India-China face-off takes the worst turn as 20 soldiers including their CO were martyred in a violent clash between the armed forces of both the nation at Galwan Valley in Ladakh, breaking the record of peace holding for almost 50 years. According to Asian News International (ANI), almost 43 Chinese soldiers have been killed or received serious injuries, though, there is no confirmation on this from the other side of the border.
After 1975, this is the first clash between two Asian giants which involves death.
According to the army officials, Chinese soldiers reportedly assaulted a Colonel at the time they are moving away as per the agreement. This sparks an unarmed scuffle among the soldiers of both the nations. This unarmed collision didn’t involve any kind of firearms and the fight went for an hour or so.
“All the soldiers who were killed in this physical fight. The Chinese side used batons and stones,” quoted by Agence France Presse.
Whereas, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, tweeted "Based on what I know, the Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash. I want to tell the Indian side, don't be arrogant, and misread China's restraint as being weak. China doesn't want to have a clash with India, but we don't fear it".
Three Indian soldiers died on the previous night in a violent gunfight. Colonel B Santosh Babu of the Bihar Regiment, Havildar Palani, and Sepoy Ojha was martyred during the de-escalation process. And according to sources, at least 17 other soldiers have succumbed to death in the hospital. According to the Indian Army, Chinese troops have disengaged after the collision pacifies.
The trigger for this fresh border dispute between India and China is based on China’s opposition to the infrastructure development that India has been carrying out around the Pangong Tso Lake.
Citing the example of the 73-day standoff at Doklam, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that even at that time India had held farm but the issue was eventually resolved through dialogue. He has also reviewed the current operational situation in eastern Ladakh, with the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chiefs of three services- Army, Navy, and Air Force. The External Affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar was also present during the meeting.
According to experts, China hasn’t taken the recent development in good relation between India and the USA welly, maybe they are also unhappy about recent ongoing words about India’s possible inclusion in the list of G7 countries. They have also noticed that, this type of aggressive steps that India is taking in this controversial area, is something they haven’t seen in the recent past. So, they are hoping that may be India and China are testing each other at the Ladakh border, but it won’t be another war like in 1962.
So, Is this the only start of a devastating war between the two countries? Or, it will be settled peacefully by both sides. In the limelight of these recent deaths on both sides, ‘peace’ is looking far-fetched.
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