‘India ordered evacuation of frontier Sikkim village’
DOKLAM ROW Chinese mouthpiece shows 2 points where Indian Army ‘crossed’ boundary
The Indian Army has ordered the evacuation of a frontier Sikkim village near the site of the tense border standoff between Indian and China, Chinese Communist party mouthpiece People’s Daily said on Thursday, amid rising tensions between the two neighbours.
“Indian troops on Thu orders evacuation of Nathang village, near site of two-month standoff between #Chinese and #Indian armies,” the newspaper tweeted.
The Indian Army refused comments on the situation unfolding at the India-China-Bhutan trijunction, including the reported evacuation of the village and the re-scheduling of a routine training exercise by troops from Siliguri-based 33 Corps in the wake of the Doklam dispute.
China’s largest newspaper group tweet carried a picture showing the two points where the Indian military allegedly crossed the “mutually recognised boundary.” The account given by the People’s Daily about the “evacuation of Nathang village” matches reports in some sections of the Indian media that said the villagers had been asked to vacate their houses immediately.
The Chinese have taken an aggressive stand on the impasse and have even warned of a war. Indian and Chinese soldiers have been locked in a standoff since June 16, with China accusing India of trespass and preventing its soldiers from building a road in the disputed region.
Bhutan and India maintain that Doklam, or Donglang as the Chinese call it, is Bhutanese territory. The road, if built, would have serious implications for India’s security. Beijing has also rejected India’s suggestion for a simultaneous withdrawal of troops to end the face-off.
Sources said the army has reworked the schedule of Operation Alert, a two-week training exercise that involves familiarising troops with the areas they may be required to operate in. Scheduled for late September, the exercise kicked off in the eastern sector in early August.
War was not a solution and India would resolve the standoff with China through dialogue, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament last week. But China has not budged from its stand that India must unilaterally withdraw its troops from Doklam. Even if there is only one Indian soldier, even for a day, it is still a violation of China’s sovereignty, Wang Wenli, deputy director general of the Boundary and Ocean Affairs of China’s ministry of foreign affairs, said earlier this week.
Any escalation of tension between India and China on the Dokalam standoff will be potentially “very disruptive” for the countries of the region and both sides should try to resolve it amicably, the United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday.
UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs Anwar Gargash said his country has been keeping an eye on the issue and hoped that both the great powers will find a way to resolve it.
Gargash on Wednesday held talks with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj covering all major bilateral and regional issues. The face-off between the armies of India and China in Dokalam is understood have figured at the meeting.
“Any escalation between two great powers — India and China — is potentially very disruptive for all of us. More we have a way in addressing the issue between these two great nations, I think we will feel more stable,” he said.
Gargash said he conveyed to Indian leaders that the dispute a number of Arab countries including the UAE are having with Qatar will not impact the Indian community as well as Indian interests in the region. IANS