Violent Face-Off Between Indian And Chinese Forces In Galwan Valley; Indian Army Colonel Among Three Killed

A violent face-off took place between the Indian and Chinese Armed Forces at the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh on Monday night (15 June).

The face-off resulted in the loss of lives on the Indian side. One officer and two soldiers have been killed, as per an official statement by the Indian Army shared by various defence journalists.

The Indian Army managed to inflict casualties on the Chinese side. The nature and number of casualties though is still unclear, but it has been claimed that at least three Chinese soldiers may be dead.

The official statement of the Indian Army added that senior military officials of both the sides are now meeting at the escalation point in a bid to diffuse the situation.

As per senior journalist Shiv Aroor, the deceased Indian Army official has been identified as a Colonel who was the Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion.

This announcement came after various defence journalists tweeted revealing the serious nature of the incident at Pangong Tso, while stopping short of going into exact details.

This development comes amid a long drawn standoff between the Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. The face-off erupted as a result of Chinese escalation seeking to stop India from construction strategic infrastructure near the border. India has steadfastly refused to halt construction.

In recent days both the sides were locked in various high-level talks in a bid to resolve the issue.

The latest meetings came after the fifth meeting between Major-General rank officers of the two armies was held along the LAC last week. This meeting had taken place after the beginning of limited disengagement of the forces at Galwan Valley, Patrolling Point 15 and Hot Springs following a meeting between the commander of Leh based 14 Corps and Major General Liu Lin, commander of the People’s Liberation Army in the South Xinjiang region on 6 June.