Amid tensions between Indian and China following a violent faceoff in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh on Monday night, the Army engineers have completed a 60-metre bridge over Galwan river, reported Hindustan Times. The bridge will now allow India's infantry to move across the cold mountain river and protect the 255 km strategic road from Darbuk to Daulat Beg Oldie, the report said.
The construction of the bridge was completed on Thursday, a senior government official said. The official signalled that the border infrastructure projects will continue despite China's attempts to stop them.
“We did not pause work on this bridge through the stand-off and kept working despite the violent face-off on June 15,” a senior army officer told HT.
The construction of the four-span bridge, located three kilometres east of the Shyok-Galwan confluence, was seen as one of the triggers for the aggressive manoeuvres by the Chinese Army in the region which led to the stand-off, the report added.
Meanwhile, China has on Friday denied reports of detaining 10 Indian soldiers following the Monday night clash. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, “As far as I know, currently China has not seized any Indian personnel.” However, he did not elaborate any further, reported Associated Press.
According to the Indian Express report, the 10 detained Indian soldiers were returned on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) at around 5 pm on Thursday after hectic negotiations between the two sides, including three rounds of talks at the Major General level from Tuesday to Thursday. Meanwhile, the Indian Army had on Thursday evening released a statement and said that all the troops involved in the skirmish were accounted for.
