India must pull its military units back from Chinese territory in Donglang at the Indian-Chinese border near the state of Sikkim to de-escalate tensions, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said on Tuesday.
BEIJING (Sputnik) — India and China have been locked in a border standoff since mid-June. The confrontation occurred after Indian troops blocked the construction of a road carried out by China in the disputed area of Donglang, where New Delhi supports Bhutan’s territorial claims.
“The problem can be resolved very easily. They have to leave [China’s territory],” Wang said during his visit to Bangkok, as quoted by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The minister emphasized that even some high-rank Indian officials had admitted that the Chinese military had not trespassed the Indian border, thus recognizing that Indian troops were maintaining their presence in the area illegally.
China insists that the territorial dispute in Sikkim was resolved as long ago as in 1890, when China and the British Empire signed the so-called Convention of Calcutta defining the borders in Sikkim. However, India-backed Bhutan is convinced that Beijing’s attempt to extend a road to the Donglang area runs counter to a China-Bhutan agreement on maintaining peace in the region until the dispute is resolved.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.