India said yesterday it is ready for talks with China with both sides first pulling back their armies to end the tense standoff in the Sikkim sector, stressing the need for a "peaceful resolution" of border issues
Sushma Swaraj said China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan. PIC/PTI
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India said yesterday it is ready for talks with China with both sides first pulling back their armies to end the tense standoff in the Sikkim sector, stressing the need for a "peaceful resolution" of border issues.
Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off in Doka La area in the southernmost part of Tibet in an area also claimed by Indian ally Bhutan for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed it was constructing the road within its territory, and has been demanding immediate pullout of the Indian troops.
Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, posing a challenge to India’s security. On the standoff, she referred to the written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012, that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point. "We are saying that the matter can be resolved through talks, but both sides have to first take back their armies," she said. The minister also said India was not "unreasonable" on the issue, and that all nations were with it.
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