Doklam: China rejects Jaishankar's remarks, wants Indian troops to retreat

Chinese Foreign Ministry sticks to its unchanged stance on Sikkim standoff

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China on Wednesday said troop withdrawal by India from Doklam remained the precondition to resolve the border crisis in the Sikkim sector.

Beijing also dismissed Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's remarks that differences over the border between India and China occurred in the past also and were resolved.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the trespass by Indian troops in Doklam was different from the "frictions in the undefined sections of the boundary" between India and China.

Geng said what happened in Doklam was a dispute.

Jaishankar, who on Tuesday was at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore to deliver a lecture, said "differences should not become disputes".

Gang said: "China has pointed out many times that the illegal trespass of Indian border troops of the mutually recognised border line is different in nature from the frictions in the undefined sections of the boundary.

"The Sikkim section has a special historical background and this is only defined boundary between India and China. And this is totally different from the undefined boundary in the east, middle and west part.

"According to the 1890 convention, the Sikkim section has been recognised by both China and India and this convention is effective for both countries.

"We again request India to withdraw the border troops to the Indian side of the boundary and properly settle this dispute at an early date."