Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a “violent face-off” with Chinese troops at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh, the army said on Tuesday, June 16. Four Indian soldiers are reportedly said to be in a critical condition.
Reports state that “An army statement on Tuesday morning confirmed the death of a Colonel and two jawans and spoke of “casualties on both sides”. In another statement last evening, the army added that 17 more critically injured were “exposed to sub-zero temperatures… (and) succumbed to their injuries.” The incident, which took place last evening, is the latest on a series of standoffs between Indian and Chinese Army that started last month.
According to a report by India Today, no bullets were fired and instead, clubs and stones were used.
ANI reported that there were casualties on both the sides and the Army stated that senior military officials of the two sides are said to have met at the venue to defuse the situation.
Meanwhile, Zhao Lijian a foreign office spokesperson in Beijing stated, “But what is shocking is that on 15 June, the Indian troops seriously violated the consensus of the two sides, crossed the border illegally twice and carried out provocative attacks on Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical conflicts between the two border forces.”
The first standoff between the two countries was Pangong Tso, an autonomous region near Ladakh where a scuffle started after Chinese troops closed in large numbers, this was followed by another in Naku La in Sikkim. Since then, there have been several standoffs between the troops in Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
While it is said that the Indian and Chinese governments are trying to solve the issue diplomatically, the number of standoffs continue to increase.