China on Tuesday said there will be "utter chaos" if its troops entered India on the pretext that Indian border infrastructure posed a threat to Beijing.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said India's logic that Chinese road-building in Doklam on the border posed a threat to New Delhi was "ridiculous and vicious".
It said China would in no way allow any country or individual to infringe upon its territorial sovereignty.
The Indian side illegally crossed the boundary on the excuse of ... Chinese road building. The reason is ridiculous, vicious and facts are clear [...] You may think about it. If we tolerate India’s ridiculous logic, then anyone who dislikes the activity at his neighbour’s home can break into its neighbour’s house. Does that mean when China thinks that large-scale construction of infrastructure at the border area of India is posing a threat, it can enter Indian territory? Wouldn’t that be utter chaos?Hua Chunying, Spokesperson, Foreign Ministry
To Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s remark that India had never been an aggressor and has had no ambitions to expand its border, Hua responded: “China loves peace and firmly upholds peace. At the same time, we will safeguard our territorial integrity and sovereignty. We allow no country or any individual to infringe upon China’s territorial sovereignty.”
She asked India to pull back troops from Doklam to resolve the crisis.
We have said many times that prerequisite basis for the settlement of the trespass is the unconditional withdrawal of the personnel and equipment from the Indian side. So we urge the Indian side to take concrete actions and make positive moves to correct its wrongdoing.Hua Chunying, Foreign Ministry spokesperson
Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a stand-off since June at Doklam in the Sikkim section of the Bhutan-China border.
This is the longest stand-off between the two armies since 1987 when they faced a similar situation at Somordong Chu Valley in Arunachal Pradesh.
It all began when Indian troops stopped Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam, citing the disputed status of the territory.
Doklam is claimed by Bhutan, which has protested against the Chinese road building.
China says the construction of the road is legitimate since Doklam has been Chinese territory since ancient times.
New Delhi backs Bhutan's claims and sees a Chinese road in Doklam as a threat because the region is very close to India’s Siliguri Corridor, a vulnerable neck that connects India's northeast with the rest of the country.
(This article was originally published in an arrangement with IANS.)
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