Sikkim stand off: Up to India to exercise military option says China

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

The Sikkim stand off has been termed by China as a grave situation. It is completely up to India whether it wants to exercise military option or not, but China is in favour of a peaceful resolution said its Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui.

The ball is in India's court the Ambassador said. There has been talk of a military option, but it is totally up to India whether to exercise the same or not, Zhaohui also said.
The Chinese government is very clear that it wants peaceful resolution at current state of the situation for which withdrawal of Indian troops from the area is a "pre- condition", he asserted.

The first priority is that the Indian troops unconditionally pull back to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between China and India, he said.

China and India have been engaged in a standoff in the Dokalam area near the Bhutan trijunction for past 19 days after a Chinese army's construction party came to build a road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. China and Bhutan are engaged in talks over the resolution of the area. Bhutan, however, has no diplomatic ties with China and it is supported militarily and diplomatically by India.

"The situation is grave and made me deeply worried. It is the first time that Indian troops have crossed the mutually recognised boundary and trespassed into China's territory, triggering a close range face off between Chinese and Indian border troops. Now 19 days have passed, but the situation still has not eased," Luo said.

He also asserted that India has no right to interfere with the China-Bhutan boundary talks, nor is it entitled to make territorial claims on behalf of Bhutan.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry said that it is concerned about the situation, but also added that such construction would represent a significant change in status quo.

As for the so called 'security concerns' of the Indian side, India has crossed a delimited boundary into other country's territory in the name of security concerns, no matter what kind of activities it conducts there, which will not acceptable to any sovereign state.

India cannot encroach upon the territory of other countries on the ground of its 'security concerns'. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos, Zhaohui also added.

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