17/06/2020 17:12
India-China clash: Modi says soldiers' deaths 'will not be in vain'
India's prime minister has said the deaths of at least 20 soldiers in a fight with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan border area "will not be in vain".
Narendra Modi said India would be "proud that our soldiers died fighting the Chinese" in the clash in the Ladakh region on Monday, BBC reports.
Soldiers reportedly brawled with sticks, bats and bamboo sticks studded with nails. No shots were fired.
Both sides blamed each other.
It is the first deadly clash between the two sides in the border area, in the disputed Kashmir region, in at least 45 years.
India's army said China also suffered casualties but Beijing has given no details.
The Indian statement notes that injured soldiers were "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain".