In first acknowledgement of casualties on Chinese side during June 20 Galwan Valley clashes, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead, Beijing on Friday honoured four PLA soldiers involved in the incident. A top military body, Central Military Commission, awarded four soldiers and a colonel, who led the team and was seriously injured, reports the People’s Daily, China. 

China has never revealed the casualties they suffered in the bloody border clash in eastern Ladakh. China’s Central Military Commission has recognised five frontiers officers and soldiers, who were stationed in the Karakoram mountains, for their sacrifice in the border clash.  China will commemorate their contributions to the nation for defending national sovereignty and territory, reports China’s PLA Daily.

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“Four soldiers died while dealing with the illegal trespassing of Indian soldiers of the Galwan valley Line of Actual Control (LAC)”, said the Chinese daily. The five soldiers have been awarded Qi Fabao, who was regimental commander from the PLA Xinjiang Military Command, the title of “Hero regimental commander for defending the border”, reported China’s Global Times.

It has awarded Chen Hongjun with “Hero to defend the border” and first class merit to three others,  Chen Xiangrong, Xiao Siyuan, and Wang Zhuoran, reports The Global Times. 

China also revisited the June 20 incident during the awards process saying how India deployed a large number of soldiers, who were premeditatedly hiding, and trying to force the Chinese military to concede, the Global Times report said. Beijing said the Chinese soldiers defended the sovereignty of China, highlighting that the Indian side attacked with steel tubes, cudgels, and stones, the Chinese daily said. 

Indian and Chinese were in a standoff in eastern Ladakh reportedly since April-May last year, as tensions between the two nations escalated after June 20 clash, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

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Since then, India and China have held many rounds of talks at military and diplomatic levels to solve the border issues. As of now, the disengagement process from Northern and Southern banks Pangong Lake has started, early in February, in eastern Ladakh after nine months of standoff as both sides have agreed to cease forward deployment of troops in “phased, coordinated and verifiable” manner.