India has revealed that its 20 soldiers killed by Chinese troops on Monday night were mutilated after being beaten to death.
The fatal clash, the first between the two nations since 1975, took place in Galwan Valley, Ladakh, on the Himalayan border.
India also shared a photo of the nail-studded clubs used in the hand-to-hand combat between its troops and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
However, China said it lost 43 soldiers in the incident, although it did not specify if they were killed during the clash.
According to Daily Mail, no bullet was fired during the clash in keeping with the terms of a peace treaty signed at the end of the Sino-Indian War in 1962. The treaty bars use of firearms within 2km of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the line drawn down the 17,000ft-high valley after the war.
Both sides accused each other of instigating the clash between their forces in the valley, part of the disputed Ladakh region along the Himalayan frontier.
Many of the soldiers are believed to have drowned in the frigid glacial waters of Galwan River.
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is said to be under intense pressure to forcefully retaliate.
But Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi has warned the Indian government not to underestimate his nation’s determination to safeguard what it considers its sovereign territory.