At least 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in the violent face-off took place between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, government sources said. Sources added that the casualty numbers could rise. The incident took place while the de-escalation process was underway.
Reacting on the incident, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that a violent face-off happened on late evening and night of June 15 in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to “unilaterally change” the status quo during de-escalation and the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said both sides suffered casualties in the violent face-off and the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley.
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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held two review meetings over developments in eastern Ladakh during the day. A meeting was held at the residence of Defence Minister in the evening which was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General MM Naravane.
