As of June 18, eighteen injured soldiers are currently at the Indian Army's hospital in Leh and are expected to be back to duty in about 15 days. No one is in a critical condition as of now, all are stable, Indian Army sources told news agency ANI.
"No one is critical as of now, all are stable. 18 soldiers are at our hospital in Leh, they will be out on duty in about 15 days. 58 soldiers are at other hospitals; they should be back on duty within a week. Status as of today afternoon," said ANI report quoting Indian Army sources.?
"58 personnel that are at other hospitals have minor injuries, hence the optimistic time frame of one week for their recovery," the Indian Army Sources added.
A total of 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel rank officer, had lost their lives in a violent face-off that happened in the Galwan Valley, as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.?
Even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) moved its assets including fighter aircraft to forward bases and airfields in view of the ongoing dispute with China, its chief RKS Bhadauria was on a two-day hush-hush visit to the Leh and Srinagar air bases, which would be the most critical for any operations to be carried out by the force in the Eastern Ladakh area.
"The Air Force chief was on a two-day visit where he checked the operational readiness of all the platforms that have been moved to the area in view of the Chinese aggression along the LAC in the Eastern Ladakh where more than 10,000 troops have been amassed by China," government sources told ANI.
The visit assumes significance as it came soon after the top security brass of the country reviewed the situation and military options after the Chinese Army killed 20 Indian soldiers in a premeditated attack in the Galwan Valley area after making an attempt to unilaterally change the status of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Meanwhile, the Air Force has moved its critical frontline assets including the Sukhoi-30MKI, Mirage 2000 and Jaguar fighter aircraft fleet to advanced positions where they can fly in at a very short notice to carry out operations.
For providing air support to the Indian Army troops in the eastern Ladakh sector, the American Apache attack helicopters have been deployed in the close vicinity of the areas where operations by the ground troops are taking place at the moment.