Indian army says 20 soldiers killed in Ladakh ‘face-off’ with China troops

TWENTY Indian soldiers have been killed in a “violent face-off” on the Chinese border, the Indian army said on Tuesday (16) following weeks of rising tensions and the deployment of thousands of extra troops from both sides.

There were “casualties on both sides”, according to the Indian army, but Beijing made no mention of any deaths or injuries as it swiftly laid the blame squarely on India for the incident.

“A violent face-off took place yesterday (Monday) night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer,” an Indian army spokesman said in a statement. The slain officer was a colonel.

“Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”

An Indian army officer based in the region said there had been no shooting, and that the officer killed had been a colonel. “There was no firing. No firearms were used. It was violent hand-to-hand scuffles,” the officer said on condition of anonymity.

Beijing on Tuesday accused India of crossing the border and “attacking Chinese personnel”.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Indian troops “crossed the border line twice... provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides.”

The Indian army said the incident took place in the Galwan Valley in the high-altitude Ladakh region, which is opposite Tibet.

Thousands of troops from India and China have been involved in the latest face-off since May.

On May 9, several Indian and Chinese soldiers were injured in a clash involving fists and stonethrowing. The Chinese foreign ministry said only last week that a “positive consensus” on resolving the latest border issue was achieved following “effective communication” through diplomatic and military channels.

India’s foreign ministry had stated the two sides would “continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation and ensure peace.”

But sources and news reports suggested India appeared to have effectively ceded to China areas that the People’s Liberation Army occupied in recent weeks, notably parts of the northern side of the Pangong Tso lake and some of the strategically important Galwan river valley.

Narendra Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have sought to ease tensions at summits in the past two years when they agreed to boost communications between their militaries. (AFP)