Border dispute my foot! Indian bravehearts turn Galwan into their playing ground

A day after China asked India to put the border issue in "proper place", the Indian Army has released the photos of soldiers playing cricket in the bone-chilling weather in the Galwan valley, where the deadly clash had taken place with their Chinese counterparts about three years ago.

The Ladakh-based Army establishment Fire and Fury Corps shared the pictures on Twitter. "#Patiala Brigade #Trishul Division organised a cricket competition in extreme high altitude area in sub-zero temperatures with full enthusiasm and zeal. We make the Impossible Possible @adgpi @NorthernComd_IA," the tweet read.

The photos clearly indicate that the brave soldiers are not affected by the extremely cold weather conditions prevailing there in the valley.

News agency ANI has shared another set of pictures on Saturday saying that the soldiers are conducting various sports activities. "Indian troops playing cricket near the Galwan valley. The Indian Army formations deployed in the area have been engaging in different sports activities in extreme winters at these high-altitude locations," it wrote.

In another tweet, ANI said that the Indian Army formations deployed near the Galwan valley have undertaken extreme activities such as surveying the areas near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on horses and ponies and half-marathons over the frozen Pangong lake in recent months.

According to a report in India Today, the place where the soldiers were playing is approximately 4 km from the site where the deadly clash took place between Indian and Chinese soldiers in May 2020.

India-China FMs meet

The development comes a day after External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang at a tete-a-tete on the sidelines of G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting that the state of India-China relations is "abnormal" as their talks focused on addressing the challenges in bilateral ties, especially that of peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

"It's our first meeting after he (Qin) took over as Foreign Minister. We spent maybe about 45 minutes talking to each other and the bulk of our conversation, understandably, was about the current state of our relationship, which many of you have heard me describe as abnormal," PTI quoted Jaishankar as telling to reporters. "And those were among the adjectives that I used in that meeting. There are real problems in that relationship that need to be looked at, that need to be discussed very openly and candidly between us," he added.

Jaishankar, who is known for not mincing words, further said the thrust of the meeting was on the bilateral relationship. "We also had a brief discussion on what was happening in the G20 framework. But the thrust of the meeting was really on our bilateral relationship and the challenges in the bilateral relationship, especially that of peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he said.

Put border issue in proper place: China to India

India and China should put border dispute in the "proper place" and work together to bring the situation at their borders "under normalised management" as soon as possible, Qin is reported to have told Jaishankar during the meeting.

"We should put the border issue in the appropriate place in bilateral relations and promote the early shift of the border situation to normalised control," HT quoted Qin as telling Jaishankar during the meeting. This is the first meeting of Qin after becoming China's Foreign Minister. He took charge in December 2022, replacing Wang Yi.

"The two sides should implement the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, maintain dialogue, settle differences, and promote the improvement of bilateral relations as soon as possible and move forward steadily," Qin stated, as per a Chinese Foreign Ministry readout released on Friday morning.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas since the border row in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

With inputs from PTI