Troops from China’s People’s Liberation Army continue to deploy construction equipment in an effort to drive a dirt track through the strategic Doklam plateau despite a three week stand-off with the Indian Army and the Royal Bhutan Army, senior Indian government officials said on Friday. The PLA’s road works, the officials said, are aimed at bringing a road close to Doka La, India’s last military post on the junction of its boundary with Bhutan and China.

Both sides have reinforced their positions amidst a continuing war of words between Beijing and New Delhi. Indian military officials rejected claims that there were signs of imminent conflict in the region — the site of intense skirmishes in 1967, provoked by similar disputes over border works.

In first official comments on the crisis, New Delhi admitted that its troops had blocked PLA road works inside Bhutan territory claimed by China, saying “such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India”.

India and Bhutan, the government said, have been in “continuous contact” over the Doklam developments. “In coordination with the Bhutanese government, Indian personnel, who were present at general area Doka La, approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist from changing the status quo… these efforts continue,” a government statement said.

It said the matter has been “under discussion” at the diplomatic level, both in New Delhi and Beijing. Sources said that Indian ambassador Vijay Gokhale had conveyed India’s concerns in Beijing, while senior officials in the Ministry of External Affairs have reached out to their Chinese counterparts. “It was also the subject of a Border Personnel Meeting at Nathu La on 20 June,” the government said.

The Indian side has underlined that the two governments had agreed in 2012 that the tri-junction boundary points between India, China and third countries will be finalised in consultation with the countries concerned. “Any attempt, therefore, to unilaterally determine tri-junction points is in violation of this understanding,” it said.

In Beijing, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said diplomatic channels with India were “unimpeded” for “meaningful talks” over the military stand-off but maintained that Indian troops must first withdraw from the Doklam area over which Beijing has “indisputable sovereignty”. He said Indian troops “trespassed” the recognised delineated boundary between China and India on June 18.

Donglong (the name China uses for Doklam), he said, had been a traditional pasture for Tibetan residents. “We have exercised good administration over the area and before the 1960s, people from Bhutan required consent from China for cattle grazing and the Tibetan archives still have receipts of the same,” Lu said.

“Frankly, this crisis has surprised the government”, a senior Indian diplomatic official said, “coming after what New Delhi had seen as a willingness on China’s part to iron out problems in the relationship. During their recent summit meeting in Astana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told President Xi Jinping that we did not want differences to want disputes, and he agreed”.

Bhutan’s Army, Indian military sources said, has remained in close touch with their Indian counterparts, but has not operationally deployed in the effort to push back Chinese road-building in Doklam. “Bhutan is in a very uncomfortable position,” a diplomat said. “It is acutely sensitive about the intrusion on its sovereignty, but also does not want a crisis to break out”.

The Doklam plateau was first claimed by China in the late 1950s, in the build-up to its 1962 war with India. Ever since 1988, PLA patrols have regularly cut past Bhutan’s claim line, the Sinche La ridge, using a network of dirt tracks which lead up to Chele La post, the country’s permanent position on the Zompelri ridge, which leads westward from India’s Doka La post.

Indian government sources said the ongoing crisis began on June 16, when the PLA moved a substantial earthmoving unit on to the Doklam plateau, and began building a road leading towards Doka La. Royal Bhutan Army soldiers from the Zompelri ridge, the sources said, attempted to intervene, but were pushed back on to the ridge.

However, in response to a request from the beleaguered Bhutanese troops, Indian soldiers on Doka La moved down the ridge, and obstructed the border works, leading to a stand-off.

Indian Army sources said this confrontation had been preceded by a scuffle between a PLA road construction unit and Indian troops on the night June 4-5, which had resulted in minor injuries to two Chinese personnel. China then used earthmoving equipment to demolish a two-decade-old earth-and-rock bunker near Doka La, at a position Indian soldiers refer to as Laltain.

Troops, military sources said, are now located on either side of a position in Chinese-claimed Bhutanese territory below Doka La, called Turning Point, in a face-to-face position, using banners and loud-hailers to assert their claims.

“No pushing and shoving is taking place”, a government official insisted. “The video that has been doing the rounds is archival, not from the current crisis, and completely misrepresents the situation.”

New Delhi, an Indian diplomat said, has told Beijing that its construction works mark an effort to unilaterally determine a three-country junction marked a violation of written accords arrived at between special representatives of the two governments.

In addition, New Delhi has rejected Beijing’s claims, made in statements by its Foreign Ministry, that the India-China boundary in Sikkim is settled, noting that the two countries have yet to agree to demarcation of their borders.

Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region, experts say, could be aimed at pushing Bhutan to agree to swap Doklam — a springboard for potential Indian strikes on China’s road and future rail links north to Lhasa — for other territory it has asserted claims to in the north.

Though both sides appear committed to avoid any escalation of the stand-off, the history of the 1967 crisis in the Chumbi Valley — the same territory now at stake — shows disputes over border construction can have serious outcomes. In that case, India responded to Chinese trench construction on its side of the boundary by laying a barbed-wire fence, leading the PLA to open fire with machine guns.

Indian Army units, well positioned on high ground above the Sebu La pass, were able to bring down accurate artillery fire, destroying several bunkers and inflicting large numbers of casualties. Later that year, a scuffle on the Cho La pass again led to clashes, in which the PLA was pushed back three kilometres. The initial attack, scholar Taylor Fravel recorded, was not authorised by China’s all-powerful Central Military Commission, and then Premier Zhou Enlai subsequently ordered the PLA not to open fire unless fired upon.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App </s> New Delhi: The flag meeting between Indian and Chinese Army officers on Friday over the ongoing Doklam standoff remained inconclusive.

The Army officers from both the sides extensively discussed the Doklam standoff meeting at Nathu La mountain pass in Sikkim.

Usually, flag meetings are held between Brigadier level officers, but Friday's meet was attended by Major General rank officers from both sides.

“In the Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) attended by Major General rank officers from both sides, India insisted that the face-off could be resolved through simultaneous withdrawal of troops by the Indian and Chinese sides,” sources said.

The two sides hold BPM in five points which include Daulat Beg Oldie in northern Ladakh, Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh, Chusul in Ladakh, Bum-La near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Nathu-La in Sikkim.

The standoff close to the tri-junction of India-China-Bhutan started on June 16, after a construction party from China`s People`s Liberation Army entered the Doklam area and attempted to construct the road.

Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" violated a 2012 India-China pact which says the boundary would be decided by consulting all the concerned parties.

The two countries share a little over 200 km of border in the Sikkim sector.

Amid the border stand-off with China, Defence Minister Arun Jaitely on Friday rejected reports about shortage of ammunition and asserted that the armed forces have enough quantity to face any eventuality. </s> Amid the standoff at Doklam plateau in Sikkim sector between Indian and Chinese troops, India on Friday told Bhutan to not get intimidated by Beijing’s angry rhetoric, even as Bhutan urged New Delhi to amicably resolve the border stand-off with China. The sources at a meeting of BIMSTEC nations told The Indian Express that these were the broad contours of the discussion between Indian and Bhutanese leaders and officials. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal are members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also met her Bhutanese counterpart Damcho Dorji. This was the minister-level meeting between Bhutan and India ever since the genesis of the Doklam border stand-off in June. The sources also added that both India and Bhutan discussed the Doklam issue and exchanged notes on the “way forward”. Dorji said after the meeting: “We hope the situation in Doklam will be resolved peacefully and amicably.” He stayed away from giving specific details. Also Read: Don’t be intimidated by China: India to Bhutan

India behaving like mature power in Doklam standoff, says US expert

A top American defence expert has opined that India is “behaving like a mature power” in the Doklam standoff and making China look like an adolescent throwing a tamper tantrum. Professor of strategy at US Naval War College James R Holmes said: “New Delhi has done things right thus far, neither backing away from the dispute nor replying in kind to Beijing’s over-the-top rhetoric. It is behaving as the mature power and making China look like the adolescent throwing a temper tantrum.”

Army raises alert level in Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese officials meet US counterparts

As China continues to engage in belligerent rhetoric over the Doklam standoff, the Indian Army has cautiously put its units in Arunachal Pradesh on a higher alert, putting some troops in the state ahead of their usual locations but still short of the Chinese border.

Sources revealed to the The Indian Express that, as a precautionary measure, many units of the Dimpaur-headquartered 3 Corps and Tezpur-headquartered 4 Corps have been placed on “higher alert in a No War No Peace mode”.

The sources also emphasised that these measures are not related to to any major build-up of China’s military in Tibet. The Indian side has not observed any major movement of China’s military so far. The Indian Express had reported earlier that in the eastern sector, Army units in Sikkim have already been staged forward as they undertake their Operational Alert this month which has been advanced from October. Also Read: Cautiously, Army raises alert level in Arunachal Pradesh as Chinese officials meet US counterparts

China, India must work to resolve Doklam standoff, says US commander

A top American commander said today that the ongoing Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese troops is a matter of concern, even as he asked both countries to work together and resolve the issue diplomatically. India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area for more than 50 days after Indian troops stopped the Chinese People’s Liberation Army from building a road in the area.

Commander of the US Pacific Command Admiral Harry B Harris echoed the State Department’s view that the US encourages the two countries to resolve their differences diplomatically. In a statement to PTI, Admiral Harris said “Well, I think that any time you have two great powers at odds across a common border, that’s an area of concern. Of course, it’s potentially dangerous.”

“But I think that I would echo those sentiments of our own government leaders, America’s national leadership, that we encourage both India and China to engage in diplomacy, to help reduce these tensions,” Admiral Harris added.

Chinese Navy eyes Indian Ocean as part of PLA’s plan to extend its reach amid Doklam standoff

Amid the ongoing Doklam standoff, Chinese Navy has reached out to India to maintain security China in Indian Ocean amid increasing concerns in New Delhi over the growing presence of the PLA fleet in India’s backyard. In a first, People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) threw open its strategic South Sea Fleet (SSF) base in the coastal city of Zhanjiang to a group of Indian journalists. “It is my opinion China and India can make joint contributions to the safety and security of the Indian Ocean,” Capt Liang Tianjun, Deputy Chief of General Office of China’s SSF said. His remarks came as China’s Navy embarked on a massive expansion to extend its global reach. Also Read: Chinese Navy eyes Indian Ocean as part of PLA’s plan to extend its reach

Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for seven weeks now after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the disputed area. China claimed that they were constructing the road within their territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from the disputed Doklam plateau. New Delhi has expressed concern over the road building, apprehending that it may allow Chinese troops to cut India’s access to its northeastern states.

India has conveyed to the Chinese government that the road construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for it. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Doklam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region.

Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. China also claims that Thimphu has no dispute with Beijing over Doklam.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App </s> Face-offs between Chinese and Indian troops over road construction on the borders of a 269-sq km plateau in Bhutan claimed by China has sparked off what experts are describing as the worst crisis in relations between New Delhi and Beijing since troops from the two countries confronted each other at Daulat Beg Oldi in 2013, diplomatic sources told The Indian Express.

The clash on the Doklam plateau, which overlooks the strategic Chumbi Valley, Indian diplomatic sources said, involved troops serving with India’s Brigade-sized mission at Ha — a formation meant to train Bhutan’s armed forces, but which also deploys alongside the Royal Bhutan Army to patrol its frontiers against China.

“Even though India has long had a presence along the Bhutan-China border, it has never acted in defence of its ally’s interests. The Chinese are very upset by the Indian assertion, and are seeking to push back against what they see as a line having been crossed,” a senior Indian official said. (A PTI report said Army chief General Bipin Rawat will visit Sikkim Thursday to take stock of operational matters and interact with top commanders in the formation headquarters. The agency also quoted Vetsop Namgyel, Bhutan’s ambassador to India, saying his country had issued a demarche to China over the construction of a road towards its Army camp in Zomplri area of Doklam and asked Beijing to restore status quo by stopping work immediately.)

Meanwhile, Beijing upped the ante, telling New Delhi to “correct its errors” before reopening of the Nathu La Pass for Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims can be considered. China also described the construction of the border road as “legitimate”, maintaining that it was being built on Chinese territory that does not belong to India or Bhutan and no other country had the right to interfere.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang indicated that the point of friction was in the Donglong (Doklam) region, which he stressed belonged to China. “It is reported that the incidents happened at Donglong, (that it) is part of the disputed territory between China and Bhutan. The region is part of China and is indisputable. China’s construction is a legitimate activity. If India wants to raise an issue about it, I would say that it doesn’t belong to India and neither does it belong to Bhutan,” he said.

According to Lu, Indian troops crossed the boundary on the Sikkim side into Chinese territory. “This is different to what was before in India-China boundary. Bhutan is an internationally recognised country and its sovereignty is to be respected. Even if the boundary is delimited, no third party should interfere and make irresponsible comments,” he said.

Few details have emerged on the clash but two Indian officials said that Beijing has privately complained that Indian troops attacked a road-construction unit on the night of June 4-5, leading to an unarmed brawl in which two Chinese personnel sustained minor injuries.

Later, on the morning of June 5, Chinese troops retaliated in strength, destroying Indian sangars, or simple rock-and-earth bunkers, built on the Bhutan side of the de-facto border, near an Indian-guarded position identified by the code-name Laltain, or Lantern.

Neither country has officially admitted to the clash having taken place, but an opaquely worded June 26 statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Indian troops had crossed “the China-India boundary at the Sikkim section and entered the Chinese territory, obstructing Chinese border troops’ normal activities in Doklam”.

The Foreign Ministry did not explain how Indian troops had succeeded in traversing several dozen kilometres of mountain terrain required to move from Sikkim to Doklam — wording Indian diplomats said was likely intended to avoid drawing Bhutan into the controversy.

Beijing’s strategic equities in the Doklam plateau have multiplied in recent years, with the upgrading of the road from Lhasa to Yadong, which allows the 500-km journey to be made in just seven hours. The road, which passes through Bhutan’s territory, has significantly enhanced China’s military logistics in the region, which faces out on to India’s defences in the so-called Chicken’s Neck, through which all roads to the North-East must pass.

In addition, China is now in the process of extending the Beijing-Lhasa high speed railway line to Yadong, and is expected to begin test runs in less than two years. Beijing had, in 1996, offered to renounce its claims over the Pasam-Lung and Jakar-Lung valleys in northern Bhutan, 495 sq km, in return for Thimphu ceding its claims to the Doklam plateau. It was reported to have also pressured Thimphu by saying it would not agree to a border deal until Bhutan allowed it to open a diplomatic mission in that country.

Former National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon had travelled to Thimphu in 2013, amidst rumours that Bhutan was considering such an arrangement. However, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bhutan in 2014, its Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, moved to quell the rumours, saying “We don’t even have diplomatic relations. How can you open an embassy without diplomatic relations?”

The genesis of the Doklam plateau crisis date back to the 1950, as tensions between China and India began to rise. Even in 1959, a Chinese Ministry Foreign Affairs document issued on December 26 that year records, “concerning the boundary between China and Bhutan, there is only a certain discrepancy between the delineation on the maps of the two sides in the sector south of the so-called McMahon Line.”

In other words, China agreed that there were no discrepancies between its maps and those of Bhutan in the country’s west, where the Doklam plateau lies. But in 1960, China’s leadership sparked off panic in Bhutan by asserting, in a statement, that the “Bhutanese, Sikkimese and Ladakhis form a united family in Tibet. They have always been subject to Tibet and to the great motherland of China”. Then, in 1966, Tibetan nomads entered the pastures of the Doklam plateau, escorted by People’s Liberation Army guards, provoking fears of an attempt to occupy the territory.

 In 1988, things came to a head when the PLA crossed into Bhutan and took control of the Chumbi Valley, below the Doklam plateau. In the years since, PLA troops have been reported to have regularly threatened Royal Bhutan Army guards on the plateau, and sometimes occupying their posts for several hours or even days.

With the standoff continuing, an opinion article in China’s state-run Global Times stated that India needed to be “taught rules” of handling boundary disputes. “China avoids making an issue of border disputes which has indulged India’s unruly provocations. This time the Indian side needs to be taught the rules. India cannot afford a showdown with China on border issues. It lags far behind China in terms of national strength and the so-called strategic support for it from the US is superficial,” the article stated.

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App </s> Delhi: External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday that it was seeking 'peaceful resolution' of all boundary matters with China, including military standoff at Doklam in the Sikkim sector.

Addressing the press, spokesperson Gopal Baglay referred to India`s June 30 statement to reiterate that "basically India`s approach has been to find peaceful resolution of all matters concerning the border with China."

He also said that India`s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval will be visiting Beijing on July 27 and 28 to attend a BRICS meeting but parried questions whether there will be any bilateral meetings with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the meeting of the five-nation grouping.

The meeting of NSAs of BRICS nations will be hosted by Yang.

However, Baglay refused to share the details on what kind of diplomatic channels the two countries were using to ease the border tension at Doklam.

"I would not like to go into the details of how and between whom and when such conversations have taken place, if they have taken place," he said.

The spokesperson said the government of India has been laying stress on the Astana consensus between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at last month that the two countries must not allow differences to become disputes.

"Every responsible power, every responsible person and player in the world, of course, prefers peaceful resolution of matters that are in hand," he said, as per IANS.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today that China intends to unilaterally change the status of the tri-junction with Bhutan, which poses a challenge to India's security.

Responding to supplementaries during Question Hour, she informed the Rajya Sabha that there was a written agreement between India, China and Bhutan in 2012 that the three nations will together decide on the boundaries at the tri-junction point.

The Minister said the boundaries between India and China are yet to be finalised and the two nations will do that bilaterally through discussions, while the same between China and Bhutan too will be done through bilateral talks.

She also accused China of building roads using bulldozers and excavators, which has been protested by Bhutan in writing to China.

The Minister also said that India was not 'unreasonable' on the issue and all nations were with it.

"India's position is not wrong on the tri-junction and all nations are with it. The law is with our country," she said.

Swaraj said all countries are supporting us and they understand that the stand taken by India on the issue is not wrong.

She said the matter can be resolved through talks and "We are willing to talk, but both sides have to first take back their armies."

What India had said on June 30:

India on June 30 had hit back at China for making veiled threats with Defence Minister Arun Jaitely asserting that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962.

After China's oblique reference to the war the two countries had fought 55 years ago, Jaitley had said that the current standoff between Indian and Chinese troops was triggered by Beijing.

The MEA had said then that it was essential that all parties concerned display utmost restraint and abide by their respective bilateral understandings not to change the status quo unilaterally.

"India is deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India," the MEA had asserted in a press release at that time.

"In coordination with the Royal Government of Bhutan, Indian personnel, who were present at general area Doka La, approached the Chinese construction party and urged them to desist from changing the status quo. These efforts continue," the ministry had added.

"It is our understanding that a Royal Bhutan Army patrol attempted to dissuade them (the PLA construction party) from this unilateral activity," the MEA had maintained.

On the other hand, China said today that diplomatic channels with India remained 'unimpeded' to discuss the military standoff in Sikkim sector but reiterated that the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Doklam area is a 'precondition' for any meaningful dialogue.

Lu, however, reiterated that "the withdrawal of the Indian border personnel is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue and communication between the two countries".

Lu claimed that the incident makes it clear that "Indian border personnel illegally trespassed into China's territory," as per PTI.

Why the stand-off at Indo-China border:

Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face- off for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from constructing a road near the Doklam plateau, fearing it may allow China to cut India's access to its northeastern states.

India has conveyed to China that the construction of the road would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for New Delhi.

While status of Sikkim as part of India has been settled with China, the border is yet to be finalised. </s> In the midst of face off between India and Chinese troops over road construction on the borders of a plateau in Bhutan, which China has been claiming, has said that the withdrawal from the Doklam plateau by the Indian troops was prerequisite for any dialogue between two nations and prevent escalation, Indian Express report said.

It warned Army chief General Bipin Rawat to “stop clamouring for war”, calling it as “extremely irresponsible” of his recent statement saying India was ready for a “two-and-a-half front war”. Speaking to reporters, PLA spokesperson Col Wu Qian, said China hoped “particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war.”

“Bhutan has conveyed to the Chinese side, both on the ground and through the diplomatic channel, that the construction of the road inside Bhutanese territory is a direct violation of the agreements and affects the process of demarcating the boundary between our two countries. Bhutan hopes that the status quo in the Doklam area will be maintained as before 16 June 2017”, Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs was quoted as saying by Indian Express as saying.

Thimphu said in statement on June 16, “the Chinese Army started constructing a motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri”. It said boundary talks are ongoing between Bhutan and China and “we have written agreements of 1988 and 1998 stating that the two sides agree to maintain peace and tranquility in their border areas pending a final settlement on the boundary question, and to maintain status quo on the boundary as before March 1959. The agreements also state that the two sides will refrain from taking unilateral action, or use of force, to change the status quo of the boundary.”

However, China has maintained that Doklam has been a part of China since earlier times, which is an “indisputable fact supported by historical evidence and the ground situation. China’s activities in Doklam are acts of sovereignty on its own territory. It is completely justified and lawful.” </s> BEIJING: As the standoff in Doklam entered the third month, China on Wednesday renewed its call for India to withdraw troops from the area.Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said withdrawal of troops by India was a precondition for any dialogue between both sides.India is for simultaneous withdrawal of troops from Doklam in Sikkim sector - which is at the tri-junction of India-China-Bhutan.The crisis began on June 16 when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam.India says the area belongs to close neighbour Bhutan , but Beijing says the area belongs to it and has asked India to stay out of its boundary dispute with Bhutan. </s> A tense environment is reeling round the Sikkim border where Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a standoff. While Beijing jumped into the matter and demanded the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Sikkim sector as a precondition for “meaningful dialogue” to resolve the situation, India expressed its deep concern over China constructing a road in the disputed Doklam area near Sikkim. In a message to Beijing, the Government said that any such would represent a significant change of status quo with “serious” security implications for India. Meanwhile, Sikkim government has prepared and sent a report to the central government giving details of the situation along the border following the standoff, say PTI reports. Here are the ten latest development in the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the area:

– China has removed an old bunker of the Indian Army located at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan in Sikkim by using a bulldozer after the Indian side refused to accede to its request, reported PTI quoting its officials.

– India on Friday hit back at China for making veiled threats with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley asserting that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, even as New Delhi told Beijing its actions near Sikkim have “serious” security implications for this country.

– India also treats the June 26 statement by the Chinese foreign ministry that Indian border troops crossed the boundary line in the Sikkim sector of the China-India boundary and entered Chinese territory as factually incorrect. India has always maintained that there is no China between the Sikkim and Bhutan border.

– A high-level meeting on Friday reviewed the situation in the Sikkim sector where tensions have flared up between Indian troops and Chinese military over the construction of a road by China in a strategically key area near the Sino-India border, as per PTI report.

– The first batch of Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims, a shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva, comprising about 50 people returned from the Nathu La border post as a result of the standoff between India and China. The second batch of pilgrims did not move from Gangtok and pilgrims were told to go home as the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage is unlikely to continue this year via Nathu La.

– Amid the ongoing tension between the troops of the neighboring country, Bhutan had earlier accused China of directly violating the agreement between them by constructing a road inside its territory. It asked China to stop constructing the motorable road from Dokola in the Doklam area towards the Bhutan Army camp at Zompelri as it will affect the process of demarcating the boundary between the two countries.

– China took no time to reject the claim of Bhutan on the issue of road construction arguing that the Doklam area in the Sikkim sector has been a traditional pasture for Chinese cattle grazers over which it has historically exercised “complete and comprehensive” control.

– In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang indicated that the point of friction was in the Donglong (Doklam) region, which he stressed belonged to China indisputably.

– India’s army chief Bipin Rawat had on Thursday visited the mountainous state of Sikkim bordering China, where tensions have flared after Beijing accused New Delhi of sending troops into its territory and obstructing the construction of a road. Small incursions and troop stand-offs are common along with other parts of China and India’s contested 3,500 km (2175 miles) frontier, but a flare-up near strategically positioned Sikkim is rare.

– China seemed unhappy with Indian Army Chief as it warned General Bipin Rawat to “stop clamouring for war”, calling it as “extremely irresponsible” of his recent statement saying India was ready for a “two-and-a-half front war”, said The Indian Express report. Speaking to reporters, Chinese People’s Liberation Army spokesperson Col Wu Qian, said China hoped “particular person in the Indian Army could learn from historical lessons and stop such clamouring for war.” </s> China has released a map showing the region in the Sikkim sector as its territory and to back its claims of Indian troops "trespassing" the Chinese boundary.

The map, released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry late on Friday evening, shows the far south of the region, the ownership of which is yet to be agreed between Bhutan and China.

The blue arrow shows Doka La pass where Indian troops "crossed the border".

The map shows Doka La - called by China - as part of

is at a tri-junction border of Bhutan, China, and India, where People's Liberation Army troops and the Indian Army faced off.

Bhutan has accused China of building a road in Donglong, which Thimphu says is part of its area.

China has rejected the claims and asked New Delhi to withdraw troops from the region.

India has said Beijing's action to "unilaterally determine tri-junction points" is in violation of a 2012 India-China agreement.

According to the agreement, the boundary will be decided by consulting all the concerned parties.

The release of the map comes as China has maintained that locals have been traditionally herding cattle in area, which it said is fact enough to prove that the region belongs to Beijing.

China was responding to the Bhutanese government's accusations against China of not respecting border agreements and constructing a road on the disputed territory located between the two countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said here on Friday: "We are exercising complete and comprehensive administration over the Doklam (Donglong) region and our border troops and the residents around the border are herding their cattle along this."

"This evidence is recognised by the Bhutan side," Lu added.

"From historical evidence, we can see that Doklam has been a traditional pasture for the Tibetan residents and we have exercised good administration over the area.

"Before the 1960s, if Bhutan residents around the border wanted to put their cattle they had to get the approval from China," Lu said citing Chinese history.

Beijing has asked New Delhi to withdraw troops, reiterating it as a precondition to settle an ongoing stand-off in India's Sikkim sector, where the two countries share a little over 200 km of border.

Following the face-off, China has suspended the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet where Indians travel via Nathu La Pass, which is shut now.

In response, India on Friday said it has told China that the building of a road by Chinese troops in the region will have "serious security implications for India" and urged Beijing "not to change the status quo unilaterally".

"India is deeply concerned at the recent Chinese actions and has conveyed to the Chinese government that such construction would represent a significant change of status quo with serious security implications for India," an External Affairs Ministry statement said in New Delhi.
Amid growing tensions between China and India and Bhutan over the Doklam tri-junction, a spokesman on behalf of Bhutan via India Today urges India and China to "de-escalate the situation at the border and bring back normalcy". India and China have been locked in a military stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction since late June.