The MEA expressed concern over China's construction of a road in the Doklam area, saying it would have serious security implications for India. file photo.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/620027/road-construction-has-serious-implications.html
China's recent move to build a road at Doklam Plateau in western Bhutan would have “serious security implications” for India, New Delhi said on Friday.
India also said that its soldiers, in consultation with the Royal Government of Bhutan, had approached the construction personnel of the People's Liberation Army of China and “urged them” to stop building the road in Doklam Plateau. Beijing earlier this week alleged that Indian Army had trespassed into the territory of China and stopped the PLA personnel from constructing the road.
New Delhi on Friday ended its silence over the face-off between the Indian Army and Chinese PLA soldiers at the tri-junction point of the boundary of India, China and Bhutan. India alleged that China's move to build the road and thus to unilaterally change the status quo in the area was in violation of a 2012 bilateral understanding.
“India is deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese Government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement issued on Friday.
New Delhi underlined that India and China had in 2012 reached agreement that the tri-junction boundary points between the two nations and “third countries” would be finalized “in consultation with the concerned countries”. “Any attempt, therefore, to unilaterally determine tri-junction points is in violation of this understanding,” it added.
China's border guards at Nathu La in Sikkim last week stopped pilgrims from India to cross over to the communist country for the annual pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet. Beijing this week stated that it stopped the pilgrims from India to enter China after Indian Army personnel trespassed into its territory and stopped the soldiers of its People's Liberation Army from constructing a road.
The area Beijing has of late accused Indian Army soldiers of trespassing into is in Bhutan, but China has been staking a claim on it to gain a strategic edge over India.
Doklam Plateau is a subject of dispute between China and Bhutan. Thimphu too on Thursday asked Beijing not to unilaterally change the status quo and drop its plan to build the road.
The road China claims to be building in its “own territory” in Doklam Plateau would give it a strategic advantage against India in a possible military conflict in future. The plateau overlooks the Chumbi Valley, which is not far from “Siliguri Corridor” - the narrow stretch of land that connects India's seven north-eastern States with the rest of the country. What makes Doklam Plateau and Chumbi Valley important for China's strategic calculus is the fact that control over the area would make it easier for its People's Liberation Army to conduct military manoeuvres aimed at blocking the Siliguri Corridor.
India on Friday called upon “all parties concerned” to display “utmost restraint and abide by their respective bilateral understandings not to change the status quo unilaterally”. “It is also important that the consensus reached between India and China through the Special Representatives process is scrupulously respected by both sides,” the MEA said in its statement.
New Delhi also said that it cherished peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas. “Both sides have worked hard to establish an institutional framework to discuss all issues to ensure peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas,” said the MEA. “India is committed to working with China to find the peaceful resolution of all issues in the border areas through dialogue.”
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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/620021/talks-sikkim-sector-row-only.html
"The diplomatic channels for the communication between Chinese and Indian sides remained unimpeded," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told media briefing here.
He said the Indian troops "trespassed" the recognised delineated boundary between China and India on June 18. This is the first time China came out the with precise date about Indian troops entering the disputed Doklam area (referred by China as Donglong) near Sikkim allegedly to stop Chinese troops from constructing a road.
"So the most pressing issue should be the withdrawal of troops into the Indian territory. So it is the pre-condition for any meaningful dialogue," he said when asked whether any talks were going on between the two countries over the issue.
He said in additions to the photographs of alleged Indian "incursion" into Donglong area, the Chinese foreign ministry will also upload a map on its website to provide a "better understanding of the reality".
He also refuted Bhutan's allegation that Chinese troops' attempts to build the road violated the 1988 and 1999 agreements to maintain peace and tranquilly. Lu said China has "indisputable sovereignty over the Donklam area."
He claimed that the Doklam area was under Chinese administration from Emperor Qing's dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China established in 1636.
Lu said the area where Chinese side undertook road construction "totally belongs to the Chinese territory" and offered to release details on this on foreign ministry's website. "From historical evidence we can see that Doklam has been a traditional pasture for the Tibetan residents and we have exercised good administration over the area," he said.
"The Doklam area belongs to Chinese territory and we are exercising complete and comprehensive administration over the the region and our border troops and the residents around the border are herding their cattle along this," he said.
He claimed that the evidence is recognised by the Bhutan side.
"Even though China and Bhutan have not established diplomatic relationship we always maintain traditional friendship. We can tell you that Chinese people are friendly and want good relations with Bhutan people," he said.
"But our determination to uphold our territorial integrity and sovereignty is unwavering," he said.
A standoff erupted between the two militaries after the Indian Army blocked construction of the road by China in Doklam, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan also known as Donglong. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/620068/india-2017-different-1962-jaitley.html
The India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, Union Defence Minister Arun Jaitley asserted today, hitting out at China for asking the Indian Army to learn from "historical lessons".
A day after China's oblique reference to the war the two countries had fought 55 years ago, the defence minister also said the current standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim sector was triggered by Beijing. Bhutan, he added, had made it clear that the land in question belonged to it.
"The situation in 1962 was different and India of 2017 is different," Jaitley said when asked about China's warning yesterday.
China had asked India to withdraw its troops from the Donglong area as a precondition for "meaningful dialogue" to settle the boundary issue. It warned that the Indian Army should learn "historical lessons".
"Bhutan government had issued a statement yesterday in which it made it clear that the land in question belonged to Bhutan. It is located near India's land. There is an arrangement between India and Bhutan for giving security," Jaitley told Aaj Tak news channel.
The defence minister said the Bhutan government had made its stance clear and China was trying to alter the status quo in the area.
"I think after this the issue has become very clear," Jaitley said.
The genesis of the flashpoint was China's attempts to build a road in the strategically key area of Donglong. Its link to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction could give China a major military advantage over India.
The Indian Army had blocked construction of the road by China in Donglong, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release today that Indian was "deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India".
A 220-km section of the 3,488-km India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh falls in Sikkim.
Official sources said China had removed an old bunker of the Indian Army in Donglong by using a bulldozer after the Indian side refused to accede to its request, triggering the present troubles.