Three Indian soldiers, Colonel B Santosh Babu, Havildar Palani and Sepoy Ojha, were killed in a “violent face-off” on Monday night with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, in a massive escalation in the middle of efforts to defuse weeks of tension at the border. India retaliated and there were casualties on both sides, said the army.
Army sources say the soldiers were not shot but were killed in a physical fight on Indian Territory that involved stones and batons. Major Generals of both sides met to de-escalate tension after the clashes, according to an official statement. This is the first violent incident involving fatalities since 1975 between India and China, who fought a border war in 1962.
The army statement said: “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”
Colonel B.Santosh Babu of the Bihar regiment was from Telangana. The jawans who lost their lives were Havildar Palani from Tamil Nadu and Sepoy Ojha from Jharkhand. There was no shootout, say sources, on the clashes that caused “significant casualties” on the Chinese side. “There was no firing. No firearms were used. It was violent hand-to-hand scuffles,” an unnamed officer was quoted by news agency Agence France Presse as saying. The clash took place just as Chinese troops were getting ready to move away from a location per an agreement. The Colonel was reportedly assaulted with stones and Indian soldiers retaliated, which led to close unarmed combat for several hours. The soldiers disengaged after midnight.
The only admission of casualties on the Chinese side so far has come from the editor of their government mouthpiece Global Times. “Based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash. I want to tell the Indian side, don’t be arrogant and misread China’s restraint as being weak. 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.
Beijing, in an aggressive statement, accused India of crossing the border, “attacking Chinese personnel”, reported AFP. China’s Foreign Ministry was quoted by Reuters as saying India should not take unilateral actions or stir up trouble.
“What’s shocking is that on June 15, the Indian side severely violated our consensus and twice crossed the border line and provoked and attacked the Chinese forces, causing a violent physical confrontation between the two border forces,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing. “China is raising strong opposition and stern representations to the Indian side on this,” he said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the situation at the border via video call after a meeting with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, the three military chiefs and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Rajnath Singh is meeting the military chiefs for the second time.
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