New Delhi: Colonel Santosh Babu, who was martyred in a clash with Chinese soldiers in Galwan Valley in Ladakh, has been conferred with the gallantry medal Maha Vir Chakra today. Maha Vir Chakra is the second highest gallantry award in India. Along with him, four other soldiers who were martyred in the violent clash with the Chinese army during Operation Snow-Leopard in Galwan Valley will also be given the Vir Chakra.
Colonel Babu was born at Suryapet, roughly 140 kilometres from Hyderabad.
Colonel Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar regiment, was one of 20 Indian troops killed in severe hand-to-hand battle in the Galwan Valley on June 15, last year, in what was one of the most significant military engagements between the two sides in decades.
The horrific Galwan encounter was the first lethal collision between India and China in at least 45 years, and it was regarded as underscoring the danger of the border impasse turning into a full-fledged conflict.
Twenty Indian soldiers, including Col Santosh Babu, were slain in the seven-hour battle, which engaged over 600 competing forces at its climax.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Ladakh shortly after the Galwan incident, praised the soldiers' bravery in repelling the Chinese invasion. PM Modi had said, "Bharat Mata's foes have witnessed your fire and wrath."