Photos of Indian Army at Galwan valley surface in a bid to counter Chinese propaganda

Days after China released a propaganda video of PLA soldiers unfurling their national flag in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, the Indian Army hit back on Wednesday by sharing pictures of the soldiers hoisting the tricolour in the region.

The photographs were also posted by Union Law and Justice minister Kiren Rijiju on Twitter with the caption "brave Indian Army soldiers in Galwan Valley on the occasion of #NewYear2022."

The images were shared three days after the Chinese state media put up a video on social media, showing PLA soldiers unfurling their flag allegedly in the valley.

The Indian Army shared the photos in order to discredit propaganda run by China which sought to falsely potray that Beijing claims Galwan valley as its own territory.

In one of the photos, released by the sources in the Indian security establishment, around 30 Indian soldiers were seen with the national flag.

Another photo showed the group with four of them holding the national flag and another tri-colour flying high on a flagpole adjacent to a temporary observation post.

It is being said that the photographs were of January 1 in the Galwan Valley.

The Indian security establishment had debunked the video, saying that the Chinese soldiers celebrating the New Year is in a depth area on the Chinese side near the Galwan Valley region and that it is not at all close to the buffer zone created in the region following the deadly clashes on June 15.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas.
Both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the disengagement process last year in the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the sensitive sector.

(With inputs from agencies)