After talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders on June 6, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops were supposed to move further back in Eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley near the Patrolling Point 14.
While the de-escalation process was underway, a violent face-off took place on Monday night between Indian and Chinese troops leading to the death of three Army personnel, including an officer and two soldiers, in Galwan Valley. After 1975, this is the first violent incident on the India-China border in which casualties have taken place.
"As part of efforts to talk to the Chinese side to honour their commitment made during the June 6 talks, 16 Bihar Commanding Officer Colonel Santosh, initiated talks with the Chinese side, asking them to go back further into their territory," sources told .
During the talks, the Chinese side started heated arguments with the Indian delegation and started an attack on the Indian side with stones, sticks with spikes and other sharp-edged tools with an intention to cause fatalities to the Indian side, they said.
During the violent scuffles and face-off, the Chinese side outnumbering the Indian troops targeted the 16 Bihar Commanding Officer and personnel.
The scuffles continued for almost three hours. Sources said the Indian side also retaliated and caused casualties to the Chinese side but probably suffered more casualties than stated officially by the Army, sources said, adding that this may go up as many soldiers are still missing, while some are critically injured.
Initially, after the incident came to light, the Army had stated that the Indian side had lost three personnel including Colonel Santosh, a JCO and Sepoy Ojha in the violent face-off in which both sides suffered casualties.
The talks between the two sides at the Major General-level were held on Tuesday also where they discussed the violent face-off in the Galwan area, where the Chinese have violated the Line of Actual Control.
National Security Advisory Board member Lt Gen (retd) SL Narasimhan said that both sides were talking to each other on resolving the issue but said that "it is unlikely that this incident will turn into a major issue" between them.
( With inputs from ANI )