World with us on Doklam: Swaraj
India will launch talks with China on the ongoing border standoff only after both sides withdraw their troops from the Doklam tri-junction, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Thursday.
“If China unilaterally changes the status quo of the tri-junction point between China, India and Bhutan, it will pose a challenge to our security,” Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha in response to a question from Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal. A pact inked in 2012 clearly states the issue should be resolved jointly by the three countries involved, the minister added.
Indian and Chinese border guards have been locked in a standoff at Doklam, which borders Sikkim, since June 16. While Beijing has accused Indian troops of trespassing and preventing its soldiers from building a road, both Thimphu and New Delhi claim that the area falls in Bhutanese territory.
Swaraj claimed that China had been laying roads in the region for a while now, but this time it crossed the line by bringing bulldozers and excavators to the tri-junction with the intention of unilaterally altering its status quo.
“India’s position is not wrong about the tri-junction, and all nations are with it. Nyay hamare paksh mein hai (The law is on our side),” she said, adding that even Bhutan has protested the Chinese move.
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