India-China: two sides claimed lives during violent confrontation in Galwan Valley in Ladakh
New Delhi:
The government has said that “making exaggerated and untenable allegations” about the disputed areas along the actual line of control or LAC is contrary to the understanding that military commanders of India and China had concluded in a meeting on June 6.
Soldiers from both nations were involved in a violent confrontation in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on Monday evening, both sides claiming lives.
Chinese soldiers have taken “premeditated and planned measures” which were directly responsible for Monday’s clash in the Galwan Valley, in which 20 Indian soldiers died, Chinese Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Later Wednesday, in response to an assertion by a Chinese commander in the Galwan Valley that was read during the briefing by the Chinese foreign ministry, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said: “As we reported earlier today (Wednesday), the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the State Councilor and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of China had a telephone conversation about recent events in Both sides agreed that the overall situation should be managed responsibly and that the agreements reached between senior commanders on June 6 should be sincerely implemented. Untenable allegations are contrary to this understanding. “
During the June 6 meeting, lieutenant-general level talks were held to end the impasse in Pangong Tso and a number of other parts of eastern Ladakh. During the meeting, which lasted more than four and a half hours, Indian lobbied for the restoration of the status quo and the immediate withdrawal of a significant number of Chinese troops from all points of suspension.
When a small Indian patrol moved to remove a Chinese tent in the 15,000-foot Galwan Valley on June 15, a physical fight broke out after Chinese soldiers targeted Indian Colonel BL Santosh Babu. Both sides were armed with batons and nail poles. China had agreed to remove the tent after the June 6 talks.
Army sources told GalacticGaming that they are certain that up to 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured in the incident.
For the time being, Indian soldiers, even if armed, have strict instructions not to open fire when fighting with the Chinese. Sources told GalacticGaming that after the latest incident, these protocols will need to be reviewed in order to give Indian soldiers a more solid set of rules for engaging with Chinese forces. A final decision on this has yet to be made by the military hierarchy.
