Army officer, two soldiers killed in a ’violent face’ off with Chinese troops
Live MintIn a major escalation of tensions between India and China, an Indian army officer and two soldiers were killed in a “violent face off” with Chinese troops in the Galwan area of Ladakh, the Indian army said Tuesday. China’s state-run Global Times reported five Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers were killed and 11 injured in the clash with Indian troops. In a terse statement, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said India had been hopeful that the de-escalation process would unfold smoothly, but “the Chinese side departed from the consensus to respect the Line of Actual Control in the Galwan Valley.” With China trying to “unilaterally change the status quo” both sides “suffered casualties that could have been avoided” had China stuck to what had been agreed, he said. Sameer Patil, an expert on international relations at the Mumbai based Gateway House think tank said that “India will have to start to take concrete steps to ensure that both countries move towards resolving the boundary issue.” “China has an idea of where India thinks its border with China lies since we have given them a map.