China yesterday accused India of “concocting” excuses over what it called the illegal entry of the South Asian nation’s military into Chinese territory on their disputed border, adding that China had shown great restraint.
The stand-off on a plateau next to the mountainous Indian state of Sikkim, which borders China, has ratcheted up tension between the two sides, who share a 3,500km frontier, large parts of which are disputed.
Early in June, Indian guards crossed into China’s Donglang region and obstructed work on a road on the plateau, according to Chinese reports.
The two sides’ troops then confronted each other close to a valley controlled by China that separates India from its close ally Bhutan and gives China access to the so-called Chicken’s Neck, a thin strip of land connecting India and its remote northeastern regions.
India has said it warned China the road construction would have serious security implications.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the Indian military was still in Chinese territory and that Beijing had acted with a great deal of restraint, demanding that India withdraw its forces.
However, “the Indian side not only has not taken any actual steps to correct its mistake, it has concocted all sorts of reasons that don’t have a leg to stand on to make up excuses for the Indian military’s illegal crossing of the border,” the statement said.
The ministry reiterated that the border had been agreed on in 1890 by the governments of China and Britain, India’s colonial ruler until 1947, and later with New Delhi.
India’s actions are not only a serious encroachment of Chinese territory, but a challenge to regional peace and stability and normal international order, it said.
Indian officials say that about 300 soldiers from either side are facing each other about 150m apart on the plateau.
They have told reporters that both sides’ diplomats are trying to ensure the stand-off does not escalate as they seek a way for both sides to back down.
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