Indian officials are giving wrong numbers just to satisfy hardliners by claiming that China lost more soldiers than India, Global Times said.
China on Monday declined to reveal the details of the number of Chinese soldiers killed in the Galwan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh on June 15-16.
India lost 20 of its soldiers in the violent face-off in the Galwan Valley and 10 Indian soldiers also were held captive and later released. Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured.
While the government has not officially said how many casualties the Chinese side suffered, Union Minister and former Indian Army chief Gen (retd) VK Singh said last week that more than 40 Chinese soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley clash.
Asked to comment on his remarks, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said it has no information to release on the issue.
"I have no information to release on that," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a media briefing on Monday.
The Chinese state-run media Global Times has, however, admitted there were casualties on its side, without revealing more details. The Chinese government mouthpiece said if China released the number then the Indian government would again come under pressure.
"The reason why China did not release casualties number is that China also wants to avoid an escalation. If China releases the number which is less than 20, the Indian govt would again come under pressure," the publication said on Twitter.
It added that Indian officials are giving wrong numbers just to satisfy hardliners by claiming that China lost more soldiers than India.
While Beijing has consistently declined to reveal the details of the casualties on its side in the clash on June 15 at the Galwan Valley, the official media outlets have said that China too suffered casualties.
Meanwhile, India and China are holding military-level talks on Monday to defuse the border tensions.
Along with military-level talks, both sides are planning to engage at diplomatic level soon, ANI reported.
Diplomatic channels of talks are also open. Following the face-off, China's Vice Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui and Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri had met in Beijing on June 16.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar had also held telephonic talks with Wang on June 17 and conveyed that what happened in Galway was a "pre-mediated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties."
Jaishankar recalled that at the meeting of senior Military Commanders held on June 6, an agreement was reached on de-escalation and disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and ground commanders were meeting regularly to implement this consensus throughout the last week.
While there was some progress, "the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in Galwan valley on our side of the LAC," he had told his Chinese counterpart.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday said after an all-party meeting India did not lose any territory to China.
“Neither have they intruded into our border, nor has any post been taken over by them (China). Twenty of our jawans were martyred, but those who dared Bharat Mata, they were taught a lesson,” the Prime Minister said.
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