India-China faceoff: Rahul Gandhi mourns soldiers' martyrdom,expresses solidarity with kin

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday mourned the martyrdom of three Indian Army personnel at the Line of Actual Control. Stressing that words could not depict the pain was he feeling, Gandhi expressed sorrow for the personnel who sacrificed their lives for the country. Extending his condolences to the kin of the martyrs, he wrote on Twitter, "We stand with you in this difficult time". Earlier in the day, fellow Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had slammed China for its "unscrupulous aggression" and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi give a befitting reply to the Chinese Army.

Read: Where Is The Galwan Valley? Significance Of Area Which Saw The Latest India-China Standoff

Three Indian Army personnel martyred

Three Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding Officer were martyred when a violent faceoff took place on Monday night when the de-escalation process was underway in the Galwan Valley. As per the Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese newspaper Global Times, the Chinese side also suffered casualties during the physical clash. As per sources, the aggression commenced when India insisted that China should abide by the June 6 agreement which reportedly decided on the latter going back from the Galwan Valley.

Sources revealed that the Indian colonel was attacked by Chinese Army personnel with iron rods without any provocation leading to a strong retaliation from the Indian side. This physical hand-to-hand combat went on for many hours on Monday, sources revealed. On Tuesday morning, senior commanders took stock of the situation and the talks started at about 7 am. According to sources, both sides have sustained grievous injuries and the number of casualties is likely to go up. Meanwhile, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with the Chief of the Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, the three service chiefs and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Later, Singh briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this development. 

Read: Capt Amarinder Singh Calls For Strong Indian Response To Repeated Incursions By China

China issues statement

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued an official statement on the violent faceoff at the LAC. It alleged that Indian troops crossed the border twice illegally and carried out provocative attacks on Chinese personnel, leading to serious physical conflict between the two forces. China urged India to restrain its frontline troops from crossing the border or taking any unilateral action that might complicate the border situation. At the same time, it stated that both countries have agreed to resolve bilateral issues through talks and make efforts to ease the tension and maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.