A US State Department Spokesperson stated on Tuesday that Washington was closely monitoring the situation between Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) hours after clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh.

“We are closely monitoring the situation between Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control.  We note the Indian military has announced that 20 soldiers have died, and we offer our condolences to their families. Both India and China have expressed a desire to de-escalate, and we support a peaceful resolution of the current situation. During their phone call on June 2, 2020, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi discussed the situation on the India-China border," the spokesperson said.

The Indian Army on Tuesday said the violent border clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday has claimed the lives of 20 Indian jawans, most of whom were "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain" and later succumbed to their injuries. 

Initially, the army had said one officer and two soldiers were killed in the incident, further escalating the already volatile border standoff between the two sides. 

In a statement Tuesday night, the army said that 17 more soldiers who "were were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20."

"Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June 2020," it said. 

"Indian Army is firmly committed to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation," the statement further said. 

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.

Indian intercepts reveal that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured, ANI reported citing sources.