New Delhi, Jun 16 (IANS): Following multiple casualties reported on the Indian side in a violent faceoff with China at the Galwan Valley standoff point amid a deescalation operation, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and three service chiefs in the South Block here on Tuesday to review the current situation.
These are the first casualties faced by the Indian Army in the clash with the Chinese People's Liberation Army since 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh.
Singh has asked the service chiefs to explain the current situation at the Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region and also what course of action can be taken from hereafter diplomatically.
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane was to visit Kashmir on Tuesday morning but following the Monday night developments at Line of Actual Control, it was cancelled.
Sources in Indian Army stated: "The Defence Minister reviewed the current operational situation in Eastern Ladakh, consequent to Monday's violent faceoff on the Line of Actual Control along with the Chief of Defence Staff and the three service Chiefs. The External Affairs Minister was also present during the meeting."
Three Indian Army men, including an officer, were killed on Monday night during a violent face-off with Chinese People's Liberation Army troops at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh region.
An Indian Army Colonel, the Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion, and two soldiers were killed, Indian Army said pointing out that that no shots were fired from during violent clash.
Indian Army in a fresh statement also said that during the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with "casualties on both sides".
How many Chinese soldiers were killed, it is yet to be ascertained.
Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting to defuse the situation.
On Monday, Brigade Commander and company level talks happened in Eastern Ladakh between India and China. The talks were happening near patrolling point 14 near the mouth of Galwan Valley and patrolling point 17 at Hot Spring Area.
China has asked India to restrain from crossing the border after three Indian soldiers were killed in action during violent clashes with the Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh where both sides have been locked in a face-off since May.
The Chinese media quoted China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying that he has lodged "solemn representations with the Indian side and urged it to strictly restrain its frontline troops from crossing the border or taking any unilateral action that may complicate the border situation".
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian earlier said that Indian troops had crossed the LAC twice on Monday, "provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides".
While Beijing mentioned that three Indian Army soldiers were killed, it did not specify whether People's Liberation Army suffered any casualties in the clashes.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Indian troops on Monday had seriously violated the consensus between the two sides by illegally crossing the border. "China and Indian side agreed to resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue to ease the border situation and maintain peace and tranquility in border areas," the ministry said.