Sikkim standoff cannot be resolved through Interlocutors, says China

Beijing has consistently said that it will not compromise on its soereignty and has urged India to unilaterally withdraw its troops.

The ongoing diplomatic communication between China and India on the stand-off has nothing to do with the current military face-off in Doklam Plateau, China has said.

Beijing refuses to acknowledge the meeting between National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi as the one between the Special Representatives of the two nations for boundary negotiations.

National security adviser Ajit Doval, on a visit to Beijing, met Chinese state councillor Yang Jiechi as the two nations faced off at the trijunction between India, China and Bhutan.

Both Doval and Yang are Special Representatives of the two countries in the boundary talks.

Beijing conveyed to New Delhi that the current stand-off in Doklam Plateau was out of the purview of the Special Representatives appointed by China and India to negotiate a settlement of the disputed boundary. It argued that since the boundary between the two neighbours at Sikkim Sector had already been delimited by the 1890 convention between UK and China, the bilateral mechanism led by the Special Representatives had no scope to discuss the current face-off, reports Deccan Herald.

New Delhi, however, did not buy the argument and pointed it out that while the status of Sikkim as an integral part of India had been settled, India-China boundary in Sikkim Sector still remained unsettled and a matter of negotiation between the Special Representatives of the two nations, sources told the DH.

The nature of Sikkim standoff is completely different and Doval had met Yang as State Councillor of China and not as the Special Representative for boundary negotiations with India, a Chinese diplomat said.

The Special Representatives of India and China in 2003 started negotiations to resolve the long-pending boundary dispute between the two nations. China and India have been engaged in talks on a framework for boundary settlement since 2005.

Earlier, had agreed that the 20th round would take place in New Delhi this year.

Beijing has consistently said that it will not compromise on its soereignty and has urged India to unilaterally withdraw its troops.