Doklam standoff: China rejects reports of offering to relocate troops

Beijing [China], Aug. 11 (ANI): China has vehemently rejected all reports of it ever offering a compromise to India by relocating its troops in the disputed Doklam border area. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted to a report where China had allegedly offered to move its troops back 100 meters, after India sought the pullback of Chinese troops by 250 metres. The Spokesperson's Office told China Daily that the report is not true, adding that "China will not trade its territorial sovereignty under any circumstances." "China's position on solving this incident is clear and firm. India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its trespassing troops and equipment back to the Indian side of the border," the office said in a statement. China could never accept India's "totally unreasonable" demand, said Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science told China Daily, adding that India had honored the convention until Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration refused. Earlier this month, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that India's 'intrusion' had not only violated China's territorial sovereignty but also challenged Bhutan's sovereignty and independence. However, the Government of Bhutan on Thursday pointedly refuted a Chinese Foreign Ministry claim that Bhutan had conveyed through diplomatic channels to China that the trilateral border stand-off area in Doklam in the Sikkim sector is not its territory. Official sources in the Bhutanese Government told ANI over phone, "Our position on the border issue of Doklam is very clear. Please refer to our statement which has been published on the web site of Bhutan's foreign ministry on June 29, 2017." India has also cited the Bhutanese foreign ministry as emphasizing that "the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the 1988 and 1998 agreements between Bhutan and China and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between these two countries." India has conveyed to China that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for New Delhi. India has said both sides should first pull back their troops for any talks to take place. Bhutan has no direct diplomatic relations with China and maintains contacts with Beijing through its diplomatic mission in New Delhi. Bhutan and China have held 24 rounds of talks to resolve boundary dispute, while India and China have completed 19 rounds of talks. The standoff started in June when Chinese soldiers tried to unilaterally change the status quo in the strategically important Doklam region of Bhutan by building a road in the area. India has made its stance clear that that it stands for peace the border question can be solved diplomatically, not by war. (ANI)