Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian revealed that he is not aware of casualties on the border with India after the Indian Army said one of its officers and two soldiers were killed in a "violent faceoff" in Ladakh. According to the Indian Army, an officer and two soldiers were killed in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh during the violent face-off with the Chinese troops, the first such incident on the India-China border in the last 45 years.
According to a senior military officer in New Delhi, 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 along the de-facto border between the two countries.
During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place yesterday night with casualties. The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation," read the official statement from Indian Army. Meanwhile, the Chinese authorities accused the Indian army of provoking and attacking Chinese soldiers.