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US condoles deaths of Indian soldiers at India-China border face-off, says monitoring situation

Raj Kantak Jun 18, 2020

Washington D.C. [USA], June 18 (ANI): The White House on Wednesday (local time) said that it is aware of the developments on the India- China border and expressed its condolences over the death of Indian soldiers in the face-off between troops of both the countries at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh on June 15 night.
"We are aware and we're monitoring the situation between Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control and Eastern Ladakh. We have seen the Indian Army statement that 20 Indian soldiers died as a result of the confrontation. We send our deepest condolences on that," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
However, the White House denied any plans of mediation offered by the Trump administration to defuse tension between India and China.
"No formal plans on that," said McEnany when asked whether US President Donald Trump will mediate between the two countries.
Twenty Indian soldiers, including a Colonel rank officer, were killed in a violent clash with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley area on Monday evening.
Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash. The commanding officer of the Chinese Unit is among those killed, sources confirmed to ANI.
The violent face-off between two Asian giants India and China drew wide international attention with the United States, which is at loggerheads with China, saying that it was closely monitoring the situation between Indian and Chinese forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
On Wednesday India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Chinese counterpart Wang Li and said that China took "pre-meditated and planned action" that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties. However, the two leaders agreed that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible manner and both sides would implement the disengagement understanding of June 6 sincerely. (ANI)