China asks Indian troops to withdraw along Sikkim section of border

Image courtesy: AFP

Beijing: China on Tuesday asked Indian border troops, who were alleged to have crossed the Indo-China border along Sikkim region, to withdraw and safeguard peace and tranquillity in the area. "The Chinese side requires the Indian side to respect the boundary convention and China's territorial sovereignty, immediately withdraw their border troops that have crossed the boundary, conduct thorough investigation into this and safeguard peace and tranquility of the Sikkim section," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang said. China also clarified that the entry to the first batch of around 50 Indian pilgrims who were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim were stopped due to security concerns. "The Chinese side has to put off arranging for Indian officially-organized pilgrims' entry through Nathu-la mountain pass in the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary out of security concerns. The Indian side has been informed through the diplomatic channel," Geng said. He further said that the Sikkim section of the China-India boundary was defined by the Convention between Great Britain and China relating to Sikkim and Tibet in 1890. "The Indian government has repeatedly confirmed that in written forms since India's independence, recognizing that it concur with China on the boundary alignment at the Sikkim section," he said. Earlier, it was reported that the Indian border troops had overstepped the China-India boundary at the Sikkim section and there was an ensuing standoff with the Chinese border troops.