China has for the first time revealed that four of its troops died during the violent border clash with Indian troops in the Himalayas in June 2020, as both sides completed the disengagement at the Pangong lake.
The men died after fighting “foreign troops” who “crossed into the Chinese border”, said Chinese state-controlled media.
The bloody skirmish, which took place in the Galwan Valley in India’s Ladakh region, involved Indian and Chinese soldiers reportedly fighting one another with stones and nail-studded clubs.
It was admittedly the deadliest clash along the India-China border area in 45 years, after the major border clash in 1967.
Four Chinese soldiers, who were sacrificed in last June's border conflict, were posthumously awarded honorary titles and first-class merit citations, Central Military Commission announced Friday. A colonel, who led them and seriously injured, was conferred with honorary title. pic.twitter.com/Io9Wk3pXaU
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) February 19, 2021
Previously, India had said that 20 of its soldiers were killed in last year’s clash, while Beijing acknowledged casualties but did not disclose any further details. Indian intercepts had put the number of Chinese casualties at 43 that includes dead and injured.
On Friday, China’s military news outlet PLA Daily named the “heroic” Chinese soldiers who gave their “youth, blood and even life” – Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran. They were all given posthumous awards.
Wang had died after drowning in icy waters while crossing a river to reach his army mates, said the report. Meanwhile, another man, regimental commander Qi Fabao, was also given honours after sustaining “serious injuries”.
There was another violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers at Nathu La in January this year. 20 Chinese soldiers were reportedly injured in the clash, while 4 on the Indian side sustained injuries.
Chinese state-run media had announced on February 10 that both sides had begun disengagement at the Pangong Lake. The disengagement in that area is now complete after troops moved out from both the banks of Pangong Lake in the eastern Ladakh sector along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
India and China will hold the 10th round of corps commander level talks on Saturday to discuss disengagement from other friction points. The talks will be held on the Chinese side of the LAC in Moldo.
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