The Indian Army has raised the death toll in a clash with Chinese troops on a disputed Himalayan border from three to 20 soldiers.
The Indian Army has raised the death toll in a clash with Chinese troops on a disputed Himalayan border from three to 20 soldiers.
The army said in a statement that the two sides « have disengaged » from the disputed Galwan area, where they clashed overnight on Monday.
The army originally reported that three Indian soldiers had died, but later said 17 additional soldiers succumbed to injuries they suffered in the sub-zero temperatures of the high-altitude terrain.
China has accused Indian forces of carrying out « provocative attacks » on its troops and has not said if any of its soldiers have died.
Thousands of soldiers on both sides have been facing off for over a month.
The clash – during which neither side fired any shots, according to Indian officials – is the first deadly confrontation between the two Asian giants since 1975.
Vivek Katju, a retired Indian diplomat, said the clash was a dramatic departure from the four-decades-old status quo of troops from the two countries facing off without any fatalities.
« The political class and the security class as a whole will have to do very serious thinking about the road ahead, » he said.
