Galwan Valley: All You Need To Know

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On Monday Night, Indian & Chinese soldiers faced off at Galwan Valley in Ladakh. 20 Indian soldiers martyred in the face-off with China in Galwan valley. According to the sources, the deadly clash at the Galwan river began when Indian troops moved to remove a tent pitched by Chinese soldiers on India’s side of the border. The galwan valley lies along with the western sector of the India-China border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and it is very close to Aksai Chin (Indian territory occupied by China). Its location thus lends it deep strategic importance along with a sector of the border that remains largely undefined. Here in this post, we are covering everything related to the Galwan valley and will be telling about it in detail.

Geographic location of Galwan Valley

The Galwan valley is situated along the western sector of the India-China border, the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and close to Aksai Chin, an Indian territory under Beijing’s control. The location of Galwan valley lends a deep strategic importance along a sector of the border that remains largely undefined.

The 80 kilometers-long Galwan river, flows through the Galwan valley, in the eastern part of Ladakh, it is named after Ghulam Rasool Galwan, who was a Ladakhi adventurer and explorer who assisted many European explorers at the turn of the 19th century. Galwan for almost 35 years assisted expeditions led by British, Italian, and American explorers, he eventually rose to the ranks of ‘aksakal’ or chief assistant of the British joint commissioner of Leh in 1917.

Importance of Galwan Valley

The area where the troops of India and China army are confronting is the first time since 1962 such face-off has been done. Although the Line of Actual Control is clearly defined, it is the first time that tensions are brewing in Eastern Ladakh at such level. The Galwan Valley area comes under Sub Sector North (SSN), it lies in the east of the Siachen glacier and is the only point that provides direct access to Aksai Chin from India. According to the satellite images, the Chinese had built a road until the middle point of the Galwan valley by 2016. Since then, China have managed to extend this to some point closer to the LAC in the sector.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be holding an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the situation on the country’s border with China. The scrap came after tensions between India and China first flared up in early May following clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim and Ladakh sectors of the LAC. Both the sides have held a series of talks to resolve the six-week-long confrontation