MEA did not tell ministers there will be no withdrawal of troops: Sources (Lead, superseding earlier story)

Senior ministers were not told by the Ministry of External Affairs that there would be "no withdrawal" of Indian troops from Doklam, where Indian and Chinese troops are in a stand-off.

"Some sections of media have reported that MEA has told senior Ministers today that there would be no withdrawal of Indian troops from Doklam. Such false reports are without any basis," sources said.

The clarification came in the context of top ministers meeting in the morning ahead of a briefing to be given to opposition leaders on the Doklam stand-off and the Kashmir situation in the evening.

The brief statement triggered a number of questions whether India was preparing for withdrawing its troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector, but there were no answers from the government.

China has been demanding that India must withdraw troops from Doklam for any dialogue between the two sides.

--IANS

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