The Indian Army on Tuesday paid rich tributes to the soldiers who were killed in a violent clash with Chinese troops on this day last year in Galwan valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh.

Defence Ministry spokesperson Lt Col Emron Musavi said that the Fire and Fury Corps paid homage to the martyrs of Galwan on the first anniversary of the violent clash on June 15, 2021. “In the face of unprecedented Chinese aggression, 20 Indian soldiers laid down their lives defending our land and inflicted heavy casualties on the People's Liberation Army (PLA),” he said.

At a solemn ceremony, Major General Akash Kaushik, COS, Fire and Fury Corps, laid a wreath at the  War Memorial in Leh on the occasion. “The nation will remain eternally grateful to these gallant soldiers who fought in the most difficult high altitude terrain and made the supreme sacrifice in service of the nation,” he added.

Twenty Indian personnel, including a colonel, were killed in violent clashes with Chinese troops on June 15, 2020 along the LAC in Ladakh, in what is possibly the worst incident between the two countries in decades. The violent face-off took place during the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley and resulted in “casualties on both sides”. (SAM)