Chinese troops to patrol area after standoff

CHINA said yesterday that its troops would continue to patrol a disputed Himalayan border area after resolving a monthslong military standoff there with India.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying refused to disclose future plans for the road project that had triggered the confrontation on the remote Doklam plateau.

“I’ve said that Chinese border troops will continue to be stationed and patrol in Doklam and we will continue to exercise our sovereignty according to his- torical conventions,” Hua told a regular press briefing.

The standoff began in midJune after Chinese troops started building a road in the area, which is disputed between China and India’s ally, Bhutan.

India itself does not claim the territory but has a military presence in Bhutan.

The Indian government announced on Monday Beijing and New Delhi had agreed to pull back back their border forces.

When asked whether China would halt road-building, Hua told reporters: “We’ll take into consideration all relevant factors, including weather, to make any infrastructure plans – including road-building.”

The border tensions eased days before India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to China for a summit of the BRICS group of countries, which also include Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

When asked if the border issue was settled in order to avoid conflict at the BRICS meetings, Hua only said that “ensuring the success of the summit serves interests of all relevant parties”.