NEW DELHI: : Eight months after the savage Galwan Valley clash, China on Friday finally admitted that People’s Liberation Army soldiers had been killed in the hand-to-hand fighting that had resulted in death of 20 Indian soldiers.
The Chinese apex Central Military Commission (CMC) awarded posthumous honorary title and first class merit citation to four PLA soldiers, acknowledging casualties that various reports have put as much higher. Estimates, based on observation of movements on the Chinese side, have put the toll as high as 45.
A colonel, who led the troops and was seriously injured, was also conferred with honorary title, according to the CMC, which is headed by President Xi Jinping. There was no confirmation of the Chinese toll for months after the June 15 clash even as India declared its casualties promptly, with last rites of the dead attended by large numbers of people. Social media was also abuzz with a video, purportedly of the Galwan area, that was put out by the Chinese authorities.
It was not possible to establish if it was about the events of the Galwan clash in June, which was sparked by PLA troops attacking Indian soldiers led by Col Santosh Babu with clubs studded with nails and stones. A Chinese state media expert claimed that the video showed Indian troops entering Chinese territory.
Interestingly, the citations were made public at a time when disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops is under way in the Finger 4-8 area of eastern Ladakh and the announcements were quickly followed by China’s foreign and defence ministries reiterating that the responsibility for the clash in Galwan Valley lay entirely with India. While China has now admitted to casualties, Pakistan did not do so during and after the Kargil war, claiming mujahideen were involved.
The Chinese defence ministry spokesperson said that while China had exercised a high degree of restraint, the Indian side had repeatedly “hyped up the casualties, distorted the truth, misled international public opinion, and slandered the Chinese border troops”. India had maintained that PLA troops had also suffered casualties in the June 15 clash.PM Modi had said in an address that Indian soldiers “maarte maarte marein hain (soldiers died while killing the enemy)”.
Asked why China had revealed casualty figures now, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, “The report has been revealed to give the truth to the public because the truth is long awaited and is necessary for the people to know the true story.” Three PLA soldiers were killed in the combat while another soldier died while crossing the river, according to a Xinhua report.