The India-China clash is said to be the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.
As many as 35 Chinese troops died, including one senior officer, in a fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on June 15, according to a US News report citing its source.
China has considered the casualties among its troops as a humiliation for its armed forces and has not confirmed the numbers for fear of emboldening other adversaries, the source told the publication.
The India-China clash is said to be the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already-volatile border standoff in the region.
According to the report, the incident took place during a meeting in the mountainous region between the two sides -- both of which had agreed to disarm -- to determine how the two militaries would safely withdraw their presences from the region.
However, the discussion became tense and led to a physical confrontation between the troops, said the report, adding that all of the casualties were from the use of batons and knives and from falls from the steep topography, the source says.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Twenty Indian Army personnel including a colonel were killed in the clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley.
“Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020,” an Indian Army statement said.
The officer killed in the clash was identified as Colonel Santosh Babu, Commanding Officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, and a native of Telangana.
It is the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in NathuLa when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese army personnel were killed in the confrontation. The casualties take both sides into uncharted territory at a time when the government's attention is focused on fighting the COVID-19 crisis that appears to be ballooning by the day.
(With inputs from PTI)
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