Border row: Xi, Modi unlikely to meet at G20

China on Thursday said a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit was unlikely as Indian troops "had damaged the political foundations of bilateral relations between China and India".

Informed sources said the "atmosphere is not right" for the meeting between the two leaders because of the current stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim sector.

Beijing has said that the unconditional withdrawal of Indian troops from Doklam remained a precondition for any meaningful dialogue.

"As for the arrangement of the bilateral meeting (at G20) between President Xi and Prime Minister Modi, I have to point out that recently Indian troops trespassed into China and obstructed normal activities of Chinese troops in the Doklam region," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

"This endangers China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and damaged the political foundations of bilateral relations between China and India," Geng said.

"We hope India can immediately withdraw border troops to the Indian side of the boundary," he added. "I think this is the pre-condition for any meaningful peace talks between the two sides."

--IANS

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