20 Indian soldiers killed in face-off at Galwan
- Indian and Chinese troops have disengaged at the Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of June 15/16. Seventeen Indian troops who 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,” the Army said in a late night statement.
- The violent face-off took place during the de-escalation process under way in the Galwan Valley and resulted in “casualties on both sides”, the Army stated. The Indian Army is firmly committed to protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation, it added. However, Army sources said there was no firing during the face-off.
- The Indian Army “violated its commitment and crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) again, illegally and deliberately launched provocative attacks, triggered fierce physical confrontation between the two sides, resulting in casualties,” said PLA Western Theatre Command spokesperson Zhang Shuili, making the claim that “the sovereignty of the Galwan Valley region has always belonged to [China]”, something India has always contested.
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