India and China, on Monday evening engaged in their first deadly conflict in at least 45 years, resulting in 20 deaths on the Indian side, including that of a commanding officer, and possibly 43 casualties including injuries on the Chinese side, pushing the bilateral relationship between the two nuclear powers to an all-time low.

In the worst flare-up on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in more than five decades, 20 Indian Army personnel, including the commanding officer of 16 Bihar, were killed Monday night in violent face-off with Chinese troops in the Galwan valley of Ladakh where disengagement of troops on either side was underway.

The Army said there were casualties on both sides, although Beijing was silent on People’s Liberation Army (PLA) losses.The last deaths at the LAC were in 1975 when an Indian patrol was ambushed by Chinese soldiers in Arunachal Pradesh.

A violent clash between the two sides on the border had taken place at Nathu La in 1967.