Hope Doklam is resolved peacefully, says Bhutan's foreign minister

Bhutan's remark regarding Doklam came after meeting Sushma Swaraj on BIMSTEC sidelines

IANS  |  Kathmandu 

Sushma Swaraj meeting with Bhutanese Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji
From Left to Right, Myanmar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, Bhutanese Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, Nepal's Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj Sri Lankan State Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasantha Senanayake, Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Virasakdi Futrakul and BIMSTEC Secretary General Sumith Nakandala pose for a group photo during the BIMSTEC ministerial meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 | AP/PTI

India and Bhutan on Friday held their first high-level meeting after the Doklam standoff, with Bhutanese Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji meeting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, and expressing hope that the situation is resolved peacefully.

The two ministers met on sidelines of the Bimstec Foreign Ministers' meeting.

The meeting was focused mainly on the standoff between the armies of India and China in Doklam in the Sikkim sector.

The two ministers put their respective positions as well as reiterated the stances on the face off, according to the diplomatic sources.

"We hope the current standoff in Doklam will be sorted out peacefully," said Dorji after the meeting, and added that "both sides should be satisfied with the outcome".

The meeting comes as the Government of Bhutan on Thursday refuted Chinese foreign ministry claims that Thimpu had told Beijing that the trilateral junction in Doklam is not Bhutanese territory.