10 Indian soldiers returned to India from Chinese custody after negotiations

India China Ladakh border
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Shikha Chaurasia
Pune, June 19, 2020: After three rounds of intense negotiations between the Indian Army and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, 10 Indian soldiers who were under Chinese custody were returned to India.

The soldiers were handed over at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Thursday evening. After the violent faceoff between the two countries on Monday night in the Galwan river valley region of Ladakh, 10 Indian soldiers were taken into Chinese custody.

The Indian Express newspaper reported that after three hectic rounds of negotiation at the Major General level from Tuesday to Thursday, these soldiers were finally returned to India. According to officials, during previous negotiations, both the sides had agreed to create a ‘buffer zone’ between the LAC and the junction of Galwan and Shyok rivers. The Indian side agreed to stay towards the west of the buffer zone while the Chinese side would stay towards the east of the LAC.

The standoff and clashes had arisen because the Chinese side had started to erect a post on the southern side of the Galwan river in the ‘buffer zone’. The consequence of the clash was the death of 20 Indian soldiers and around 76 were injured.

After the 1967 Sikkim clash and the 1975 Arunachal Pradesh ambush, this is the first time in the last 45 years where the Indian and the Chinese side have suffered casualties on the LAC, which marks the border between the two countries.