(Asian News Hub) – For the first time, China on Friday honoured its four soldiers killed during clashes with Indian Army troops at Galwan Valley In June 2020, Chinese state media said.
Chen Hongjun, Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan and Wang Zhuoran died during what Chinese state media described as a “fierce struggle” against “foreign troops” that violated an agreement and crossed into the Chinese side.
Chen was posthumously awarded the title of “Guardian of the Frontier Hero,” while the other three men were also given first-class merit citations.
India and China have sought to de-escalate the situation at the border in eastern Ladakh ever since violence erupted last year in which both sides suffered casualties.
While India had lost 20 soldiers during the clash, China never declared the numbers of its soldiers killed.
On the other hand, Indian Army Commander Lieutenant General YC Joshi quoted a Russian agency which claimed that 45 Chinese PLA soldiers were killed on June 15, 2020.
Earlier this week, China and India began to pull back troops, tanks and other equipment from the banks of Pangong Tso, a glacial lake in the Ladakh region, that became a flashpoint in the prolonged border dispute after reaching an agreement to do so this month.
For almost 9 months, the forces of India and China remained face to face and during this period, the situation deteriorated on several occasions.
Lt Gen YK Joshi, the Chief of the Army’s Northern Command, has told in an interview how China’s attitude softened and it was forced to retreat. He said that when the dialogue did not get the desired success, then the army received special instructions from higher command.
In these instructions, it was asked to do something that would put pressure on China. After this, on the intervening night of August 29-30, the Indian troops captured Rejang La and Rechin La on the southern shore of Pangong Lake and India again regained control.
AGENCY
