This is the
first such incident along the border with China that Indian armed forces
personnel have been killed after a gap of nearly 45 years.
An Indian Army officer and two soldiers were killed
during a violent confrontation with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in
eastern Ladakh on Monday night, the first such incident in the last 45 years
that reflected massive escalation in the five-week border row.
The army said India lost an officer and two soldiers
during the violent face-off, while there were casualties on the Chinese side as
well.
The extent of casualties on the Chinese Army is not
immediately clear.
According to a senior military officer, it is the first
incident involving the casualty of an Indian soldier in a violent clash with
the Chinese Army after 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush
at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh along the de-facto border between the two
countries.
Official sources said there was no firing between the two
sides.
"During the de-escalation process underway in the
Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with casualties.
The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two
soldiers," the army said in a brief statement.
It is learnt that the army
officer killed in the clash was the commanding officer of a battalion at
Galwan.
It is believed that the
three army men died due to injuries sustained following stone-pelting by the
Chinese side.
However, there is no
official word on it.
Large number of Indian and
Chinese troops were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley
and certain other areas of eastern Ladakh for the last five weeks.
The incident comes days
after Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said both sides have begun disengaging
from Galwan Valley.
China's state-run newspaper
Global Times claimed in a report that clashes were triggered by Indian troops
as they crossed over to the Chinese side and carried out attacks on Chinese
soldiers.
The Indian and Chinese
armies are engaged in the standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and
Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh.
A sizeable number of
Chinese Army personnel even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-facto
border in several areas including Pangong Tso.
The Indian Army has been
fiercely objecting to the transgressions, and demanded their immediate
withdrawal for restoration of peace and tranquillity in the area.
Both sides held a series of
talks in the last few days to resolve the row.
In their first serious
efforts to end the row, Lt General Harinder Singh, the general officer
commanding of Leh-based 14 Corps, and Commander of the Tibet Military District
Maj Gen Liu Lin held a nearly seven-hour meeting on June 6.
The meeting was followed by
two rounds of Major General-level talks.
The Indian side has been
pitching for restoration of status quo ante and immediate withdrawal of
thousands of Chinese troops from the areas which India considers on its side of
the LAC.
On Saturday, Gen Naravane
said both sides are "disengaging" in a phased manner. "We have
started from the north, from the area of the Galwan river where a lot of
disengagement has taken place. It has been a very fruitful dialogue that we
have had."
Following the standoff in
eastern Ladakh, the two sides have deployed additional troops along the LAC,
the de-facto Sino-India border, in North Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand
and Arunachal Pradesh in the last few days, the sources said.
After the standoff began in
early last month, Indian military leadership decided that Indian troops will
adopt a firm approach in dealing with the aggressive posturing by the Chinese
troops in all disputed areas of Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat
Beg Oldie.
The Chinese Army has been
gradually ramping up its strategic reserves in its rear bases near the LAC by
rushing in artillery guns, infantry combat vehicles and heavy military
equipment.
The trigger for the
face-off was China's stiff opposition to India laying a key road in the Finger
area around the Pangong Tso Lake besides construction of another road
connecting the Darbuk-Shayok-Daulat Beg Oldie road in Galwan Valley.
The road in the Finger area
in Pangong Tso is considered crucial for India to carry out patrol. India has
already decided not to stall any border infrastructure projects in eastern
Ladakh in view of Chinese protests.
The situation in the area
deteriorated after around 250 Chinese and Indian soldiers were engaged in a
violent face-off on May 5 and 6.
The incident in Pangong Tso
was followed by a similar incident in north Sikkim on May 9.
The India-China border
dispute covers the 3,488-km-long LAC. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of
southern Tibet while India contests it.
Both sides have been
asserting that pending the final resolution of the boundary issue, it is
necessary to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
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