Honourable countries are those who recognise and acknowledge the supreme sacrifices made by their soldiers protecting their territorial integrity and sovereignty. India is among few of those nations who honour their fallen ones. It is in this regard that India has built a war memorial commemorating the 20 soldiers who lost their lives in the Galwan Valley while evicting the Chinese squatters.
The memorial to the 20 soldiers has been built at the unit level near the KM-120 post along the highly strategic Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie road, Ladakh.
The memorial built has names of the 20 soldiers and the details of the June 15 operation.
The details engraved on the war memorial reads: “On June 15, 2020 at Galwan Valley, Col B Santosh Babu Commanding Officer, 16 Bihar led the Quick Reaction Force of 16 Bihar and attached troops tasked to evict the PLA OP from Gen AY Nala and move further to Patrolling Point 14.”
It further added, “The column successfully evicted the PLA OP from Y Nala and reached PP 14 where a fierce skirmish broke out between the IA and PLA troops. Col B Santosh Babu led from the front and his troops fought gallantly in a hand to hand combat, causing heavy casualties to the PLA. In the ensuing fight twenty “Gallants of Galwan” achieved martyrdom.”
Skirmishes broke out between India-China troops at Galwan Valley in June
Since April-May this year, India and China are engaged in a fierce standoff at several flash-points, including Galwan Valley, along the Line of Control in Eastern Ladakh.
In June this year, India lost 20 of her brave-hearts guarding the volatile LAC amidst heightening tensions due to Chinese intrusions.
Under Operation Snow Leopard, Indian forces repelled the squatting Chinese PLA Army near the Y-junction at the Galwan Valley. However, in the operation, India lost 20 of her soldiers with a sizeable number of casualty on the Chinese side as well. However, unlike India, China did not honour its soldiers and refrained from recognising their sacrifice.