Doklam standoff: China making false claims to impress citizens, says defence expert

China's foreign ministry issued a 15-page statement which said Indian troop numbers in the Doklam region had fallen from a peak of more than 400 to about 40 at the end of July.

With India rubbishing China's claim that the number of troops have reduced at Doklam, Defence and strategy matters expert on Thursday said Beijing was planting "false information" to impress its citizens.

Defence expert PK Sehgal told ANI that China shares border with 14 countries and has some or the other dispute with each of them.

Asserting that it is well known that Beijing was a master in planting false information, Sehgal said, "They gave the statement just to impress the people of their own country."

China's foreign ministry issued a 15-page statement which said Indian troop numbers in the Doklam region had fallen from a peak of more than 400 to about 40 at the end of July.

India has however rubbished these claims and said that there has been no scaling down of troops. An official said that there is no escalation and the standoff continues. There are around 400 of our troops there, the officer also informed.

Sehgal said that China was trying to project to its citizens that 'they have succeeded in controlling India'.

Beijing had earlier insisted that India withdraws its troops for there to be any meaningful dialogue. However, India has made it clear that there can be a resolution to the conflict only through meaningful dialogue.

China on Wednesday cited an informal diplomatic understanding between the two sides and claimed that India was aware of the road construction near Doklam, which sparked the standoff.

The standoff between Indian and Chinese armies has continued for close to six weeks over the construction of a road by China at Doklam near Sikkim. It is an area where the borders of India, China and Bhutan meet. Bhutan says the land, which it calls Doklam, belongs to its kingdom and not to China, a claim that India agrees too.

OneIndia News