Indian Army officer and two soldiers killed in face-off with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh

An Indian Army officer and two soldiers have been killed in a "violent face-off" with Chinese troops last night, disrupting the fragile peace prevailing along the LAC.

"During the de-escalation process underway in the Galwan Valley, a violent face-off took place on Monday night with casualties on both sides," the Indian Army said in a statement.

The loss of lives on the Indian side includes an officer and two soldiers. The details of the casualties from the Chinese side is not available readily.

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"Senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation," it added.

Army sources said there was no firing during the entire incident.

This is for the first time, Indian soldiers were killed along the Line of Actual Control in 45 years. It was in 1975 when such a tragedy struck India last time as four soldiers were ambushed by the PLA troops in Arunachal Pradesh.

Unconfirmed reports say there are 3-4 deaths on the Chinese sides too. A Global Times (Chinese media) reporter in Hong Kong tweeted that 5 PLA troops were killed and 11 were injured in the clash.

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the current operational situation in Eastern Ladakh, consequent to Monday's violent faceoff on the LAC, along with the Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and the three Service Chiefs.

The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was also present in the meeting, official sources said.

Following the violence, the Chinese sides sought meetings with India. Maj Gen rank officers have been in discussions since morning in order to defuse the situation.

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According to a Global Times report, Indian troops on Monday violated the consensus of the two sides by illegally crossing the border twice and carrying out provocative attacks on Chinese soldiers, resulting in serious physical clashes:

For more than a month, troops from India and China were locked in a tense face-off at several locations in eastern Ladakh near the disputed border.

Following a meeting between top military leaders earlier this month, a disengagement process started in the Galwan valley.