Face border facts, China tells India

China on Sunday referred to the 1890 UK-China treaty which it claims demarcated the Sikkim sector of the Sino-Indian border as it urged New Delhi to abide by its provisions, a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made her maiden visit to the Nathu La post.

Reacting to Sitharaman's visit to the area, the Chinese foreign ministry said "the Sikkim section of the China-India border has been demarcated by the historical boundary".

"It is the best testimony to this fact. We urge the Indian side to face the facts, abide by the provisions of the historic boundary treaty and the relevant agreement of the parties, and work together with the Chinese side to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas," it said in a

written response to PTI, to a query about Sitharaman's visit.

The ministry did not directly name the 1890 Britain-China treaty which Beijing often referred to during the Dokalam standoff stating that it has defined the Sikkim section of the boundary with Tibet, therefore the border in that area has been settled.

Sitharaman on Saturday visited the Nathu La area on the Sino-Indian border and interacted with Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police officials.

Nathu La is the last post separating the border between Sikkim, on the Indian side, and Tibet, on the Chinese side. Of the 3,488-km India-China border, which stretches from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. The two sides have so far held 19 rounds of Special Representatives' talks to resolve the dispute.