3 Indian troops killed in face-off with China

NEW DELHI, India/ANKARA, Turkey

Three Indian soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a heightened face-off with China along the border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the Ladakh area of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir, a statement by the Indian army said on Tuesday.

The clash took place on Monday during a “de-escalation process” in the Galwan Valley of Ladakh where the two armies have been engaged since early May, the statement added.

“A violent face-off took place yesterday [Monday] with casualties,” it noted.

Among the three dead Indian troopers, one is a colonel.

Army officers of the two sides are engaged in deliberations to diffuse the situation, the statement also said.

However, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Indian side "seriously violated the consensus."

"Indian troops seriously violated the consensus of the two sides by illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks on Chinese soldiers, resulting in serious physical clashes," the daily Global Times reported, citing the ministry.

“The Chinese side has lodged a strong protest and solemn representation to the Indian side, urging it to strictly restrain its frontline troops according to the consensus, and not cross the borderline and make any unilateral movement that could complicate the border situation,” said ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao.

Chinese civilian and military authorities are silent whether their side also suffered casualties during the clashes.

However, daily Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin in a tweet said: "Based on what I know, 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."

Global Times is an unofficially state-run daily published in Beijing.

Zhao said: “China and India have agreed to resolve bilateral issues through talks and contribute to the easing of tensions and maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas."

Border dispute

It is the first time since 1975 that China and India are engaged in a fatal military clash along the LAC, the de facto border between the two countries.

Border skirmishes between China and India started on May 5 at the Galwan valley in Ladakh, followed by Nakula pass in India’s northeastern Sikkim province three days later.

Earlier this month, Indian and Chinese diplomats first held a video conference on the issue and agreed to “handle their differences through peaceful discussion".

Later, top Chinese and Indian military officials held high-level talks at the Maldo border outpost on the Chinese side of the LAC.

On Monday, brigade commander and company level talks between India and China were held in Eastern Ladakh.

Border tensions between the two countries have existed for over seven decades.

China claims territory in India's northeast, while New Delhi accuses Beijing of occupying its territory in the Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas, including part of the Ladakh region.

The two countries even fought a war over the hilly state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962, called the Sino-Indian War.

In 2017, the two armies were locked in a 73-day standoff in the disputed Doklam plateau near Sikkim, over the construction of a road by the Chinese.