An Indian Army Colonel, the Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion, and two soldiers were killed during a clash with Chinese troops on Monday night during a violent face-off at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region.
Meanwhile, China's Global Times' Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin admitted that their soldiers have also suffered casualties. However, he warned India to not misread China's restraint as being weak. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash. I want to tell the Indian side, don’t be arrogant and misread China’s restraint as being weak. China doesn’t want to have a clash with India, but we don’t fear it."
A reporter from the Global Times quoted a source and said that five PLA (People's Liberation Army) soldiers were killed and 11 were injured in the hand-to-hand combat. She wrote, "Reports say 5 PLA soldiers were killed and 11 were injured at LAC China-India border yesterday."
However, Global Times has now said that they cannot confirm the Chinese casualties at the moment. "The official Global Times accounts have NEVER reported the exact casualties on the Chinese side. The Global Times CANNOT confirm the number at the moment," they wrote.
Meanwhile, China's Foreign Minister has accused the Indian troops of illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks.
"Indian troops on Monday seriously violated consensus of the two sides by illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks on Chinese soldiers, resulting in serious physical clashes," Global Times quoted their Foreign Minister.
"China has lodged solemn representations with the Indian side and urged it to strictly restrain its frontline troops from crossing the border or taking any unilateral action that may complicate the border situation," he added.
The violent incident comes days after Army Chief Gen M M Naravane said that the military talks between India and China over Ladakh have been "very fruitful", and both the armies are "disengaging" in a phased manner.
