Situation 'stable' after India-China troop killings

India and China said they wanted peace but blamed each other on Wednesday after soldiers of the two sides savagely fought each other with nail-studded clubs and stones on their Himalayan border, killing at least 20 Indian troops.

Emer McCarthy reports.

Both India and China are calling for peace- but blamed each other on Wednesday (June 17) after soldiers fought at the Himalayan border, killing at least 20 Indian troops.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Wednesday and said India's sovereignty will not be challenged.

"Whenever we have had differences, we have always tried that differences does not become a dispute.

Differences do not convert into disputes.

We never provoke anyone but we don't compromise with the integrity and sovereignty of our country." Under an old agreement between the two nuclear-armed states no shots are fired at the border.

According to Indian officials, soldiers fought each other with nail-studded clubs and stones during a brawl that erupted in the remote Galwan Valley.

The body of Indian soldier Sunil Kumar arrived home in the eastern Bihar state on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the state protesters burned effigies of Chinese president Xi Jinping and called for boycotts on Chinese goods.

It's unclear whether there were casualties among the Chinese soldiers.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the situation is "generally stable" and "controllable." "China and India both expressed that they want to solve differences through dialogue to maintain the peace and stability of the border region." The rival Asian superpowers have been eyeball-to-eyeball at their border for decades, but Monday's clash was the worst confrontation in more than 50 years.