Police set up barricades outside the Chinese embassy in New Delhi on June 17, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Police in New Delhi on Wednesday detained protesters who had gathered outside the Chinese embassy following the death of at least 20 soldiers during clashes with the Chinese army at the disputed Himalayan border.

At least half a dozen army veterans were among the protesters, demanding a tit-for-tat response from the Indian government in retaliation for the deaths on June 15 night.

People in Begaluru paid tribute to the slain soldiers and held posters demanding justice for our soldiers and declaring we are peace lovers at the same time we are also warriors.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh also paid tribute to the soldiers in a series of tweets.

According to the Indian government sources, the fighting broke out during a meeting to discuss ways to de-escalate tensions, and the colonel commanding the Indian side was one of the first to be struck and killed.

Indian officials said soldiers were hit with clubs studded with nails and stones during a brawl that erupted in the remote Galwan Valley, high in the mountains where India�s Ladakh region borders the Aksai Chin region captured by China during the 1962 war.

Beijing has not confirmed any Chinese casualties, although Indian media quoted officials as saying at least 45 people were dead or injured on the Chinese side.

Many of the other Indian soldiers who died had succumbed to their wounds, having been unable to survive the night in freezing temperatures.

(Source: Agencies)