Satellite pix show China diverting Galwan river
Days after a violent face-off between India and China in Galwan, a latest set of satellite images have surfaced showing China diverting the course of Galwan river. The satellite pictures showing signs of the landscape of the valley being altered through widening tracks, moving earth and making river crossings were taken by the Earth-imaging company Planet Labs, the Daily Mail reported.
'Looking at it in Planet, it looks like China is constructing roads in the valley and possibly damming the river,' Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at California's Middlebury Institute of International Studies, was quoted as saying.
He said, “There are a ton of vehicles on both sides - although there appear to be vastly more on the Chinese side. I count 30-40 Indian vehicles and well over 100 vehicles on the Chinese side.” The imagery sighted on Tuesday also showed the machinery along the mountains and in the Galwan River.
Since last month, India and China have been involved in talks to smoothen the ongoing border tensions. However, last week as many as 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in the face-off in Galwan Valley after an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead
and seriously injured in the violent clash. Meanwhile, In a strong rebuttal to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) clarification that the Prime Minister's statement related to the post-June 15 scenario, the Congress dismissed it as "clearly a lame attempt to obfuscate the truth" and urged the PM to follow 'Raj Dharma' and rise to the challenge of protecting 'National Security' and 'Territorial Integrity.'
Also, construction of a strategically important 60-metre bridge bridge over the Shyok river in eastern Ladakh was completed amid the faceoff with China. It will improve movement of Indian troops in the region but the Indian Army clarified that it is not on the track moving to Patrolling Point 14 at Galwan Valley where the clash took place.