Galwan Valley was always ours, claims Chinese army Colonel

Colonel Zhang Shuili from China’s Western Theatre Command has accused India of deliberately launching provocative attacks. He made the statement in one of the first official responses from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) following a fatal physical altercation between Indian and Chinese troops on Monday night.

“The sovereignty of the Galwan Valley region has always belonged to China”, Colonel Zhang Shuili, who is the spokesperson of the Chinese army’s western theatre command, said. He went further to claim, “China always owns sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region.”

Indian army crossed the LAC and provoked attacks that led to fierce physical confrontation “resulting in casualties”, claims Colonel Zhang Shuili.

According to the Chinese-state media portal Global Times, Colonel Zhang Shuili also said, “India should stop all provocative actions, meet the Chinese side halfway and come back to the right path of solving disputes through talks.”

Colonel Shuili, however, presented no evidence to back his statement and even refrained from mentioning the exact number of casualties incurred on either side of the India-China border.

The Indian Army in a statement earlier this today said one officer and two jawans were killed during a physical altercation with the PLA in Galwan Valley on Monday night. At the same time, at least 3-4 Chinese soldiers were also killed as a result of retaliation, sources told.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army said, “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.”