Tension between India and China escalated after troops of both the countries faced off over road construction on the borders of a 269-sq km plateau in Bhutan, according to Indian Express report. China claimed this area as its own. Border conflict has always affected Sino-India relationship and two countries were yet to resolve issues pertaining to Arunachal Pradesh. But the recent face-off was being considered as worst crisis in relations between two economic superpowers, the report says
The clash on the Doklam plateau assumed significance which overlooks the strategic Chumbi Valley, Indian diplomatic sources told IE. The clash involved troops serving with India’s Brigade-sized mission at Ha. Ha is a formation meant to train Bhutan’s armed forces, it says. A senior official has said that Chinese were very upset by India’s move as in spite of having a presence along the Bhutan-China border, New Delhi never acted like this before, the report says.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat will visit Sikkim today to take stock of operational matters and interact with top commanders in the formation headquarters. Bhutan’s ambassador to India Vetsop Namgyel said that his country had issued a demarche to China over the construction of a road towards its Army camp in Zomplri area of Doklam. He also asked Beijing to restore status quo by stopping work immediately, as per PTI report.
On the other hand, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that it was reported that the incidents happened at Donglong which is part of the disputed territory between China and Bhutan. Asserting that China’s construction is a legitimate activity, he said that if India wanted to raise an issue about it, New Delhi should know that the region doesn’t belong to India and neither does it belong to Bhutan. Lu claimed Indian troops crossed the boundary on the Sikkim side into Chinese territory.
LIKE/SHARE/COMMENT
Comments
Post a Comment