China says India should withdraw troops from Doklam for dialogue
26 July 2017 1:37 PM GMT
China Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday said India should unconditionally withdraw troops from the disputed Doklam area in the Sikkim sector for any meaningful dialogue. He had said on Monday that India 'admitted' to entering Chinese territory even as he asked India to conscientiously withdraw its troops from the area.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, "The remarks of Foreign Minister Wang Yi are authoritative and has made our position clear. I don't have anything to explain." However, Lu refused to react to reports that both sides have deployed over over 3,000 troops each at Doklam. He said, the question should be referred to the Chinese Defence Ministry
"I have stressed many times that the crux of this incident is that the Indian border troops illegally trespassed into China's territory and the solution as Wang put it is for Indian border troops to pull-out unconditionally. This is a precondition basis for any meaningful talks between the two countries," Lu said.
The Doklam issue is expected to be discussed tomorrow and day after during the visit of Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to Beijing for a meeting of the NSAs of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
It has been a month now that Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off in Dokalam area in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by ally Bhutan after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China demanded immediate withdrawal of Indian troops, saying it was constructing the road within its territory.
Last Thursday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place, favouring a peaceful resolution of the border standoff.
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