An Indian Army officer and two soldiers were killed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night during a violent face off with the Chinese troops, the Army said.
The army, in their official statement, said that senior military officials from both sides were currently meeting to diffuse the situation.
But the Chinese foreign minister on Tuesday claimed that Indian troops had “crossed the border twice” which lead to the physical clashes between the two countries at the Galawn Valley, Ladakh.
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Foreign Minister Wang Yi
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“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`s Global Times quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as saying.
“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,” Chinese foreign minister added. China`s Foreign Minister also said that China and the Indian side agreed to resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue to ease the border situation and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border area.
A large number of Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation in Galwan Valley for the last five weeks.
The area is between Indian-administered Ladakh and Chinese-administered Aksai Chin. Aksai Chin is strategically important to Beijing as it has China’s only direct road link to Xinjiang and Tibet.
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Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah expressed shock at the level of escalation at the situation on the Line of Actual Control.
Abdullah said: “If the Chinese shoot dead an Indian army colonel and two jawans during a ‘de-escalation process’ imagine how escalated the situation must be in the first place.”
“Since heard no shooting took place. The deaths were the result of violent scuffles and stone pelting. Regardless of the how & the way three Indian army personnel were killed by the Chinese in the line of duty,” Abdullah added.
The Congress on Tuesday termed as shocking and unacceptable the death of an Indian Army officer and two soldiers in a violent face off with the Chinese troops, and asked Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to confirm the development.
“Shocking, Unbelievable and Unacceptable! Will the Raksha Mantri confirm,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
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