Amid India-China blaming each other for the violent confrontation which happened in the border on Monday, the officials said that the Chinese military had suffered at least 35 casualties quoting US intelligence report. They added the figure could be the total number of soldiers killed and seriously wounded.
Chinese officials have been refusing to confirm the number of causalities so far. In contrast, Indian Army on June 16, confirmed that 20 Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed in the biggest ever military encounter between the two armies over the last five decades.
Two days after the deadly encounter between the two nuclear powers, China on June 17 said it wanted to avoid further clashes with India along their border.
On June 17, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first reaction to the death of 20 soldiers at Ladakh’s Galwan Valley said Indian Army bravehearts attained martyrdom while giving a befitting response to Chinese troops.
In a TV address to the nation, PM said the sacrifice of soldiers killed in Ladakh by China’s army “will not go in vain.” He requested everyone to stand up and led the ‘2 minutes silence’ to pay respect to the martyrs who laid down their lives protecting India’s integrity at the India-China border.
PM Modi had called an all-party meeting to discussion about the alarming situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and to plan a response after opposition leaders urged the PM over his silence.
The Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said in a video message “Today when there is so much anger over Chinese intrusion, the prime minister should come out and tell the nation how the Chinese managed to commit this act of aggression.”
She also asked how much of Indian territory has been occupied by China and what are the strategy of the government to deal with the situation. She further said PM should tell the nation how the Chinese occupied Indian territory and why 20 of our brave soldiers were martyred.
Gandhi confirmed Congress would stand with the Indian Army, its soldiers and their families, and the Government during this time of crisis.
In a tweet, Prime Minister’s Office informed that Presidents of various political parties would participate in the meeting which is scheduled on Friday at 5 pm.
In order to discuss the situation in the India-China border areas, Prime Minister @narendramodi has called for an all-party meeting at 5 PM on 19th June. Presidents of various political parties would take part in this virtual meeting.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) June 17, 2020
Indian had alleged that “violent face-off” is an attempt by China to “unilaterally change the status quo” on the Galwan Valley frontier in Indian-administered Ladakh.
Meanwhile, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian insisted that it was Indian troops who illegally crossed the border and attacked the Chinese side.
He further said China had urged India to “strictly restrain frontline troops, do not illegally cross the border, do not make provocative gestures, do not take any unilateral actions that will complicate the border situation”.
However, he confirmed that India-China are trying to resolve the issues through dialogue and negotiations.
