NEW DELHI: : Eight months after the savage Galwan Valley clash, China on Friday finally admitted that People’s Liberation Army soldiers had been killed in the hand-to-hand fighting that had resulted in death of 20 Indian soldiers.
The Chinese apex Central Military Commission (CMC) awarded posthumous honorary title and first class merit citation to four PLA soldiers, acknowledging casualties that various reports have put as much higher. Estimates, based on observation of movements on the Chinese side, have put the toll as high as 45.
A colonel, who led the troops and was seriously injured, was also conferred with honorary title, according to the CMC, which is headed by President Xi Jinping. There was no confirmation of the Chinese toll for months after the June 15 clash even as India declared its casualties promptly, with last rites of the dead attended by large numbers of people. Social media was also abuzz with a video, purportedly of the Galwan area, that was put out by the C