Doklam issue will be resolved peacefully: Bhutan Foreign Minister

Bhutan's Foreign Minister Damcho Dorji said Friday that the situation in Doklam will be resolved peacefully and amicably.

His remarks came after a meeting with India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Kathmandu today.

Earlier, the Government of Bhutan had 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 had 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."

The Bhutanese sources were responding to a stunning, but unsubstantiated claim made by China's top diplomat, Wang Wenli, that Bhutan had conveyed to Beijing through the diplomatic channels that the area of the standoff was not its territory.

Indian and Chinese troops continue to be locked in a standoff in Doklam and both sides have moved additional troops, ammunition and military equipment to the area.

The stand-off emerged after Chinese troops were stopped by the Indian Army from construction roads in the Doklam border.

India claims Sikkim border as part of its territory, while China has said that the area falls on their side as per the 1890 treaty signed between British and China.

Consequently, China suspended the annual Kailash Manasarovar Yatra and conceded that the decision to suspend the pilgrimage was due to the border scuffle.

It also alleged that the Indian troops had crossed the Sikkim sector of the Indo-China border. Beijing has accused New Delhi of violating a convention signed in 1890 between Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet.