INTRODUCTION
LADAKH, 15 JUNE 2020 ndian-controlled Ladakh and Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin lay opposite each other in the Himalayas. A line of control that neither India or China had ever agreed to roughly delineated their respective claims over the territory. For the Chinese, an agreement from November 1959 demarcated the line of control. For the Indians, a line of control agreed in September 1962 was the reference point. Tensions in the Galwan Valley had been rising over the past several weeks. In May 2020 physical confrontations occurred between Indian and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops near Pangong Lake. Both sides attributed the new unease to construction work on each side of the border to improve roads and airfields. Despite the tensions, several rounds of meetings had led to a deescalation of the situation between the two nuclear-armed powers and their respective border forces. That all changed on the evening of 15 June 2020. The circumstances are still murky; China has consistently refused to offer a detailed account of the evening. What is known, however, is that late that evening, PLA soldiers crossed the line of control and attacked Indian soldiers bivouacked along desolate ridge lines that overlooked deep river gorges. Dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of soldiers from both sides fought a desperate battle on the dark,
I
1
Not for sale or distribution
