作者： bharat.cn

India’s army says 20 of its soldiers have been killed in clashes with Chinese troops at a disputed border site in the western Himalayas, in a major escalation of a weeks-long stand-off between the two Asian giants.

China’s foreign ministry confirmed there had been a “violent physical confrontation”, but made no mention of casualties. India’s foreign ministry said there had been casualties on both sides.

An Indian government source said the troops fought with iron rods and stones, but that no shots were fired.

The clashes happened in Ladakh, along a contested border between India and China.

The Indian army initially issued a statement saying three Indian soldiers had died, but later updated the number to 20 and said 17 “were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain”.

“They attacked with iron rods, the commanding officer was grievously injured and fell, and when that happened, more soldiers swarmed to the area and attacked with stones,” said the Indian government source, who had been briefed on the matter.

The two sides had been discussing ways to de-escalate but at some point the People’s Liberation Army turned on a group of Indian soldiers, the source said. The Chinese side brought in reinforcements and the brawl went on for a couple of hours.

“Both sides suffered casualties that could have been avoided had the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.

The first statement from the Indian army had said that: “During the de-escalation process under way in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place [last] night with casualties on both sides.”

A Colonel-rank officer and two soldiers of the Indian Army were killed in a “violent face-off” with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley area of Ladakh on Monday night. The officer was commanding an infantry battalion of the Army. The face-off took place during efforts to de-escalate the prevailing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Casualities have also taken place on the Chinese side, the Army said.

In an official statement, the Army said, “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday (Monday) night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers.”

The statement added that senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.

Details of what exactly led to the violent face-off are not clear at the moment. Speaking to India Today TV, defence sources privy to the development said no bullets were fired during the face-off. The sources said stones and metal clubs were used to attack the soldiers and they succumbed to their injuries.

In the violent border clash with the Chinese forces in Galwan Valley of Ladakh, which resulted in three casualties on the Indian side, no shots were fired.

As per sources, privy to the developments in Ladakh, Indian soldiers clashed with the Chinese to push them back to the LAC. While stones, metal clubs were used to attack, there were no shots fired, the sources added.

An Army Colonel, two soldiers were killed in the violent clash in Ladakh. At least 11 other Army soldiers have received grevious injuries and are being treated, sources added.

Last time, killings took place on the India-China border in 1975 when four soldiers of the Assam Rifles jawans were killed.

In the statement on Tuesday, the Indian Army said, “During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”

The Army has said senior military officials of the two sides are presently holding a meeting in Galwan Valley to defuse tension.

A large number of Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley for the last five weeks. The incident comes days after Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said both sides have begun disengaging from Galwan Valley.