Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation in Eastern Ladakh where 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.
Singh met PM Modi after he held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and the three service chiefs in the South Block to review the situation following the violent face-off in the Galwan Valley amid the de-escalation process.
Meanwhile, Indian Army sources told The Wire that the Indian side may have crossed over as a part of disengagement talk and there must have been quarrel which escalated. “The area where they met is very treacherous and mountainous. In the pushing and shoving, the three seem to have slipped. We don’t know if it was deliberate or it happened during the pushing and shoving,” sources said.
The Chinese Foreign Minister has also 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," China's 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.
Meanwhile, the Chinese army has also faced casualties though the exact figures are yet to be ascertained. 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."
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.
The two armies were locked in an over five-week standoff in Pangong Tso, Galwan Valley, Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldie in eastern Ladakh. A sizeable number of Chinese Army personnel even transgressed into the Indian side of the de-facto border in several areas including Pangong Tso.
(With inputs from Agenices)
