

The relationship between the two nuclear-armed neighbours has deteriorated since a clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian troops were killed.

Beijing's defence ministry accused India of "severe military provocation" after soldiers crossed the Line of Actual Control in the western border region Monday and "opened fire to threaten the Chinese border defence patrol officers".

"The Chinese border defence troops were forced to take corresponding countermeasures to stabilise the terrain situation," said Zhang Shuili, spokesperson for the Western Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Zhang said India had violated agreements reached by the two countries and warned their actions could "easily cause misunderstandings and misjudgments".

He called for India to withdraw the troops who crossed the border and investigate the officers who opened fire.

Both sides have sent tens of thousands of troops to the disputed Himalayan border, which sits at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres (13,500 feet).

Their troops have had a number of showdowns since a clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian troops died. China has also acknowledged suffering casualties but not given figures.

Defence ministers from both countries talked in Moscow on the sidelines of an international meeting last week -- with both sides later releasing rival statements accusing each other of inflaming the showdown.

And earlier this week an Indian minister said Delhi had alerted China to allegations five men had been abducted by the People's Liberation Army close to the disputed border.

There was no immediate comment or confirmation of Monday's incident from the Indian military.

India uses hotline to alert China about 'kidnap': minister
New Delhi (AFP) Sept 6, 2020 - The Indian military has alerted China of allegations that five men were abducted by the People's Liberation Army from an area near the disputed border, a minister said Sunday, amid rising tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

The relationship between the Asian giants has deteriorated since a clash in the Ladakh region on June 15 in which 20 Indian troops were killed.

India's Minister of State for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who is also a lawmaker from the isolated border state of Arunachal Pradesh, said a military hotline meant to defuse border tensions had been activated over the possible kidnapping.

"The Indian Army has already sent hotline message to the counterpart PLA establishment at the border point in Arunachal Pradesh. Response is awaited," he tweeted.

Police in the northeastern India state told local media they were investigating claims made on Facebook by a purported relative of one of the men that the PLA had kidnapped them.

The Arunachal Times reported Saturday that the men were hunting when they were allegedly snatched. It was not immediately clear when they might have gone missing.

The alleged incident comes amid talks between India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe on the sidelines of an international meeting in Moscow.

Singh said they had "frank" discussions late Friday over their disputed Himalayan border and the strained relations between the world's two most populous countries.

The pair released rival statements accusing each other of inflaming the showdown.

Since the deadly June incident, India has stepped up economic pressure by banning Chinese apps, blocking Chinese products at ports and stopping its companies from bidding for contracts.

India and China went to war in 1962 over Arunachal Pradesh, a strategically important border area, with Chinese troops temporarily capturing part of the Himalayan territory.

The dispute remains unresolved. China stakes claim to about 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles) of the area -- nearly all of what constitutes Arunachal Pradesh.

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