India’s army chief 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 standoffs are common along other parts of China and India’s contested 3,500km frontier, but a flare-up near strategically positioned Sikkim is rare.
Indian Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat arrived in Gangtok, the capital of the tiny Himalayan state, before heading off to visit troop formations.
A spokesman for the Indian Army said the one-day trip was “routine” and planned before the recent tensions.
Reports of the incursion and a confrontation between troops emerged as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington to meet US President Donald Trump on Monday, the latest in a line of standoffs reported during diplomatic initiatives.
India has deepened its military ties with the US in recent years, worrying China, which is also unhappy with India’s refusal to participate in Beijing’s multibillion-dollar “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure initiative. India is concerned the project could cement China’s dominance over Asia.
According to the Chinese interpretation of events, Indian guards earlier this month crossed into the Donglang region and obstructed work on a road on a plateau.
The two sets of troops then confronted each other close to a highly strategic valley controlled by China that separates India from Bhutan — a close Indian ally — and gives China access to the so-called “Chicken’s Neck,” a slither of land that connects India to its remote northeastern regions.
Indian media have reported that the dispute began when China removed an old Indian bunker.
China has said that, unlike other parts of their shared border, the delineation of the frontier with Sikkim is settled, and it has the right to develop the area.
“Donglang region is part of China’s territory,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) said on Thursday. “China’s road-building activities in Donglang on its own territory are totally reasonable and understandable.”
Late on Thursday, the ministry released on its Web site two photographs it said showed Indian troops and at least two Indian military bulldozers on what it said was the Chinese side of the border.
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