Doklam standoff: China cools off, begins winding down of troops

On Thursday Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that India is not the aggressor in the Doklam standoff.

China has started winding down its forces and also lowering the ante at Doklam, highly placed sources said. India continues to maintain that it would not relent on its demand for a simultaneous withdrawal.

While on one hand there was a winding down of forces, China on the other continued to raise its rhetoric while warning India of 'serious consequences.'

The crossing of the boundary line by Indian troops into the territory of China using the pretext of security concern for a third party (Bhutan) is illegal. The troops should be withdrawn immediately, otherwise there will be serious consequences," reports said while quoting Liu Jinsong, China's deputy chief of mission. He continued to maintain that India had reduced its troops from 400 to 40. This was however strongly denied by India which stated that the troops remained intact and the number was at around 350.

On Thursday Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that India is not the aggressor in the Doklam standoff. It was China which triggered the crisis by violating a written understanding between the two sides in December 2012, she also said.

The trijunction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with concerned countries. Since 2012, we have not held any discussion on the trijunction with Bhutan, she also said.

OneIndia News