The face-off between Indian and Chinese troops between Monday night and early Tuesday morning has left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, with several in critical condition. Many Chinese soldiers have been killed too, according to China daily Global Times, but there is no exact figure on the casualties.
Initially, there were reports on Tuesday that three Indian soldiers, which included a colonel, had been killed. However, it was later discovered that 17 other critically soldiers succumbed to their injuries. As of Wednesday morning, according to reports by news agency ANI, three more Indian soldiers are critical.
Now, it has come to light, thanks to a report by News 18 by senior defence expert Praveen Swami, that soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army, armed with iron rods and batons wrapped in barbed wire hunted down and slaughtered Indian soldiers belonging to the 16 Bihar Regiment.
The report further added, quoting a soldier, that unarmed men who fled into the hillside were hunted down and killed. The dead also included men who jumped into the Galwan river in a desperate effort to escape.
The Galwan fighting, which began on Tuesday, began when the Bihar Regiment took down a tent belonging to the Chinese. The tent was located close to the mouth of the Galwan river. The tent was earlier taken down after Indian and Chinese troops met on June 6 days earlier to discuss disengagement. However, the PLA, reneging on the June 6 agreement, set up a fresh tent and the Bihar Regiment was ordered to take it down, which they did, reportedly by burning it, resulting in the face-off.
Furthermore, the People’s Liberation Army has alleged that the 16 Bihar Regiment was responsible for the incident. The regiment, the PLA has claimed, crossed a buffer zone that divides the Indian and Chinese sides.
Following the burning of the tent, both sides engaged in stone pelting on Sunday, followed by the massive attack on Monday by the PLA on the Bihar Regiment troops.
India attributes Monday’s violence when the Chinese side ‘departed from the consensus to respect the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and attempted to “unilaterally change the status quo”.
Beijing made no mention of any casualties while laying the blame squarely on New Delhi. Confirming the clash, it accused the Indian soldiers of crossing into the Chinese territory and attacking its personnel. The only admission of multiple casualties on the Chinese side came from the editor of the government mouthpiece Global Times.
