The Chinese military suffered casualties in a stand-off with the Indian Army at the border in the Gilwan Valley on Monday, according to reports. Three Indian troopers were also killed in the skirmish.
The editor-in-chief of China’s Global Times newspaper tweeted that the People’s Liberation Army has seen casualties at the border.
“Based on what I know, [the]Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash,” Hu Xijin said in a tweet on Tuesday.
The Indian Army reported that one of its officers and two soldiers had been killed in the incident. It said that there were “casualties on both sides,” but Beijing did not mention any deaths or injuries.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian claimed the violence occurred after Indian troops crossed the border twice on Monday, “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides.”
Despite the number of reported casualties, it appears that no weapons were discharged during the incident. “There was no firing,” an Indian army officer in the region told AFP. “No firearms were used. It was violent hand-to-hand scuffles.”
Senior military officials from both countries are currently meeting to de-escalate the situation, according to Indian media outlets. China and India have been involved in a standoff in a number of positions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, part of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The two nations share a 3,488-km border, and both countries reinforced their positions along the LAC following skirmishes in May. High-level talks between the countries’ diplomats and army generals were held earlier in June in a bid to ease tensions.
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