Islamabad: Indians are furious over the release of images of captured and badly bruised Indian army officers and men during the China-India clashes in Galwan valley in the Himalayan border area in 2020.
The images widely shared on social media showed scores of Indian soldiers beaten black and blue and marching in long columns, while the Chinese troops stand on the hillside, watch them pass. The images have put to rest for good the Indian propaganda that its troops successfully thwarted the Chinese transgression. The visuals tell the true story of how in reality India was defeated by China and got a lesson that they will remember for a long time to come.
The new pictures initially emerged on Chinese social media and showed how the Indians got the surprise of their life when they got pushed back during the 2020 clashes between China and India in Galwan. Images showed injured Indian soldiers being captured by the Chinese army (PLA).
News reports said the soldiers belonged to the 16 Bihar Regt of the Indian Army who left behind their Commanding Officer at the mercy of Chinese PLA and ran away.
The standoff between India and China has been continuing since early 2020. A BBC report of 16 June 2020 confirmed the killing of at least 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese forces in a disputed Himalayan border area, Indian officials say. The BBC said the incident followed rising tensions and was the first deadly clash in the border area in at least 45 years.
The Indian Army initially said three of its soldiers had been killed, adding that both sides suffered casualties, but later admitted that a number of critically injured soldiers had died of their wounds.
According to a defence analyst the images have been released by China, following Indian media’s propaganda. “The pictures are clear evidence of how the cowardly Indians were defeated by the Chinese army while hundreds were captured as they could not resist the great PLA.”
In a recent incident the China Daily in its publication on October 9, 2021, quoted sources from the Chinese military and said that on September 28, the Chinese border guards were carrying out routine patrols in the Dongzhang area on the Chinese side of the China-India border, but were “unreasonably blocked” by the Indian side.
Chinese officers and soldiers “resolutely countered, and returned after completing the patrol mission.”
The paper quoted the Chinese source and said that the Dongzhang area was China’s inherent territory, and it was entirely reasonable and legal for the Chinese border guards to patrols on their own territory.
It rejected the Indian media’s hype about Chinese soldiers being detained for “crossing the line” and termed it false and inconsistent with the facts. The paper pointed that the responsibility rested entirely with the Indian side. According to the Economic Times over 100 PLA soldiers crossed the border at Barahoti in Uttarakhand last month, damaged some infrastructure, including a bridge, before retreating. The Nation
