General

#20 Indian soldiers killed during border clash with China

#20 Indian soldiers killed during border clash with China

Indian and Chinese troops battled each other with iron rods and stones at their disputed border, leaving 20 Indian soldiers dead as tensions escalate between the two nuclear powers.

“Seventeen Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at the standoff location and exposed to the sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20,” the Indian army said in a statement late on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported.

Indian media reported that Chinese soldiers had been killed, but Chinese officials did not confirm this as they blamed India for the fight in the snow-covered region of Ladakh in the western Himalayas on Monday.

Zhang Shuli, the spokesman for China’s Western Theatre Command, which oversees the country’s westernmost regions, including Xinjiang and Tibet, said Indian troops had “failed their promise and again crossed the LAC illegally.”

“They have deliberately provoked attacks which have then led to intense physical clashes between both sides, leading to casualties and deaths,” Zhang said.

The editor of the government-controlled Global Times also said the Chinese military had suffered casualties.

“Based on what I know, the Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash,” editor Hu Xijin tweeted without elaborating.

The deaths were the first since the last major border clash in 1967 between the nuclear-armed Asian giants and world’s two most populous countries, which have not been able to settle the dispute along their vast frontier.

Since early May, hundreds of soldiers have faced off against each other at three locations, including along the banks of the Pangong Tso lake, each side accusing the other of trespassing.

On Monday night, a small group of soldiers came to blows in the Galwan Valley, Indian officials said, but it was not clear what had provoked them.

Indian army soldiers rest next to artillery guns at a makeshift transit camp before heading to Ladakh.
Indian army soldiers rest next to artillery guns at a makeshift transit camp before heading to Ladakh.REUTERS

“During the de-escalation process under way in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties on both sides,” the Indian army said in a statement.

“The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”

The officer who died was a colonel, a government source said.

The two sides had been discussing ways to de-escalate but at some point the People’s Liberation Army turned on a group of Indian soldiers, the source said.

“They attacked with iron rods, the commanding officer was grievously injured and fell, and when that happened, more soldiers swarmed to the area and attacked with stones,” said the source, who had been briefed on the matter.

The Chinese side brought in reinforcements and the brawl went on for a couple of hours, the source said, though no shots were fired at any stage.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing said there was a serious violation of the consensus reached by the two countries when Indian troops provoked and attacked Chinese personnel.

“What’s shocking is that on June 15, the Indian side severely violated our consensus and twice crossed the border line and provoked and attacked the Chinese forces, causing a violent physical confrontation between the two border forces,” Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing.

Activists of Sanskriti Bhchan Manch stage a protest against China, burning posters of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese flags, in Bhopal, India.
Activists of Sanskriti Bhchan Manch stage a protest against China, burning posters of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chinese flags, in Bhopal, India.EPA

“China is raising strong opposition and stern representations to the Indian side on this,” he said. There was no information provided on any casualties.

India and China fought a brief but bloody border war in 1962 and distrust has occasionally led to flare-ups ever since.

Border guards have had skirmishes and fist fights when patrols have confronted each other, but there has been no loss of life at the border since 1967.

“This is extremely, extremely serious, this is going to vitiate whatever dialogue was going on,” former Indian army commander D. S. Hooda said.

Military experts say that one reason for the face-off is that India has been building roads and airfields to improve connectivity and narrow the gap with China’s far superior infrastructure.

India says it is operating on its side of the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border.

The escalation comes a day after a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said that China has added 30 nuclear warheads to its arsenal in the past year, while India has added 20 or fewer.

The two countries, which share a 2,520 mile border, were two of just six that have increased their arsenals, the others being North Korea, Israel, Pakistan and the UK.

With Reuters

Source

If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our General category.

if you want to watch Movies or Tv Shows go to Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com for forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close

Please allow ads on our site

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker!