In favour of peace, but not at territorial sovereignty expense: China on Doklam standoff

Beijing [China], July 25 (ANI) :China has reiterated that it is in favour of maintaining peace and stability along the India-China border but not at the expense of compromising on territorial sovereignty. "China wants peace and stability in the China-India border areas, but make no mistake, that does not mean we will compromise in any way on the issue of territorial sovereignty. The responsibility for this incident is solely on India's side," China MFA spokesperson Lu Kang said at the regular briefing on Tuesday. When asked about Australian Foreign Minister Bishop having discussed the China-India standoff incident in Donglang with India during her recent, Kang said, "Australian Foreign Minister Bishop has urged to peacefully resolve territorial disputes as a principle is true, but what she said is not applicable to what is happening in Donglang, because there is no territorial dispute there. The Sikkim section of the China-India boundary is long-defined, a fact recognized and maintained by the two sides for 127 years without any dispute." Further said, "The nature of this incident is that Indian border troops illegally crossed the already delimited Sikkim section of the China-India boundary into the Chinese territory, which is essentially different from the past frictions between the two sides in sections that are yet to be delimited." Kang also stated that that to get a clear picture of the current situation and withdraw its border troops back to the Indian side of the boundary. That would be the prerequisite and basis for any meaningful dialogue to happen between the two sides. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will visit Beijing on July 27-28 for a meeting of the NSAs of BRICS countries- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Denying that the Indo-China bilateral or border issues will be discussed during the National Security Advisers' meet , Chinese MFA spokesperson said that the "Upcoming 7th meeting of BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues is a regular gathering for multilateral activities. Representatives from relevant countries will attend the meeting in their appropriate capacity."(ANI)