
The Indian Army confirmed that 20 Indian Army personnel were killed during the Galwan Valley clash, while China has not released the number.
Initially, Indian intercepts stated that Chinese troops suffered 43 casualties, during the face-off with the Indian Army at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). However, there was no official confirmation on the number of casualties on June 16, 2020.
On June 17, Indian official sources citing the U.S intelligence reports said there were 35 casualties on the Chinese side, and 20 Indian soldiers lost their life. They added that the figure could be a combination of the number of soldiers killed and seriously wounded. China did not comment on the number of casualties suffered by the People's Liberation Army, saying it did not want to escalate. Indian Government sources also claimed that China suffered a 'proportionate number of casualties.' Still, it did not have a clear picture of the number of Chinese soldiers killed as well as those injured.
On June 22, reports emerged stating that a Chinese commanding officer was among those killed in the June 15 clashes in eastern Ladakh. According to unnamed sources, China's Army confirmed this during military talks with India at Galwan. But on June 24, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated that reports about 43 Chinese casualties were fake. He also reiterated his claims about the Galwan valley being China's sovereign territory, and that the Indian troops violated the LAC. However, he was tight-lipped on the actual number of casualties on the Chinese side.
With the Chinese government is holding out on the actual numbers and India not being able to officially confirm the number of Chinese soldiers killed in the Galwan clashes, the exact number of casualties on the Chinese side is unverifiable.
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