China has reportedly released 10 Indian soldiers, including two majors on Thursday evening, three days after clashes between the two sides in Galwan Valley, on the eastern side of Ladakh, left 20 Indian soldiers dead.
The release comes after three days of negotiations , people familiar with the development, said news agency PTI reported.
While the Government of India hasn’t issued a statement as yet, the Army said that all its jawans stationed at the Line of Actual Control had been accounted for.
According to a report in The Hindu, an agreement on the release was reached at major general-level talks between the Indian army and China’s People’s Liberation Army. Notably, this was the first time after the 1962 Sino-India War that Indian soldiers were taken into custody by the Chinese side.
The Galwan Valley was the site of the violent clash between the two militaries on Monday night in which a Colonel and 19 other Indian Army personnel were killed. China's official media has acknowledged casualties on the Chinese side without mentioning numbers.
Monday's face-off was the biggest confrontation between the two militaries after their 1967 clashes in Nathu La when India lost around 80 soldiers while over 300 Chinese army personnel were killed in the face-off.
The Indian Army has been fiercely objecting to the transgressions, and demanded their immediate withdrawal for restoration of peace and tranquillity in the area. Both sides held a series of talks in the last few days to resolve the row. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India contests it.
