New Delhi: Foreign secretary S. Jaishankar reportedly told a parliamentary panel on Tuesday that China’s stand on the recent Dokalam dispute in the Sikkim sector has been unusually aggressive.
However, Mr. Jais-hankar, who was briefing the panel on external affairs, maintained that New Delhi is engaged with Beijing in defusing tension through diplomatic channels. According to some TV reports, Mr Jaishankar had advocated a “Deep Breath, Stop and Engage” policy as a way of resolving the matter, indicating that both countries would have to talk it out.
There were also TV reports that Congress vice-president and Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi raised certain questions at the meeting of the panel of which he is a member.
According to reports, Mr Gandhi apparently asked questions about the Chinese intentions and the Indo-Bhutanese special relationship.
“Jaishankar told us that China’s aggression and rhetoric on the recent standoff is unusual but it is not that complicated as it is being projected in some quarters. We will continue to engage with them through diplomatic channels,” one of the MPs in the panel was quoted by news agency as saying.
The foreign secretary told the panel that India has clearly outlined its position on the border and Chinese have their own position, but they are misinterpreting it and so India was trying to clarify it.
He said that India has been maintaining the same position since 1895 as per an Anglo-Chinese agreement.
Words such as conflict not used
The words like “war-like situation or conflict” were not used by the foreign secretary as he stuck to the word stand-off to describe the current situation at Doklam, another members said.
Both members spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing said India should not use “trespass” into the Doklam area as a “policy tool” to achieve its “political targets”, and asked New Delhi to immediately withdraw its troops to avoid any escalation.
Chinese and Indian soldiers have been locked in a face-off for over a month after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from building a road in the Doklam area of Bhutan which China claims as its territory.
“Since the illegal trespass by Indian border personnel, many foreign diplomats in China felt shocked about this and (wanted) to confirm whether it was true,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing when asked about the reported briefing by China there last week to foreign missions. “The Chinese side maintains close communication with the foreign diplomatic missions on the issues they are interested,” Kang told reporters in the Chinese Capital.
Foreign embassies briefed on stand-off
India on Tuesday briefed top diplomats of a few foreign embassies individually in New Delhi on their request about the current Sino-Indian military stand-off.
China had carried out a similar exercise of briefing foreign diplomats in Beijing about the stand-off last week.
Speculation is rife that New Delhi may be keeping important countries such as the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Japan and Germany in the loop about the developments.
It also indicates that foreign missions in New Delhi are worried about the stand-off. The briefings are apparently not being conducted by New Delhi in a group.
