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No talks on Sikkim until India Army withdraws, says China

Commenting on the Sikkim standoff for the first time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said India has admitted that Chinese troops did not enter Indian territory

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
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In an apparent show of brinkmanship, China on Tuesday refused to negotiate on the Sikkim standoff until the Indian Army withdraws from the tri-junction Doklam plateau. Just a day ago, the Foreign Office in Beijing had welcomed National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and indicated that besides attending the meeting of BRICS national security advisers, Doval will also meet his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi.

Commenting on the Sikkim standoff for the first time, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said India has admitted that Chinese troops did not enter Indian territory. "Even senior Indian officials have openly stated that Chinese troops did not enter Indian territory," he said.

The area concerned actually belonged to Bhutan, where Indian troops had intervened in close coordination with the tiny Himalayan kingdom. The road that China wants to build in the area will give it access to the 'Chicken's Neck', a thin stretch of land that links mainland India to northeastern states, including Sikkim. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had offered China a simultaneous withdrawal of forces to end the standoff.

Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Vice-Chief of the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Sarath Chand, warned that China will become a "threat" in the coming years, as it was expanding its influence across the Himalayas. Downplaying Army Chief Bipin Rawat's comment that the Indian Army was "ready for a two-and-a-half front war", Chand said Rawat "never meant to whip up a war hysteria" but was merely stating that India needed to pay more attention to its security.

Meanwhile in Beijing, the state-run media targeted Doval, calling him the main schemer behind the current border standoff. A Global Times editorial, titled "Doval visit won't sway China over border standoff", stated that Indian media was pinning high hopes on the trip to settle the ongoing dispute.

"New Delhi should give up its illusions and Doval's Beijing visit is most certainly not an opportunity to settle the standoff in accordance with India's will," the newspaper said.

DRAGON FIRE

  • China’s state-run Global Times said in an editorial: “New Delhi should give up its illusions and (NSA)Doval’s Beijing visit is most certainly not an opportunity to settle the standoff in accordance with India’s will.”
     
  • Doval is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart soon at a BRICS summit.
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