From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said there were no increased Chinese activities at Doklam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with President of China Xi Jinping during the BRIC summit at Johannesburg in South Africa.
The MEA spokesperson strongly denied media report and dismissed it as incorrect.
Referring to the report quoting Congresswoman Anne Wagner in the form of a question posed to a senior state department official, Alice Wells, the MEA spokesperson said, “She made no reference to the situation in Doklam and the press reports attributing remarks on Doklam to a US official are incorrect.”
He added that there had been no new development at the site of the face-off with China since the disengagement of troops last year.
“The status quo prevails in this area.”
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh also informed the Rajya Sabha that there was no new development at the site of the face-off and its vicinity.
Hundreds of troops from both sides were deployed in 2017 on the Doklam plateau, near the borders of India, Bhutan and China after India objected to Chinese construction of an illegal road in the Himalayan area in the most serious standoff in years.
India was also upset over Chinese vice foreign minister Kong Xuanyou who was believed to have discussed the Doklam issue with Bhutanese officials during a recent visit to Thimpu.
Meanwhile, in Beijing’s latest outreach, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has accepted an invitation to visit India by the end of this year. Speaking at a monthly news briefing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said both countries were currently in communication about Wei’s visit but gave no other details.
Last month, China’s ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui had said ties between the two countries will not be able to take the strain of another military face-off like the 73-day Doklam standoff. He also called for “special care and attention” while dealing with relations between the giant Asian neighbours while addressing a seminar on India-China relations here.
