Army Colonel, 2 soldiers killed in violent standoff with Chinese troops in Ladakh

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File Photo of army deployments moving towards Ladakh last month

Srinagar: In a major development that could further worsen the India-China relations, an Indian Army officer and two soldiers have been killed during a stand-off between Indian and Chinese armies in Galwan Valley in Ladakh during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, reports and sources told The Kashmir Monitor.

“During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties on both sides. 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,” read an official statement from Indian Army.

The fresh incident points out to the worsening situation between India and China along the Ladakh LAC.

Reports said the Army will hold a press conference later today.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, as per ANI, called on India “to not take unilateral actions or stir up trouble.”

News agency AFP ran with this ticker: Beijing accuses India of crossing border, ‘attacking Chinese personnel’.

An official said the standoff resulted in casualties on both sides, however, the same was not officialy confirmed.

Reports said it was the first combat casualties on the LAC since 1975.

India shares a 3,488-km border with China while Ladakh shares 646 Km of the LAC with the neighboring country. Jammu and Kashmir is the only place in the country which shares its borders with both Pakistan and China.

Northern Command of the army is responsible for the security of borders with Pakistan and China as well as the counter militancy and counter-infiltration operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is not for the first time that there has been a face-off between the Chinese and Indian army on the LAC in Ladakh.  On the intervening night of April 15 and 16, 2013, PLA crossed 19 kilometers deep inside the Indian Territory at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector on LAC in Ladakh and set up the tented posts.  The 20-day old standoff ended on May 5, 2013, when troops from both sides withdraw to the pre-incursion positions on the line of actual control.

 On November 3, 2016, Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a tense standoff along the Line of Actual Control in the Demchok sector of Ladakh after the People Liberation Army (PLA) objected to the construction of a developmental project.

 In 2012, the Chinese army forced the Jammu and Kashmir government to suspend the work on a prestigious irrigation scheme at the Kuyul-Thuksey area of Nyoma block in Leh district of Ladakh division.

  In 2010, the Chinese army forced Jammu and Kashmir government to suspend work on the passenger sheds which were being constructed near the Sino-Indo border in the Demchok area in Leh district of Ladakh region.

  In 2011, Chinese troops crossed the border and threatened the nomads who were grazing their cattle near the border.

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