NEW DELHI: In a move to counter aggressive Chinese propaganda, the Indian security establishment on Tuesday released photographs of Indian soldiers flying as well as holding the Tricolour at the
Galwan valley
in eastern Ladakh as part of New Year celebrations.
The images show the Indian soldiers, armed with the latest SiG Sauer assault rifles, with the Tricolour as well as their Dogra Regiment flag at an observation post in the Galwan valley. “The post is near the site where rival troops had clashed in June 2020,” said a source in the security establishment.
The release of the images came three days after China's state media played up a video of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers unfurling the Chinese flag and sending New Year greetings purportedly from the Galwan valley. Indian sources have already debunked the video, saying it was not filmed anywhere near the buffer or demilitarised zone there.
Twenty Indian soldiers, led by Colonel
B Santosh Babu
, had laid down their lives while fighting the numerically superior Chinese troops, armed with nail-studded rods and other sharp weapons, at the Galwan valley on June 15, 2020. China till now has not disclosed the actual number of its casualties, though it did later admit to losing a battalion commanding officer and four others.
India and China are yet to finalise the date for the 14th round of Corps Commander-level talks. In the last round on October 10, China had refused to complete the stalled troop disengagement at Patrolling Point-15 in the Hot Springs-Gogra-Kongka La area, let alone discuss the much more intractable face-off at Charding
Ninglung Nallah
(CNN) track junction at
Demchok
and the strategically-located Depsang Plains.
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