Chinese troops have killed an Indian Army Colonel and two soldiers during a violent clash at one of the standoff points in the Galwan Valley, Ladakh. India retaliated and there were casualties on both sides, said the army.
The Indian army said on Tuesday one of its officers and two soldiers were killed in a “violent faceoff” on the contested border with China, the first such incident in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Sources close to the conflict claimed no gunfire took place but instead, the Indian soldiers could have been beaten, stoned and drowned to death in Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh.
The Indian Army said in a statement: “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties.
“The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers.
Senior military officials from both sides were meeting to defuse the situation, it said.
“During de-escalation process in Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place last night with casualties. The loss of lives on Indian side includes an officer & 2 soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation,” the Army said in their official statement.
China’s foreign ministry said it was unaware of the incident and warned India not to take unilateral action or stir up trouble.
At his media briefing spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry Zhao Lijian spoke “Our border troops had a high-level meeting and reached important consensus on easing the border situation. But astonishingly on June 15, the Indian troops seriously violated our consensus and twice crossed the border line for illegal activities and provoked and attacked Chinese personnel which led to serious physical conflict between the two sides,’’
