Beijing: The verbal spat between China and India on Monday escalated as Beijing said the Indian Army’s action to stop Chinese troops from constructing a road in an area near Sikkim is a “betrayal” of the stance taken by successive Indian governments and India must withdraw from the region. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that the Sino-India border in the Sikkim sector is well demarcated.
“By entering into the Chinese territory and obstructing Chinese troops’ normal activities, India violated the existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of the international law and obstructed peace and stability of the boundary area,” Geng told reporters in an extensive briefing.
“We require the Indian side to withdraw their troops to the Indian side of the boundary and create conditions for the restoration of peace and stability in the relevant areas.” China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan tri-junction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war.
Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state with a demarcated border with China.
The lines are based on an 1898 treaty signed with China. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng said India needs to observe the treaty and pull back its troops immediately. He dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitley’s remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was during the war with the communist nation in 1962, saying China too is different and will take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its territorial sovereignty.
“Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru endorsed the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim in a letter to then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. Successive Indian governments have also endorsed this,” he said.
“The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by (successive) Indian governments,” he said. “What has happened is very clear, the Sikkim section of the boundary has already been defined by the 1890 convention between Great Britain and China. Doklam belongs to China.”
Asked if there was a possibility of a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the G20 Summit in Hamburg in Germany this week, Geng said he has “no information at the moment” about the arrangements for bilateral meetings between Xi and leaders of other countries.
He, however, said the line for diplomatic communication between India and China is “open and smooth”.
India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who is the Special Representative for the India-China border talks, is to visit Beijing on July 26 to attend the meeting of the NSAs from BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. He is expected to discuss the issue with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.
The standoff first came to public notice when China denied Indian pilgrims entry for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim. Beijing initially said it stopped the Yatra due to damage to roads in Tibet after rains and landslides.
But soon signalled the matter was related to the standoff between the two armies near Sikkim.
The Sikkim route to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake was opened in 2015, enabling pilgrims to travel the 1500-km long route from Nathu La to Kailash by buses. The other route to Tibet through Lipulekh pass is open as it is located in the middle section where there is no dispute over boundary between India and China, Geng said.
On the Indian Ministry of External Affairs statement on Friday that construction of the road by Chinese troops would represent a significant change of status quo with “serious” security implications for India, the Chinese official said they have “noted” the statement by India.
“(The statement) evaded the 1890 convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet.
But it is this convention which has confirmed the alignment of the boundary between the two sides at the Sikkim section.
This convention has been recognised by successive Chinese and Indian governments and has been confirmed by the Indian governments in written form,” he said. (PTI)
