Sikkim standoff: The Sikkim section has a special historical background and this is the only defined boundary between China and India, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang
Claiming that India ‘admitted’ to entering Chinese territory, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the Doklam standoff in the Sikkim sector can only reach its logical conclusion if Indian troops ‘conscientiously withdraw’ from the area. In a statement to the media in Thailand’s capital Bangkok on Monday, Wang was quoted by news agency PTI as saying: “The rights and wrongs are very clear and even senior Indian officials have openly stated that Chinese troops did not enter into the Indian territory.” It was his first comments in the ongoing standoff between India and China over Doklam.
In a quote posted on China’s Foreign Ministry website, Wang said that the Indian side ‘admitted’ to entering the Chinese territory, adding that the solution to this problem is simply to conscientiously withdraw. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in her address to the Rajya Sabha last week, squarely accused China of constructing roads, which has been protested by Bhutan, also India’s ally, in writing to Beijing. She also said India was not ‘unreasonable’ on the issue and all nations were with it. Also Read: NSA Ajit Doval’s Beijing visit not an opportunity to settle border standoff: Chinese newspaper
The Doklam standoff issue is expected to be discussed during the visit of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Beijing for a meeting of the NSAs of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – on July 27-28.
Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off in the Dokalam area of the Sikkim sector for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed that they were constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Dokalam plateau. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India’s access to its northeastern states. Also Read: Opinion: Sikkim standoff: India must counter aggressive China
India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.
Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
Meanwhile, in an editorial the Chinese newspaper also underlined that the summit “is a routine conference held in preparation for the BRICS summit” and India “should not look at it as a platform to address Sino-Indian border skirmishes”.
