Doklam standoff: India capable of defending itself against China, says Sushma Swaraj

Asserting that New Delhi is vigilant on the security front , External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that Beijing unilaterally tried to change the status quo at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China.

Terming Beijing's recent actions as threat to India's security, Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that India as a country is capable of defending itself against China.

Swaraj's response came after Samajwadi Party's Naresh Agrawal raised the Doklam standoff issue and asked if other countries are with India. To this, the EAM said that every nation is supporting India.

"We are involved in tri-junction this time and its directly related to us, if china will change that.. that is threat to our security, all countries are supporting us," she said.

The standoff between Indian and Chinese armies have continued for close to five-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.

When Congress' Rajya Sabha MP from Chhattisgarh asked about China establishing bases in several regions in the Indian Ocean, including Sri Lanka, Swarasj said nation was alert on security front.

"India is alert on the security front. Can't say China is encircling India," she said.

The External Affairs Minister also said that India has raised objections to actions by China whenever Indian interests were threatened.

"Jaise hi pata chala ki OBOR mein CPEC ko dal rahe hain, ussi samay virodh darj kiya gaya tha (The moment we came to know that CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) is being included in One Belt One Road, we registered our protest," she added.

Foreign Secretary Subramaniam Jaishankar's had on July said that "India and China should not let differences become disputes". He had said that there is an inherent complexity in the India-China realtions as two superpowers are rising almost simultaneously and that too in close proximity.

OneIndia News