Boycott Chinese products: Sushil Kumar's plea to countrymen amid India-China clash in Ladakh

Star Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar urged the countrymen on Wednesday (June 17) to boycott all Chinese products after the recent India-China military stand-off.

"I am very sad to hear that our soldiers were martyred during a face-off with China. First of all, I want to salute to the soldiers and their families as the soldiers were martyred while serving their country," Kumar told ANI.

"China is doing all this at a time when the whole world is joining hands to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. I do not think we should keep good relations with China and we should boycott their products."

"The government should also bring policies so that Chinese products do not enter our country and also make policies on the Chinese products which are already here in the markets," he added.

The Indian Army on Tuesday said the violent border clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on Monday has claimed the lives of 20 Indian jawans, most of whom were "exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain" and later succumbed to their injuries. 

Initially, the army had said one officer and two soldiers were killed in the incident, further escalating the already volatile border standoff between the two sides. 

In a statement Tuesday night, the army said that 17 more soldiers who "were were critically injured in the line of duty at the stand off location and exposed to sub-zero temperatures in the high altitude terrain have succumbed to their injuries, taking the total that were killed in action to 20."

It is the first incident involving the casualty of an Indian soldier in a violent clash with the Chinese Army after 1975 when four Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush at Tulung La in Arunachal Pradesh.

Indian intercepts reveal that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured, ANI reported citing sources.