Beijing, Jan. 15 (TNS): China on Monday hit out at Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat for calling Doklam a disputed territory and said that his “unconstructive” comments were not helpful for maintaining peace at the borders.
In an angry rebuttal to Gen Rawat’s comments, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said his comments went against the consensus reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit last September to bring ties back on track and preserve peace on the border.
The Chinese reaction came following comments by Gen Rawat two days ago that India needs to shift focus from its border with Pakistan to that of China and spoke of pressure being exerted by Beijing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Last year, India-China relations have witnessed some twists and turns,” Lu said and referred to Modi-Xi consensus and the high-level talks since December to improve the ties.
“The dialogue and consultation have shown sound momentum of improvement and development,” he said.
“Under such background, the unconstructive remarks by the Indian senior official (Gen Rawat) not only go against the consensus reached by the two heads of state but also do not conform to the efforts made by the two sides to improve and develop bilateral relations,” Lu said.
The remarks “cannot help to preserve the tranquillity and peace at the border areas,” he said.
Asked what were Gen Rawat’s specific comments that China is taking exception to, Lu pointed to the Indian Army chief’s remarks on Doklam wherein he said it is a disputed territory between Bhutan and China.
“I have made myself clear, if the senior official according to the report referred to the Donglang – I think you are clear about our position – Donglang belongs to China and has always been in the effective jurisdiction of China,” Lu asserted.
He reiterated China’s stand that the Sikkim section of the India-China boundary has been delimited by the 1890 “historical convention” between the then British government and China, which Beijing claims settled the boundary in that particular section spanning to about 200 km.
China wants India to settle the boundary in that particular section based on the treaty while the two sides negotiated for a settlement for the rest of the LAC which spans about 3,488 km. So far the two sides have held 20 rounds of border talks to resolve the issue.
“Donglang is China’s territory. China will continue to exercise its sovereignty rights in accordance with the historical convention and steadfastly uphold its territorial sovereignty,” Lu said.
On its part, Bhutan had lodged a diplomatic protest with China when Chinese troops began building a road in the Doklam area in June. Indian troops had objected to the construction of the road resulting in a 73-day standoff.
The standoff was resolved after Chinese troops stopped road building and India withdrew its troops from the area.
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In an apparent reference to Gen Rawat’s comment that Doklam is a disputed territory between Bhutan and China, Lu said, “the remarks of the Army chief mentioned by you once again showed that the illegal trespass of the Indian border troops is quite clear-cut in nature. Donglang belong to China.”
