Says its action of not allowing Chinese troops to construct road is a betrayal of the stance taken by successive Indian governments
China says India needs to observe an 1898 treaty and pull back its troops immediately. Pic for Representation
The verbal spat between China and India escalated yesterday as Beijing said the Indian Army's action to stop Chinese troops from constructing a road in an area near Sikkim is a "betrayal" of the stance taken by successive Indian governments and India must withdraw from the region.
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'India must withdraw'
"By entering into Chinese territory and obstructing Chinese troops' normal activities, India violated the existing convention on the boundary and basic principle of the international law and obstructed peace and stability of the boundary area," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in an extensive briefing.
"We require the Indian side to withdraw their troops to the Indian side of the boundary and create conditions for the restoration of peace and stability in the relevant areas."
China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Doka La area near the Bhutan tri-junction for almost a month in what has been the longest such impasse between the two armies since 1962, when the two countries fought a brief war.
Sikkim, which became a part of India in May 1976, is the only state with a demarcated border with China. The lines are based on an 1898 treaty signed with China. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which China claims as part of its Donglang region.
'China too is different'
Geng dismissed Defence Minister Arun Jaitley's remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was during the war with the communist nation in 1962, saying China too is different and will take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its territorial sovereignty. "Former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru endorsed the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Sikkim in a letter to then Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai in 1959. Successive Indian governments have also endorsed this," he said. "The India-China boundary in the Sikkim section is well demarcated. The action taken by India is a betrayal of the position taken by (successive) Indian governments," he said.
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