In a violent face-off with the Chinese troops in the Galwan valley of Ladakh, an Indian army officer, and two soldiers have been killed. This is an unprecedented escalation between the two countries.
The violent face-off took place on Monday night as the Indian Army released the statement on Tuesday. The meeting between the senior officials is reportedly underway to deescalate the situation. The statement said,
“During the de-escalation process underway in the Galway valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation.”
Since April when the Chinese forces tried to advance into the Indian side of the de-facto territory, hundreds of soldiers from both sides have been deployed along the line of actual control. After weeks of intense tension between the two armies, the two sides held talks last week with army chief General MM Naravane said that the process of disengagement is underway. Since then, the forces have been taken aback from the territory.
India Planning To Start Work On Bridge
As the stand-off was moving towards calming off, the government had started the work on the concrete bridge which will replace the existing wooden bridge. The government had made it clear to the Chinese government that will carry on with the border infrastructure development. A senior official in the defense establishment said,
“The work on the bridge, which is about 7 to 7.5 kilometers from the Line of Actual Control, had started much earlier. However, around 10 May, the Chinese came to know of the construction and objected to it. However, the work on the bridge continues. The ongoing issues have only made us work faster on this bridge.”
However, some sources in government also say that China is objected to the bridge because it is doubtful if India’s intent to post the abrogation of Article 370. Breaking the Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories. The union territory of Ladakh has started raising its voice about Aksai Chin.
Source: Hindustan Times
