‘No bilateral meet at G20’
China says Modi, Xi did not meet on sidelines of summit, country has right to construct roads in its territory
BEIJING: China on Monday appeared to play down a brief conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit, saying the two “did not have a bilateral meeting”.
Though China is technically correct, the fact is the Indian side did not claim the two leaders held a bilateral meeting, which is usually a structured and previously agreed engagement.
“I can tell you there was no bilateral meet between President Xi and PM Modi in Germany,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular media briefing.
The brief conversation the two leaders had during an informal gathering of BRICS leaders on the margins of the G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7 made headlines. It came at a time when the two countries were locked in a tense standoff along India’s northeastern frontier.
China’s denial of something that did not happen is being seen as yet another attempt by Beijing to make its displeasure over the Doklam row known. “According to my information, the two leaders did not hold any bilateral meeting (on the sidelines of the G20 summit),” Geng said, adding Xi presided over the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders that was attended by Modi and others.
Geng also did not mention the conversation the two leaders had.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay had on July 7 tweeted a photo of the two leaders shaking hands. He said Modi and Xi had a “conversation on a range of issues”.
The border standoff link was not hard to draw, as Geng again said the withdrawal of Indian troops from Donglang, as Chinese refer to the region, was the precondition for a resolution of the military impasse. To a question about Indian media reports that the soldiers were prepared for the long haul in Doklam, Geng said if those were true, it revealed India’s true intentions.
Geng said: “If they are true then that only prove that the illegal trespass by the Indian side is organised and deliberate. They are intended to destroy and damage the status quo at the boundary area of China and India. So how can diplomatic solutions happen under such circumstances? “We stressed many times that we urged the Indian side should withdraw their troops back to the Indian side of the boundary. This is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue between the two sides.”
He added: “The diplomatic channel remain unimpeded, we hope the Indian side can take concrete measures. Now the Indian side is violating the international conventions, norms and we demand the Indian troops to bring back their troops as soon as possible.”
China has accused Indian soldiers of trespass and preventing its soldiers from building a road in Doklam, which is close to the Sikkim border on India’s northeast, and is claimed by Bhutan.
The Doklam region is located at the narrow but strategically important tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan, with the three countries barely separated by mountains and passes.
Geng added that China has the right to construct roads in its own territory.