Fearing backlash, China releases propaganda Galwan Valley clash video

Beijing has been receiving flak from within the mainland for its indifference while India was honouring the 20 soldiers who lost their lives in the clash. Anish Singh reports

Hours before the 10th round of Corps Commander-level talks are scheduled to take place, the Chinese propaganda machinery has released a video it claims is of the June 2020 Galwan Valley where its troops were engaged in a clash with the Indian forces. 
 

On Friday morning, Beijing officially acknowledged that four of their soldiers were killed in the violent faceoff at the Galwan Valley on June 15 last year.
 

The news had sparked a frenzy in the Chinese mainland considering Beijing had all along denied any casualties on its side. To neutralise the backlash back home, the Chinese propaganda machinery released footage that apparently shows Indian troops as aggressors.

But the fact is, Indian soldiers were at the spot only to verify the disengagement process as agreed between them during a local commander-level meeting a day before the Galwan Valley incident happened. 
 

Experts suggest that the Chinese may have been forced to release the video to assuage their own people after they were forced to admit for the first time today that they lost 4 soldiers in the brawl. 
 

Beijing has been receiving flak from within the mainland for its indifference while India was honouring the 20 soldiers who lost their lives in the clash.

The Chinese admission also seemed unrealistic considering that a Russian news agency in a report with a Beijing dateline had just days earlier put the Chinese casualty figure at 45.
 

Three days back, Indian Army's Northern Command chief Lt Gen YK Joshi too had said that 60 stretchers were seen being carried by Chinese soldiers after the clash. 
 

The disengagement process at Pangong Tso, which began on February 10 has been completed. Now, the 10th round of senior commander-level talks will be held on February 20 at Moldo on the Chinese side to deliberate on Gogra, Hot Springs and Depsang.