Galwan Valley Standoff | Two Years Of Violent Clash That Killed 20 Indian Soldiers

The clash along the LAC in eastern Ladkah over the Chinese Army’s actions led to a military standoff with Beijing.

Representational Image (Photo: Getty Images)

New Delhi: June 15 marks the second anniversary of the deadly clash between the Indian troops and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers in Ladakh’s remote Galwan Valley in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops lost their lives. The June 15, 2020, Galwan clash was the first deadly skirmish along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in five decades.

The clash along the LAC in eastern Ladkah over the Chinese Army’s actions led to a military standoff with Beijing.

The trust deficit between the two sides post this clash still continues as the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA have so far held 15 rounds of talks between the Corps Commanders to resolve the standoff. Fourteen of these talks took place after the Galwan Valley conflict, but they have led to partial success.

Clashes Leave Soldiers Dead:

The clash left 20 Indian soldiers and an undisclosed number of Chinese troops dead as Beijing repeatedly declined to reveal its total casualties.

China, however, in February 2021 announced posthumous medals to four of its soldiers, who lost their lives in the Galwan clash.

Citing a report prepared by a group of social media researchers after a year-long investigation, an article in the Australian newspaper ‘The Klaxon’ revealed that at least 38 PLA troops drowned while crossing a fast-flowing, sub-zero river in darkness, news agency Asian News International (ANI) reported.

China Puts Ball In India’s Court:

Earlier on Sunday, Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe emphasized the two nations are working together for peace along the LAC.

“China and India are neighbours and maintaining a good relationship meets the interests of both countries. And that is what we are working on,” news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted General Wei as saying while addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

“We have had 15 rounds of talks at commander level with the Indians and we are working together for peace in this area,” he added responding to a poser about conflict on the LAC with India.

Belligerent China:

Ramping up activities in the Galwan Valley in April 2020, the Chinese forces began setting up infrastructures such as tents, dugouts and machinery.

Post this, the troops of the two sides engaged in conflicts not just at Galwan Valley, but at various points along the India-China border, including near Pangong Lake in Ladakh and Tibet, from early May 2020.

New Delhi contended that the Chinese troops had moved into the Indian side of the LAC. This escalated tensions with both sides deploying an increased number of soldiers at the border.

Negotiations Begin:

The local military commanders of both sides held talks on June 6, 2020, which led to a mutually-agreed disengagement process. However, no plan was drawn up and a series of meetings and diplomatic talks resulted in a stalemate.

New Delhi sought a restoration of status quo ante – of troops returning to locations before the confrontation began in May 2020.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian in a series of tweets, five days after the clash, claimed that the “Galwan Valley is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control in the west section of the China-India boundary”.

“For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region. Since April this year, the Indian border troops have unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in the Galwan Valley. China has lodged representations and protests on multiple occasions but India has gone even further to cross the LAC and make provocations,” the statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry read.

The series of meetings between the two sides continued till the end of 2020, with an escalation in September, when the Chinese PLA claimed that Indian troops had fired warning shots, prompting it to “take countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the ground” in Pangong Tso, one of the most contentious sectors in Ladkah,

The first major breakthrough in talks to resolve the nine-month military standoff was only reached in February 2021.

Disengagement Starts:

The Chinese Defence Ministry announced that troops of the two sides on the southern and northern shores of Pangong Tso began “synchronized and organized disengagement”.

This was in tune with the consensus reached between the Corps Commanders of the two sides when they last met on January 24 during the ninth round of military talks.