Amid standoff between Indian, Chinese troops, Army Chief Bipin Rawat visits Sikkim, takes stock of situation

Gangtok: Amid stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops along the border, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Thursday took stock of the situation in Sikkim.

Informed sources said the Army Chief was briefed about the security situation and the stand-off, as per IANS.

He also visited areas under the 17th Mountain Division. 

Gen Rawat will return to Delhi on Friday.

Meanwhile, China today demanded withdrawal of Indian troops from the Sikkim sector as a pre- condition for a "meaningful dialogue" to resolve the current stand-off there and asked the Indian Army to learn from "historical lessons", an oblique reference to the 1962 war.

Launching a media blitzkrieg on the Sikkim stand-off, both Chinese Foreign and Defence ministries directed their attacks on India and maintained that the Indian Army had "illegally trespassed" into the Chinese territory.

"We urge the Indian side to immediately pull back the border troops to the Indian side of the boundary. That is the precondition for any meaningful talks between the two sides aiming at resolving the issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, as per PTI.

The People's Liberation Army spokesman, Col Wu Qian also rejected as "extremely irresponsible" General Rawat's remarks that India is ready for a "two-and-a-half front war", asking him to "stop clamouring for war".

Rawat had said that India is prepared for security threats posed by China, Pakistan as well as by internal threats.

When asked to respond to Rawat's remarks, Col Wu said, "Such rhetoric is extremely irresponsible".

"We hope that the particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war," he told the media.

The genesis of the flashpoint was China's attempts to build a road at strategically key area of Donglong, the linking of which to the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction could give China a major military advantage over India.

The Indian Army had blocked construction of the road by China in Donglong, a disputed territory between China and Bhutan.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim.

Official sources said China had removed an old bunker of the Indian Army in Donglong by using a bulldozer after the Indian side refused to accede to its request, which triggered the face-off, as per PTI.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu displayed two photographs of the alleged Indian "incursion" into Donglong area in the Sikkim region during a media briefing.

He said the Sikkim stand-off between the troops of the two countries can only be settled by the withdrawal of Indian soldiers from the area.

"Since the illegal trespass happened we have lodged solemn representations with the Indian side in both New Delhi and Beijing," Lu said, showing the photographs from the podium.

Later, the ministry uploaded two photographs on its website along with the Chinese transcript of Lu's press briefing.

One photo showed two bulldozers stated to be that of the Indian military while another showed one bulldozer. A redline in the photos was showed as "Chinese side of the border".

In the briefing, Lu said the diplomatic channel for communications between the two countries remains "unimpeded".

(With Agency inputs)