NEW DELHI: India and China came close to a full-fledged conflict during the jostling between rival soldiers for Ladakh’s Kailash range heights towards 2020 end-August, said Northern Command chief Lt General Y K Joshi Wednesday.
“We were on the edge, absolutely on the brink… war was actually averted”, he said. Joshi, speaking to some journalists in Leh, also said the number of PLA soldiers killed during the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15 could be as high as 45.
India lost 20 soldiers during the Galwan Valley clashes, while China has so far refused to disclose the number of casualties in its ranks. Lt Gen Joshi, speaking to CNN-News 18, said while India has not ceded any territory to China, the latter has “achieved nothing except a loss of face”.
He said there were situations after Indian troops surprised the PLA by occupying the Kailash range heights to the south of Pangong Tso on August 29-30, and even moved up tanks there, which “could have blown up into an armed conflict”.
With the PLA also moving its tanks up the heights and Indian troops sitting on the top with tanks and rocket launchers, the “easiest thing would have been to pull the trigger after seeing them in the cross-hairs of the telescopic sights” but utmost restraint was maintained, he said.
“Those were very tense and challenging moments for us,” he said, even as troop disengagement in the Pangong Tso area is now under way. As for the Galwan clashes, Lt Gen Joshi said Indian observation posts had “picked up a large number of PLA casualties that were being taken back on stretchers.
More than 60, actually. But whether they were fatal or non-fatal, we can’t say with authority”.