Both sides move away from site of deadly clash
SRINAGAR, India — Indian and Chinese soldiers have backed away from the site of a deadly clash last month in the Galwan Valley along the undemarcated border, Indian security officials said, a sign of the countries’ progress in disengaging from a monthslong standoff.
The two sides also appeared to have dismantled recent construction along the river valley high in the Karakoram mountains, satellite images showed.
Three Indian security officials familiar with the developments said soldiers on both sides have moved back a little over a halfmile from the site of their clash on June 15, when military personnel fought with rocks, clubs and their fists in handtohand combat that left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter and in keeping with government regulations.
The two sides have also moved apart at two locations in the Hot Spring area, out of at least five places where Indian officials said the Chinese had crossed the Line of Actual Control, the area of the border that remains disputed following a 1962 war that ended in an uneasy truce.
They said soldiers continued to stand at close range at two other sites along the 2,100mile line of control, at Depsang and Pangong Lake. At the picturesque lake, the Chinese were 5 miles within the disputed border area, the officials said.
India and China have blamed each other for provoking the June 15 brawl in the Galwan Valley, the Asian giants’ most violent encounter in 45 years, and have staked fresh claims to the area where it occurred.
The countries went to war in 1962 over their competing claims to the arid border region, with the conflict spilling over into the Indian territory of Ladakh.