BEIJING, June 29 (APP): Chinese and Indian soldiers are locked in a

 face-off at the Sikkim section of the China-India border after Indian troops crossed the

 boundary and entered Chinese territory.

 Responding to India’s accusation that Chinese soldiers made an incursion

 into the Indian side to do construction work, the usually low-profile Chinese authorities

 criticized the Indian side for violating the consensus on border issues and agreements

 between the two governments, seriously endangering peace along the border areas,

 said an article published in Global Times here on Thursday.

 The Indian government made no objection to the Sikkim section of the

 China-India border. Allegations of intrusions along the western section of the China-India

 border often emerge, but face-offs in the Sikkim section are rare. The Nathu La Pass in

 Sikkim was reopened in 2006, because there is no border dispute between China and

 India over this area.

 It remains unclear whether this flare-up is the fault of low-level

 Indian troops or a tentative strategic move made by the Indian government. Whatever

 the motive, China must stick to its bottom line. It must force the Indian troops to

 retreat to the Indian side by all means necessary, and China’s road construction mustn’t

 be stopped.

 India’s national confidence has been greatly boosted with its GDP rising

 to fifth in the world. The fact that the US and West are willing to woo India to

 counterbalance China has particularly added to Indians’ sense of strategic superiority.

 Some Indians believe the US and Japan are building a circle to contain

 China, and India has an advantage over China by choosing whether to join this circle.

 Therefore, they can indulge themselves on issues including border disputes, while China

 has no choice but to make concessions.

 As 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. However, almost all frictions are fed

 to the Indian media by the Indian military which they hype time and again.

 China avoids making an issue of border disputes, which has indulged

 India’s unruly provocations. This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules.

 India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues. It lags far

 behind China in terms of national strength and the so-called strategic support for it from

 the US is superficial. 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. 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.</s>A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the dispute can only be settled by the withdrawal of Indian soldiers from the area.

China yesterday asked India to withdraw its troops from the Donglong area in Sikkim sector as a precondition for a "meaningful dialogue" to settle the boundary issue, warning that the Indian Army should learn "historical lessons", in an oblique reference to the 1962 war.

In an unprecedented action, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang displayed a photograph of Indian "incursion" into Donglong area and said the dispute which is becoming a confrontation of sorts between the troops on the ground can only be settled by the withdrawal of Indian soldiers from the area.

"The diplomatic channel for communication remains unimpeded. We urged the Indian side to withdraw troops back to the Indian side of the boundary immediately. This is the precondition for the settlement of this incident and also the basis for us to conduct any meaningful dialogue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. China's Defence spokesman Col Wu Qian rejected Bhutan's allegation that PLA soldiers violated its territory in Donglong area, saying its troops operated on "Chinese territory" and also asked India to "correct" its "wrong doing".

Army Chief in Sikkim

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday arrived in Sikkim to take stock of the security scenario.</s>Very little was expected in India from Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's visit to the U.S., and for good reason: Modi had gone out of his way to cultivate a personal relationship with Barack Obama, including famously pouring out a cup of tea for him and the cameras when Obama visited India.Modi is nothing if not a strong personality, and has a somewhat worrying tendency to reduce complicated bilateral relationships to personal ones. Whether he would hit it off with Obama's successor -- who could perhaps be politely described as "mercurial" -- was a matter of frenzied debate in New Delhi prior to the visit.As it turned out, Indian wonks needn't have worried. Modi enveloped Donald Trump in a bear hug -- something he tends to do -- and whatever the American president may have thought of that, the bilateral relationship has clearly benefited from growing U.S. disillusionment with Asia’s other giant, China . The question for Modi isn’t whether he can get along with Trump, but whether he can manage the relationship better than Chinese leader Xi Jinping has.After Xi’s own visit to America -- which featured chocolate cake and missiles at Mar-a-Lago -- many Indians worried that they couldn’t expect the Trump administration to appreciate that the rise of China meant that India and the U.S. were natural strategic partners. Indeed, hoping that Xi would pressure North Korea into scaling back its nuclear and missile programs, Trump has lavished the Chinese leader with praise and dropped his longstanding threats to punish China for allegedly unfair trade practices.Even now, the U.S. president shows no sign of rethinking the somewhat intemperate remarks about India he made when withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. And he is unlikely to regret pushing Indian IT companies into a corner when it comes to temporary work visas. But, a few lines in the joint statement issued after Modi’s visit greatly reassured nervous Indian strategists:[India and the U.S.] support bolstering regional economic connectivity through the transparent development of infrastructure and the use of responsible debt financing practices, while ensuring respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, the rule of law, and the environment.As many observers pointed out, the wording in this statement is startlingly similar to a quietly contemptuous statement from the Indian foreign ministry at the time of Xi's mammoth “Belt and Road Forum” last month. India is deeply concerned about the implications for Asia of China's big connectivity push -- for good reason -- and it appears that some in the Trump administration now agree.Nor is this an isolated sentiment. I write this from Beijing, where a high-level Sino-American dialogue has just concluded, and even some Chinese diplomats are willing to accept that it was a disappointment. Recent tweets have made clear Trump’s frustration with China’s inability or unwillingness to rein in North Korea. Earlier this week, the State Department loudly condemned China’s failure to combat human trafficking. It now seems likely that the U.S. may follow India in declaring that the Chinese steel industry is unfairly dumping its output on the rest of the world.China's leaders appear to have played a strong hand of cards pretty badly. They were fortunate to deal with two leaders, Modi and Trump, who were looking for reasons to improve relations -- if only so that they could stress to their voters that they were better dealmakers than their predecessors.Yet Modi was unsurprisingly miffed when the People's Liberation Army decided to waltz into territory that India claimed as its own as he sat down with Xi on the latter's visit to India.This week, Indian and Chinese soldiers got into another scuffle at the edges of the Indian state of Sikkim, with Indian troops apparently getting in the way of a Chinese road-building project. Regardless of who provoked whom, nobody in India is going to see this "jostling" while Modi met Trump as a coincidence.It’s unclear how deep the disillusionment with China runs within the White House, or whether Trump truly believes that China “tried” its best to deal with North Korea. But having little to show for his investment in Xi isn’t likely to sit well with the transactional U.S. president. Neither are China’s overt attempts to draw a contrast with the Trump administration's cavalier approach to U.S. global leadership, for instance on free trade and climate.By contrast, Modi benefits from the fact that both U.S. and Indian military leaders and foreign-policy elites see the interests of their nations converging. And while he, Trump and Xi all put something of a premium on the restoration -- or the construction -- of national glory, the rise of India will continue to be seen as being in the U.S.'s larger interests in Asia.As long as Modi can keep Trump focused on this larger picture, rather than minor irritants such as tech visas, he will receive a very different welcome in Washington than his Chinese counterpart.*This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.</s>New Delhi: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat visits Sikkim on Thursday to take stock of operational matters and meet with top army commanders at formation headquarters in the border state. General Rawat's visit to Sikkim comes amid tension between India and China over border issues.

People familiar with the matter said General Rawat's two-day visit to Sikkim is routine. He will visit other formation headquarters in the Northeast and review operational matters in the region that shares most of India's 3,488-kilometre-long border with China. India shares a 220-kilometre-long border with China in Sikkim.

China has accused Indian troops of "crossing the boundary" in the Sikkim sector and demanded their immediate withdrawal. China said it stopped the Nathu La route for Indian pilgrims travelling to Kailash Mansarovar because of the border standoff.

China said it has lodged diplomatic protests with India, both in New Delhi and Beijing. Chinese Defence Ministry Spokesperson Ren Guoqiang said on Monday that recently China began building a road in Donglang region, but was stopped by Indian troops.</s>New Delhi (Sputnik) — Apart from the helicopter bases, the Indian Army has recently increased the number of troops in the region which is marked by Chinese authorities and experts for the ongoing stand-off. Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has reviewed the military preparedness in the areas for the second time in the last fortnight. On Thursday, General Rawat arrived in Sikkim to take stock of operations and interacted with top commanders in formation headquarters in the border state.

"The incident is (part of) a policy continuum. China ensures that there is stability at the strategic level and keeps India engaged politically, diplomatically and militarily at the tactical level. It will be resolved in two weeks," Gurmeet Kanwal, distinguished fellow at the Delhi-based Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, told Sputnik.

Meanwhile, China termed General Rawat's remarks that India is ready for a two-and-a-half front war "irresponsible". "Such rhetoric is extremely irresponsible. We hope that the particular person in the Indian Army could learn from history lessons and stop such clamoring for war," Col Wu Qian, the PLA spokesman, said on Thursday. General Rawat said that India is prepared for security threats posed by China, Pakistan as well as internal threats.</s>BEIJING, June 29 (APP): China on Wednesday said that Pakistan was at

 the forefront of counter-terrorism and had made important contribution to the international campaign against terrorism.

 “I must say that Pakistan is at the forefront of counter-terrorism and

 has made important contribution to the international campaign against terrorism,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Lu Kang said during his regular press briefing here.

 He said the Chinese side maintained that the international community

 should step up cooperation against terrorism, and should also fully recognize Pakistan’s efforts in this regard.

 Regarding counter-terrorism and issues relating to other countries in

 the region, he said, “We have noted the relevant reports. I would like to say that the Chinese government is consistent and clear on counter-terrorism.”

 Lu Kang said the Chinese side opposed all forms of terrorism and linking

 terrorism with any specific country, adding “We call for international cooperation against terrorism on the basis of mutual respect.”

 About the Indian prime minister’s recent meeting with US President

 Donald Trump in Washington, he said, “We have been saying that China welcomes friendly and cooperative relations among all countries, and hope that such kind of relations will contribute to peace, stability and prosperity of the region and beyond.”

 As for the Indian prime minister’s visit to the US and his discussion

 with the US on relevant issues, he said, “We think it is quite normal for leaders of two countries to talk about issues of common interest, as long as their interaction is conducive to peace, stability, and prosperity of Asia.”

 About the discussion and consensus between American and Indian leaders

 on the issue of Afghanistan, he said that realization of peace and stability in Afghanistan at an early date served the common interests of the whole region.

 “China always supports the “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” reconciliation

 process which is inclusive. We also welcome all parties’ constructive efforts in this aspect,” he added.

 Responding to a question about reopening of Nathu-la pass in Sikkim

 section of China-India border for Indian pilgrims, he said, “We have told the Indian side that the arrangement was put off as an emergency measure in response to the change of the situation caused by the Indian border troops’ trespass.”

 Lu Kang stressed that Indian pilgrims’ trip to Xi Zang required

 necessary atmosphere and conditions, adding, the Indian side was to blame for the trip not being able to take place as scheduled.

 He said, “As for when the pilgrimage route will reopen, it totally

 depends on whether the Indian side can correct its mistake in time.”

 To yet another question, he said, China’s construction of road in Doklam

 was an act of sovereignty on its own territory, adding, “It is completely justified and lawful, and others have no right to interfere”.

 The spokesperson stressed that Bhutan was a world-recognized,

 independent sovereign state and hoped that all countries can respect Bhutan’s sovereignty.

 Although the boundary between China and Bhutan is yet to be demarcated,

 the two sides have been working on that through peaceful negotiation, he said and added “Any third party must not and does not have the right to interfere, still less make irresponsible moves or remarks that violate the fact.”</s>In the midst of face off between India and Chinese troops over road construction on the borders of a plateau in Bhutan, which China has been claiming, has said that the withdrawal from the Doklam plateau by the Indian troops was prerequisite for any dialogue between two nations and prevent escalation, Indian Express report said.

It warned Army chief General Bipin Rawat to “stop clamouring for war”, calling it as “extremely irresponsible” of his recent statement saying India was ready for a “two-and-a-half front war”. Speaking to reporters, PLA spokesperson Col Wu Qian, said China hoped “particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war.”

“Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between our two countries. Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before 16 June 2017”, Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying by Indian Express as saying.

Thimphu said in statement on June 16, “the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri”. It said boundary talks are ongoing between Bhutan and China and “we have written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959. The agreements also state that the two sides will refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary.”

However, China has maintained that Doklam has been a part of China since earlier times, which is an “indisputable fact supported by historical evidence and the ground situation. China’s activities in Doklam are acts of sovereignty on its own territory. It is completely justified and lawful.”</s>Beijing: China on Friday called for a "meaningful dialogue" with the Indian government in connection with a border row in the Sikkim sector and asked it to withdraw its troops from Doklam, insisting that Beijing has "indisputable sovereignty" over the area.

"Diplomatic channels are unimpeded between India and China for talks on the standoff in Sikkim," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

"The pressing issue is to have a meaningful dialogue for the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Doklam area in Sikkim sector," Kand added.

The reaction from the Chinese Foreign Ministry comes in the wake of a stand-off 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.

Lu also refuted Bhutan's allegation that China violated agreements by constructing a road inside its territory

 .

 In a strongly worded statement, Bhutan had also asked China to stop constructing the motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri which it says affects the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

But Lu said China had "indisputable sovereignty over the Donklam area."</s>New Delhi: India’s army chief visited Sikkim bordering China on Thursday, where tensions have flared after Beijing accused New Delhi of sending troops into its territory and obstructing the construction of a road.

Small incursions and troop stand-offs are common along other parts of China and India’s contested 3,500 km (2175 miles) frontier, but a flare-up near strategically positioned Sikkim is rare.

General Bipin Rawat arrived in Gangtok, the capital of the tiny Himalayan state, before heading off to visit troop formations. A spokesman for the Indian army said the one-day trip was “routine” and planned before the recent tensions.

Reports of the incursion and a confrontation between troops emerged as Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday, the latest in a line of stand-offs reported during diplomatic initiatives.

India has deepened its military ties with the United States in recent years, worrying China, which is also unhappy with India’s refusal to participate in Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar Silk Road infrastructure initiative. India is concerned the project could cement China’s dominance over Asia.

Read Also: Bhutan issues demarche to China over road construction

According to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards crossed into the Donglang region earlier in June and obstructed work on a road on a plateau.

The two sets of troops then confronted each other close to a highly strategic valley controlled by China that separates India from Bhutan — a close Indian ally — and gives China access to the so-called Chicken’s Neck, a slither of land that connects India to its remote northeastern regions.

Indian media have reported that the dispute began when China removed an old Indian bunker.

China says that unlike other parts of their shared border, the delineation of the frontier with Sikkim is settled, and it has the right to develop the area.

“Donglang Region is part of China’s territory,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Thursday. “China’s road-building activities in Donglang on its own territory are totally reasonable and understandable.”

The Nathu La Pass, which lies on the frontier between Sikkim and Tibet, was the site of a fierce border clash between Chinese and Indian troops in 1967. Reuters</s>Face-offs between Chinese and Indian troops over road construction on the borders of a 269-sq km plateau in Bhutan claimed by China has sparked off what experts are describing as the worst crisis in relations between New Delhi and Beijing since troops from the two countries confronted each other at Daulat Beg Oldi in 2013, diplomatic sources told The Indian Express.

The clash on the Doklam plateau, which overlooks the strategic Chumbi Valley, Indian diplomatic sources said, involved troops serving with India’s Brigade-sized mission at Ha — a formation meant to train Bhutan’s armed forces, but which also deploys alongside the Royal Bhutan Army to patrol its frontiers against China.

“Even though India has long had a presence along the Bhutan-China border, it has never acted in defence of its ally’s interests. The Chinese are very upset by the Indian assertion, and are seeking to push back against what they see as a line having been crossed,” a senior Indian official said. (A PTI report said Army chief General Bipin Rawat will visit Sikkim Thursday to take stock of operational matters and interact with top commanders in the formation headquarters. The agency also quoted Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan’s ambassador to India, saying his country had issued a demarche to China over the construction of a road towards its Army camp in Zomplri area of Doklam and asked Beijing to restore status quo by stopping work immediately.)

Meanwhile, Beijing upped the ante, telling New Delhi to “correct its errors” before reopening of the Nathu La Pass for Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims can be considered. China also described the construction of the border road as “legitimate”, maintaining that it was being built on Chinese territory that does not belong to India or Bhutan and no other country had the right to interfere.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang indicated that the point of friction was in the Donglong (Doklam) region, which he stressed belonged to China. “It is reported that the incidents happened at Donglong, (that it) is part of the disputed territory between China and Bhutan. The region is part of China and is indisputable. China’s construction is a legitimate activity. If India wants to raise an issue about it, I would say that it doesn’t belong to India and neither does it belong to Bhutan,” he said.

According to Lu, Indian troops crossed the boundary on the Sikkim side into Chinese territory. “This is different to what was before in India-China boundary. Bhutan is an internationally recognised country and its sovereignty is to be respected. Even if the boundary is delimited, no third party should interfere and make irresponsible comments,” he said.

Few details have emerged on the clash but two Indian officials said that Beijing has privately complained that Indian troops attacked a road-construction unit on the night of June 4-5, leading to an unarmed brawl in which two Chinese personnel sustained minor injuries.

Later, on the morning of June 5, Chinese troops retaliated in strength, destroying Indian sangars, or simple rock-and-earth bunkers, built on the Bhutan side of the de-facto border, near an Indian-guarded position identified by the code-name Laltain, or Lantern.

Neither country has officially admitted to the clash having taken place, but an opaquely worded June 26 statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Indian troops had crossed “the China-India boundary at the Sikkim section and entered the Chinese territory, obstructing Chinese border troops’ normal activities in Doklam”.

The Foreign Ministry did not explain how Indian troops had succeeded in traversing several dozen kilometres of mountain terrain required to move from Sikkim to Doklam — wording Indian diplomats said was likely intended to avoid drawing Bhutan into the controversy.

Beijing’s strategic equities in the Doklam plateau have multiplied in recent years, with the upgrading of the road from Lhasa to Yadong, which allows the 500-km journey to be made in just seven hours. The road, which passes through Bhutan’s territory, has significantly enhanced China’s military logistics in the region, which faces out on to India’s defences in the so-called Chicken’s Neck, through which all roads to the North-East must pass.

In addition, China is now in the process of extending the Beijing-Lhasa high speed railway line to Yadong, and is expected to begin test runs in less than two years. Beijing had, in 1996, offered to renounce its claims over the Pasam-Lung and Jakar-Lung valleys in northern Bhutan, 495 sq km, in return for Thimphu ceding its claims to the Doklam plateau. It was reported to have also pressured Thimphu by saying it would not agree to a border deal until Bhutan allowed it to open a diplomatic mission in that country.

Former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon had travelled to Thimphu in 2013, amidst rumours that Bhutan was considering such an arrangement. However, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bhutan in 2014, its Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, moved to quell the rumours, saying “We don’t even have diplomatic relations. How can you open an embassy without diplomatic relations?”

The genesis of the Doklam plateau crisis date back to the 1950, as tensions between China and India began to rise. Even in 1959, a Chinese Ministry Foreign Affairs document issued on December 26 that year records, “concerning the boundary between China and Bhutan, there is only a certain discrepancy between the delineation on the maps of the two sides in the sector south of the so-called McMahon Line.”

In other words, China agreed that there were no discrepancies between its maps and those of Bhutan in the country’s west, where the Doklam plateau lies. But in 1960, China’s leadership sparked off panic in Bhutan by asserting, in a statement, that the “Bhutanese, Sikkimese and Ladakhis form a united family in Tibet. They have always been subject to Tibet and to the great motherland of China”. Then, in 1966, Tibetan nomads entered the pastures of the Doklam plateau, escorted by People’s Liberation Army guards, provoking fears of an attempt to occupy the territory.

 In 1988, things came to a head when the PLA crossed into Bhutan and took control of the Chumbi Valley, below the Doklam plateau. In the years since, PLA troops have been reported to have regularly threatened Royal Bhutan Army guards on the plateau, and sometimes occupying their posts for several hours or even days.

With the standoff continuing, an opinion article in China’s state-run Global Times stated that India needed to be “taught rules” of handling boundary disputes. “China avoids making an issue of border disputes which has indulged India’s unruly provocations. This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules. India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues. It lags far behind China in terms of national strength and the so-called strategic support for it from the US is superficial,” the article stated.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App
Amid a stand-off between China and India in the Indian state of Sikkim, Bhutan protests to China over the construction of a road in the disputed territory of Doklam, a meeting point for all three countries' borders.