New Delhi/June, 18 :High resolution satellite images procured by NDTV indicate Chinese efforts to block or disturb the flow of the Galwan river in Northeast Ladakh, less than a kilometer from the site of the deadly clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers on June 15 in which 20 Indian officers and men were killed.
The details emerged as an Indian Major General and his Chinese counterpart met for the second consecutive day near Patrol Point 14 in the Galwan Valley, where the clash took place. The talks on Wednesday were inconclusive with the Chinese side showing no sides of disengaging from the area.
Indian soldiers were assaulted with iron rods, nail-studded clubs and rocks wrapped in barbed wire in the fight near Patrol Point 14, a vantage point in Indian territory that overlooks Chinese positions on their side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) or the de-facto border between India and China. There were a significant number of casualties on the Chinese side. Though Beijing has given no official figure, army sources say at least 45 Chinese soldiers were killed or injured.
The images acquired by NDTV clearly show Chinese bulldozers in operation on their side of the LAC. The flow of the river perceptibly changes at the spot where the bulldozers are seen – from flowing blue waters to a small, muddy stream which becomes imperceptible when it crosses over to the Indian side of the LAC a short distance away.
Indian Army trucks deployed in the Galwan Valley within two kilometres of the LAC can be seen parked in a mostly dry Galwan river bed. These images are not included in this report for security reasons.
NDTV has reached out to the Chinese Embassy for comment on this matter and will update this report if there is a reaction. Senior officers in the Indian Army have told NDTV that the river continues to flow within the Galwan Valley for the moment.
The images also indicate the depth of both the Indian and Chinese build-up in the region.
While NDTV is not showcasing the extent of the substantial Indian Army build up in the contested region, the images clearly show more than a hundred Chinese vehicles including trucks, military transports and bulldozers along the banks of the Galwan river on their side of the LAC. The Chinese motorcade stretches more than 5 kilometres.Some Indian soldiers are still recovering at a hospital in Ladakh but more information on this is not being disclosed until the army declares that it is safe to do so.
