A "loudspeaker war' between India and China has broken out on a windswept slope in southern Ladakh where troops are eyeball-to-eyeball after India objected to a Chinese effort to build a road right up to the border.

Since last night, the armed troops have taken defensive positions on the slope between 14,000 and 15,000 feet against each other after bringing in reinforcements.

The Indian Army is also now clearly waiting for political directions on resolving the stalemate in Chumar because efforts at the tactical level -- with two flag-meetings in three days -- have failed.

The only resolution possible is through simultaneous instructions to the troops from New Delhi and Beijing to pullback to original locations. Read