New Delhi: Indian government sources said that at least 20 Indian Army personnel were killed in the violent face-off in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, news agency ANI reported.
The sources also said that casualty numbers could rise, ANI Tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Indian intercepts revealed that Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the face-off, the report added.
According to ANI’s sources, an increase in Chinese chopper activity was observed across the LAC to airlift casualties suffered by them during face-off with Indian troops in Galwan valley.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army said that Indian & Chinese troops have disengaged at Galwan area where they had earlier clashed on the night of 15/16 June. 17 Indian troops who were critically injured in the line of duty at stand-off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20. Indian Army is firmly committed to protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.
Earlier in the day, the Indian Army said India lost an officer and two soldiers during the violent face-off, while there were casualties on the Chinese side as well.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi about last night's clash as well the overall situation in eastern Ladakh after he held a high-level meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs.
According to a senior military officer, it is the first incident involving the casualty of an Indian soldier in a violent clash with the Chinese Army after 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh.
Military sources said the two armies held major general-level talks at the site of the clash.
"During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers," the Army said in a brief statement.
"Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation," it said.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI)
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