Confine Activities To Your Side Of LAC: India Tells China

Trashes Chinese claim over Galwan Valley as ‘exaggerated, untenable’; Major Gen-level talks held for 3rd day in a row

Seventy-six soldiers of the Army, who were injured during the clash with Chinese troops at Galwan Valley on Monday evening are at various hospitals, according to reports of a private news channel. None of them are critical at the moment and should be back on duty within a week. Of the injured soldiers, 18 are at the hospital in Leh. The remaining 56 are spread across other hospitals.

All Indian troops guarding the border with China carry arms, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday, replying to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s poser that why Army personnel in Galwan Valley were sent “unarmed to martyrdom”. The minister said armies of the two sides do not use firearms as per provisions of two bilateral agreements sealed in 1996 and 2005. Earlier, Gandhi questioned why Indian soldiers were sent “unarmed to martyrdom” in Ladakh and who is responsible for sending them towards danger. He also asked how China dared to kill the Indian soldiers.

A day after PM Narendra Modi warned China against aggression, Beijing asked New Delhi not to “misjudge” the situation or “underestimate” its will. China even went a step further alleging India of breaking consensus and “deliberately provoking”. In a couple of tweets, Foreign Ministry spokesperson of China, Hua Chunying said: “India must not misjudge the current situation or underestimate China’s firm will to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.”