Bloodbath on border: 20 Indian soldiers killed
NEW DELHI: In the first loss of lives on the disputed India-china border in at least 45 years, the Indian Army lost a total of 20 soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Tuesday, resulting from a violent face-off that escalated the already volatile border standoff between the two sides.
The Indian Army issued a statement on Tuesday night wherein it said: “17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the standoff location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20.”
The force further stated that Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged in the Galwan area where they had earlier “clashed on the night of June 15 and June 16, 2020.” Three of the 20 Indian soldiers who died have been identified as Colonel B Santosh Babu from Telangana, Havildar Palani from Tamil Nadu and Sepoy Ojha from Jharkhand. An unprecedented violent clash took place in Galwan Valley at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers attacking a small group of Indian Army men on patrol, resulting in fatalities which included a commanding officer of the Indian Army.
The intensity of the fight increased with reinforcements from both the sides and it continued until late night till the time they got exhausted.
Early on Tuesday morning, both Indian and Chinese top military officials rushed and called for a meeting to defuse the situation. These are the first casualties faced by the Indian Army in a clash with the Chinese troops since 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier in the day, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the prevailing situation in Eastern Ladakh.
Singh met Modi after he held a meeting with External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, and the three service chiefs in the South Block here to review the situation. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: “Given its responsible approach to border management, India is very clear that all its activities are always within the Indian side of the LAC. We expect the same of the Chinese side.” He further added: “We remain firmly convinced of the need for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in the border areas and the resolution of differences through dialogue. At the same time, we are also strongly committed to ensuring India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” India on Tuesday said the clash between the armies was the result of an attempt by the Chinese side to unilaterally change the status quo in the region.
On the other hand, China, on Tuesday, alleged that the Indian troops twice crossed the border line on June 15 for “illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel” which led to serious physical conflict between the two sides, hours after the Indian Army said the violent face-off took place between the troops during the “de-escalation process” in the Galwan Valley.
“We once again solemnly ask the Indian side to follow our consensus, strictly regulate its front-line troops and do not cross the line, do not stir up troubles or make unilateral moves that may complicate matters,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in Beijing. It is yet to be ascertained as to how many Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash but the MEA spokesperson has stated that “both sides suffered casualties”.