NEW DELHI – China said four of its soldiers were killed in last year’s border clash with Indian troops, revealing for the first time victims of the Himalayan confusion that killed 20 Indians and increased tension between neighbors with nuclear weapons.
India revealed its view of what happened shortly after the June incident, saying its troops were killed in the bloody skirmish in which soldiers fought with stones, batons and clubs wrapped in barbed wire. China was silent on the number of casualties until Friday, when it announced posthumous awards to the four soldiers.
In making the announcement, China blamed India, saying its troops had “deliberately caused incidents” by trying to “unilaterally change the status quo of border control”, according to PLA Daily, its main military publication.
Tensions remained high for months between India and China, which share a 2,000-mile border. They pointed their fingers at each other to start the fight, saying that the other side was breaking the rules and limits set for the movement of troops.
According to Indian authorities, the violence started after Indian soldiers arrived in an area of the Galwan Valley on the border to ensure that Chinese forces had fled as part of an agreement between the two sides. They found that the Chinese soldiers remained and began to build a new structure on what India considers its side of the border in fact. This sparked an argument, which led to the bloody confrontation.