India, Chinese troops face-off at Galwan valley; army officer, 2 soldiers killed

An officer, 2 jawans of the Indian Army were killed in a clash with the Chinese troops in Ladakh on Monday night. The Indian Army was quoted by news agency ANI as saying: "During the de-escalation process in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place last night with casualties on both sides. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and 2 soldiers. The senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation." The news agency Reuters reported that "China Foreign Ministry when asked about Indian Army reporting casualties in a clash with China, said that calls on India to not take unilateral actions or stir up trouble. Meanwhile, it has been reported that Beijing has accused India of crossing borders, 'attacking Chinese personnel. Also Read | India reports 10,667 new COVID-19 cases and 380 deaths in last 24 hours Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. The recent developments in Eastern Ladakh were discussed during the meeting. China's Global Times quoted their Foreign Minister as saying: "Indian troops on Monday seriously violated consensus of the two sides by illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks on Chinese soldiers, resulting in serious physical clashes." "China has lodged solemn representations with the Indian side and urged it to strictly restrain its frontline troops from crossing the border or taking any unilateral action that may complicate the border situation," it added. Likewise, China and the Indian side agreed to resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue to ease the border situation and maintain peace and tranquility in border areas. After 1975, this is the first violent incident on the India-China border in which casualties have taken place. -PTC News