Hours after the reports of Indian soldiers being in Chinese custody broke, Indian Army clarified that there are no Indian troops missing in action, ANI reported.
"This is with reference to the article 'In China-India Clash, Two Nationalist Leaders with Little Room to Give' by New York Times dated 17 June 2020. It is clarified that there are no Indian troops missing in action," said Indian Army.
Earlier, Defence Analyst Ajai Shukla had told NDTV that at least 10 Indian soldiers are still with China.
“There are severely injured Indians who are hanging between life and death. There are still at least 10 prisoners in Chinese custody and negotiation is still underway.”Defence Analyst Ajai Shukla to NDTV
Shukla had made a few shocking revelations in an interview with NDTV about how Indian soldiers being held in custody by the Chinese.It has been two days since 20 soldiers of the Indian Army were killed in a ‘violent face-off’ with China at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on the night of Monday, 15 June.He explained that the “Chinese are resorting to extreme brutality wherever possible. The same thing was evident in the clashes at Pangong Tso lake around the first week of May where 72 Indian soldiers were hospitalised, including one commanding officer who is still severely injured.”He said the Chinese were trying to use ‘psychological dominance by the deployment of extreme cruelty and force.’Meanwhile, the last rites of the martyred jawans are being held in different parts of the country.
Reports Emerge of More Casualties on the Indian Side
News has also emerged that there are four personnel who are ‘critically injured’ and 58 personnel with minor injuries according to sources in The Hindu.
“In addition, 18 injured in Leh military hospital are also now stable,” the report stated. The report also mentioned that there are still some soldiers who are unaccounted for and believed to have been taken into custody by Chinese troops.
There have been several media reports confirming that the death toll had increased from three to 20 on Tuesday, as many soldiers succumbed to their injuries due to the harsh, inhospitable weather conditions in the Galwan valley.
In response to how the Indian soldiers were caught off guard, Shukla told NDTV that “Chinese managed to get together large number of troops and ambushed the Indian forces and after that it was downhill. There are still casualties, there are still prisoners so the situation is not resolved yet.”
The Hindu detailed the order of events that led to the clash, that began with Colonel B Santosh Babu, Commanding Officer of 16 Bihar, and a small group of unarmed soldiers who were overseeing the retreating Chinese troops. That is when they were attacked by Chinese troops armed with rods and stones and were vastly outnumbered. Some soldiers are believed to have even been swept away in the Galwan river, the report stated.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday said that the Galwan clash between Indian Army jawans and Chinese PLA on Monday was a premediated and planned action by China and that this was strongly conveyed to the Chinese counterpart in a telephonic conversation by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
“Making exaggerated and untenable claims is contrary to this understanding,” MEA’s official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had slammed.
The State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the other hand had pointed out that the Indian forces had openly broken the consensus that had been reached at the commander-level meeting between the two sides.
He alleged that the Indian side “crossed the Line of Actual Control again, made deliberate provocations” and “violently attacked the Chinese soldiers who went for negotiations,” which led to “fierce physical clashes and resulted in casualties.”
He insisted that the Indian side conduct a thorough investigation to “hold the violators accountable, strictly discipline the frontline troops and immediately stop all provocative acts to ensure such incidents will not occur again.”
(With inputs from The Hindu, NDTV)
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