China says incursion led to snub of pilgrims

China yesterday said it stopped Indian pilgrims from travelling to the Kailash Mansarovar due to the ongoing face-off between the troops of the two nations triggered by Indian soldiers who crossed the Chinese border.

Beijing’s reaction comes in the wake of the reported stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Doka La region at the Sikkim-BhutanTibet tri-junction.

Beijing demanded New Delhi to immediately withdraw the troops who crossed the Chinese border.

“Recently, the Indian border guards along the Sino-Indian border in Saijin section crossed the border line into the territory of China, obstructed the Chinese border troops in the Donglong area of normal activities. China has taken corresponding measures,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

‘Obstruction’

Indian media reports on Monday said it was Chinese troops who crossed the Indian border and destroyed two bunkers, but later in the night, the People’s Liberation Army said Indian troops obstructed road construction on Chinese territory.

“The Sino-Indian border of Sikkim has been delineated by the 1890 Sino-British Treaty on Tibetan Customs. After the independence of India, the Indian government has confirmed this in writing several times, acknowledging that there is no objection to the border between the two sides,” the Ministry statement said.

“The Chinese side asked the Indian side to respect the border treaty, respect the territorial sovereignty of China, [asked for] the immediate withdrawal of border officials and [to] thoroughly investigate the matter, to maintain the Sino-Indian border Sikkim section of peace and tranquillity.”