BEIJING: China has rejected a peace offer by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who expressed confidence on Tuesday that India and China would resolve the standoff in Doklam as they had handled similar incidents in the past. Jaishankar said differences should not be allowed to become disputes.
Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the situation was entirely different this time and cannot be compared with border spats of the past. This time it was a case of a defined boundary which had been agreed by the two countries in the 1980 Sikkim-Tibet boundary. The ministry did not mention that the treaty was not signed by Bhutan, which is claiming the disputed Doklam plateau.
The Chinese ministry also tried to bring in the Pakistan factor to increase pressure on Indian envoys saying that Beijing is ready to negotiate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
China is "willing to play a constructive role in improving relations between India and Pakistan," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing. "We hope relevant sides can do more things that are conducive to peace and stability in the region and avoid escalating tensions," said Geng.
The offer to mediate will be scoffed at in New Delhi because China is itself unable to resolve its dispute with India leave aside playing the referee between its all-weather friend, Pakistan, and India. Besides, China has already shown itself to be partisan by building a road inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which is claimed by India.
Indian foreign secretary said at an event in Singapore, "It is not the first time that it has happened. How do you handle it is a test of our maturity. I see no reason, having handled so many situations in the past, that we will not handle this." Jaishankar also said that the two countries "must not allow differences to become disputes".
Responding to the statement, Geng said, "China has pointed out many times that the illegal trespass into China's territory across a mutually recognized borderline is different in nature to frictions that happened in undefined sections of the boundary."
Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday that the situation was entirely different this time and cannot be compared with border spats of the past. This time it was a case of a defined boundary which had been agreed by the two countries in the 1980 Sikkim-Tibet boundary. The ministry did not mention that the treaty was not signed by Bhutan, which is claiming the disputed Doklam plateau.
The Chinese ministry also tried to bring in the Pakistan factor to increase pressure on Indian envoys saying that Beijing is ready to negotiate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.
China is "willing to play a constructive role in improving relations between India and Pakistan," ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing. "We hope relevant sides can do more things that are conducive to peace and stability in the region and avoid escalating tensions," said Geng.
The offer to mediate will be scoffed at in New Delhi because China is itself unable to resolve its dispute with India leave aside playing the referee between its all-weather friend, Pakistan, and India. Besides, China has already shown itself to be partisan by building a road inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, which is claimed by India.
Indian foreign secretary said at an event in Singapore, "It is not the first time that it has happened. How do you handle it is a test of our maturity. I see no reason, having handled so many situations in the past, that we will not handle this." Jaishankar also said that the two countries "must not allow differences to become disputes".
Responding to the statement, Geng said, "China has pointed out many times that the illegal trespass into China's territory across a mutually recognized borderline is different in nature to frictions that happened in undefined sections of the boundary."
Latest Comment
Chinese rejection of peace offers by our Foreign Secretary itself is act of non cooperation in settling disputes by peaceful means.Saibaba Thadiboyina