China denies burial to soldiers killed in Galwan clash with India: US media

China can't accept that its soldiers were killed in the showdown in order to cover up an episode that Beijing appears to consider a blunder, says report.

China is presssing families of soldiers killed in a clash with Indian troops in Galwan Valley mid-June not not to conduct public burials or funerals, according to a US media report quoting American intelligence assessment.

India has said that 20 of its soldiers were killed in the clash on June 15 and hailed them as heroes. The soldiers were given state funerals in their home states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his monthly radio programme on June 28, the sacrifice of the solidiers and their families is "worth worshipping".

China is not accepting that its soldiers were killed in the showdown in order to cover up an episode that Beijing appears to consider a blunder, said 'U.S. News & World Report', quoting a source who reportedly had assess to US intelligence assessment.

The face-off occurred after China attempted to unilaterally change the status quo during de-escalation in eastern Ladakh. India has said that the situation could have been avoided if the agreement at the higher level been scrupulously followed by the Chinese side.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties, including dead and seriously injured.

American intelligence believes that 35 of the Chinese soldiers were killed in the showdown.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has told families of those who died in the Galwan Valley clash that they must forgo traditional burial ceremonies and cremate the soldiers' remains and that any funeral services should be conducted remotely, not in person, U.S. News reported.

Though the government has used the threat posed by the spread of the coronavirus as a pretext, the assessment concludes that the new rules are a part of a deliberate effort by Beijing to undermine public awareness and erase any enduring reminders of the violent clash.

This decision of the Chinese Communist Party has upset Chinese families who lost their loved ones in the incident, US-based Breitbart News had reported. According to Breitbart, the Chinese government is struggling to silence the families of soldiers who are using Weibo and other platforms to vent their anger and frustration.

China reportedly fears that images of gravestones for its fallen soldiers of the People's Liberation Army, or PLA, could further stoke those sentiments if spread on Chinese or international social media.

"The reality is they don't want to create martyr soldiers," says the source, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive material. "So they have banned functions where friends and families can pay their respects for the PLA deceased.