India cannot afford border showdown with Beijing, US support superficial: Chinese media

A day after China accused Indian troops of 'crossing the boundary' in the Sikkim section and demanded their immediate withdrawal, Chinese media on Wednesday warned New Delhi saying, it cannot afford 'border showdown'.

Lodging diplomatic protests with India, both in New Delhi and Beijing, China has alleged that the Indian troops trespassed into Chinese territory in the Sikkim sector, while asserting that it has shut down the Nathu La pass entry for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar because of the border standoff.

The dispute over the constructing of the road was apparently the reason why China stopped a batch of 47 Indian pilgrims from crossing through Nathu La border in Sikkim into Tibet to visit Kailash and Mansarovar.

"It's not time for India to display arrogance toward China. India's GDP is only one-quarter of China's and its annual defense budget is just one-third. Having a friendly relationship and cautiously handling border issues with China is its best choice," said an editorial in Chinese daily Global Times.

This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules,the article said adding, "China avoids making an issue of border disputes, which has indulged India's unruly provocations."

Stating that India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues as it lags far behind Beijing in terms of national strength, the editorial said, "The so-called strategic support for it from the US is superficial."

The article also claimed that China has no desire to confront India. "Maintaining friendly ties with New Delhi is Beijing's basic policy. But this must be based on mutual respect."

The editorial also stated that the China-India borderline hasn't been demarcated completely and the two countries have a different understanding about the Line of Actual Control, troops from both sides often stray across in some areas. "Almost all frictions are fed to the Indian media by the Indian military which they hype time and again," it stated.     

On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said, "China urges India to immediately withdraw its border guards that have crossed the boundary and have a thorough investigation of this matter."

"The Indian border guards crossed the boundary in the Sikkim section of the China-India border and entered the territory of China, and obstructed normal activities of Chinese frontier forces in the Donglang area recently, and the Chinese side has taken counter-measures," he said in a statement.

The dispute over construction of a road was apparently the reason why China stopped a batch of 47 Indian pilgrims from crossing through Nathu La border in Sikkim into Tibet to visit Kailash and Mansarovar.