New Delhi: Twenty Indian soldiers, including their Commanding officer, were killed during a bloody face-off with the Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday night.
Initial reports had said only an Army colonel of the Bihar Regiment and two jawans were killed. This was the most serious escalation at the border in five decades, at a time soldiers of both sides were in the process of disengagement. India said the clashes happened "as a result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo there", refuting China's claims that Indian soldiers had crossed the border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi went into a huddle with Home Minister Amit Shah even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met military chiefs twice as India discussed a response to the face-off. More than 43 Chinese soldiers have been killed or seriously injured, news agency ANI claimed, citing sources.
It all began just as the Chinese troops were getting ready to move away as per an agreement. But when the Indian troops moved to remove a People’s Liberation Army tent set up near a position code-named Patrolling Point 14, trouble erupted. The PLA soldiers responded to the Indian action by throwing stones from the high ground above Point 14, and then staged an assault using iron rods and clubs (Ref: News18).
The colonel, the commanding officer of the unit, was reportedly assaulted with stones and the Indian soldiers retaliated, leading to a close unarmed combat for several hours, before both sides disengaged after midnight. The two sides are engaged in a stand-off in at least two locations along the LAC for more than six weeks. They have been facing each other at the Galwan River, which was one of the early triggers of the 1962 India-China war, and at the disputed Pangong Tso -- a glacial lake at 14,000 feet in the Tibetan plateau, portions of which are claimed by both.
An Indian Army spokesman claimed there were casualties on both sides. Beijing made no mention of any casualties while laying the blame squarely on New Delhi. Confirming the clash, it accused the Indian soldiers of crossing into the Chinese territory and attacking its personnel. The only admission of multiple casualties on the Chinese side came from the editor of the government mouthpiece Global Times.
"Based on what I know, the Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley clash. I want to tell the Indian side, don't be arrogant and misread China's restraint. China doesn't want to have a clash with India, but we don't fear it," tweeted Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times. The major generals of both sides are meeting currently to defuse the situation, an official statement said. Incidentally, both sides are engaged in talks at the spot since June 6 to de-escalate the situation. To top it all, the development has come even as both sides were pulling back troops. The Congress was quick to accuse the Modi government of maintaining silence on the clash and asked both Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to take the nation into confidence.
In a tweet, its chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said the government must come forward to explain the circumstances of the latest face-off. "Tell us the truth. Why are the PM & the Defence Minister silent," he asked in a tweet. The silence has persisted since April, when Chinese troops intruded into the Indian side, he pointed out. India and China had fought a brief border war in 1962 and till to date the two sides have never agreed on the LAC, with each side citing different proposals made by the British to buttress its claim.
