Notably, this is the first time the Indian and the Chinese have attacked each other fiercely since the deadly clashes between the two armies that took place in Nathu La in 1967

India-China border standoff 2020: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has suffered casualties of around 35 soldiers, PTI reported, quoting sources on US intelligence reports. The report suggests that the figure includes wounded and killed Chinese soldiers. However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry or the PLA are yet to release any official statement on the issue of casualties the Chinese have faced in the Galwan valley clash. Various media reports on June 16 cited government sources saying that the Chinese have also suffered “proportionate casualties” but New Delhi has no clarity on the scale of Chinese loss of lives in Galwan Valley.

According to sources quoted by ANI, the Chinese side may have suffered casualties of at least 40. The assessment of the number comes from the Indian side on the basis of what troops involved in the face-off have said, the movement of ambulances, stretchers and increased helicopter activity on the Chinese side, ANI reported.

Recognising the imminent threat to national security and the Chinese incursion into the Indian territories, the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has reviewed the ongoing situation in eastern Ladakh with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs. It was preceded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Defence Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Army Chief General MM Naravane on the situation in the region.

On June 17, the Editor-in-Chief of the English and Chinese version of the Beijing-controlled Global Times, Hu Xijin had tweeted that Beijing does not want the people on either side of the border to compare the number of dead bodies that the nations were left with in the aftermath of the clash as a ‘goodwill’ gesture done to ‘avoid stoking public mood.’

Notably, this is the first time the Indian and the Chinese have attacked each other fiercely since the deadly clashes between the two armies that took place in Nathu La in 1967 resulting in the death of 88 soldiers on the Indian and 300 soldiers on the Chinese side.