US report: Galwan clash planned by Chinese govt

NEW DELHI: The Chinese government planned the clash with Indian troops in Galwan Valley in June, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese casualties, a US commission has concluded in a new report to Congress.

The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in the report submitted on December 1, described the almost eightmonth-long India-China standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as the “most severe border crisis in decades”.

Referring to the “massive physical brawl in the Galwan Valley” between People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Indian troops on June 15, the report said: “Some evidence suggested the Chinese government had planned the incident, potentially including the possibility for fatalities. For instance, several weeks prior to the clash Defense Minister Wei [Fenghe] made his statement encouraging Beijing to ‘use fighting to promote stability’.”

It added, “Satellite images depicted a large Chinese buildup in the Galwan Valley, including potentially 1,000 PLA soldiers, the week before the deadly skirmish.”

The report noted that just “over two weeks before the incident, in another potential indication of Chinese leaders signalling their intent to escalate tensions, an editorial in China’s stateowned tabloid Global Times warned that India would suffer a ‘devastating blow’ to its trade and economic ties with China if it got ‘involved in the US-China rivalry’”.

The India-China border standoff emerged in the open after two clashes between troops in Sikkim and Ladakh sectors of the LAC.